Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1857-04-24
Majority to overcome. -.

Majority to overcome. ..'.'.'..'' Il
It will be seen from the above that in the
States in which elections are to be held there
must be a gain Of seven members to secure for
the Democrats a bare majority in the next
House of Representatives. II the telegraphic
reports are to be credited, we have already
gained one member in Connecticut and we
think that there is something more than a fair
chance of electing a Democrat in the late Mr..
Brenton's district, in Indiana. This would leave
for our friends in the Southern States, already
named, the task of gaining FIVE members
task which they have cheerfully undertaken,
and under circumstances which fully Justify the
belief that they will perform even more than
thew have promised. We do not think that we
are too ~sanguine in claiming a gain Of one
member in Virginia. At all events, we are as
sured from all quarters in the Old Dominion
that the delegation in the next House will be
united and Democratic. We shall certainly
gain one, and probably two members in North
Carolina and the sam may be said OF Alaba-
ma, Kentucky and Tennessee. We shall also
gain one member in Texas, and one in Missouri.
As the case now stands, the probabilities are
that the Democrats will have a majority Of
from four to eight in the next House OF Repre-
sentatives. We make use OF the word proba-
bilities,' because the result rests entirely with
our friends. If their counsels are influenced
by a spirit of harmony and concession-every-
thing for the cause and nothing for men-if
they enter into the canvass with their wonted
zeal, energy, enthusiasm, and selt-sacrihcing
devotion, we feel assured that they will secure
a larger majority in the popular branch of Con-
gress than the one named. In Kentucky, Ten
nessee and Louisiana, the struggle promises to
be a severe one. 1t is true that, so far as a ma
tional organization is concerned, the Know
Nothing party has ceased to exist, and with the
loss of its nationality must be added the loss of
its captivating mysteries of signs, grips, and
midnight meetings. In the Northern States 1t
is allied with, if not absorbed by the Black Re-
publicans. In the Southern States it now seeks
10 obtain an independent, temporary, and mis-
chievous existence in the State Legislatures and
congressional delegations.
In Tennessee, in particular, the struggle is
literally one of life or death. Beaten at the
last State election, and beaten at the Presiden-
tial election, the followers Of Sam are now raj
living for a last, desperate effort. The stake 10
indeed a large one.-A-gnEsHH9fE;hT 5lTteTT 81
Congress, members Of the legislature, and i'm
portant county officers, are to be chosen. As
the legislature Of Tennessee meets biennislly,
the members to be elected will have to choose
two United States Senators-one to fill the va
cancy caused by the expiration of Ex-Governor
Jones' term, and one to supply the place of
Hon. John Bell, whose term expires on the 4th
of March, 1859. Desperate 10 the struggle may
be, we have an abiding faith in the invincibili-
" Of the true-hearted and stout-hearted De-
mocracy Of Tennessee. They met their old
enemies under a new name in the height Of their
unexpected and, we may add, unprecedented
success, and overcame them in two pitch bat
ties; and we cannot now believe that defeat is
in store for them at the hands Of a twice-routed
Toe Washington UHiOB.