Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-11-13

was SlatS-cFeOlIs INSIDE OF MONT
gomery they gave more attention
to the southern and western dis
tricts Of Montgomery than to the
sounder portion of the county. In
short, they hunted out reputation
wherever it was to be found, and
wherever they found it they fought
it to the death. They assumed,
what was undoubtedly true, that
the debt question had never been
argued on its merits before the peo-
pie, and they determined that the
whole question should be brought
before every man on its merits.
They assumed that the people were
honest but misinformed they de-
termined they should be fully in
formed.
AS a first step towards the realiza-
ton of this purpose they had to
nominate such candidates as had
the knowledge and ability to carry
it out. The question to be discussed
was law question: "Do the people
owe the debt 90 Notwithstanding
all preiudices to the contrary, there
fore, they nominated one of their
ablest lawyers for the senate, Mr..
W. M. Daniel, who was moreover
known to be an uncOmpromising
supporter of the state platform and
had shown himself a first-class po-
litical manager besides. 1t may be
here stated that the delegates who
| attended the senatorial convention
from Robertson were dismayed at
the known uncompromising charac-
ter of Mr.. Daniel, and implOred the
Montgomery people to nominate a
gentleman supposed to be less pro-
nounced in his opinions, but the
nomination was adhered to for that
very reason, and our Robertson
friends accepted it and promised to
work for it with all their force,
though with serious misgivings.
We think they now agree that Mr..
Daniel was the right man.
For county representative to the
legislature Montgomery nominated
Mr.. Rufus n. Rhodes, young law
yer of brilliant talents, who was
known to have made special study
of the debt question for years, and
to be gifted with the power of MAX
ing it clear to his hearers, together
with an inflexible resolution in urg-
ing it upon them and maintaining
it against all gainsayers. He also
was pledged as an uncomprOmising
champion of the democratic plat
form of last August.
Robertson county nominated Mr..
Woodward for its representative to
the state legislature. He is a gen.
tleman of property who has been
engaged in the distillery business.
Stewart, in conjunction with Mont
gomery, nominated as fOaterial
representative Mr.. Bagwell, an in
telligent young Stewart county
farmer. Both these gentlemen were
pledged as supporters of the regular
democratic platform.
Strong as it was, this team was
not left alone to pull the wagon.
Judge Smith, the indefatigable
chairman of our executive commit
tee, had around him a staff of able
and well-posted young speakers,
Messrs. West, Burney, Rudolph and
others, who were always ready to
go at a moments notice to any point
which might have been passed over
by the candidates, or where disaf-
lection might have broken out since
their visit through the efforts of OPP
position speakers or workers. Speak
ers of great ability from outside the
district also paid us visits men
such as Senator Bailey, Judge
Wright, Judge Freeman and Mr..
CoIyar; but it was mainly the local
speakers who did the work.
Opposed to these had been nomi-
mated Mr.. Rogers, Iow-tax candi-.-
date for the state senate, and Mr.. l..
G. Munford for representative from
Montgomery county; both of them
very respectable nominations for an
ordinary campaign, but this was no
ordinary one. When they contend
ed that the railroads owed the debt
they were called upon to prove it
and confronted with proof to the
contrary, and this was carried into
every roads in the county.
Men who never before knew what
state bond was had the whole
matter laid out clearly before them,
and this was done whether crowds
counting by hundreds were adj
dressed or little knot of fifteen or
twenty. In short, the battle was
fought out in every nook or Granny
of the three counties-and now for
the result.
Our own people expected Robert
son county to give majority of
800 against the regular nominees.
In the case of MIR. Daniel, who had
two antagonists, this was reduced
to 2S3. (The boilers had claimed
the county by 1,500.) Mr.. Wood
ward, who had only a lOw-tax an
tagonist, was elected by a large
majority. In Montgomery, even
after the contest was nearly through,
Mr.. Rhodes never claimed a ma
jority of more than 500; his actual |
majority, as well as that of Mr.. |
Daniel, was over LOO. In Stewart,
which had not been so thoroughly |
worked, being looked upon as safer,
the old majority of former elections
was obtained by the nominees of
the regular democracy namely, |
about 800 votes out of about 800 |
votes cast in all.
1t should be added that in Mont
gOmery the democratic vote in ev-
cry case largely exceeded the aggre-
gate of that obtained by both antag-