The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-05-18

1Ao Nominees ~ 004mGsvhWes
Ths Rspuhiiezns have mei, no.inated fheir
candkdafs ~ State ollcen, and adjourned Ex-
Geansor Coaoyg has bees placed n he field for
0svun1e, and Gen. LedHifh, whsse heart had
been 81 CO DE ans place, wss rut last The
FLoR1DEAx mated IAst week thai The race was
betwem CooOver md Dennia EAgan, and % il
turned cut EAgan led On all The ballots except
tie 6nal one, when, By change Of votes from
other candidates, Co0ovez was placed ahead and
tins secured the coveted prize Ledwith. By the
superior tactics Of his Middle Florida opponent
who alienaied from him the % votes Of Leon
and Jegeson which nonfh ago we've assured
for him, Was slaughtered His vote in the gen
eral scramble never got above So The placing
him second o. The ticket finally was piece Of
ambition and reconcile him TO the situation
II d useless to uDder-rsie the ticket Il Is not
- strong as might have been selected, and for
that much the Democracy viii be grateful; but
IL has some elements Of strength, notwiihstaDd
ing II viii rally the colored vote with the usual
enthusiasm 1t is true, any candidate labelled
- Republican generally succeeds in doing that.
and there is nothing in the head Of the present
ticket TO de more in that direction than would
have been accomplished had the nominee been
Siickney, or Eagan, or somebody else The ne
gro votes with the party" and all he wants 10
know Is that the candidate for whom he votes
has the party Enforcement One man. properly
labelled, Is az good 10 him as another. This IL
an element Of strength 10 be counted on by every
Republican nominee, and CODOver starts out with
il at bis back, Is compact and noisy as ever. In
fact If be has any strength al all il is with that
class Of voters whose highest estimate of the
ballot is that ii is sort of inveHiion for putting
Republicans in sf8ce. not an iDs,rumentali,y for
the preservation Of law and order and good gov
eminent With the ignorant Law is tyranny
license only is liberty. as we in Florida know
from experience II is for this reason-thai the
ticket just nominated will be supported by the
great bulk Of the colored voie-thaf we say il is
formidable and for that reason is not to be under
rated II is q reason also why ii should be de
feAted Its success means the return OF the old
order Of things for 10 one will reasonably hope
for better government under the same, or nearly
the same, leaders than existed from 1853 to 1877,
when Q persons fitness for Office depended more
upon his influence in elections than on his intel
hgeDce. The Offices were, in fact, regarded as
the perquisites Of those who had the disposal Of
them and were distributed to subserve their
schemes. Imbeciliiy and incompetence were
everywhere, especially in the black belt, where
people were plundered by their officials and
robbed by the lawless, until in some counties.
notably Leon, one might ride from Tallahassee
4 1 4
tie unless the careful owner had taken the pre-
caution 10 house or pen them
To say that We shall haze repetition of the
old rule if the Senator is elected Is simply TO
say that like will beget like There is nothing
in his surroundings or in bis antecedents to lead
any 10 suppose that he can elevate his party
10 higher plane. Clever, in the sense of
being good fellow whom everybody is
inclined TO like, we readily grant, but if il was
known that be possessed the nerve TO Withstand
the clamors Of the hungry horde Of all colors who
will demand reward for political services he
would not only not have been nominated but his
followers would have very little use Tor him
even now. That he out-maneuvred the whole
Jacksonville Ring" with Bisbee at its head
and bundled Hicks of 10 Chicago and thus kept
him from becoming probably successful rival
for the nomination. after Eagan had been laid on
the shelf, is something to his credit; but for all
that we doubt whether he will come much nearer
being made Governor than when. two years ago,
he tried TO get back TO Congress and failed
by some three thousand votes AT any rate his
defeat by decisive majority is certainty if his
opponents, soon TO meet, are judicious in their
choice of candidates and labor with the same
earnestness they did four years ago. when the
odds were so much against them.