Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-08-26

You are here to assert your independence of
a one man power. You are here to proclaim
your .unalterable opposition to demagogisIn
and vice in high places. You are here to
| guard your own good name and reputation
| and the good name and reputation of those
who, above all others under the sun, are
| most dear to you.
You have honored me by selecting me as
your representative in the conflict of sobri-
! ETY. against inebriety, of fidelity against
| intidelity to public, trust, of honor against
dishonor. With a full appreciation of the
fierce contest involved, with full knowl-
! edge OF the hard labor and self sacrifice re-
| CURED, with full understanding of the
INSCRIPTIONS warfare that will be waged
| against me, l accept the trust confided to
me, and promise you that l shall dis
charge my full duty to you and
to the intelligent, patriotic masses
of this Congressional district, with what
/ ever zeal and ability may possess. L
know 1t is no child play. L know that 1t
will require courage of no ordinary degree
But have carefully studied over the whole
| ground, and am re .dy for the conflict
few weeks ago, when, yielding to the
solicitations of may friends throughout the
! district, l consented to contest the seat In
Congress now held by my competitor, the
undertaking seemed a difficult one. But
had ever been respondent l could be no
longer.
When look into the faces of the sturdy
gray haired men before me, who are
1 taking such intense interest il this matter,
| / say, s'Old men for COUNSEL" and with
such counsellors [ cannot go astray. When
/ l look into the brighter eyes of these young
! and middle-aged men, / see that l hare a
! host who are ready for the active work OF
| the campaign and cannot despond. | do
| not boast leave that to others-but If the
men who are here to-day in this audience,
hailing from every county in the Congression-
al District, will go to their homes and work
with the same determination that has
| brought them here, and exert the influence
| they are capable of exerting, there is no
more doubt of my election in November
| than there is that the sun now shines IN the
| horizon. campaign of brass bands, ring
| ing bells, noisy shouts, sensational posters
and similar clap trap, Will not tell against
| the determined effoi is of honest farmers,
hard-hste mechanics, professional men and
| business men of the district.
| Now, returning to you my sincere thanks
! for the honor you have conferred upon me,
| and promising you that l will carry your
! banner into the thickest of the fight and
| do whatever Is in my power to secure the
victory you merit, | will bring my remarks
to close for the present and allow you to
proceed with and finish the business for
which you have assembled.
at the conclusion of Captain Rules re
marks Col. J. NJ Thornburgh was called
! for and made a short speech, which was
/ well received
Judge Andrews was called for and made
a short speech. He said that after the ac-
| ton of the convention, so far there was no
need of speech.
so Rev. q. W. Pate (colored, of Sevierville,
made very humorous speech, relating
several anecdotes very applicable to the oc-
cason.
At 2 p. m, Major A. s. Prosser of Knox,
from the committee on resolutions, appear
ed and submitted the following report:
Whereas, The Second Congressional Dis
| trict of Tennessee the most reliable Re
| publican district in the South, and one
heretofore represented by honorable and
distinguished men of pure and national
fame, should have III the councils of the
nation representative of the intelligence,
honesty and sobriety of its people; and,
Whereas, Our present member of Con-
! gress, L. G. Houk, does not represent these
! elements of our population, and has by
eminent degraded himself aud disgraced his
district and his State, in the face of the
whole nation, and has thereby and by reck-
! less, INSCRIPTIONS and intolerant efforts to
obtain and hold the position for which he
has shown himself unworthy, forfeited the
respect of every good citizen, and rendered
1t impossible for intelligent, rejecting and
| self-respecting citizens to sustain him by
their votes; and,
! Whereas, The indisputable facts are that
| the whole past career of L. q. Houk has
shown him to be unfit to be the representa-
tive of respectable constituency; that as
minister of the Gospel he dishonored the
name of rel jon that as a soldier he was
disgrace 10 the army, and was compelled
to resign therefrom by reason of his in
competency, worthlessness and drunken
ness, for the goot of the service that as
| a judge his sympathes and associations
were with the criminal classes, which he en-
couraged by precept, example, conduct and
by his habits, which were disgusting and
corrupting; that he dishonored the judicial
ermine, and was compelled to resign from
the bench to save himself from impeach
ment by the Legislature; that for political
ends he joined temperance organizations
and Went before magistrate of Anderson
| County. and took and subscribed an oath
that he would drink no more that he,
pretending to have reformed, rejoined the
church, prayed and exhOrted loudly III pub
lie, and by long course of studied hypoc-
ricy,a deceived the people and induced the
Republican voters to submit to his can
didacy at a time when the party throughout
the country was struggling to elect Re-
publican Congress, many hoping that his
pretended reformation was genuine, while
| others feared that the running of another
Republican would result in the loss of the
district, which bad, under the leadership of
N n of high character and tried integrity
grown to be the strongest and most reliable
Republican district in the South, remaining
steadfast and true, when all Others IN the
State and nearly all in the South were lost
to the party; that he has for many years
been an incessant and chronic office-seeker,
to the detriment of the State and Republican
party that he has bolted Republican
conventions, and run against It's chosen
candidates Whenever he believed it to his
interest to do SO; that he recently pretended
to be IN favor of the election of Hon. Hor
| ace Maynard to the United States Senate
while secretly laboring to defeaS~him; that
during his rec Mt brief Congressional career
he has sunk to the lowest depths of brutal
debauehery, and has In consequence thereof
been, during a large portion of the time,
unfit and unable to attend to public bust
ness, or the interests of his constituents;
that he has repeatedly been upon the floor
of the House of Representatives, before the
departments of the government, and upon
the streets of Washington, in condition of
such beastly intoxication that the nation was
STAINED, his State dishonored and his con
stituency disgraced; that he has been depos-
tied in a committee room of the House to
sleep off his intoxieation, and left the room
de fled with the filth of his debauch; that
he has been arrested by the police of the
City of Washington for being drunk, and
disorderly upon the streets, and taken
drunk to the station house, where he was
locked up, shouting vengeance upon his
captors that he was in condition of mis-
cradle and helpless intoxicationat public
hotd in Nashville for weeks together during
a late session of the Legislature, as was