Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-04-20
The sIuatIOn.
Clarksyille Chronicle 18th.

ClarksVille Chronicle 18th.
AS the time for the Cincinnati
Convention draws nearer the, hbe-
raj Republican movement gains
strength, in the North, whilst the
croakings of Simon pure Democrats
in the South, grow louder and more
discordant. Some of the Journals
of that party even go so far as to
say that, in the event, the Demo
cratic Convention endorses the
nominee at Cincinnati, Grant viii.
gain more democratic votes than
he will lose by the Radical split
If this is patriotism, we have never
known the meaning of the word
| Suppose the Democrats of Tennes-
see had voted, in this spirit, for Bill
| Stokes instead of the conservative
Senter, what would have been the
| condition of Tennessee at this time!
But the rabid partizan never learns
from experience and would rather
see the country ruined, than saved
| by any cobinatiOn which is not
| purely democratic. This distinctive
feature which characterized the self
righteous Democrats, before the
war, is cropping out from amidst
the ruins of constitutional liberty,
and as he looks out upon the scene
of desolation, mentally resolves that
the ruin shall never be repaired eX-
cept by the hands, and under the
immediate auspices, of undetiled
Democracy.
The old Wing party, did not, at
the close of the war, surrender its
glorious memories-its comprehen-
sive views of free government and
measures, for the preservation OF
constitutional right, nor abandon
the organization headed by Clay
and Webster for the inglorious pri-
vilege of cooperating with selfish
partizans whose patriotism is boun-
ded by the circumscribed limits of
their own self-idolstry. Impelled
by the spirit of an enlarged patriot
ism, the members of that great par
ty promptly acted with any and all
who protested to desire the resur-
rection of the South from the ruins
of predatory invasion. This I'M
ion of varied elements, was a mere
mixture not a compound resulting
from the attraction of affinity-and
as mixture, IFS component ele-
ments retain their distinctive pro-
perties, and may be as readily sepa-
rated as they were mixed. We de-
sire no such separation the South
cannot sustain two parties and hope
to recover its lost right. But If the
shining light of Democracy prefer
Grant and Capitalization to a con-
sentative Republican, with a chance
for constitutional liberty based upon
State rights-or if, in other words,
they prefer ruin to victory not
won in their name, let them follow
the bent of their inclinations. The
old Wings will never become will
ling political serfs and bend their
necks to the yoke only when the
last battle has been fought that
promises a chance for liberty.
We cannot believe, however, that
they who intimate preference for
Grant, in the absence of Democrat
ic nominee, mean anything worse
than an idle threat, in order to Sc
cure such a nomination. But if
they mean what they say, we bid
them adieu, with the reminder that,
as the Wings helped to Danish the
demoniac spirit of Brownlowism
from our State government, so will
they strive to crush the despotism
of Grant, by voting for any man
able to beat him, with the combined
aid of those who prefer patriotism
to party-liberty to corrupt and OPP
pressiVe tyranny.