Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1872-06-22
THE PAST AND FUTURE.


IT is within the recollection Of many
OF our readers that, Immediately after
the close of the war, the CHRONICLE
took the position that the true policy
cf the South, in relation to politics,
was that OK mastery inactivity"
and that thestruggle between free gov
eminent and centralized despotism
should be confined to the North. until
srrh time as the emancipation of the
South should leave it free to throw
the weight of its influence into the
scale Of liberty. We do not claim
that the idea was original, for such
claims to originality are too common
TO be respectable, but we do claim to
have been consistent in our advocacy
of that line of policy, and appeal to
the history of the recent past to attest
it, wisdom.
When Brownlow's sovereignty over
Tennessee, was coextcnsivo with the
array Of federal bayoncts, and his ty-
ranny limited only by his dcvilish in
vention, the southern element of our
population, ignoring the wisdom of
this policy and forgetting that they
were the slaves of a llwlcss dcspotism,
resolved that they could beat Brown
low with Etheridge, and they were nc
cordingly pittcd against each other
the result a signal defeat of the Dem
ocratic party and two years more of
insult and oppression. At the next
election, the Conservatives, having
learned wisdom from bitter experience,
declined 10 make a nomination, and
then followed, what might have hap
pcned two years sooner, split in the
Rldicaf party and, by coalcsing with
tho more liberal faction Tcnncsseans
won immediate acknowledgment, polit-
zeal liberty was re cStablis he'd and
RldicaIism expelled from the coun
ellis of the State.
In spite Of the signal success of this
policy, as illustrated in Tennessee and
Missouri, the Democrats, in national
council assembled, repudiated the
wiser policy adopted by the States Just
named, made a purely Democratic
ticket and won thereby, the election
ot Grant and four years of the most
corrupt and degrading tyranny that
ever cursed civilization. Forgetting
that Democratic maiorlty--unleSS
Overwhelming cannot be successful
against a power that claims, and can
enforce, the right to reject the vote
of counties and States, indiscrcct and
pclf, at " ambitious Democrats. in the
North, are now insisting that the
South shall repeat an experiment once
tried with results almost fatal to its
material welfare az we'll a. it, political
rights AMI privileges. That such q
proposal should come from the North
IL not to be wondered at, but it is pas
sing strange that it should he fivora
bly, considered by even one Democrat
In the South.
Our object, in this brief review o
recent events, is simply to show tina
like causes will produce like effect un
der like circum tanccs. The cause.
which freed Tennessee aud Missouri
from acspotic rule of Radicalism car
free the whole country from a lik,
thrallom, brcau the circumstance
arc IDENTICAL split, on a nationa
sclle, in the Radical party, libcralit,
on ono side and unrclaxing tyranny OF
the other Grant is the Brownlow
and Greeley, the Scntcr, of the Re
public We have chosen between
thcm-'co thou and do Likewise, but
w arriving at a decision, do not forge
tiut IL was Democratic encouragement
which gave courage and strength +
Liberal Republicans, that convcrtc
their propo ed conference, at Cinciu
natl, into a great national nominatin
Convention and cmholdcncd it to Ii
down platform as nearly Democrat
as will he tolcrltcd by the prejudice
and fanatic North Remember to,
that tho opposition to Grant l. % ecu
orally pledged TO the Cincinnati tickc
that any attempt now 20 swcrvc il i
another direction, can result only i
disaster ia the country and dcstru,
ton TO the Democratic party