xt7j0z70wb2w https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7j0z70wb2w/data/mets.xml Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1846-1913. 1914  books b02-000000029 English Winthrop press, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Politics and government 1865-1950. The speeches, addresses and writing of Cassius M. Clay, Jr. Including a biographical sketch by James K. Patterson. text The speeches, addresses and writing of Cassius M. Clay, Jr. Including a biographical sketch by James K. Patterson. 1914 2002 true xt7j0z70wb2w section xt7j0z70wb2w 


The



Speeches, Addresses
              AND

         Writings
              OF



Cassius M. qlay, Jr.



Including



A Biographical



James



BY
K. Patterson



PRESIDENT EMERITUS, STATE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY










     The Winthrop Press, New York
           M C mja



Sketch

 
























che thmp  
.,.
ra

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CONTENTS.



                                                        PAGE
Biographical Memoir, by Pres. James K. Patterson ..... .....  9
Commencement Speech at Yale, 1866 ...................... 21
The Fallacy of Usury Laws: A Speech on the Conventional
    Interest Law ...................................... 27
The Electoral Bill Agitation ............................. 45

      EXTRACTS FROM RAILROAD ARTICLES.
  I. On Public Aid of Local Companies .................. 51
  II. On Limiting Railroads to Railroad Business .......... 53

     FROM THE RECORD OF THE CONSTITU-
                TIONAL CONVENTION.,
  I. Speech, Accepting Presidency of the Convention ........ 55
  II. Speech on the Revision Clause .......  ...............  57
III. On Railroad Commissioners ........................ 60



Speech Before the Democratic State Convention, 1895, When
    Defeated for the Nomination for Governor ............. 65
The Louisville Post's Summary of a Speech Before Commercial
    Convention .  .......................................  69
In Eulogy of Hon. Wm. Goebel ........    .................  73
Speech on the Tariff, at Louisville, Nov. 3, 1894 ............ 77
Speech in Favor of Sound Money, 1896; a Reply to Sen. Stone
    of Missouri ....................................... 93
Cause of the Split in the Democratic Party, 1902 ............ 105
                           [ 5 ]

 

Why Conservative Democrats Should Vote for Taft..........
In Answer to Judge Lindsay   ...........................
The Tobacco Question .................................
Same, In Answer to Judge O'Rear......................
The Taxation Amendment...............................
The Initiative, Referendum and Recall...................
Same, Further Discussed.  ...............................
The Philosophy of Life: a Fragment ......................
Nature of the Allegiance That a Man Owes His Party to
    Support its Nominees.  ..............................



PAGE
109
117
125
139
145
149
157
163

175


 











BIOGRAPHICAL
  MEMOIR

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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR.



   The common ancestor of the historic Clays of Kentucky
is believed to have been John Clay, a native of England,
who came to Virginia as a Grenadier of the British Army dur-
ing Bacon's Rebellion. From him it is said Green Clay,
pioneer, soldier and statesman, was descended, who was born
in Powhatan County, Virginia, August i4th, 1757, and who
emigrated to Kentucky when about twenty years of age. He
was well educated, a good mathematician and a surveyor.
The large bodies of Blue Grass land which he acquired laid
the foundation of the ample estate which he left behind him'.
Kentucky, which was then a part of Virginia, elected him its
Representative in the Virginia Legislature and afterward
chose him its delegate to ratify the Federal Constitution.
He afterward, when Kentucky became a State, was elected a
member of the Convention which formed the Constitution of
I799. Thereafter he served in the Legislature several suc-
cessive terms, during one of which he was elected Speaker.
   He enlisted as a volunteer in the war of I812, rose to
the rank of Brigadier General, and was placed by Governor
Shelby in command of 3,ooo Kentucky troops sent to raise
the siege of Fort Meigs, a task which he skillfully and gal-
lantly accomplished. After the close of the war he retired
to his princely estate in Madison County, where he died on
October 3I, I828, in the seventy-second year of his age.
To General Green Clay were born seven children, three sons
and four daughters, of whom Brutus J. Clay, the father of
the subject of this sketch, born in i8o8, was the second son.
Another son was Cassius. M. Clay, soldier, diplomat and
writer, who took a prominent part in the Anti-Slavery Con-
troversy which ended in the Civil War. Brutus J. Clay was
                         [ 9 ]

