Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-21
LETTER FROM MAJOR BACON.
Patriotic Utterances-A Strong Plea for
Mr.. Stephens and the Success of the
Organized Democracy.

Mr.. stephens and the success OF the
Organized Democracy.
The following letter was written in reply
to an invitation from the Democratic State
Executive Committee TO Major Bacon, ssk-
ing that he would make series Of speeches
in the pending State csmpaigr:
MACON. GA, S ptember is, 1882
Hon. Henry Jackson, Ch1iTTnGn State Demo-
cratic EIecltttUe Committee, AtGrltG Ga:
DEAR SIR-I am in receipt Of your note Of
| Yesterday, IN which, Ia behalf Of the Exec
utive Committee, you request that l will
make series of appointments in the State,
upon which | shall address the people In the
| interest of the election OF Mr.. Stephens 10
| the office of Governor. I regret that cir
| cumstanccs do not leave me at liberty o
comply with your request without doing
| injustice to those who have placed their
! interests In my professional charge. For
| two months prior to the meeting OF the
| July Convention, my time was. to the ex-
clusion OF my professional business,
closely occupied by the contest then
pending for the Gubernstorial nomina-
| ton. For the past six weeks 1 have been
out OF the State upon trip undertaken
| partly for rest and recuperstion, but mainly
to spend a vacation with my children, who
| are absent from home. The fall terms OF
| cur courts, State and Federal, are now be-
| ginning their sessions, and the p OCCASIONAL
| duties which have accumulated during the
past four months, and which have been
| postponed until the present, now impers-
| lively demand my exclusive care and atten-
| tioD. To inform myself Of what has oc-
cured during my absence, and to prepare
| for and make a campaign of the State,
would require the time that forbearing
clients now have right to demand Of me.
But while It is beyond my power to I'M
| dertske the task to which you invite me,
cannot permit to pass the opportunity pre-
scented by your note to repeat what have
| upon all proper occasions said both publicly
aud privately, that Mr.. Stephens has my
| support, ard that ! desire his election, as
the duly accredited representative OF the
| Democratic organization. II the organized
| Democracy OF the State is 10 accomplish
anything in the future, 1t must not
| be destroyed by it's defeat in the present
contest. II the organization is worth pre-
serving, If upon It's preservation depend our
most reasonable hope for the future pros
peritv and well being of the State, then
personal preferences for individual candi-
dates are Insignificant in comparison to
the necessity for the preserva'icn OF such
! organization. Such preferences properly
| belong to the contest for the nomination.
| The safety of the organization requires that
| they houd not survive It, It cannot be
denied that al uses and improper influences
may under certain circumstances, necessitate
| the disruption of political party; but so long
| as there is q reasonable hope for the cOIr2c-
| ton of such abuses "within the partyn the
| time for the abandonment of the orgsnizs-
| tiOn has not arrived. And when we consider
| how much has been scc0mpli. he'd by this
| organization, and how much in the future
4. .I,,Aa oil
hope that such unfortunate necessity may
not arise in the near future. The present
| time certainly does not present 1t.
In my De ire for the preservation Of the
organic alton ia the State, l am neither par
tisan nor sentimental. l am Influenced by
entirely practical considerations. The prsc-
teal value Of this organization to US can
best be realized by considering the grand
work it has accomplished ia the past twelve
years. From the depths Of political adver
| sitv, the State has been raised TO q crafty
| ing elevation of political and material pros
perity. Confusion and distrust have given
! place to order aud confidence. Material
| enterprises have multiplied, and the public
| school system heretofore only existing in
name, has been practically established upon
| firm basis. The laws have been impartially
enacted and impartialy administered; aud
! from condition in which public credit was
utterly gone, the State has, under wise en-
actment and economic administration, sd
| vanced to a position where she stands
abreast Of the foremost political communi-
ties of the world, in her ability to float a
| four per cent. bond at par. And let GeOr-
| giau 20 where he will In this broad land, he
one his State spoken of in
| terms of admiration and confidence.
| These most gratifying results can be
legltimately claimed as the fruits of the Ia
| bors Of the organized m1cracy In the
State. It is q mistake to suppose that the
| State could have been rescued IS It was In
1870 ny the efforts of unorganised political
| guerrilla bands, however earnest and patriotic
| they may have been, Il was only possible
in the united onset of an organized party
determined to recover and administer their
| own government. And 1t has only been by
| the continued efforts of a united organize
ton that rhe work then begun has been so
successfully prosecuted.
The national issues which divide the De-
mocratic and Republican parties have little
or no relation In practical application to the
division Of parties In the administration of
the State government; but there is one prac-
tical &nd cardinal principle in our State
| politics, which is vital to our prosperity,
and to preserve which Democratic unity
and Democratic organization are essential.
| That principle is that the protection of ma
terial interests, the maintenance OF law and
| order, MISREPRESENTATION Of our social institu-
tions and the development of our resources,
all require that the government should
be controlled and administered by the
combined influences of the virtue and
intelligence OF the State. This is a princi-
pie vital to all States whether they may be
under Republican or Democratic influenza.
1t is the principle upon which with us the
successes of the past twelve years have been
achieved. It is the principle upon the
maintenance Of which the prosperity of
this State In the future must depend. This
vital, practical principle can only be here
maintained by preserving in its purity and
freedom the Democratic organization, wb en-
in this State represents and embraces these
ell ments to the greatest extent; and should
the present organization be unfortunately
disrupted, the public interest would require
reorganization upon a basis which would
beat assert this principle.
ConcediDg the correctness and vitality Cf
this principle, it is difficult to see how It cen
be practically maintained except through
organization. II Democrats OF the straight
est sect leave the organization, where will
they go, with whom will they act, and by
whose influences must they necessarily be
controlled? Ii abuses exist within the Or
ganiZ alton, it does not seem to me to be The
part Of wisdom to Join hands with those
who deride the organization, ard whose
aVOWeu purpose is TO destroy II. so thai to
my mind, from a practical standpoint, the
question is not limited to individuals, but e
one that rises clear above the claims and
merits Of the respective candidates, how
ever great and cOmmendable they may be.
The question is the preservation of the Or
ganiZation and the maintenance Of the prin-
ciple already stated, to which we owe the
prosperity OF the present, and upon which
must rest our hopes for the future. Let the
organization perish, and political chaos will
come again. Only through 1t or some other
succeeding organization equally potent
can be maintained the political supremacy
of those elements which alone can guard |
our institutions, political and social, protect |
our property, sustain the public credit and |
safely meet out justice and protection i'm
partially to all classes and conditions. Dur |
ing the twelve years political supremacy of |
these controlling elements, these great ends |
of civil government have been secured, and |
the finger cannot be put upon the statute |
enacted in this time, the object or the prac- |
ticRl effect of which is to Cypress the weak |
or to do injustice to those of any class or |
race. An organization which has accom-.
pllshed so much, and which is so essential |
to the prosperity Of the future, should not |
be abandoned on account Of real or imagined |
evils temporary in their nature. Those who |
are making the most determined war upon |
the organization are indebted for the chief |
benefits of good government which they now |
enjoy to the supremacy Of the element |
which they seek prac ticslly to overthrow. |
I believe I'm the free, untraumeled |