The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-05
A sOUTHERNER FOR VICE PREsI-
DENT.

| DENT.
The question OF nominating a South
erner for Vice President on the DEM
ocratic ticket is receiving some atten-
ton. The Washington correspondent
of one of the New York papers inter-
viewed a number of Southern con-
| gressmen in regard to the matter a
day or two ago and the impression he
obtained from them was that in their
opinion there is no sentiment in the
! North that is opposed to a Southerner
for the second place on the presiden-
| tial ticket. For instance, Senator
Clay of this state was quoted as say
ing that he felt quite sure that no
! Northern Democrat would oppose a
! Southern man for Vice President sim
! ply because he came from the section
south of Mason and Dixon's line" In
his opinion the issues of the Civil War
should have no bearing now on candi-
dates for high office. Continuing he
said: Should Judge Parker be noml-
mated we naturally would look for a
Western man to complete the national
ticket, but If the South should present
man for the second place, 1 know
that neither the North nor the West
would object simply on the ground of
locality"
1t is evident from the foregoing,
however, that Senator Clay. while he
believes there is no sentiment either in
the North or the West against a
Southern man for a high Office in the
government, doesn't think the time OPP
perfume for the nomination of a South
erner for the vice presidency.
Gov. Aycock of North Carolina in a
letter to Columbia, S. c., paper that
sometime ago nominated him for the
position of Vice President, says: IF
we can get the two wings of the party
together and nominate some man for
President who has a chance of being
elected, l do not believe we ought for
the present to lessen that chance by
the nomination of a Southern man. If,
when the convention meets, it becomes
apparent that we cannot elect a DEM
ocratic candidate, then / believe the
nomination of a Southern man for
Vice President would be good thing.
1t would get the Northern people used
to voting for Southerner, and in de-
Tending their position about it they
would necessarily defend US. Then
when the time comes when we can
elect Democrat we could nominate a
Southerner for Vice President" Gov.
Aycock is of the opinion that there is
still some feeling in the North against
the South.
From what has been appearing in
the Northern newspapers on this sub
ject, and from expressions heard in the
halls of Congress, there is no good
reason for thinking that a Southerner
for Vice President wouldn't be entirely
acceptable to the Northern people at
this time. 1t has been more than
thirty-nine years since the close of the
Civil War; and the great majority of
those most active in the affairs of the
country both North and South, were
too young to take part in that stru-
gle. The chances are that if a South
ern man, one in every way acceptable
to the Democrats of the country, were
nominated for Vice President, he
would add strength to the ticket.
While there might be a few who would
manifest a sectional spirit the vast
majority would take the opportunity
to show that they regarded the Civil
War as a thing of the past by giving
the Southerner a hearty support.
While there isn't much probability
that a Southerner will be nominated,
because of the disposition of the
Southern leaders not to urge the nomi-
nation of one, it is quite safe to say
that it wouldn't be mistake to put a
Southerner on the ticket.