 


educated at Centre College, settled in Bourbon County as
a farmer, and was for many years one of the most successful
stock-breeders in Kentucky. In i840 he was elected a mem-
ber of the Legislature, in I853, President of the State Ag-
ricultural Association, and in i862, Member of Congress.
He died in October, I878, leaving by his first wife four chil-
dren and by his second, Cassius M. Clay, Jr., who was born
March 26, I846, at Auvergne, Bourbon County, in the
house in which he lived and died.
    Mr. Clay was prepared for college by B. B. Sayre, of
Frankfort, one of the ablest and most successful teachers in
Kentucky. He entered the Junior class of Yale College in
i864, graduating in i866 fifth in his class. He was a fine
classical scholar, well versed in mathematics and more than
ordinarily proficient in the natural science of the day. He
was an indefatigable reader, an independent thinker, a pro-
found student of History, Economics and Sociology, and
flung himself eagerly into the controversial literature which
rapidly grew up after the publication of Darwin's "Origin
of Species." He was thoroughly versed in the logic and
political economy of John Stuart Mill, and became an enthu-
siastic adherent of the philosophical system of Herbert Spen-
cer, based upon a modified Darwinian theory of Evolution.
He had learned thoroughly the great lesson which he taught
by precept and example, viz.: that the end of education is to
teach man to think, to think clearly, to think quickly and to
think accurately.
   After graduation Mr. Clay settled on his ancestral es-
tate and applied himself to agriculture. But such a man
could not long remain in seclusion. In i87i he was elected
to the Legislature, and at the end of his term was elected
for a second term. From i885 to i889 he was a member
of the State Senate, and in I890 he was chosen delegate
from Bourbon County to the Constitutional Convention. In
I 89 I he became a candidate for the Democratic nomination
for Governor, but was defeated by the Railroad Interest,
                         [ 10 3

 


and was again defeated for the nomination in i895. This
was his last appearance as a candidate for political office.
    In politics Mr. Clay was a Democrat of the Cleveland
type, a firm believer in and an able advocate of the system of
"checks and balances" provided for under the Constitution
against the irresponsible rule of a majority. He was a con-
stant advocate of a "Tariff for Revenue only," and of a
sound fiscal policy, adhering to a gold basis. He held in just
contempt the heresy of a double standard and treated with
scorn the craze of "i6 to i." He held that the great dan-
ger of the future would be Communism and Socialism, and
hence opposed all insidious efforts to break down the bar-
riers which protect life and property through the gradual
extension of Government monopoly in the field of govern-
mental domain.
   One of the most conspicuous features of his character was
his utter impartiality. This perhaps grew out of his strong
sense of justice, his clear intuition of truth and his adherence
to principle. No one ever suspected him of selfish or nar-
row motives. He was charitable in his judgment of others,
conservative, even-tempered and controlled by high ideals
of life and of duty. He was simple in his tastes and wants,
courageously cheerful in sorrow, reserved in business and
private affairs, yet capable of strong and deep affection,
standing steadfastly by his friends. During the later years
of his life his health was precarious and required close atten-
tion, but even thus, no duty was neglected and no obligation
left unfulfilled. He was closely identified with the various
agricultural and business enterprises of his native county.
Only a few days before his death, though weak and just out
of the hospital, he attended a meeting in Paris of an impor-
tant association of which he was a member. His death
occurred after a brief illness, November 27, 19I3.
   Mr. Clay was thrice married. (i) to Miss Sue E. Clay,
who bore him two sons and two daughters. The sons,
Junius B. and Samuel Henry, predeceased their father, the
                          [ 11 ]

