| Show T TAFT Fr AD AND T TUB TIlE E MECKLENBURG i Ri President Taft TaCt Is 18 to go bO to Charlotte Char Char- Jotte lotte North Carolina n next l month when there ar arto arc to be ceremonies cone conne connected con con- ne e ted with witt a II celebration In honor honorS honorof S of ot the tho Orl Original aJ Declaration of ot Inde- Inde by the tho people of at burg Here is 18 an Instance where the President will need all the tact which he 10 ie possesses If It he la Ls to c escape without losing pr prestige There TheTO Is no moro more interesting controversy controversy con con- In co connection with our In Independence In- In dependence than that which centers around the so-called so Mecklenburg Declaration No 10 o one seems to have heard ot of It until about 1813 1818 when it was solemnly as not only that such a. a Declaration was made on Ma May 20 1775 but that the Philadelphia Declaration written KO so 0 largely by Jefferson Jef Jet ferson terson with some come editing by John Adams Ad Ad- ams arns was largely largel a plagiarism of ot this original document To prove pro the tho case a COP copy of ot a So newspaper of or the tho date of ot May ra 1775 was a adduced In evidence where an art apparently veracIous veracious vera vera- cious clous narrative confirmed the state state- ment meat Jefferson and Adams who were then living Jiving denied that they had ever heard of ot such a thing and It Is lIS now claimed that the newspaper was a clever forgery manufactured for tor the purpose There were no documents In existence to prove the statement but butas 08 as the tho courthouse which was supposed Icon them recently been destroyed de do- b by fire this w was s held to be only onh negative evidence e Historians have threshed out tho the matter thoroughly and find that there Is Is no evidence supporting the claim claim claim- that Is IE to say B. B most historians have done so But tho the people of ot Mecklenburg Mecklenburg burg county count would rather give up In Independence independence In- In dependence than the tradition as to their early action In tho the premises We presume that no harm will be done f If the people of ot that section hold on onto onto onto to their views until the crack of ot doom In any event those Tar-heel Tar Hamp- Hamp dens didn't accomplish much If it they did make their academic statement It Is a a. fact tact that they didn't like George IlL or his governor and made things unpleasant for tor all aU concerned and at Kings King's Mountain the riflemen destroyed de do- tTo ed Fergusons Ferguson's force torce and spoiled Cornwallis campaign But these things came later Inter But what will Taft do In the premises prem lees He loves lo North Carolina which likes him so well that three speeches In that state produced three Republican Republican lI lican n congressmen last fall Will he take any stand in the matter and 1 I if he doesn't will he escape unscathed The eyes of ot the public will nm be upon the turpentine district seven so weeks hence In the hope that the eternal verities are to be upheld as aswell well wen as the diplomatic reputation of or the heal head S ot of the nation |
