Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-07-25

ARE WE READY FOR THE ELEC-
TI0N.

In less than two weeks, the people
of Montgomery will assemble at the
polls, to determine who shall fill their
county Offices for the ensuing official
term. Have they selected honest and
men for the respective posi-
tions and resolved to elect them? If
so, all will be well; yet in such
trough and tumble" scramble. as is
now on going, the intelligent friends
of reform see little prospect for that
harmony and wisdom which can save
the county from the continual recur-
renee of the same scenes which now
distract and demoralize that class of
citizens who, alone, can restore its
prosperity by the enforcement of econ
my and integrity in every branch of
Its administration.
Every intelligent man now sees that,
in the South, there are but two par
ties-the whites and the blacks. And |
whilst the two might live together in
mutual prosperity and dependence,
they are forced into the attitude of |
mutual hostility by the villainous Rad !
zeal policy which seeks to subordinate
the white to the black race, by enact
ing, that the whites have no private,
social rights which the blacks are re-
quired torespect. This bold aggression
of tyranny upon the fundamental idea
of popular liberty, has drawn, broad
and deep, the line between the two
races, and, as if it were not enough to
enforce the intimate social comming-
ling of the two, by means of stringent
penalties, the proposed law denies to
the whites, exclusive rights of property
in churches, grave yards, and all other
public institutions purchased with
their money and rightfully intended
for their exclusive use and benefit.
And as if to make the wrong and the
insult more glaring, there is no provis-
ion in the brutal, Mathematical Civil
Rights Bill which, even by implication,
gives to the white man the same right
of trespass upon the property, or socl-
ETY. of the negro.
The only chance for the South to
avert the brutalizing consequences
contemplated in the policy of the Rad
zeal North, is to accept the issue made
by its own sectional administration, in
the spirit that makes it, and with the
single purpose of self-preservation,
resist it by all legitimate means sug-
gested by patriotic wisdom. As a
first step, let us repudiate all political
utilization with cOlored voters as We
will, social utilization with their race
In all political movements, let us ig-
more them, except as an enemy in our
midst. whose power for evil, must be
neutralized by harmonious union
amongst ourselves. Let us resolve,
upon principle, unbiased by party pre-
objection, to oppose, in all future
scrambles for office anyand every aspir-
ant who seeks by any means, save those
of publicly announced doctrines of
political justice, to obtain the sup
port of the colored voters. And as Lu
additional security against the demon
alization of the Southern whites, now
so alarming, let US by legislation, with
draw from the field o! politics, every
official whose functions are Judicial. If
the people will fill the executive and
legislative departments with the right
sort of men, they will have no reason
to apprehend injury from the appoint
ment of every officer connected with
the judiciary, and surely no measure is
better calculated to make labor relia-
BILE and labOrers honest and prosper
Gus. Under the present system of
elections, candidates have become an
annOyance-nay worse, like moths in a
beehive, they destroy the substance OF
the colony by means of the idleness
and dissention they introduce and en-
courage, and from the frequent repeti,
ton of such visits the spirit of indo-
lence and discomfort becomes habitual
and honest industry succombS to the
excitement of mischievous partizar
feeling.
These are some of the means which
in our opinion, are best calculated tC
elevate the political interests of the
South above their present contact will
the baueful influences Of semi. barba
rous ignorance aud vice--infuences tina
are debasIng its morals, beclouding it
intellect and retarding its materia
progress. Such means may be repudi
ated by those who have been laugh
that radical Democracy is the embodi
ment of political wisdom, and tina
licence and liberty are synonymOu
terms. But we have the satisfaction
of knowing that.they are meterial out
lines of a system of local government
endorsed by Jefferson, Madison, anC
Monroe, and under which they liveC
surrounded by people virtuous, hap
by and prosperous. 1t was only afte
the weak disciples of these illustriou
patriots, departed from the line of SAT-
presidents, so clearly defined by thei
teachings and practice, that ultraisn
commenced its dwelling process, b.
removing all restrictions from arount
the ballot box, placing DesOtted ignOr
ance and glaring vice upon the sam
footing with the highest integrity an,
intelligence and the vagabOnd an,
pauper, with the most substantial citi
zens. That was the era of dangerou
innovations and departures which hav
eliminated in the downfall of the Re
public. With the light of experienc
TO guide us, it were wise to retrace GU
steps to the point of departure an
there. renewing allegiance to the con
stitution and our devotion to the right
of man. start afresh; but if this b
impracticable, let us strive to thro'