 
former dying at the age of 33 and the latter at the age of 22.
Of the two! daughters, Anne L. is the wife of W. Rodes
Shackelford, of Richmond, and Sue E. the wife of Dr. Cyril
Goodman, of Cairo, Egypt, where he has been in the service
of the British Government for many years. (2) After the
death of his first wife, June 6, i88o, Mr. Clay married
October, I882, Miss Pattie F. Lyman, who survived her
marriage a little over a year, leaving a daughter, who died
in infancy.  (3) In December, i888, Mr. Clay married
Miss Mary Blythe Harris, of Madison County, who, with
two sons, Cassius M. and John H., survive him.
   In the Legislature, as a member of the House of Repre-
sentatives and as a member of the Senate, he made his pres-
ence felt in no small degree. In every important measure
which came before either body members were ere long able
to anticipate on what side Mr. Clay would stand. His ex-
tended reading and his profound knowledge of- political
philosophy gave him an easy mastery of principles, and his
wide range of historical knowledge supplied him with abun-
dant illustration. The writer, though never a member of
either House of the General Assembly, has been for more
than forty years more or less familiar with the personnel and
calibre of both Senators and Representatives in successive
Legislatures. During this period he has not known a mem-
ber of either House the superior of Mr. Clay in a knowledge
of parliamentary law, the rights and duties of citizenship,
and the means by which these rights and duties may legiti-
mately be maintained. He was familiar with the aggres-
sive appearance of Socialism, Collectivism, Opportunism in
France and Germany, in England and America. To com-
bat these and hold them in check he held would in the near
future be the chief concern and highest duty of all good citi-
zens. He had no panacea for all political ills. He trusted
to the growth, of intelligence, the diffusion of learning and
to the development of a sound political morality to supply
the proper remedy in dealing with all questions of govern-
                         [ 12 ]

 


ment and economic legislation as they arose. Saturated with
the best thought of the greatest political economists, he fol-
lowed none of them slavishly, but appropriated and applied
what was best in each to the upbuilding and maintenance of
the political and social fabric inherited from, the founders of
the Republic. In debate he was fair and courteous to an
opponent, conceding all that might with propriety be yielded,
but seizing the salient facts and driving them home with
resistless logic. He invoked no adventitious trappings of
oratory. He told a plain, straightforward tale, but when he
sat down friends and opponents alike felt that his argument
was'the work of a thinker, fearlessly and cogently and con-
vincingly spoken. In his public life, whether as a candi-
date or lawmaker, his most noticeable asset was the convic-
tion which the public had of his absolute candor, veracity
and integrity and his scorn of meanness, prevarication and
duplicity. Whether for you or against you, there hie stood
in the plenitude and panoply of a great man "to give the
world assurance of a man."
   When the Constitutional Convention, to which Mr. Clay
was a delegate, assembled in i890, he was elected its Presi-
dent. His great ability, his fine scholarship, his philosophic
culture, his knowledge of law and his knowledge of men
made his selection for that distinguished honor, when his
candidacy became known, a foregone conclusion. His knowl-
edge of legislative procedure and the fairness of his rulings,
the impartiality shown in the composition and morale of his
Committees, assured adequacyof treatment and due consid-
eration of all the business which came before them. Ample
opportunity was given for full and fair discussion of all meas-
ures reported to the Convention through its Committees,
while dilatory procedure was held in check. Great interests
were involved. Educational, industrial, religious, moral, the
reciprocal rights and duties of individuals and of corpora-
tions, of capital and of labor. In all these a steady hand and
a level head were required. And when the convention ad-
                          [ 13 ]

