Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-12-30
TIE SENATORIAL CONTEST.
What a Republican Thinks OF the
Chances OF Ex-PresIdent john
son aud Governor John c.
Brown.
Other CandIdates-A Possible Serim-
mage-WilsOn for General Bate,
One OF Tenneasee's Gallant
Defenders.
Nashville s,d Correspondence Cincinnati Ca

Nashville Correspondence Cincinnati Ca
zede.l
Not excepting the civil rights agita-
ton, the currency problem, or the mat
ter Of state taxation, the question as to
who shall be the next United States SEN
ator from Tennessee, is exciting more
discussion row than any other topic en-
! gaging the attention Of the people OF
this State. This arises in a great meas
uTe from the candidacy of one man
Ex-PresideDt Andrew johnson. The
very fact OF Mr.. johnson figuring as an
| aspirant for Brownlow's seat, is Of itself
sufficient to produce more or less OF tur-
moil and excitement. The prominence
OF the man, his aggressiveness and COM
| batlveness, added to q natural and
Irresistible penehant for addressing
! the sovereigns, have combined
/ to make the senatorial cues
/ ton the topic OF the hour. In view OF
the near approach Of the election (early
in january it will be of interest to note
the general surroundings, and make a
running resume of the salient points of
the contest. There are seven OF eight
candidates, but the main interest CEN
ters around twO-Andrew johnson and
the present governor of the State, John
q. Brown. Johnson is here at Nashville
now, at the principal hotel, and gene
rally has crowd of admirers in his
room. He is hale and hearty, and en-
ters into the fray with the vim and en-
thUsiasm of a man ofhalfhis age. The
Legislature is composed Of one hundred
members. Mr.. johnson claims that
| twenty five from East Tennessee will
vote for him, and that he can reasonably
rely On little over that number from
the other two divisions of the State. A
majority elects. My own opinion is
that ,he Ex-President is too sanguine.
II he gets forty votes on the first
| ballot he will be doing well. If he in
creases his strength on succeeding bal
lots, there are plenty Of observing peO-
pie who will be very much mistaken.
Still the egislature-elect is an uncertain
quantity, and there is no telling what
may turn up. One thing is pretty GER
tain, # MIR. johnson had placed him self
more en- rapport with the dominant
party IN this state during the last few
years his chances for success would
be great deal better. There are only
eight Republicans in the legislature.
These he expects to capture. The civil
rights excitement of last spring, and
the general onslaught Of the Republican
party incident to the last campaign,
produced an esprit dU corps among the
CONSERVATIVES and Democrats which
now tells against an independent
bushwhacker like Mr.. Johnson. II
do not mean that party lines
and partisan restraints are rigidly
eDjoiped now, but they are recog-
nized to a degree that must be an inn
pediment to q candidate who does nearly
all his fighting outside the lines. John
son will have hard work to pull through,
If he aecOmplishes the feat at all. Gov
ernor Brown is generally recognized as
having the best chance for securing the
prize. The governor is neither q pro-
found nor brilliant man, but he pos
sesses the safe qualities of tact, shreWd-
ness, and plausible and taking man.
ner. 1t must be confessed he has made
a fair executive officer, frowning on ku-
kluxism and lawlessDess Of every kind, |
and at the same time exhibiting a large
share OF political liberation and liberal I
ity. He is an ex-rebel general, but has
forgotten, practically, at lest, what it |
is to be disloysi. Ensconeed, as he is, !
in his snug room in the capitol, and |
in direct official communication with |
all parts OF the State; with a pleas |
ant greeting for the wayfaring leg
islatOr who may accidentally drop /
in, as it were, and with some little pres
tige acquired during and since the war, |
it can easily be imagined his chances !
sre mot TO be sneeZed at.n The battle l
in the legislature, as l have limited, will /
be mainly between johnson and Brown,
and while it is very likely that one Of I
these will be elected, it is at least pos
sible that, being unable to settle on /
either one, the legislature may finally |
hoist into Browns seat some compro- |
mise candidate now very little thought |
of. There are five or six to select from: |
General Bate, of this city; General !
Qusrles, Of Clarksville; Colonel Bailey, !
OF Clarksville; Colonel Savage (all /
ex-rebels); Honorable Edwin II. 4
Ewing. The latter, who is bordering on 4
seventy, is perhaps the ablest man of
the lot, but it is extremely doubtful if
he can pull through.
Lebanon Herald.l
Who shall be senator? We think we
know the temper of the times and Of the
people. We think we mistake neither
when we say that 10th demand that the
Legislature, in filling this important po-
sition, shall, without regard TO personal
preferences or persona animOsitles, elect
that man who shall therein best repre-
sent the people whom he serves, and
honor highest the noble Commonwealth
which sends him to the senate. That
man should be neither so old as to be a
fossil, nor so young as to be q Hotspur.
He should not be on the one hand a
va I
with Out-of- date ideas and anti /
quated prejudices, nor, on the other, a
rash and unknown juvenile, destitute
alike Of political sagseity and political
experience. He should be manswhose
purity of life and rectitude Of conduct
are known to all men; of honor without
stain and integrity beyond the shadow
of suspicion. He should be a man OF
commanding and cultivated intellect
and extended experience Of public al
fairs. He should be, finally, a man
whose dignity of character has not per-
mitted him to join in the wild scramble
Tor Office which too often disgraces our
politics, but who has calmly pursued the
paths OF private life, believing that
whom the people want the people call. !"
There is such q man as we have de-
scribed. His integrity is unquestioned:
his ability is pre-eminent; his private
character is without q stain. No longer
young, he is not yet old; he has lust
reached the golden maturity of middle
age, where the mind is at its brightest,
and all the faculties are in vigorous ac-
ton. He has served his native State
in the forum and in the field, and won
laurels in both. His record as a states-
man Is brilliant, his career as a soldier
was glorious, and all the pages of all his
tory Ttain no nobler sentence than
tnst Which flashed along the wires in
to dispatch which reached
him in front Of the enemy in the dark
days OF civil strife, asking him to accent
the goyeTnorship of his native State:
.'Nol had rather be Tennessee's de-
lender than her governor" We be-
lleye that we represent the sentiments
Ot the people of Wilson county and OF
upper Middle Tennessee when we ask
the legislature to send to the senate of
The United States the man we have at
tempted to describe, William b. Bate.
Because a CoahOama county negro re.
GENTLY met his brother at the conference
whom ne had not seen since the war, the
friaTis Point Delta rounanees benevo-