Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-08-19
SPEECH Of Gov. Isham G. Harris

SPEECH OF Gov. Isham G.. Harri
proposing to withdraw his name as can
didate for elector for the State at large
See our account of the transactions O
the Convention on second page:
He desired to tender his profount
thanks for honoring him with theil
votes few moments before. He hac
no complaints to utter against the gen.
tlemen who had entertained differ.
ent opinion. He had been a life Ions
Democrat, and he we'll remembered
that twenty years ago the Democracy
in this Capitol, delivered to Kim the
banner of the party and babe him
bear it over the hills and valleys OF
Tennessee. He remembered to have
accepted that high trust at their hands,
and with such ability as he possessed,
bore the banner from the waters of
the Mississippi through the mountains
of East Tennessee. He had the honor
to return it to the hands of the De-
mocracy untarnished by a single stain.
| Loud cheers. Twenty years had
passed since then, and they brought
many changes to all of them, but in
that time he had been the recipient of
honors at the hands of the people of
Tennessee that he could never forget
or fail to be grateful for. Those
years had wrought some changes with
him as well as with them. Although
his heart beat slower and had lost some
of its former vim and vitality, yet he
could say that it beat as true to the
great cardinal principles of the Dem
ocratic party now as then and was
bound to beat so forever. cloud ap-
plause.) He could never see strug-
gle involving the rights and interests
of the people of Tennessee that would
not enlist his deepest feeling, his earn
est efforts for the success of those
principles, and that grand and glorious
old party that had achieved SO manv
victories In Tennessee, and which was
bound to be victorious in the future
by reason of the just principles which
it announced.
They had platform adopted at st.
Louis upon which every old line Whig
and old line Democrat could plant
himself with confidence and sense
of self-respect and abiding love for the
best interest of his country and the
rights of all States. Upon that plat
form they had put man of brains, of
thought, and man Of will and power,
one who had capacity to comprehend
the duties of his position and the rights
of State and citizen under the Con-
stitution; one who proposed to admin
lister the government under the Con-
stitution, that being the supreme law
to him and not upon the idea Of Sec
tional hates and sectional prejudices;
a man whose whole life was guaran-
tee against every idea of corruption;
man whose whole life has been of per-
petual war against peculation, plunder
and robbery, and who had the nerve to
throttle the peculator and plunderer
in their extravagant abuses. With |
such platform and such a candidate
every Democratand every Wing should
rally to its support. In the advocacy
of that platform and that ticket, no
man In Tennessee was prepared to give |
it a more vigorous and earnest support
than he was. No matter whether he
was the choice of the Convention for
the position of Elector, he was too old |
a Democrat to be chilled for single |
moment in his life for that grand old |
party. (Applause.) His more fortu-
nate friend who had received their
votes and to whose hands the banner
of the party had been delivered should |
not be more jealous or ardent in ad- |
vocating the principles of the party
than himself. (Applause.) Their choice
had left in his heart no sting. Hehad
heard within the last day or so, and |
heard it not unfrequently from lips of
men whom he knew to be friends, from
the fact that he had associated with
them, that if he were nominated by
the Convention, it would, perhaps
ieopardise the Democratic cause; he We
hemently protested that he would
rather perish from mems memories
than risk any danger to the party.
He did not believe that his candidacy
as an elector could have the effect that
some of his old friends thought it
would. And for that reason and that
alone he allowed his name to go before
the Convention, but he would bow to
the action of the Convention. With |
such doubt before him he was not
willing to incur even a shadow of risk |
to the Democratic party. He would
beg not to be placed in this or any |
other position which could be con-
strued so as to work an injury to the
party.