 


journed, the conviction prevailed that no speaker had ever
presided over a deliberative body in America with more
ability, integrity and efficiency than had Mr. Clay over the
Constitutional Convention of i890-9I.
   In January, 1902, Mr. Clay was appointed a member
of the Board of Trustees of the State University, in which
capacity he served until June, 1913, when he offered his
resignation. During his period of service his broad and
liberal education and his intimate knowledge of the edu-
cational necessities of the State were of incalculable value
to the Institution. His high character throughout the Com-
monwealth, his well-known integrity and his knowledge' of
what a University should be, gave the public confidence in
its upbuilding and usefulness. His constant effort was to
promote economy and efficiency of administration and high
standards of scholarship and of character. He considered
it important to make scholars, but far more important to
make men.
. In all the relations of public and private life Mr. Clay
impressed those with whom he came in contact as a man
able, upright, sincere and honorable, despising pretence and
sham. He was just and considerate to all, with a large re-
serve of force behind all he did and said. His constant aim
was to discover fundamental principles and to build thereon.
   Mr. Clay was still in the prime of manhood and intel-
lectual vigor when he died. His mind was clear and strong,
his mental activities unimpaired, his conception of men and
things clarified by experience. A well-rounded man, a great
man, and above all a good man, his departure left a void
which cannot readily be filled. The State University con-
ferred upon him in i909, in recognition of his worth, the
honorary degree of LL.D., Doctor of Laws, and no honor
ever conferred by the University was more deservedly be-
stowed.
   The following appreciation of Mr. Clay appeared in the
Louisville Post, November 29th, two days after his death:
                         [14 ]

 


"The death of Cassius M. Clay was announced yesterday.
Mr. Clay has pursued an honorable course in public life
in Kentucky. He was a member of the Legislature, Presi-
dent of the Constitutional Convention, and always an active
party leader. He was a man of high personal character
with a thoroughly trained mind and with high standards of
public conduct. Beyond all public office, Mr. Clay was
interested as a private citizen in public affairs and exhibited
the highest type of Kentuckian in private life. It is a long
time since Mr. Clay occupied a public position or sought
one, but in all these years he has been a loyal citizen, ad-
vising his fellow citizens upon all matters of public con-
cern. It is men like Mr. Clay in the private walks of life
who direct and control public opinion. It is to this tribunal
that every cause must go for final decision.
   "The death of such a man trained in the schools and
the active callings of life is a distinct loss to the State."
   To this estimate may be added the action taken by the
Board of Trustees of the State University upon the resig-
nation of Mr. Clay, June, I913, and the resolutions adopted
at the mid-winter meeting following:
   "Mr. Stoll suggested that the resolutions concerning the
death of Mr. Cassius M. Clay be taken up at this time,
and they were read by Dr. James K. Patterson as follows:
   "It is with sincere regret that the Board of Trustees
of the State University of Kentucky record the severance
of their official relations with Hon. Cassius M. Clay by his
voluntary resignation of the office of Trustee which he has
held by appointment for nearly twelve consecutive years.
His eminent ability, his fine education-broad, liberal, thor-
ough-his high character for honor and integrity, his dis-
tinguished reputation for patriotism and practical statesman-
ship, and his unswerving loyalty to the best interests of the
Commonwealth, all combined to make him a Kentuckian and
an American citizen of the highest type. During his long
connection with the Board of Trustees, Mr. Clay gave dig-
                          [ 15 ]

 


