The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1912-01-04

J T1punGs
the attention of the American people t.
the necessity for good roads The com
ing of the automobile as permanen
! factor in our civilization is also LOUDLY
championing good roads, so that it il
not hard to see that in the next ter
years the three influences of rural mai
delivery, good roads and automobiles
are going to have such an acceleratinE
effect upon the rural population Of the
United States that insanity among ru
raj people will be largely abrogated
Insanity among country men and wo
men is not, as rule, produced by disease
or intemperance or excesses of any kind
but simply by the depressing and men,
tally crushing influence of their envi.
ronment.
Isay, therefore, that when Col. Brown
low instinctiyely felt the tremendous
possibilities of rural mail delivery and
perfected for the people of the First con-
gressional district the admirable system
which he brought for them, he then
and there erected for hiElsef his great
est and most lasting monument.
Col.Brown1ow and Andrew Johnson
In all matters of strictly political
and national nature, Col. Brownow
was loyal champion of the republican
party, but, at the same time, he was of
the south, southern. He was of Ten
nessee, Tennessean, and it was these
facts that made for him SO many warm
friends among the democrat of Tennes-
see. The fact that he was citizen of
the south and a lover of the southern
people, led him to make his mastery
defense on the floor of congress of An
drew johnson, and nothing that he
could have done would more thorough
ly have endeared him to the people of
the south. Andrew Johnson occupies
lofty niche in the south's temple of
fame. The period in which he lived
was one of awful storm and strife, but
history is coming TO do him justice, and
Walter p. Brownlow very materially
aided history in bringing that justice
about. A mile from Greeneville, on a
hilltop, there is a marble shaft that
marks the last resting place of Tennes-
sees Great Commoner. Loyal in his
admiration for Andrew johnson, Col |
Brownlow did what was never before
done in the United States, he had a
private burial ground created, a nation
al cemetery by congress, and therein
the remains of Andrew Johnson are to-
day cared for by the United States gov.
eminent. If Col. Brownlow had done
but this, he would have insur-
ed for himself the loyal affection of the
people of Tennessee.
Congressman Joseph S. Byrns, of the
Nashville district, well expressed this
in his memorial address in the follow
ing words:
"He (Brownlow) knew Johnson's
history from the early days of poverty,
through all the struggling years until
he reached the highest office in the
land And when, long years after his
death, cruel and false accusations were /
penned as historical facts, Mr.. Brown
low was quick to refute and denounce
them, He did not pause to reflect that
Johnson was democrat and he re-
publican. Nor did he stop to question
what some of his republican associates
might think of his rushing to the de-
tense of democrat against the attacks
Of federal republican. He did not
care what they or others might think.
He only knew that the memory of a
son, whom Tennessee had
many times delighted to honor, had
been unjustly assailed. Mr.. Brownlow
was first a Tennessean, then repub-
ican.
Tennessean and Southerner,