Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-29

TO which his party was opposed, all
these combined constantly tended to
produce in him a lack of that entire conf
dence so necessary TO party leadership.
Nor were these the worst which could be
charged against him. In his course in
all these instances which we have
noted he might readily have been ex.
clsed-and. indeed. was readily excused
because Of his long years of service to
his State, his undoubted regard for what
he believed to be her true interests, and
MS well recognized conscientiousness
Of character. To our mind, however
his most grievOus offense against his
party was committed two years ago,
when he sent from Washington his ia
nous sententious telegram; Il will
stand Tor reelection" thereby defying
outright the Democracy of his district,
which had 50 often honored him, and
then clinching his defiance by
following his telegram in person
aud ostentatiously declaring that if
the Democracy chose to renominate him
well and good; if not he would "tote his
own skillet" and run independently Of,
aud in opposition to. his party. This
act could not possibly be excused on the
ground Of consciousness, and it was
a breach Of party discipline which it
was very hard to overlook. Had any
one in the district but Mr.. Stephens
alone have attempted it there is no doubt
that his gage of defiance would have been
promptly taken up, and he would have
been badly worsted in the com.
bat. We are free to admit
that, at the time, we were
in favor Of the Democratic convention
Of the Eighth district unhesitatingly
meeting Mr. Stephens in the same spirit
of defiance which he displayed, feeling
that even if he possessed individual
strength sufficient TO defeat the regular
nominee it would be better to suffer de-
feat than cOuntenance such fragrant
political characterization. His fellow
citizens, however, who knew him thor
oughly, thought otherwise, and saw fit
to bestow upon him Congressional
h1nOrs for another term; and we are also
free to admit now that time has appa-
rently justified the political wisdom of
their course.
We repeat, therefore, that for the
reasons above enumerated, the nom
nation of Mr. Stephens for any
State Office by the Democratic party of
Georgia would, few weeks ago, have
been regarded as an utter impossibility,
or. if possible, certainly. in the highest
degree, unlikely At this time, however,
circumstances have materially altered
the case, and Mr.. Stephens, undoubted-
IL, has a fair prospect of receiving the
well nigh unanimous support of the
next Democratic State Convention.
Mr.. Speer's reckless telegram sent to
the recent Independent" conference in
Atlanta, the desperate haste with which
the suggestion contained in that telegram
was acted upon, the refusal of the Re-
publican State Executive Committee to
indorse Mr.. Stephens as their candidate,
aud, above all, Mr.. Stephens own manly
letter, in which he refused the Indepen-
dent nomination, declared that he was in
thorough accord with the Democratic
party, and would not accept any nomi
nation whatever unless it were given
by the regularly authorized convention
OF that party, have all tended to effect a
radical change in his position. He now
appears simply and solely as Democrat,
protesting sincere allegiance and devo-
ton to his party. He does not deny
that he would like to receive the honor
Of Gubernstorial nomination from the
Democracy, or that he would like
10 close his long political career by
serving the people of his State as their
Chief Executive; still he is no longer in
dependent. no longer defiant, but, on the
contrary, he voluntarily processes entire
readiness to submit to the will Of the
nominating convention of his party. He
simply says that if that convention nomi-
mates him he will accept, and serve the
State to the best of his ability; but If it
sees TT not to nominate him, he will
acquiesce in his party's verdict, and
retire promptly to private life
The Democratic Convention which
assemblies in Atlanta on the 10Th of July
can therefore nominate Mr.. Stephens, if
it so desires, without hesitation, and
should it see fit to do so we believe the
act will rebound to the advantage of the
party. His prompt reputation of the
Independent" nomination puts him in
direct antagonism with the soreheads,
while the reckless haste with which they
recommended him to the people places
him in a peculiarly strong position to
crush that ephemeral and heterogeneous
NAlAAANAA "a AuA@ANions LIS nOLuAudNNlu
would also. we believe, harmonic
every element of the party,
and thoroughly unite and strengthen the
Georgia Democracy, which was so un
happily and bitterly divided two years
sgo, while his election would certainly
secure the State a capable Executive and
a wise, conservative Democratic admin
istration. Whoever the convention may
see fit to nominate will receive the sup
port of the party and be elected, but we
are satisfied that. as matters now stand,
the people and the party would regard
the nomination and election of Mr.. Ste
phens as a fitting tribute to his recog-
nized ability, and an appropriate honor
with which to crown his long career IN
the service Of his State and country.
The select committee to investigate
the alleged use Of money to secure legis-