The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1918-07-26
OPENING ADDRESS OF
GOVERNOR TOM c. RYE.
Candidate for Nomination F or u. S. Senator by
the Democratic Party Of Tennessee
DELIVERED AT CHATTANOOGA JULY 8, 1918
MY FRIENDS:


enduring monuments have been erecte,
70 commemorate the valOr and tile mil
ltary greatness Of those who in the COS
Fought, bled ana died al rhickamaug;
ana Missionary Ridge battledelds tina
have been dedicated AGAIN to an ever
greater cause for presaat-day uses; herr
where your people have been filed viii
devotion and reverence for the honOreC
dead, and where that devotion to tn,
sacred cause of liberty has been increased
and intensified in fullest measure by tn,
inspiring spectacle Of thousands of the
best and bravest of our young manhood
In the stern, eager and intense prepare
ton which they are now undergoing, anC
have gladly undergone, that they might
prepare themselves for an honorable part
in the great contest for liberty and hui
mainly now going on across the waters
here ! come to make announcement Of my
candidacy for the Democratic nomination
for United States Senator
l had thought that l might be permitted
TO submit whatever claims I had, if any
to the calm, quiet, deliberate consdera-
ton Of the Democratic voters Of the State
and willing to trust to their judgment
and be governed by their decision But
the friends Of my competitor We're not
willing that this should be done, so they
called upon me to show cause why |
Should assume to appeal to the people for
election TO a place which, by divine right,
they assume belongs to the senior Sem
ator. do not admit their right to make
this call.
1t is a time-honored principle in this
State that an official seeking reelection
must himself show cause for his claims,
or at least announce his candidacy. I'm
Gil the senior Senator has done this or
at least has deputized some one to do it
for him. | respectfully submit that his
statement is a matter that should receive
some attention from his friends at this
time.
/ do not hesitate to declare that I am
a candidate, because | believe this Office
should he filled by man who Is consist
emily loyal to his President, his State ana
his party, and not by one whose devotion
depends on the imminence of an election.
/ believe, in this great hour of sacri-
flee and endeayor, that the cause Tor
which we are giving our children and our
resources should be in the hands of those
who are free from every influence, con-
sideration or obligation that might oper-
ate against our united effort to win the
great victory, which must and shall be
achieved.
The senior Senator and ! each have a
public record in this State, and fair
and impartial jury will compare these
records and bring in it's verdict and it
will be no newspaper verdict when 1t is
pronounced
| have never tried to wreck my party
to promote my political fortunes or gain
office, and if I ever spurned it when it
was weak and impotent, ] would not
come seeking its favor when it was strong
and dominant.
am a Democratic officeholder, and I
have the credentials of my party, and the
ratification of the people at the ballot
box Let him say for himself how he
came to his present place and where and
how the plain people of the State, or OF
his party, have ever given him their en-
dorsement And let him explain how he
II bferi fhat 10
oppose him
But for fear that he may not really
accent this invitation, ] call on some OF
his friends and present supporters and
let them speak for the Senator in this
matter.
Commenting on the election of Judge
Shields to the Senate, the Memphis News |
Scimeter said.
ain one sense Mr. Justice Shields is
representative. Probably more than any
other man IL the State ne epltomizes, N
his proper person, the insincerity, the
eeffshness and inefficlency of the State. |
DurIna his political career he has left be- I
hind him a trail Of sQurTningS, OF devious
wlndlnus and nystifylng lnfractuoslties
not SOON to be effaced. A Democrat OF
the Bourbon type, he betrayed and de- /
serted his party for place and position, I
and precipitated a political cataclysm that
DESTROYED all party organization, and con-
verified naddened and bewlldered people
Into insurrectlonaries and Sans Culottes,
and LEADING this motley horde, he over
ran opposition and triumphanty entered /
the citadel Of his ambition. Loudly pro-
CLAIMING himself 'untrammeled,' he has
been the obsequious servant OF special
privilege. When political preferment and
Increased honor began peerlnn above the
horizon, he turned traitor to the Janlssa.
ries who had elevated him and placed
him In position and again procialmlnq
himself regular Democrat repudlated |,
the choice Of the regular Democracy ana
stood as a candidate for the Senate re
deserted those who had elevated him
without displaying the good taste to re- Il
turn to their keeping the honor which
ey bestowed upon him, and formed new
alliances through unreckoning and unre-
nlorsefuI expediency."
Nashville Banner Quoted
now call to the stand another loyal
friend and supporter of the senior sen
ator and ask you to listen 70 tnls sesiIo
mony from an editorial in the NasnVlle
Banner on April 8, 1914: ,
AT has been known for leng WINE
that Senator John X. Shields was promot-
ina plans to Inject politics into the luci-
clal campaign against Judge Wlliams'
There was very little of the independent,
judiciary sentiment or SUBJ
stance left In Senator Shields makeup :
when he laid aside the judicial ernine ];
10 enter the race for United States SEN +
ator. But few campaigns In Iennessee /
for any office have reflected less credit 7
an any man or party than the methods and J
influence brought to bear TO elect senator Z
Shields to,the position he now holds me q
senator will Understand before ne gets :
through with his present plans thar nls $
influence as senatorial boss Is NOT as po- 4
tent as II was as Chief Justice OF the Su-
nreTne Court Of Tennessee, and that the c
usual influence accompanying Y; ,. Sen1 d
atership was, In his case, greatly minimlzeo r
,vhen II became known to what extent ne d
and his supporters had dragged the SnieI c
JustIceship Of the Supreme Court OF the 4
state into the mre OF politics TO secure TOT
him the senatorial toga" b
This Is what the Senator's friends were a
40 wing about him in those days when f
nrobahly he did not need them ana they v
lid not need him. ,.,,, Z
,bertv OF conscience and Of action. For t
,,xgeeIf have always believed that the v
salvation of our party and It's usefulness r
upon an adjustment OF parV {
differences in the council OF Democracy, Z
,pd 7 hold that no man has the right TO
receive an office from any party or rae
ion and then hold that office while repu- u
Hating the man who bestowed IT, v
am profoundly grateful to the people h
WIN have twice elected me to the hgh #
,fice Of Governor and IN seeking o tIlt a
,onors at their hands, humbly trust that Ii
hey may be able to find something con- t,
,ected with my life as a public servant ii
q commend my candidacy to them. T
When I was elected Governor Of Ten Il
,esssee IL was a day of legislative hegiras, z
nd at times the members would meet in S
ne capitol under the threatening guns of n
,ither faction. Fierce political and per- W
onal feuds burdened both political par q
les. and the partisan carried his warfare
MO All departments Of the State Ger 81
ain organized forces Of lawiessness had Of
eized the balance of power for their own Ii
s1..nN kt,af~ x-.4o- ~, + &