Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-26

DOhHM ASIA.

mOnWealThS usage eNiSt0u wen
worthy the attention of all republics.
Every man who held public Office
had at the close Of his official term
to submit to what was called a dOki- /
mosia. This was a thorough scruti-
ny into the acts of his official course
by commissioners specially appoint- /
ed for the purpose. If funds had
been intrustel to him his accounts /
were rigidly scrutinized; if public /
improvements were placed in his /
charge the commissioners visited |
the places where they had to be eX-
ecuted and rigidly inspected the
work if he held a military appoint
mcnt his dispatches were Overhauled /
and the facts Investigated TO note
how far the actual campaign ac-
corded with the reports If during
his canvass he had madeanY pledges /
To his constituents, these pledges
were compared with the perform
ance realized in his public career;
and on all these topics am elaborate
report was grounded, which was
pronounced upon by the great cOun-
ell of the State Gin Athens it was the
council of the Areopagus), and, if
the Office-hOider was found delin-
quent i'm any of these items, various
punishments were inflicted upon
him, the most prevalent OF which
was 0timid, which was nothingshOrt
of Il disqualification for holding pub
lie office for term of years or for
life, as the case might be and it
should be noted that this d0kjnln3id
was not an exceptional procedure
like parchment, grounded on spe-
cific charges of malfeasance in office,
but an ordeal from which no man
who had once held public Office Of
trust was exempt.
DOkiHasjd, we opine, would be
salutary institution at Washington,
in all our State capitals and our cor
porate cities. We have not estab-
lished by law and We are not likely
to have it, for office-holders are the
makers of our laws, and they are
not likely to tie their own hands;
but practically we have had some
thing like a fDk.jDldSjN voluntarily
encountered by our various repre-
scntatives since the final adjourn
ment of the State Legislature. All
our Legislators have had something
To say, either in public utterauce or
i'm print, i'm vindicatiOn of their ac-
ton as Representatives of the people
of this and the adjoining counties.
Messrs. Smith and GoOdpasture
have given an account of their stew
ardship in the open Court House be
fore the solid citizens of the County
Court. and 80 well Las their action
correspondent with the pledges made
before election that the AreOpagus
itself would, we believe, have pro-
nOunced them ettdOIimOi, whichmay
be translated passed IcjtH credit. Col.
Brandon has made Il speech of a
similar character at Dover, and,
having met with certain structures
ut the hands Of our able contempt
rary of the Dover Courier, writes a
VindicatiOn i'm the columns Of that
journal which we will presently
consider as Il conscientious AreOpa-
Cite. Mr.. Garner makes a similar
vindication i'm the Springfield Re
cord i'm answer to some structures of
our own. We viii give careful at
tention to both, bearing in mind
that the true AreUpagus before
which theyplead as we'll as ourselves
j. the people of Tennessee, who are
To- give judgment through the ballot
box at our next fall election. We
are ourselves i'm fact always on our
d0kimaSiu, and the sentence which
infiictS dtiDijU on us Is summary in
deed, being conveyed to us in the
awful words, "stop my paper"
~ Mr.. Gamers vindicatiOn was
elected by some structures of our
own we will give him the first place.
We give re5bdtim the whole of the
article in the Springfield Record,
which is published in reply To our
remarks:
HON. y. L. GARNER AND THE
CLARKSNILLE CHRONICLE.
The above journal, in Il three-cOl-
umn article, lauds those members of
the Legislature who were in favor
of mortgaging the homes, energies
and the muscle of the people to the
bondholders, and of sinking the
sovereignty of the State, and of put
ting il i'm the power of the bond
holders To file bill i'm the Federal
Court and compel the Legislature to
levy tax to meet the interest of
the debt, even if war should be
raging, pe-tilencc spreading over
the land and crops should fail.
% Then the Chronicle proceeds to
charge our Senator, the Hon. A. +.
Garner, with killing the Compro-
mise bill. The Chronicle charges
that, "A bill had passed the House
of Legislature to close with the COM
promise proposed by the creditors ut
half the face of the bonds with six
per ccut. interest, the coupons re-
t.eivablc a. taxes. This bill had
passed the House in all its pTOVis-
ionsy and was on its second reading
before the Senate, when Mr.. Garner
offered an amendment to strike out
the clause making the coupons re-
ceiVable for taxes, which passed the
senate by one majority. This, of
course, killed the bill"
The above charge Is, every word,
untrue, as the Journals of the LegiS-
latIIre will show. And this only il
illustrates the necessity of public
journal being careful as to the charges
made against representative of the
people. We cannot believe for a
moment that the Chronicle, if cor
rprtlv informed, would have made
the above charge. Vet its ignorance
of the facts, when the truth was in
its reach, is certainly culpablc.
The facts are few and simple. No
House hill fpr the settlement of the