Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-10-20

Four Days, west OF the Mountains.
Carr. VAN III. ALIENS,

CAPT. VAN H. ALIENS,
SMITH COUNTY, Tenn, Oct. IL, 1877. -
My last was from Lafayette, the county
site of Macon county, from whence we
came to this place Yesterday evening, and
have been enjoying the princely hospltal-
ty of Capt. " IAN III. Allen, late of the con-
federate army. We came here at his spe-
cial invitation, and the hearty welcome re-
ceived has made our short sojourn pleas
ant one. have now been with the cam
didates four days. | have been gratified
at their courteous demeanor toward each
other, and with the elevated tone of their
discussions. Although they have been
pretty sharp occasionally, and occasionally
somewhat personal they have maintained
friendly relations, lodging together at
night whenever possible, and each SEEM
ing desirous of contributing to the others
personal comfort.
After somewhat careful survey on this
side of the mountains, / am strengthened
in former opinions as to Col. Thornburgh's
strength. He wins the admiration and
hearty support of all his political friends
and commands the most profound respect,
from the better class at least, of his politi-
cal enemies. He is supported with enthu-
siasm by large class of voters, which is
more than can be said of either of his op-
ponents. The consequence is, that he::wiil
receive a much larger vote in the western
part of the district, than his opponents are
willing to admit. His bold unequivocal
way of meeting leading, vital issues, is re-
freshing in this age of political duplicity
and the people appreciate it.
Disguise it as you will, the outrageous
gerrymandering by which this district
was laid out, gives Republican strength
before the people i'll every single county
in the district. Col. Thornburgh shows
up the contemplate partisan spirit which
suggested this outrage on every stump, and
he does it effectively. The people, the
honest thinking people, never will endorse
this open and shameless attempt to dis
franchise the people of portion of the
State and deprive them of representation
in Congress, for no other crime than hav-
ing selected Horace Maynard to represent
them. Men of all parties condemn the
measure, and it will give no strength to
the candidate who is the representative of
the men who did it. .r
Mr.. Caldwell tries sometimes to make
capital out of the present revenue laws, but
Thornburgh takes the wind out of his sails
by showing that they were passed by 75
Republicans and "a Democrats voting for
them in the House, while there were only
three adverse votes in the Senate-all Re-
publicans-and therefore, if there is any
thing odious in them, Democrats are
equally responsible with Republicans
That depriyes Caldwell of the greater por-
ton of his capital - & 'A
But all other political contests are over
shadowed by the race for Congress at Large.
Johnson, Cheaham and Maynard are all
the talk, The contest is growing bitter.
johnson men are for anything to beat
Cheatham and Uice UersaCheatham men
are for anything to beat Johnson. 1 have
heard Andy denounce all my life, but
never before have / heard it done with so
much gusto as now. by Cheatham men.
They are unsparing in, their denuncia-
tiOns, and are eXhausting the vocabulary of
epithets in giving utterance to the profound
hatred of the great commander. Greeley
and Grant are lost sight of. [ have heard
more than one straight out" since coming
into this locality, express his views on the
Greeley question, in language more en-
phatic than polite, but would shout him
self hoarse for Cheatham or Johnson. on
the least provocation. / have conversed
with quite number of Republicans and
Democrats, who went to Lebanon to
hear the discussion there. They
agree with one accord, that Mr..
Maynard made mastery effort. His
speech there carried conviction to the
hearts of hundreds who do not admit the
fact / have heard score of Democrats
say, that if Maynard shonld chance to run
in between Cheatham and johnson, the
State would be represented with ability,
and that nothing would be lost.
But the "Whippers-inn are busily at
work all over this country and it is
impossible to form any correct idea of
what the final result will be.
If the people are still SPELL
bound and can be driven like dumb
cattle to the polls, Cheatham will beat
Johnson two to one in all this part of the
county. The drill sergeants are plying
| their vocation industriously, land before the
9Th of November may succeed in driving
all Democrats into the support of the regu-
lar nominees, but no one can tell now.
Upon this depends the result here and all
over the State. If the drill sergeants can
succeed in whipping all into the ranks,
Cheatham will receive an overwhelming
majority oyer Johnson. If the people con-
clude to vote as they please one time the
eX-President will divide votes with him
pretty equally in the mountain counties.
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