Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-09-16
GRAND IMBROGLIO.
The Governmental Contest Opened in
Earnest ut Lebanon.
Four Candidates in the Field.

ing themselves Republicans, or at least
claiming the support of that party,
each individual candidate fighting
against all three of the rest, is con-
catenation not conducive to clearness
of apprehension among plain citizens,
who desire to give vote accordant
with their principles and care little
for the conflicting claims of self-as-
sorting politicians.
In estimating the position of the
four speakers it should be remembered
that ostensibly Gov. Porter is the only
one of them who has received the nom
nation of a Convention, he having
been unanimously nominated by the
Democratic Convention which met at
Nashville on the 9th of August. Mr..
Dorsey Thomas announces himself as
an independent candidate on the Dem
ocratic side. Gen. Nancy, at present,
is not an avowed candidate at all in
fact he is the candidate of the Nash
vile Republican Convention, as it was
in his interest and through his mani
pulation that no nomination was made,
it being thought that he had better
chance in coming forward as an INDIE
pendent candidate than as Republi-
can nominee. Lastly, Squire Yardley
(colored) is Gen. Maney's bette nOire.
He announces himself as a candidate
in the Republican interest, claiming
that as the Republican Convention
did not name a candidate, one Repub-
lican has as much right as another to
this position. This accounts for the
delay of Gen. Nancy in avowing the
candidacy for which everything was
kept clear for him. He knows thathe
has not a ghost of chance if Yardley
persists as a candidate, and yet he has
no shadow of a pretext for claiming
that Yardley should give way for him.
If Yardley is not a nominee of the
party neither is he, and as to repre-
senting the principles of the party,
Yardley has fairer record than he,
being Republican pure and simple.
typifying in his person that equality of
the races which the Republican party
has so prominently INDICATED, while
Gen. Nancy not only is an ex-Confed-
crate officer, but does not even come
forward avowedly as a Republican,
preferring to call himself an Indepen-
dent with the hope of gobbling up a
few sore-head Democratic votes in ad-
dition to the solid Republican vote
which he too fondly hoped to receive.
With these preliminaries our read
ers will be prepared to study intelli-
gently the proceedings of the great
four handed contest at Lebanon last
Monday.
We cannot of course pretend to give
the speeches IN ertenso. Gov. Porter,
the present incumbent, first took the
stand. He commenced the address
with a resume of the administration
of State affairs since he had been Gov
ernor. All the circumstances under
which he aoceded to the Governors
chair he said, pointed to retrench-
ment as the pressing exigency of the
time.
The collection of State revenues had
been necessarily suspended for year,
so great was the universal depression,
and withal he found himself confront
ed by a debt for borrowed money and
State warrants of very nearly a mill
ion dollars. Then there was the in
terest to pay on bonds held by counties
and those held as a school fund. All
this has been paid now; every dollar
was paid out to the creditors of the
State, not dollar was allowed to rest
for a night, no new liabilities were
created. The interest on the State
bonds alone had to be suspended
harsh and usurious terms were de-
mandsd when borrowing for this pur-
pose was attempted and borrowing for
any purpose was abandoned. Notice
has now been given that the balances
due July 1874 and 1875, would be paid
on the 10th of the present month,
thus fulfilling the law and acting upon
the principles of the Democratic party
avowed in their platform.
lie went on to speak of the alien
law of 1875, as having resulted in the
introduction of large capital and re-
munerative industry into the State and
In the encouragement of immigration
He endorsed heartily the nomination
of Tilden and Hendricks, and de-
the decentralization of silver
By the Radical party.
He then showed that the expenses
Of the government were less than they
have been for ten years. He then eX.
hibited the fiscal arrangements and
by which this reduc-
lion had been brought about. but we
must defer this subject till we have
more space at our disposal.