Des Arc citizen., 1860-03-21
Gubernatorial Election-Johnson and
 Hindman, Etc.

umns of your valuable paper, to give free ex-
 pression. of opinion on a free subJect-the
 Gubernatorial election. The names of many
 worthy gentlemen have been put in nomina-
 ton by their respective friends and selec-
 tion from among them, am sure, will be such
 an one as the people of Arkansas twill de-
 light to honor." It, however, behooves the
 Democratic State Convention to take serious
 y into consideration-the AVAILABILITY of
 him, who is to be it's standard bearer in the
 next election. We must not rely too much
 upon the large, and may say unwieldy demo-
 cratic majority, we have heretofore boiled.
 but make the fight as if the contest was a
 doubtful one, and certainly such is the case.
 Many side issues have been raised within
 the last two years; having direct tendency
 to weaken the unity of the Democratic party
 and carry away much of it's effective force
 Therefore the great necessity to closely look
 to our man and see that he is not only availa-
 ble-having a clean record, etc.; but such an
 one as the whole Democratic party can come
 up cheerfully to his support. We must lose
 sight of the petty distinctions that have been
 made in the Democratic party. We are not Johnson democrats, or Hindman democrats,
 but should be constitional democrats, and have
 onty identified ourselves with this or that fac
 tion, because we believed one or the other was
 the exponent of what we personally conceived to be the true principles of the Democratic party. The great mass of the party have not
 taken any part in the personal squabble that | L c..
 State, which has not only been dsreputable to the parties concerned, but has redowned
 seriously to the injury of the party at home,
 and made the name of Arkansas Democracy
 a by-word abroad, notwithstanding, am not
 one of those who espouse the "Johnson
 cause," do not enter into the personal feel ing and regard all as anti-democratic who op-
 pose them-if we agree upon principle it is all | I ask-a difference about men is a minor con-
 sideration, and should produce no discord among true democrats.
 The time has come when the Democratic
 party must go back to her time honored max
 inns, 'sprinciples not men," throwing over
 board every mutinous and disorderly member.
 A fierce but boodless contest has been waging
 of late for place and power. and the Democ- racy have not been unobservant of passing events. Who are to be the beneficiaries of this controversy? This is question, an-
 swered, will show that T. c. Hindman and
 centrate upon themselves party interest that
 one may be returned to Congress, and the oth- CT receive the nomination for Governor of the
 State. What will be the result? Keep up an
 ntuitive party feud in the Democratic party.
 Throw them boaD overboard-the eternal quietus of thousand such men as Johnson and Hindman would not effect the perpetuity of the party. There are host of true men, who have been equally as jealous in the cause of Democracy. and have labored without 1 ''fee or reward,' who have not schemed or | plotted for office, and are worthy of any sta- tion-such men are or should be the proper recipients of honors. 'sLet the office seek | the man," as nine times out of ten, he that | even works to secure it, is unworthy of the l honors he covets.
 Personally have no unkind feeling for eith- CT Col. R. H. Johnson or Hon. T. c. Hind- | man, but otherwise, and yet they are the two last men for promotion in the party. Let us see how the case stands. Col. Johnson stands | a fair chance for the nomination for Governor his nomination will array more deep and | inyeterate opposition than any man in Arkan- sas, and fix the fact beyond controversy that | " the family" govern the party. Again he is the editor of the organ of the Democratic | party in the State-his position considered, it would be hard to convince the people that he had not .oNNIvEp at his nomination. How very different was the course pursued by Col. | Barksdale, the editor of the Mississippian, few years since, when his name was spoken of for Governor. He informed his friends that while he controlled the State organ of the party, he would not accept nomination. that the enemies of Democracy should not have it to say that he had used his influence as the editor of the Organ of the Democratic party to secure any office. You and I who have taken peep behind the scenes know we'll enough how conventions are gotten up. and how easy it is for public opinion to be directed in this way. Little Rock being the nucleus of political power in the State--a ! office-seekers about the Capitol, with their log rollers and wire-pullers in every county !, who look to the central junto for the word, and pull the wires accordingly; will soon take the power out of the hands of the peo- pie, and place it in possession of a corrupt party clique, unless they assert their indepen- dence of demagogues and tricks CTS, and as- srme all prerogatives that belong to them.
 The Hon. T. c. Hindman has inaugurated a new kind of political action-new to Ar kansas, as the same kind of gurilla warefare was practiced in Mississippi several years since by that quandam democrat and political nondescript Henry Stewrat Foote-a whole sale denunciation of every one who does not truckle to his mandates and implicitly obey his behests--exercising dictatoral power which is of itself repugnant to every princi- pie of true democracy. The {" State Rights Democrat" and the 'Old Line Democratn have been made subservent to, and originated alone to further his ambitious views. His re-