Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-10-10

The Governor Answers the Ex-
Presidents Shelbyville
Speech. tt
Day by Day the Senatorial Fight
Grows Hotter. e
special to the Union and American.

special TO the Union and American.
WAyERLY, Oct. 9.-GoTernor Brown
addressed the citizens of Humphreys eoun-
ty here to-day, The crowd was a large one,
and be was listened 10 with close attention
throughout He said: rss
GOVERNOR BROWNS SPEECH.
l am not here, fellOw-citizens, seeking
your suffrage for any position. / have adj
dressed the people three or four times since
the canvass opened, but only as to-day, up
on invitation from those who>have hereto
fore elevated me to high places by their
partial suffrages. The people are entitled
to full and frank statement of the condi-
ton of public affairs from those to whom
they have cOnfded the delicate and intri-
cate duty of administering the government,
and when requested by the people, their
public servants cannot, if they would, with
hold an expression of their views upon
great questions which affect the general
welfare Of the country. has public patri-
otism sunk so low that no citizen or Office
holder will discuss political questions when
he is not a candidate for Office? Or are
the times so much out of joint that man
cannot accept an invitation TO address his
felIOw-citizens without subiecting himself
to the charge Of hunting Office? These
charges and imputations may have their
origin In breasts whence never emanates
any higher motive or impulse than selfish
aspiration for place or power.
In what / have had to say TO the country
have studiously avoided any individual
criticisms, except as a defense against at
tacks upon me or my administration of the
State government.
There are several prominent candidates
for the United States Senate. Some of
them are my personal and political friends.
had hoped none were my enemies, and
that none were capable of doing me injus-
tee. On all occasions, when have adj
dressed the people, l have avoided any
mention of their names or discussion of
their merits or fitness for that high place.
This course was inspired by these reasons:
/. l was not and am not before the coun-
try as candidate for the place.
2. 1t is neither my province nor my de-
sire to discuss the relative merits of men
claiming to be of the same party with my
self in advance of the election of that body
clothed by the Constitution with the power
to make the choice.
8. do not believe it either wise or pO-
little to distract the cOunsels of the Demo
cratic party with a discussion Of individual
claims to that position while there are so
many vital questions Of State policy to
which public attention should be directed,
and upon which the peoples representa-
tives should be prepared for intelligent
action. -.--
MR.. JOHNsON's sHELBYvILLE SPEECH.
For these and other obvious reasons, l
have abstained from any mention Of the
question, but notwithstanding this prudent
course on my part, Ex-President johnson,
in his speech at Shelbyville, last Tuesday,
and again the next day, as MuIfreeSboro,
deemed it profitable to his canvass, or graf
flying TO his feelings, to assail me both Of
fcially and personally. The attack was
wanton, unproYoked, and vindictive. And,
while, ifI had had no existing engagement
to address the people, 1 might well have
passed this matter by as harmless thrust,
yet having such an engagement with you,
should now pass il by sub Siterti0, my
motives might be miscOnstrued by those
whose good opinion would not willingly
forfeit. Or, it might be that such silence
would be construed into a confession on
my part to the truth of the charges.
The controversy, if one shall ensue, has
not been provoked by me. But, l hold to
the doctrine of the right of self-defense.
There is no man in this land so high, or so
pretentious, as to claim with impunity the
right to Islander another. In what l shall
say, however, let it be understood that l
speak for no party, faction, or individual,
and no one but myself is responsible for
my utterances. Nor do l desire, nor is it
my purpose, to become involved in the SEN
atOrial canvass.
Mr.. johnson SAYS: why John c.
Brown never drew Democratic breath in
his life. Before the war he was a Wing"
II is true, | was a Wing, as an humble
follower of the fortunes of that grand and
glorious old party, l battled for its flag
until it was fuFled. never deserted it in
the hour of the gloom. chung to its last
hopes Of success, as a child clings with
fond affecl ion around the pillow of its dy-
ing mother. No dazzling prize offered by
a dominant sectional party, at war with
constitutional liberty, did, or could have
lured me, from my party allegiance or my
political faith, whether planted by the
teachings of a Webster, Clay, or Bell, or
other great lights of the Wing party, o.
grounded upon doctrines enunciated by
Jefferson, jackson or Polk, and other great
leaders Of the Democratic party.
l stood by the Wing party.-ttte party of
my fathers-until its fortunes went down.
And in the memorable contest of 1860, |
was an humble champion Of the Bell and
Everett ticket, for the preservation of
the Union of the States and the integrity
of the constitution as it came from the
hands of its makers.
If to have been a Wing is discreditable,
then am under the ban. l cherish none
of those old party antagOnisms. have as
much respect for the man who was an ante
bellum Democrat, as for one who was a
Wing, and would now support the one as
cheerully as the other for Office. Mr.. John
sons standard of Democracy is not the ac-
knowledged measure of party merit among
Democrats of this day.
By his rule perhaps am not Democrat.
He regards no one as entitled to the. appel
latiotrwho was not a Democrat from his
cradle, and it may be that very few even Of
that class could place themselves within
the pale according to his conception of par
ty merit.
If to have suspended the writ of habeas
corpus to execute the finding of an unlaw-
full military court, in time of profound
peace, when the United States Govern
ment had more than 100000 men under
arms, without an organized battalion or
a Squandron confronting them-if to have
aided in levying tax of 3 cents per pound
upon cotton, the chief source of revenue to
the south, to the exclusion of all farm pro-
ducts of the north and west-if TO have de-
stroyed State governments in order to bring
them into new life upon a minority vote,
and upon the most degrading
and humiliating conditions, with
the Self-assumed power of purple-clOthed
Emperor, without the warrant of law and
in fragrant defiance of the Constitution. If