nity and prestige to the proceedings. His straightforward-
ness, his manliness, his well defined opinions upon organiza-
tion and policy, his utter impartiality, and the energy and
earnestness and intelligent breadth of grasp with which he
expressed his convictions never failed to make a deep im-
pression on his colleagues. By all he said and did the
conviction was borne in upon all-here is a just man and
a. great, in whom justice and truth are the impelling and
controlling elements of his being.
   "During the forty-eight years of its existence, the State
College-now the State University of Kentucky-had no
more distinguished member of its Academic Board, no more
intelligent and impartial director of its organization and
management, no more scholarly guide in framing and co-
ordinating its policies, and no more impartial and just arbiter
in differences which emerged in relation to its activities
and control.
    "The untimely death of this distinguished man adds
poignancy to the regret felt because of his voluntary severance
of his relations with us. Not the State University only,
but his State and the Nation are distinctly poorer to-day
because of the passing of such a man. In the language
of the Latin poet whom he loved so well,
              "Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
              Tam cari capitis"
   "When Milton bewailed the untimely death of Lycidas,
Lycidas was young. Mr. Clay, though somewhat advanced
in years was young in spirit, full of intellectual vitality and
vigor, in full accord with all the efforts to advance and
elevate mankind. In him was youth ripened by experience,
but youth still. With equal propriety, then, and with equal
sorrow and regret we may paraphrase the language of
Milton:
            "Lycidqas is dead, dead while in his prime.
            Who would not 'mourn' for Lycidas"



[ 16 ]


 














    SPEECHES
      AND

WRITTEN ARTICLES.

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NOTE



                      BY C. M. CLAY, III.

   It was Father's wish that certain of his written articles and
speeches be preserved in book form for his friends and family. The
selection of these articles follows a list made out in his own hand-
writing. Briefly stated, the purpose of this volume is to preserve his
ideas and opinions on various questions of public interest.
   Representing, as it does, my father's convictions during a consid-
erable period of his life, this book may be said to form a certain
approach to biography, as it were, a record of his position in reference
to public issues.
   The Commencement theme at Yale is included, as an early speci-
men of his thought and writing. A few notes of explanation have
been inserted where thought necessary.
   Grateful acknowledgment is due to Mr. Wm. L. Yerkes for
his invaluable assistance to the writer in the preparation of these
notes and in the general editing of this book; and like appreciation
is expressed to Pres. James K. Patterson for the biographical sketch
which forms its preface.
   PARIS, Ky., Sept. 10, 1914.

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THE PERMANENCE OF ENGLAND.



Oration Delivered at Yale During the Commencement
             Exercises of the Class of i866.

   If we were required to determine whether a certain build-
ing would continue to exist with immunity from the ravages
of time, before answering in the affirmative we should first
examine its foundations and the materials of which it was
constructed; we should see that no rock in the foundation
was crushed; that the-walls were not-racked by the-settling
of the superstructure, but made more. firmni and compact;
we should see that, the -materials were hard and lastiig it!
their very. nature and composition. So, in' answering the
questipn whether Engtand will-remain peftanently a great
power, we shall first carefully examine 'the foundations of
her greatness; we shall see if they are frm and stable, if
they are resting op the eternal rock of justice and right.
   Her colonies, commerce, situation, institutions, govern-
ment, and the character of her people are the only points
necessary for us to examine to justify ourselves in concluding
that England is a great permanent power. The character
of her people is known to all; active, self-reliant, and perse-
vering, they are the leading race of the globe. We can
form no better idea of this character than-by mentioning
a few of the results wrought out by manly independence
and perseverance. j Here first Civil Liberty in the annals
of Modern Europe came in contact with Despotism, and
wrested the scepter from his grasp.  Here first Free In-
quiry defied with impunity the dominion of Catholicism and
the spiritual absolutism of the Pope. Here first a Shake-
speare wrote, with lifelike accuracy, of human nature in all
its phases and conditions; and a Milton sang of a holy and
                         [ 21 ]

