Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-08-24
speech Of Hon. John +. mouse.

speech OF Hon. John X. House.
Immediately after the close Of tn
convention the Hon. John f. Hous
was vociferously called for. Tha
gentleman had been lying i'll at tn,
Maxwell House during the proceed
ings of the convention and though
still suffering under his indispositior
addressed the assemblage as follows
amid frequent bursts of applause:
Gentlemen of the convention and
fellow citizens Owing to my
physical condition / will be unable
to respond to your kind and compli-
mentary call in the manner in
which | should like to do. ! have
watched the proceedings of this
convention of the Democratic party
of Tennessee with unusual interest.
had feared that you would not be
able to harmonic and that the
Democratic party was on the eve of
disruption. When l look back on
the brave boys, when / remember
the thousands of our penniless and
war broken sons that have come
back and what they have suffered,
and how we have struggled for ex-
istence as State and our rights as
citizens, and when / behold them
In few years wrangling on thesub-
! ject of high and low taxes and about
to disband, / ask myself the qestion
can it be possible that the past has
been SO soon forgotten and now,
after every Southern State has
passed through the frey crucible of
reconstruction, has reclaimed its
rights, will the Democratic party
disrupt? l come to congratulate
you; | congratulate the Democracy
of Tennessee; | congratulate the
Democratic party of the nation, that
the old Democratic ship to-day,
after having rocked in the storm,
has got out into the smooth waters
with clear sky. Loud applause.
We have had our divisions; we
have had them In counties we
have had them in the State, but
shall we have them any more ?
Cries of 'No," "no, "nO."1 Will
not the Democratic party now unite
and march to victory, after having
gone through what we have gone
through, after having fought the
Republican party out since the war,
by patience, by forbearance, by long
suffering, by crawling in the dust,
by every means on earth? Now
that every Southern State has
reached solid ground, shall we
throw away the fruits of victory ?
Shall Tennessee scuttle the old ship
and send it to the bottom? Never! |
A chorus of voices re-echoed, |
Never" l don't believe it. / |
know it now.
You have been harmonious ON a |
platform, in the direction in which |
national politics has taken, the side |
of the toiling millions. | have |
heard that the National party has
been insinuating that the Demo !
rights of The people and in league |
with the bondholders. Let me say
that the Democrats, West and |
South, concerning this principle
never had more fearless and un-
fiinching advocates, all taking the
strongest possible grounds in favor
of the rights of the people. They
are far in advance on the great ma
tional ideas. On the 4th of March
the Democrats will have the Senate,
and if we don't throw it away by
foolish divisions, and are true to our
principals, we will elect our Presi-
dent in 1880. l may entertain pc
culiar views, but in reference to the
for 1880, / am in favor of
a Western man. Immense APP
plause. VOORHEES,, of Indiana, is a
man representing the views you
have yourselves laid down. We
have had to struggle for existence
since the war, have been told we
must take men from New York.
We have learned differently. We
have been freed from bondage, and
will choose a candidate from any
part of the country that is best. All
reforms you seek to bring about
must be done by Western men. A
voice, Hendricks l don't care
about men. Hendricks,
VOORHEES, or Thurman-men who
represent principle and who will
stand by you through evil and good
report. / would like to address you
further, but | am admOnished that
[ cannot proceed. Cries of "Go
on, ""GO on" | have been in a
sick bed for two days. But | want ;
to say one word. VIII you go out
into this conflict determined to har-
monize as you have here in your
platform? Cries of ''Yes, ""Yes."]
You have selected a standard, and
in the hands of Marks it will be
calamity carried. l know Albert !
5. Marks well, and there is not a
Tennessean who is not proud of
him. A voice, "YOu are mighty .
right He is a man in whom are
all the elements it takes to make ,,
man. Let us go forward to victory. ,
Permit me again, felIOw-citizens, to ,
return my sincere thanks for your :
in calling upon me.