Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-09-05

ing the war.
WE publish the following commu-
nication that all sides may have a
hearing. We would give Mr.. ETH
FRIDGE, Mr.. EWING, MILTON BROWN
or any one else the same chance. We
are Independent, so far as men are
concerned, and, simply adhering to
principles, we intend to stay o
WHO SHALL BE SENATOR?
It has seemed to me somewhat re-
markable that a studied effort should
be made to disparage the "favOrite
son of Tennessee" even by those who
a very few months since we're forward
in endeavOring to do him honor, and
were employing every effort TO bring
him before the people that he might
explain the situation he had left to
be occupied by a successor for whom
he had shown himself to have expert
enced very little OF his respect.
Not enjoying a personal acquaint-
ance with ANDY Johnson" 1 have
to speak of him from a public stand
point. 1t may be conceded, and | am
willing to aver that he committed a
most egregiOus error, when he declin-
ed the Sherman-JOhnstOn treaty.
That being ratified would have
{" brought Us back" in an incredibly
short time, TO be as we were, and fight
our peaceful battles inside the Consti-
tuition. But we must reflect that Mr..
Johnson had been newly indicted
into office, and had not understood or
appreciated the high prerOgatives
with which he had been invested,
and above all, had not yet sounded
the men by whom he was surrounded
and who were ~thenceforth to form his
political family.
1t was a mistake to reject the Sher-
glory may have led astray the practi-
cal intellect of the man, when before
him lay the restoration of this dis
traught and disrupted Republic to its
pristine status. We, who inter-
estedly looked on from a dis
tant standpoint, without power to
control a single move, and not know
ing the pressure upon the Executive
from those with whom he was so sud
denly brought into contact in the adj
ministratiOn of the Government, may,
and doubtless did, imagine that he
was dilatOry in asserting the prerOga-
tives usurped by his predecessor, and
which, having been welded for the
decentralization, if not destruction, of
our system of government, might be
exercised to its full restoration, with
every incubation and hue of the Con-
stitutiOn intact save that which had
been abrOgated beyond recall. That
there should be r~eStivene5S on thepart
of those who sympathised with Pres
ident Johnson, in the maintenance of
the Constitution, when they thought
they perceived him reluctant to WELD
the power for the public good which
had been exercised by his predecessor
for the public harm, and the eternal
separation, in feeling, Of Our peoples,
unless consolidated by the oppression
OF despOtism, was, to say the least,
natural.
Reviewing the field, the historian of
the period must award to him an UNI
finching adherence to the Constitu-
ton, and an abiding reliance upon the
people whose Government he was
called upon to administer. That he
did not fulfil the expectations of every
one is true, for many of the most pa
triOtic were apprehensive that he
might yield to the intolerance of fac
ton and subject himselfa slave to bad
ambition. That he did not is attribu-
table to the seeds of patriotism i'm
planted in his breast, and which grew
and fOurished while he was the recip-
lent of popular favor that elevated
him from humble life to eminent sta
ton.
When Henry Clay retired with the
administration of Mr.. Adams he was
assailed with every oblOquy and re-
proach that could be heaped on the
head Of prominent individual. The
charges of bargain, sale, intrigue
and management" were rung from
one end Of the country to the other.
AS a private and retired citizen, how
could he meet and repel these charges?
They We're gaining influence over the
pOblic mind. and although the two
parties had been arrayed AGAINST each
other in the Legislature, so that R. NJ.
johnson and j. J.. Crittenden had
failed to obtain a majority, and Ken
lucky was less one Senator for a year.
That noble State rallied to the relief
of her " favOrite son." and he was
triumphantly returned to the United
States Senate. where his clarion voice
could be heard in his own defense,
and in behalf of the great interests of
the country which he advocated.
1t is thought that at this time the
State of Tennessee can do a similar
act by her distinguished and eminent
son, and place him where he can prove
ga tower of strength" It is puerile
to talk of his having filled all the of
fees from the humblest to the highest
pinnacle Ofgreatness, and bespeak for
him retirement after his arduous la
bors for the preservation of American
liberty He is in the very meridian
of fife, full of unbounded energy, de-
termined, strong, skilled in the rou-
tine of government, and knowing the
men with whom he would have to
"cope withal." And where can one be
found more sturdily to stand up
for the peoples and the States rights,
battling against encroaehment and in
novation upon the Constitution?
1t is not desirable that another