 


sublime theme with fit power and majesty. Here the human
mind lit up, with greater brilliancy than ever before, the
vistas and intricacies of Speculative Morality, and in physical
science made manifest the before mysterious, but now simple,
laws of nature.  Here first were guarantees of personal
rights demanded and obtained; and slowly, but'surely, were
raised those bulwarks of Civil Liberty by which the hum-
blest subject, in the maintenance of the right, can safely
defy the King. Here finally have revolutions bloodlessly
run their course, without destroying any of those precious
guarantees, or radically changing the form of government.
In the future, as in the past, the English character will be
the corner stone of her greatness; for its stability and con-
servatism are not decaying, but progressing.
   Let us now examine her institutions, which are our pride
as well as England's. The trial by jury is free from execu-
tive interference.  No Star Chambers or extraordinary
courts are tolerated. The prerogatives of the King are defi-
nitely defined, and more closely hedged in. The elective
franchise is more widely exercised. In fine, her institutions
are constantly becoming more elaborated by internal, and
not external, action, and are becoming better adapted to
secure and preserve the rights and liberties of a free people.
   In her government we see this same approximation to
right. A few years ago imprisonment and other outrages
were frequently resorted to by the government and tolerated
by the people. They are so no longer. Then Irish wrongs
were fearful realities. Now a much wiser and more humane
policy is exercised toward Ireland. Her colonies are better
governed.  Her internal policy is less corrupt.  Private
rights are more carefully respected. Broader and more com-
prehensive views guide the helm of State. Again there is
something in the very nature of the English Government
that essentially renders it permanent. No exclusive prin-
ciple has the predominance. Monarchy is represented in the
person of the King; Aristocracy in the House of Lords; and
                          [ 22 ]

 


Democracy in the House of Commons. This complex na-
ture, the result of compromise, destroys radicalism of every
species, and renders impossible opportunities for destructive
revolutions.
   The situation of England is such that it is impossible
that she extend her territory by continental conquest, even
if the European system of balance of power did not prevent
it. The extent of her territory is incompatible with a larger
population; but yet the very fact of isolation secures her
from conquest by a foreign foe, and the small extent of her
territory guarantees the purity of the race, both by prevent-
ing immigration and necessitating emigration from the more
worthless classes.                              I
   Much can be said of her colonies and commerce. Her
colonies are now more extensive and opulent than at the
time British officials administered justice in the United Col-
onies of America; for, although the grand "Republic of the
West" has long since broken the ties that bound her to
the mother country, she has founded in the East an empire
no less durable and more opulent than that of Alexander.
She has more shipping than in the most glorious era of the
past. The very fact of more extensive colonies and greater
commerce is a strong presumption that the climax of colo-
nial and commercial greatness is not yet reached. We will
not, however, be satisfied with mere presumptive evidence,
for it is too liable to deceive. There was a presumption
that Rome under Augustus, as she was at the acme of her
glory and a conquered world lay at her feet, would con-
tinue to direct the destinies of nations, yet scarcely four
centuries saw her lying at the mercy of the barbarian.
   It is affirmed that as the world becomes more civilized
nations are more impatient of external rule, and therefore
in course of time England's colonies will become independent
nations. We deny the conclusion-we deny it because we
believe it false. So long as the ruling nation is more intel-
ligent, better able to defend the colony from foes, to pre-
                          [ 23 ]

 



serve order, and prevent civil commotion, to regulate trade
and punish offenders against the law of nations; so long
as the colony is not embittered by some great mistake in
policy, as in the case of America, it will be for the interest
of the colony to carefully preserve its relations with the
mother country. Is there any prospect that Indian civiliza-
tion will in years to come compete with Anglican Again,
the most intelligent and powerful class in all the colonies is
composed of English emigrants, men who love their country,
take pride in its past history and esteem it a privilege that
they belong to the empire.   If independent, they will be
subject to insult, foreign domination and civil commotion.
As members of the empire, the British power avenges their
wrongs; and they possess far more privileges than the Ro-
man could boast when he exclaimed with pride, "I am a
Roman citizen."
   But suppose for sake of argument we grant the conclu-
sion-Cannot England in this case connect herself with the
colonies by ties of interest and gratitude  Cannot this
connection promote her prosperity fully as much as the
present relation It seems to us very feasible for England,
even if she cannot hold them; as colonies, thus to establish
throughout the world independent nations, bearing the im-
press of her civilization, having incorporated in their gov-
ernments those principles of Anglican liberty which nineteen
centuries of Christian progress have but barely evolved and
matured; firm allies to defend her in danger; the develop-
ment of whose resources cannot but promote the trade of
England; the noblest and proudest monuments of the indus-
try and perseverance of that little island whose past history
has been a most happy realization of the favorite maxim
of one of her most illustrious sons, "Knowledge is power."
   We see no reason why her trade should decline. Her
people are a commercial people both by disposition and situ-
ation. Tihe result of having greater rivals in the future
will only be greater activity and energy.
                          C 24 ]

