The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-23

notwithstanding he was still under polit
acal disability, was elected to the UNITED
STATES Senate, being preferred to Gem
erGll NJ. w. RANSOM who had SO distln
guShed himself IN the wan between the
States and Hon. y. :. MenimOn, dls.
tinguished us q lawyer and judge, and
I'm political hfe. But Governor NalGe
WAS so obnoxious so Republicans at the
north, because. as President johnson eX-
pressed it, ''of the rude eloquence of has
proclamation during the war, ANA be-
cause he was the acknowledged wlr gov
ernor of the South, refused him his seat
i'm the Senate. After long waiting and
finding the tantalizng hopes he'd out 10
him, from time to time of the removal
of his disabilities ito he vain, he resigned
his contingent right to be Senator, and
General Ransom was elected III his
place This soldier and statesman, a
boim diplOmist. had mot been long in the
Senate before he succeeded i'm having
Governor Vance's disabilities removed.
There WAS another vacancy an the Sen
ate to be filled by the General Assembly,
in the fall of 1872, and he was the ia
vored candidate of IL large ma jOrity of
his party for THE seat: but ii few Dem
ocratic friends of Judge Me1imon's
bolted the action of the caucus, and
the Republicans in the Legislature,
divelItinS their votes from their party
candidate, helped them ito elect MerTi-
mon. This was the greatest disappOlnt-
ment Governor Vance experienced in his
political career; and for time he was
really depressed. The sympathy of his
friends, whose love for him was az
creased by this reverse, hGwever, his NAT
un.al bouyancy, and the growing de-
mands of llis family, reqm1ng constant
labor, soon restored his equamimity. IN
view of. what he was able ito accomplish,
after he became Senator, six years
later, when he was near 40 years cd,
and when his capacity for labor was pos
Sibly mot SO great as it had been, and
Notwithstanding that Judge Merrmen
made q faithful and able Senator, it
seems a matter for regret that SO MANY
years of Vance's life, as Il champion of
the South and of low taadff, were lost
to the country by his failure ITO get the
seat his party intended for him SIX and
eight years before.
But Il great work was reserved for
him TO do in North Carolina. The judi
cial and executive branches of our State
government were still an the hands of tGe
Republicans, notwithstanding THE vigor-
Gus campaign made by Judge MeITGmOn
rs the Democratic candidate for gov
elnOr, and his associates on the ticket, i'm
1872. saIn 1876 the conservative Demo-
cratic people of the State looked for
somebody to lead them 10 victory. The
as their leader in the struggle; some
politician suggested THAT his nomination
would not be wise, because he had made
enemies among some whose SympathieS
remained with the Union during the war,
and among friends of desertelS because
of his vigorous prosecution of the War.
and they proposed the names OF men of
eminence who had mot been SO pro-
nOlmced fn their views, or whose conl-
duct at beast had excited mo such preju-
dee Long before the meeting OF the
convention, trends from all sections
wrote HIM ON THE subject of being Il
candidate. myself among the number.
lis candid reply Was. that having had all
the hunor there Was to be had from
being governor, it would be n great per-
sonal sacrifice TO have to make the can
vass; but the people had done so much
for hi mthat he could not refuse if there
should be q popular demand f0r him ito
be the candidate. Some Democratic
NEWSPAPERS. as Wcll IS the politicians re-
felrcd to, were. OH the side of prudence,
and favored he nomination of Others
But when tho delegates, aLtecmates a2d
mther representatives of popular sellt1-
ment, i'm full numbers, assembled here,
it WAS seen THAT there cOhld be burt one
result. The people demanded Vance, and
nobody else. The names Of other good
men were before the convention: out. at
the end of tile first and only roll call,
gfi2 out of 966 votes We're announced f0r
Vance. That night he made Il speech 10
a large crowd i'm FRONT of the Nafonaf
hotel. NOW the Agricultural building ac-
ceuting the nomination. lit was very
earnest. and more serious THAT his
speeches were went ITO be, and am
pressed his hea9ers with the gravity of
the work before him AND them. He s@l-
dom said anything that sounded boastful
ahout himself. in speeches of conventlJm,
but then alluding Ito the corruption of the
times and the temptations ITO WdmGh he
nnd others had been subjected during
the war and since ITO save or make some
thing out of the wreck, ne raised his
hands above Ibis head AND solemnly said:
Before high heaven, these hands are
clt9n: no charge IAN be made that ONE
dishonest dol.ul has ever so.led these
hands" THE effect WAS electric; and
every man there felt ready to stake his
life on the truth of his words, and those
throughout the length and breadth Of
the State The Republicans had put
forth as them candidate Them ab.est
speaker. and most accomplished and pop
ular politician, Hon Thomas Settle, then
on the Supreme COlGt bench of the
State He had signifed ms acceptance
of the nomination. and the Battle of the
the different character of the audiences
which naturally assembled to hear the
Republican and Democratic candidates
for mi gin office. 1t had not been the Gus
tom to have joint discussions; and some
members of the State Democratic Com
mittee advised against "a joint canvass
between Vance and Settle, and Others
doubted its udvisability. Not so thought
Vance. and a few of us concured Cn has
opinion The result was THAT he prompt
~ accepted an expected challenge from
Settle, and for weeks the greatest ana
most exciting campaign ever known an
the State was waged. The champions
were both mon Of conspicuous ability ana
hieh character Judge Settle had been
more a student of party polmcs, ana
stood 80 high as a Republican leader
that he was chairman of the convention
in which General Grant was nominated
for the presidency ut Baltimore. and was
"a most sllillful debater. Both canon,
dates were possessed of splendid
physique, about six feet in height, anu
weighing near two hundred pounds. Set
tie being a little the taller and Vance,
nrobably. a little THE heavier of the two.
Roth presented a very handsome appear
-, an e,tlInln amu latfOrnl-S6tJte