Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-12-10
THE TELEGRAPH AND THE s'IN-
DEFINITE PARTY"

Inc telegraph, somehow, gets preJu-
diced occasionally, on one or the other
side in political matters. We can
readily understand how the agent at
Washington, going to the various de-
partments as the highest sources of in
formation, can give us only the semi
official rose-colored views of admins
tratiOn officials. Again, the telegraph
seeks news-novelties-and is liable to
run after novelties and exaggerate
their Importance. The secession of
Bishop Cummins receives a column of
space, while the steady movement
in its beaten track of the church from
which he secedes affords no salient
point for a passing mention. When
there is no sensation it makes one, and
the miserable death of few dirty
Modocs keeps the wires as busy as
the shock of empires in Europe.
Last year it was evident to the most
obtuse reader that the Geographic re-
ports from day to day, of the Presiden-
tial canvass, were toned in favor of Hor
ace Greeley by some secret sympathy.
In the same way every ''new departure
has been heralded far and wide, in pro-
portion to its novelty rather than its
importance 1t is really laughable to
go back over our files to the beginning
of the Ohio campaign last August, for
instance, and see the columns of tele-
graph devoted to the Peoples Party"
an affair which cast some four thous-
and votes, we believe, in a poll of about
five hundred thousand. And so Of all
the political novelties of
the season; those ever-shuf-
fling substitutes for DemOcra-
cy invented by ofice-seekers who vainly
hope to use the party for their own
promotion. The telegraph takes them
up, and exaggerates each out Of all
proportions, by way of self-Justihcatlon
for noticing them at all. So, of late,
the reports from California come tlnged
against Democracy and in favor of the
independents as being thenovelty. Yet
this biased telegraph tells usof ''tricksof
sharp practice, and all sorts of rumors
of bargains, compromises and combina-
tions," in the pending election OF Fed
eral Senators. If these are the legiti-
mate results of the entrance upon the
arena of an Independent" party, the
desirability or capacity Of such party
as means of fighting down existing
corruption, will bedoubted by all plain
honest folk, farmers and others. And
what other result can be expect
ed from "go-between ~ hold
ing the balance Of power-what
but bargain, intrigue and corruptlon'
Have we not seen enough Of this I'M
principled balance of power, in our own
Tennessee politics Of late years? The
adherents of Democracy know what
they are contending for, and 50 OF the
Radicals; but the "Independent" when
he comes to act, is the veriest political
slave. In the nature of things he can
act only by promoting his leader. This
leader is bound by no creed, and his
principles may be as vague, volatile,
unstable and elastic as the wind.
Thisvery Indebtedness is well calculat-
ed to draw into his party" all the chaff
and refuse of other parties. The less
principle man has, the more ''availa-
ble'' he is for a leader-the less record
he makes, the better his chances for
promotion. Instead of being an hide
pendent party, it becomes an Indefinite
Article. So long as the various new
parties" develop no new principles
so long as their poverty compels them
to borrow all they claim of principle
from the Democracy-it must be self
evident that no new party is needed, OF
even possible,