The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-01-07
SENATOR TURKEYS CLAIMS
Ably Presented i'm an Open Letter from
Congressman Carmack.

The following letter, addressed to
a prominent Democrat of this
county, was handed the HERALD,
with the request that it be given
publication:
NASHVILLE, Tenn Dec. 81, 1897.
DEAR S1R:-I write to respectfully
ask the benefit of your influence and
support in favor of Hon. r. B. Turley,
who will be candidate before the
extra session of the legislature to fill
out the unexpired term of the late
Senator Isham G. Harris, and to re-
quest your particular attention to
favor.
Senator Turley, as you know, is now
filling this position by appointment of
Governor Taylor, who selected him
from his own thorough knowledge of
his character and fitness as the worth
lest man presented to wear the mantle
of Senator Harris. Even those who are
not familiar with Senator Turkeys
great qualities might safely assume
that he would not have been chosen by
one having so wide knowledge of the
strong men in this State as Governor
Taylor has, if he had not been amply
equipped and fully qualified for the
high office to which he was appointed.
Unless the reasons against Mr. Turkeys
election are overwhelmingly strong,
it would seem great injustice not only
to him, but to Governor Taylor, to eject
him from Office before he has bad fair
opportunity to demonstrate beyond all
question his high character and ability
as statesman. No reasons have been
alleged for putting this humiliation up
on him. The purity of his personal life,
the sterling quality of his Democracy
and his great intellectual ability are
conceded even by his opponents.
In every sphere of life in which he
has been tried Mr.. Turley has done his
duty bravely and faithfully. He was
born in 1915 and when a sixteen year
old lad entered the Confederate army,
enlisting in the first company of the
first infantry regiment raised in West
Tennessee. He served throughout the
war, fighting in all the battles in which
! his regiment was engaged and was
twice wounded, once dangerously at
Shiloh and again at Peach Tree Creek
before Atlanta. He was in the battles
of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga,
Missionary Ridge, in all the battles
from Dalton to Atlanta and the battles
of Franklin and Nashville. He was
captured at the latter battle with a part
of his command and sent as a prisoner
to Camp Chase.
have spoken of Mr.. Turkeys record
JAS a soldier, because I believe that a
man who has evinced such courage,
fortitude and devotion to principle as
to endure all the hardships and dangers
of war as a private soldier is not likely
to prove faithless to any trust.
: Mr. Turley is az man of the highest
, and purest personal character. 1t is no
exaggeration to say that no other man
is so universally esteemed and loved
by the people among whom he was
born and who have known him from
his infancy to the present hour, While
he has never been an Office seeker, but
on the contrary, has Stunned public
Office when his friends have sought to
thrust it upon him, he has always been
steadfast Democrat, sincerely de-
| Vnfa1 70 a t,,la nf No.
He never scratched Democratic ticket
in his life and never failed to respond
to any call which the Democratic party
made upon him. In Memphis and in
the Tenth Congressional District where
the fight has always been hot and
fierce, his power and influence have
been a tower Of strength to the party
In the late presidential campaign, he
espoused the cause of William j. Bryan
and the Chicago platform and did
valiant work for the Democratic party
and its nominees. He was chosen by
the regular Democrats to reply to the
renegade Bourke Cochran of New York
when he made his gold standard speech
in the city of Memphis, and utterly
annihilated the arguments of the great
New Yorker. Friends and foes alike
united in declaring that it was one OF
the greatest speeches ever delivered in
that city.
If Mr.. Turley shall be allowed to re-
main in the United States Senate, he
, will make record of which the whole
State will be proud. There is, at this
time, recognized necessity for strong
Democratic leadership in this State
Mr.. Turley, in my judgment, is just the
type of man we need for the occasion
and the hour.
If his competitor should fail in hi:
! ambition to reach the Senate at this
time, he would still retain his position
in the House of Representatives with
all the advantages of twenty-four years
experience and with ample opportunity
70 win honor and distinction in tina
field.
can see nothing to be gained by
driving Senator Turley from public
life, merely to transfer Mr.. McMillir
from one honorable position to another
4 Mr.. Turley's election would preserve tt
the State and the Democratic party the
= services of two good men, Rv the de