The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1859-06-10
The osudidates for Congress.

Smiths day ~ lead, and he optnAe With
what he calls ) brief review Of tho histcry
Of parties, signing and claiming tha.
whatever of honor and glory and great
ness the country had achieved, the merit
and praise thereof was due to the demo
cracy. Having consumed twenty minutes
of his precious time in. laundering among
the mists and shadows Of other days, he
got down to the know nothings and their
horrid oaths, and thumped and kicked
the poor, dead-organizntion with assininc
courage and ferocity. His remarks in this
connection were peculiarly stale, fiat and
improbable, being the same precisely
made by Gov. Harris in his opening speech
at Nashville. Having got through with
the horrid oaths, tho honorable gentle
man next took up the charge Of Extrava-
gance and Corruption against the demo.
cratic party, and attempted to provo that
the Opposition, and not the Democracy,
were responsible for the abuses complain
cd of. He, also. quoted largely from old
Dilworth's Spelling Book, Webster's Quar-
to Edition, and Bucks Theological Die
tionary, to prove that the Opposition are
a terrible bad set of fellows, who are al
ways warning against the immaculate
leaders of his party. He said that Fill
more had appointed Brigham Young Gov
ernor of Utah, and bequeathed that trou-
BILE to his democratic successors. Then
he took the record" and read some
scattering and isolated votes showing that
more Black Republicans than Democrats
had voted for certain appropriations; and
argued therefrom that the Southern OPP
position were responsible for all the ex-
travagance, abuses and mismanagement
which have prevailed in every department
of government for the last six years. We
watched the audience closely while Col.
Smith was dealing with this. part of his
subject, and if his proofs" satisfied or
convinced single listener in that large
assemblage, the fact was understandable
Col. Smith will never redeem his promise,
because full and honest investigation Of
the record proves, beyond controversy,
the negative of his proposition. Having
about exhausted his time, the gentleman
retired from the stand mid the most pro.
found silence. nd,looking good deal
like man who had just finished preach
ing his own funeral discourse.
When Col. Brabson appeared on the
stand he was warmly greeted. He at once
came down to the work, and in few
minutes satisfied everybody present that
he had his opponent in an unpleasant pre-
dicament. He spoke of the fact that
Brigham Young's appointment had been
confirmed by q democratic Senate, that
he had been re-appointed by President
Pierce, and that the Democratic party
have had it in their power at any time
within the last six years to have turned
Brigham out and put Col. Smith, or some
other democrat of mental and physical
qualifications, in the Mor,non's place. He
admitted that the '34th Congress contain.
ed majority of Black Republicans; but
I, said Col. b., and the Southern opposi.
ton are not responsible for that Mr.
Smith, himself, had introduced and voted
with the Black Republicans for the plu
rality rule, by which that party attained q
controlling influence and gave shape and
direction to appropriations and expen.
ditures of the House, extravagant and
otherwise. Col. B. admitted that the
Black Republicans had been extravagant
while they had control of the House of
Representatives, and he condemned them
for it; but he turned to the record and
showed that extrayagant as they were,
his competitor. Col. Smith himself, had
voted with those same Black Republicans
for nearly every one of their appropria-
tons, enormous and wrongful as many
of them were. His competitor had been
placed on guard by the people of his Dis
trict, and it was his dutyto give the alarm
when he saw Black Republicans, Demo-
Gratis, or Know Nothings plundering the
treasury and squandering the public mo-
ney. Did he do it? No! On the contra
ry, he either looked on complacently, OF
patting the marauders on the back, said,
"go in. boys!-Pm with you as long as
there is dime in the government depot!'
Col. Brabson next took hold of the many
abuses and corruptions prevailing in the
different departments of government, and
showed beyond dispute where the blame
and responsibility properly belongs and
where it must rest. He also spoke with
crushing force about Col. Smiths Com
pensation Bill, increasing the pay of men,
bers to Congress from eight to thirty dol
lars per day; stating that it was by such
and kindred measures that government
expenditures had been run up from for
ty-hve to eighty-four millions a year. In
short, he overwhelmed his competitor
with an array of facts and figures, and
dealt him so many effective and telling
blows that we really felt sorry for our late
Representative--sorry that any public
servant with such record should ATTEMPT
to defend it before an honest and intelli-
gent constituency. The truth is, Brabson
is getting him badly, and Mr.. Smith feels
and shows it. For our part, we are more
than satisfied with the work the OPPOSE
ton candidate is doing, and If he is, not
elected in August we are much deceived