The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1910-07-15

Der OF COu5feSe rum lAS HASe Ots
. trict. Tennessee was bereft Of use
! fuI servant Brownlow was nj
statesman; he possessed few of the
elements OF craftsmanship. He was 9
, politician. There was nothing altru
istic in the make up Of the former boss
OF his party; on the contrary he was
intensely practical; a materialist. II
you please. Although he was not q
cynie Brownlow did not take much to
high flown declarations of unsefish de
Votion to country. There has never
been in the politics of Tennessee
more intensely practical man. He be
Iieved in the flesh pots, in the spoils
for the victor; in the distribution OF
patronage and substantial rewards for
political service. The idea that men
do service for party or contribute time
and money for the advancement OF
political ideals merely for unselfish
love of party or because of devotion to
duty did not appeal to Brownlow.
Brownlow believed that the Con-
gresham who secured the largest
share Of the public plumber for his con-
stituents; who obtained the greatest
number of public buildings; establish
ed the most rural routes; got the
''boys" jobs in the public service and
obtained pensions for every veteran,
was more useful to his country than
the congressman who refused to be a
mere department messenger or a pur-
Yeyor of spoils for his constituents.
Brownlow and the late lameLted
Carmack went to Congress the same
year. They were the antithesls OF
each other Carmack, was the sltru-
list, the idealist, the patriot To him
the spoils OF ofice were but vulgar
graft invading the realms Of states
manship." Carmack preferred to de-
vote his time to studious discus
sion Of the problems of government.
He loved to read the history OF his
race. its rise from barbarism to the
greatest people the world ever saw;
it's slow. but ever constant, ever VIC
torious struggle for human rights and
civil liberty was to him a grander
theme than an appropriation bill.
on the other hand Brownlow knew |
little and cared less for the science OF
government. 1t was q small matter |
to him whether the constitution fol-
lowed the flag or the flag followed
the constitution. He was wholly In
different to the constitutional phases
of an appropriation bill, it was sum
cient to secure the hearty approval
of the first district member II 1t pro-
vided for a generous distribution OF
pork"
The writer once heard Brownlow
make stump speech. He was not
an orator. He had nasal twang
that indicated any thing but his Vir-
ginia nativity. The speech was made
at Sevierville, until the advent OF the
one OF the most pictures
que towns of the South, redolent OF
of East Tennessee OF the
long ago. The audience. as any au-
dience in that locality would be, was !
made up almost entirely of Republic
cans. Brownlow had none of the arts I
and used none of the tricks OF the
iemagogue in public speaking. AS '
soon as he took the stand he pitched ]
At once into his theme. Without pre-
lace or introduction he told his hear !
srs how long he had represented
hem in Congress; how many millions
If public plumber he had secured for |
his district, the number OF ONCE
holders whose appointment he had q
obtained, the pensions that he mad t
And then having stated these t
igures he proceeded to tell how much 9
,er year, per day, his services, meas s
lred in the spoils Of office and OF s
pork" had been worth to his peo- t
lie. He accompanied this by an. B
,ther equally as convincing array OF
tatistics to prove that during his SER .
ice (then eight years) he had OBJ n
aimed more money for his district d
han all the members of Congress,
enators included, who had repre- q
ented Tennessee from It's admission
0 the Union to that date. in the az n
regate had been able to secure. d
likewise he submitted convincing p
videhce that he had found berths for e
lore first district patriots at the pub u
G till than all the other members 3
.om Tennessee together had been m
BILE to provide from the year 1875 to II
ne year 1904. W
Having exhausted his fund OF In al