The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-01-12
THE SENATORIAL CONTEST.

dened list of aspirants for Senatorial
honors, and speculation is rife as to the
probable effect of his candidacy upon
the prospects of Ex-Governor Groome,
whose apparent strength as a candidate
has heretofore indicated the possibility
of his final success 1t is not, however,
for the purpose of INDUCING in idle
speculation upon the final issue of the
contest now marked by such Devil
dering uncertainty, that we advert to
the subject, but rather to present what
seems to US the fair and reaso-a4,r,o i,
depreciation of the drie.~ofn ol;t;cal son.
.l'ien' III 'nls ounty, Republican aud
De"'o . &c alike, with reference to its
preference We apprehend
that we do not mistake this sentiment
in asserting that it is favorable to the
Ex-Governor, and which we think re-
view of the recent campaign in Cecil
will indicate. Primarily,-and conced-
ing the candidacy Of Judge Stump to
be settled fact,-it must be apparent
to every one that the issue, so far, at
least, as this county is concerned, is not
one in which the respective personal or
party claims of these two gentlemen
are involved. The questions of rela-
tive personal qualification, of individual
popularity or general acceptabiltv are
not now raised. These .cere proper. sub
jects of popular inquiry, but are now
pertinent at this time, as we shall pres
emily show. Nor, for obvious reasons,
are ingenious homilies upon the quail
fcation of the judiciary for political
preferment just now in season in Cecil
county at least. No intelligent man
doubts or denies the eligibility of Judge
Stump for seat in the L. S. Senate
He has the brains, the legal acquire
ment, and the personal honesty, and is
not debarred by reason of his being a
Judge. All this is true of him, and
equally so of other gentlemen who grace
the bench of the second judicial dis
trict and more prominently in the sena-
torial contest than Judge Stump. Dis
tinctly stated, then, we regard the single
issue now involved as being the simple
one of the success of some Cecil county
man against the balance of the State,
or perhaps, more strictly speaking,
against the other counties of the East
ern Shore, and as an inevitable corol-
larry to this proposition the further state
ment that the result of the recent cleo
ton in Cecil county settled the question
as to who that man is, and who bv
every precedent and usage Of his party
is entitled to its undivided support. A
cursory review of the circumstances
and results of the last canvass in the
county will, we imagine, verify this
statement. AS then, we now consider
that contest from party and not per-
sonal standpoint. With the individual
differences of Democrats we have neither
share nor sympathy. In the campaign
of last Fall, the anti-Groome element
took the field early 1t was not an Or
gained party opposition acting in the
interest Of any particular man, as COM
pelitor Of Mr.. Groome for the L. S.
Senate, for the name of no other Cecil
Democrat was mentioned as against
him. But his prospective candidacy
seems to block the way of others to
political fortune. To the ordinary par
donable .jealousies, inseparable from
rival candidates for party favor, was
added unusual personal feeling, which.
in its discriminating zeal, o'erstepped
party lines and trampled down party
usages and traditions. 1t is needless,
however, in this connection, to specu.
late upon the real causes that inspired
it. The disturbance in the political
family was general, and combinations
were as common and alliances as thick
as blackberries in July. In personal
sense, and to certain party extent, one
gentleman seemed to be regarded as the
common enemy Of every aspiring Dem
ocrat in the county. Not that the CUB.
ernatorial Duncan had not borne his
fast accommodating honors meeklv, or had
really done aught to justify this appar-
ently general desire of the local leaders
for his summary taking off. But the
lines of personal ambition within the
party could not be kept divergent. Con
verge they would and did. The narrow
path that led to a Congressional heaven
was difficult road for three ambitious
lawyers, and one aspiring editor, to
travel abreast, and which the broader
and seemingly smoother senatorial
track, then marked by single Cecil
wayfarer, overshadowed and OVERLAND
To use a highly metaphorical express
sion, the political bed on which these
restless dreamers lay, was too narrow
and uncomfortable for easy and refresh
ing slumber Somebody must be kicked
over. The Ex-Governor was the politi-
cal Jonah to be consigned to the angry
waves. He was getting on too fast,
any how. He was developing politi-
calI,y too rapidly for his age and times.
He was exhausting too seriously the
wealth of the soil in which he flourish
ed, dwarling the growth. both in root
and limit, of less vigorous plants To
every looker-on, outside the Democratic
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