Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-12
Speeches of Judge smith and Mr..
GOOdDaSture.

! "A puUlIC AnOOlAnS OOOh pAetSS Aee7
Monday to hear our representative
the Hon. c. G. Smith, give an &C
count of his course of action in tn,
General Assembly, as representa-
tive CT this county. The audienc.
assembled in the Court House was
very peculiar one; its aspect wa!
quite different from that presented
by meeting of festive amusement
seekers, prepared to be excited anG
fascinated by the wit and pathos
the brilliant epigrams and rounded
periods of a favorite orator. The
meeting of that day7rwas made uI
of quite a different class of men
1t was County Court day, and the
hearers were men of business from
town and country, farmers, mer.
chants and others VINO were there
for business purposes. An expires
sion of grave thought and even
anxiety was on their countenances,
the expression of men who recog-
nize a very crisis in their
business interests and were there
to hear it discussed by one in whose
judgment they have confidence.
They listened to the statements OF
Judge Smith and Mr.. Goodpasture
with the fixed attention of men
who had a direct personal interest
in the results of the Legislative ses-
sion just closed, and even when the
| speakers closed their remarks, while
no doubt was left of the apprOba-
ton of their constituents, still that
appreciation was expressed in the
grave and deliberate manner of a
body which had been set thinking
rather than excited, instructed rath-
er than amused.
1t will not be necessary for us to
give Judge Smiths remarks in ex-
tense, as most of the ground he
went over is covered in the speech
made by him before the legislature
itself which we printed last week,
but there was one feature in his
speech new to us which peculiarly
impressed itself upon the meeting,
we alluded to his description of the
general spirit of the majority in the
Legislature. He said, and we have
derived the same impression from
reading the proceedings in assem-
bly,, that the majority who killed
the compromise were resolved to
defeat d7ly settlement of the debt.
They did not want it settled at all,
and all higgling for lower terms
was a mere excuse for preventing a
settlement on any terms. 1t was
an effort for reputation made by
men who still were ashamed to use
the word. The unreasonableness
and dishOnor of this course and the
dangers it threatened to the pros
perity of the State were eloquently
demonstrated and, if we have any
judgment in interpreting the ex-
preston of an audience, the demons
tration carried conviction deep into
the minds of every heart in the
audience.
Mr.. Goodpasture was loudly called
for at the close of Judge Smiths
speech. Our readers are probably
aware that Mr.. G. was a member
of the late assembly as representa-
tive from OvertOn county, and that
he was one of the true statesmen
who with Judge Smith and Mr..
FriersOn struggled unavailingly for
an honorable settlement of the State
debt. He is now, we are happily
to learn, citizen of GAINESVILLE.
Mr.. @. mainly directed his argu-
ment to prove the ability of the
State tOpay its debt. HedemOnstra-
ted that property was worth more,
and the produce of the State worth
very much more, than it was when
the debt was contracted; that the
raVages of the war were now near
ly Oblitered; that the loss of the
negroes pressed heavily indeed upon
individuals but was to the State,
as a taXpaying community, no loss
at all; that their labor is as prOduc-
tive and less expensive than when
they were in a State Of slavery, and
that we only needed a restoration
of the credit of the State to achieve
prosperity beyond any that we
had experienced in former times,
that credit being only retrievable
by honOrably settling our liabilities.
This effort of our new fellow cit
izen procured him a hearty burst of
applause and a hearty welcome
from the assemblage, not one of
whom, we think, left the Court
House uncOnvinced that the first
business of this county is to send a
representative to the next general
assembly pledged to an honorable
adjustment of the States liabilities.