Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-06-01
MISSISSIPPI POLITICS.
The Contest I'm tbe Second Congress
sIOBRI District-1WO Prominent
Names Before the Con-
VentfOn.
From an Occasional Correspondent of the

Appeal
HERNANDO, May so 1t seems to be
admitted that Tsyler or Manning will
represent the second district OF Missis-
sippi in the next congress, and the DEM
ocratic nominating convention must de-
eide which it shall be. Both are men Of
talent Both are lawyers, and each
stands at the head Of his profession in
his county. Both were Confederate
soldiers, and each won "the bubble repu-
tatiOn even II the cannon's mouth"
Both are Democrats, and the party will
be we'll represented IL either should be
its nominee. But yet there is 3 choice be-
tween them. Colonel Manning left the
State of Mississippi in early manhood,
and cast his future with the people OF
Arkansas, and when the fierce struggles
Of war tried the souls OF men Manning
won his fame among Arkansas troops,
and as an Arkansas man. Taylor, ever
true to his native State, led her
sons to battle, aud when he fell In
desperate charge, d(s lerately wounded,
he led Mississip3i troops ana fell in the
arms OF Missis ippi friends. When the
war was over Rnd it became necessary
TO fght the battles Of Miseis lippi in the
political arena, each mounted the ros-
trum and struggled against the cOrlup-
tiOns OF Radicaiism. But while Man
ming raised his voice for the Democracy
he took no chances FIR defeat in her
cause. Marshall county was about five
hundred majority for the Radicals, and
yet in 1873 iJ went largely for the Rsdi-
cRls. Where was Colonel Manning
then? We know not where he was, but
We know well where he was not. He was
not, like Taylor in the front of the battle;
he was no candidate of the Democracy,
taking the leEd ia the face of defeat. Ps-
nOla county had then about one thou
sand Radical msjority, and yet Taylor,
undaunted by these fearful odds and un-
dismayed by the almost certain pros
pect OF defeat, took up the Democratic
standard and carried it in triumph into
the state senate. And about this time,
while Tay lOr was sacrificing time and
money sDd Drawing the odium OF de-
feat, Colonel Manning was practiciDg
his profession and receiving 3
fat fee from the United States
government for prosecuting Mis-
sissippians charged as kuklux. We
have no comment to make against any
lawyer who takes fee on any side OF
law-suif. Aud be is not presumed to
favor or to sustain personally the cause
seldom draw nice distinctions between
the arguments Of the counsel and the
opinions OF the man. Piunkett was
once the idol Of the Irish people, and his
elOquence was almost unequaled; but,
when he accepted employment from the
English government to prosecute EN-
NETT, the flower of his fame withered,
and the brillianey of his rhetoric Wss
forgotten amid the great wave Of Irish
Indignation which rolled over him. The
lawyer who takes fee to prosecute his
own people, where q great political
question Is involved, must look to his
fee Tor his reward, with a full conscious
ness that it will be remembered sgsinst
him, if ever after ne becomes q candidate
for popular power. when Pfeutis5 was
in the zenith of his fame, Joe Holt was
his nearest rival in Mississippi in elO-
quence, and, when Holt was called upon
10 make Democratic speech in reply to
Prentiss, he said: "I am lawyer, and,
If the Democracy will pay me
fee, will argue their case before the
people" We have no quarrel with a
man who thus prefers the law to poll
tics, but when he has made his sslec-
ton he must abide by it, and must not
expect the people to forget his choice.
To say the least OF It, Colonel Manning
made q grave mistake, and we want no
man 10 represent US who is liable to
make sueh mistakes. It was q mistake
that Taylor did not make, and which
Bob Taylor never could make. There is
in him all the energy and earnestness
which made the soldiers Of Cromwell in
aud while indomitable in eour-
age he ia unbending and uuwavering in
bis opposition to Radicslism in every
shape and form, and no fee Of any mag
1itude could have induced him to lend
the influence Of his name or the vigor OF
his intellect to the prosecution Of Mis-
sissippians for quasi political Offense.
is a good man, but Taylor is
better. Manning may sometimes be
right, but Taylor is one Of those remark
able men whose instinct always carries
him right. Whether we see him lead
ing the charge In ArmstrOng's celebrated
Mississippi brigade, or leading the foTlorn
hope politically in Pamela county, or
rushing in the ranks with his gun to the
aid of the outraged people Of Austin, or
forming one Of thet NOBLE Democratic
band in the senate, and side by side
with Stone, Graham and Allen, resist
ing, at every step, an overwhelming
Radical majority; ne is the same mod
est, fearless and true man, with his heart
aver In the right place, where Mississip-
pi and Mississippians are concerned.
OLD DESOTO.