Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-09-05
HOWELL E. JACKSON
Literally SqueIehed by Senator Harris at
Erin His Glaring Inconsistency
on the State Debt Question.
His Letter to Marks IndOrsing That Gen
tleman's Very LOw-Tax Message and
His 5O-4 Resolutions in June.

Will not Keep JacKsons Irleods al W ashlng-
ton from thinking that he desires to defeat
Senator Harris now, go that when his term
expires four years hence there may be no
cry that both Of the senators are from West
Tennessee.
Every one knows Thar the reelection OF
Harris will prove the retiremement of jack
son, and if Jackson's efforts prove as feeble
in future as they did at Erin, Harris will be
the unanimous choice of the Democracy in
January next.
Anatonists tell US that if we but knew the
delicate tissues by which the machinery Of
life is carried on-how eight the fbres, how
complex the functions on which vitality de-
ponds, we should not have courage to move
or even to speak lest we should destroy an
organization so delicate and sensitive. In
like manner if Howell Jackson knew the
dangers o~ffghting the people who have hon.
ored him; il he knew the unenyiable posi-
ton he occupies in working for the defeat OF
a c~ollesgue; if he knew the perils through
which he is passing, the volcanoes of popu-
lar Indignation which his conduct has de-
veloped, he would leave the canvass, retire,
to the farm OF his fatber-in-law and tender
his resignation before it is demanded by the
next Legislature.
At Erin, Saturday, Jackson opened the
canvass between himself and Harris in a
two hours speech to a crowd of over 400.
His propositions were stated tersely and
clearly. He held that the faith of the State
was pledged for the payment of all bonds
issued; denied that there was any difference
between the State debt proper and the rail-
road debt; maintained that any settlement
but sixty-and-six was resdjustment and die
honor to the State; argued that the majority
could not bind the minority, and gloried in
the fact that his "sky-blue" followers would
never be bound by the action Of the June
convention. His audience vas very atten-
tive, respectful aud sympathetic, for the reason
that he seemed like an awkward pup con-
testing a championship with a mastif that
had never known defeat. The only "eky-
blues" present were one Buquo, of one
hun~dred-and-ihree fame, Of Stewart county,
and a few picked political body snatchers
who came down from GAINESVILLE, to-
gether with a couple of boilers from
Nashville. As a stump speaker or a man TO
create enthusiasm jackson is a "dead cop
per-" He is not a magnetic man like Bate,
not a lovable and brilliant man like House,
not a great man like Harris, not like any OF
these-warm of heart, captivating of pres
enee, or dazzling of intellectual luminosity.
But he is a good lawyer-strong in the
steadfast nerve which he must have inherited
fr,- Va.l-ao anaaStrv and rasnaofabIa 10
the symmetry of an intellect which, like a
marble masterpiece, leaves nothing to re-
gret except that its perfection excludes the
blemish of a heart.
When Harris arose 10 address his audience
(his, because those who were not, when he
began, gladly admitted it when he closed
he looked like a man conscious OF his COM
handing intellect, proud of his various re-
sources, and absolutely determined to anni-
hilate his opponent. He several times begged
the crowd to cease cheering him, and as
sured them that their highest compliment
would be to hear him without a murmur.
Jackson will never forgive him for 50 hui |
initiating him before the people whose
views he treats with such contempt. In the
OA0 We SOhCAuOI Ac Has IOuuu n ldienl
stronger, a logic surer, a perception keenef
and subtler, and a courage more daring
and careless than his own. When he
reached hat portion of Senator Jackson's
speech where he said there was no difference
between The State debt proper and the bonds
Issued in aid of railroads, be said: "a large
majority Of The people Of Tennessee hare recog:
ni1sd m diofinefion mud IN bsI<~. AZ bonl,o. o
neither legally nor morally binding on tie State. |
GoverRor Marks had drG,Dn such a distinction |
IN a celebrated lO0-tdz message, and when Marks
had prittsl this message a noted laryer, rho read
IL IN the qGietude of his ot0D study, sat dorn and
pennsd a letter indorsing an toto the sentiments
Of Governor Marks. That larger, feHoig- citizens, |
uas Ho0eN E. Jackson, and 1 haue neger seen the
day tehen L hadn't he highest respect for d legal
opinion Of HoUeU E. Jackson" In regard to
Senator Jackson's position, that anything
less than sixty-and-six was REIMBURSEMENT and
dishonor to Tennessee, Senator Harris said
he desired to tell by what a slender thread
the States honor had hung once upon a time. |
"He and his colleague i0ere invited before the |
COMMITTEES on Platform in the June convention, |
and then and there Jackson suggested a settlement
at fty-andJour. Offering Il IN a resolution which
Us presented to the convention By General W. H. |
Jackson as a minority report. The honor of the |
State then hung on one little qsloD miserable
copper cent The Jealousy Nth Which the senator
guarded his honor must haze for once been caught
mapping. Wa it honorable then to rea6ju8t from
sizty-ond sr TO Oy-dnd5our and noU d~isgraces
Thus Harris continued to shake him like a
puppy does a shuck, while Jackson, like a
dwarf in a giants hands, seemed at the
mercy of his foe.
The fact is, Jackson, as it tBr rs out, is
from lack of political training and inconsist-
ent record, the most vulnerable man the
chief, and l much doubt if he continues to
meet him. Harris dwelt upon the right of
the majority to rule, and when his mind as
cended from his own personal impulses to
the less questionable conclusions of our con-
stitHtional and legal authorities. it never dis
covered anything that could make him
pause in his estimate of the peoples privil-
no matter in what terms it was described it
was essentially the will of the majority.
Harms is the greatest man on the stump
in the South. Every gray hair upon his
seems to shake with eloquence. Grace
full in gesture, elegant in d~iction, forcible in
style, and clothing all with senatorial dig
nifty. he stands to-day without a peer among
the politicians OF our State.
Tennessee is the theme of his finest ora
His love for her is no vulgar and
kind, originating in interest, vanity or
ambition, As he says, "she is the nome of
his youth" and has from first TO last been
by him, not SO much with the feel
ings of a patriot as with the idolatry of a
lover. To her his heart contracts for better
Or for worse-she has honored him. Three
has he been her governor, twice her
congressman and once her senator, and what
be has to give he gives for her interest, con-
decorating his most cherished projects with
her sometimes Maynard fortunes, and sur
rendering to her all the resources of his
genius in the successive stages of her pride,
ner hopes, her struggles and her despair,
low that some of her sons have turned traitor
10 her.
Unlike some speakers, there is no eIabo-
ardor, ne technical impetuoshy, nothing
% j imply that while his lips are tn fire his
lie art is as cold as railroad iron. L. NJ.
THE COTTON CROP.