 


   Thus we see her institutions made more firm and sacred
by time; her government less corrupt, more nearly based on
principles of right and justice; her situation, taken in con-
junction with her inherent strength, such as to defy foreign
invasion and conquest; the character of her people having
been constantly disciplined by struggle and suffering, ap-
proaching a more perfect state; her colonies and commerce,
the one adding materially to her prosperity, whether as
colonies or independent nations, the other not only sur-
passing that of all other countries, but a blessing to human-
ity, as it makes the most civilized and religious people on
the face of the globe the principal agent of the Creator in
spreading civilization and religion. Before decline, the seeds
of dissolution must be planted. We ask if this approxima-
tion to right in every sphere is the forerunner of decay
If so, then our ideas of right, morality, and the workings
of Providence are essentially wrong. It has been said that
the prosperity of England began to decline when continental
conquest was abandoned, when France was given up by John
Lackland; we deem it a most fortunate circumstance both for
her dignity and independence. We are told that every na-
tion in the past has risen only to decline. We admit it. But
we claim that the adoption and faithful observance of the
precepts and spirit of the Christian religion have added a
new condition to the problem of nations. We claim that in
the future particular nations and civilizations will not be
brilliant meteors that rise only to disappear, and make more
hideous the darkness that follows; but great planets that
appear during the whole night, and at the dawn of the
perfect day, only dimmed by that great luminary from, which
they derive their radiance. We claim that these Christian
nations shall disappear only when the lines that separate
them one from another shall fade away in the brighter glory
of the universal kingdom of perfect right and justice.

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ON THE CONVENTIONAL INTEREST LAW.1

   "We publish this morning the speech of Hon. Cassius M. Clay,
Jr., on the bill presented to the Legislature to repeal the ten per cent.
interest (Conventional Interest) law. Mr. Clay's speech will repay
careful perusal. As a specimen of close reasoning, logical deduction
and philosophical investigation, it is, perhaps, unequaled by any speech
made this winter at Frankfort. Mr. Clay made the bill now pend-
ing the issue in his canvass last summer, and his effort shows that he
has given much thought to the subject."-Old clipping, presumably
from a Louisville newspaper.

    I wish simply to make an argument on this question
without any attempt at rhetorical display, without any ap-
peal to prejudice. I will say in the first place that I consider
this question from the standpoint of a low actual rate of
interest. I consider a low actual rate of interest much more
conducive to the progress and prosperity of the country than
a high rate. My policy would be to pass such laws, grounded
on a thorough knowledge of the laws of trade, as would
conduce to the furnishing of money to the borrower at the
lowest possible rate. But I must say that I differ widely
with the gentleman from Marion as to the means by which
such result is to be obtained. He thinks that it can be done

   2 This speech was made in the Kentucky Legislature at Frankfort in 1871
against the repeal of what was known as the Conventional Interest or ten per cent.
Interest Law. As the statutes have since been changed, it may be well to briefly
restate the issue.  The Conventional Interest Law, then of comparatively recent
adoption, allowed any interest to be charged up to 10, provided the rate be
specified in a written agreement between borrower and lender, otherwise, and if
no rate be specified, the lender could collect 6 interest on the principal and no
more. Advocates of the repeal of this law favored a return to the old laws of
Kentucky on the subject, which fixed a legal rate of six per cen