Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-06-29

LOAtSidAA<t was gwen " Ia KS anu
no protest came from that State or
any other quarter of the South. 1T
was also urged that the President
was anxious to get Packard, Cham
berlain and COrbin out of the way
in order that they should be pre-
vented from stirring up inquiry in
their respective States. Thus the
Republican of January IA said:
"Packard, Chamberlain and COrbin
are three carpet-baggers whom the
administration organs declare to be
rotten with corruption, and yet Mr..
Hayes has pressed upon these gem
tlemen three of the best offices in
his Gift. Why? In the name of
civil service reform and honest cleo
tiOns, why?" January 81 the Re-
publican said that Hayes made 1.-The
nominations at the South to carry
out the bargains made by Matthews
and Foster"
In consOnance with Senator Conk-
Iing's declaration that the ''infamy"
underlying the Louisiana count
would "appalp the whole country,
an editorial in the Republican of
December 81 said: 'The honest Re
publican leaders, newspapers and
masses will not desert their princi-
pies at any mans bidding. They
arebno worshiperS of men, even if
the man to be WOrshiped happens
to be President. If the leaders listen
to the UOice of the masses, this alleged
iEliQUity IN Louisiana lCitt6e searched
ont, though the TeUeldtiOJls shall dppdt
tie lrOrLd. Silence, now, is COM
plicity." This was pretty strong
language for Republican -newspa-
per, but it came from the pen of a
man fresh from conversation with
Senator Conkling and impressed by
his words with the conviction that
wrong had been done to the voters
of Louisiana land, through them, to
the entire people of the United
States), and that the President and
his personal friends were privy to
the conspiracy that had counted out
Mr.. Tilden. Who these friends
were may be judged from an editO-
rial note in the issue Of the next
day, January /, 1878: 1.-THE country
is waiting with intense anxiety to
hear from Secretary Sherman and
Stanley Matthews in reply to the
very direct and eircumstantial
charges of fraud made by William
+. Chandler" Here is another hint
to the Secretary of the Treasury,
taken from the issue of January 81 !:
"There is peril to Secretary Sher-
man in the spicy breeZeS that blow
soft from Louisiana and whisper
about the procurement of false
votes" Certainly Senator Conk-
ling then thought that Secretary
Sherman was the head and front of
the offending in Louisiana.
There was never any more heSita-
ton on the part of the editor in
speaking plainly in the columns of
the Republican than the Senator had
in speaking to him. Mr.. COnkling
assured me that he read the editOri-
ais in the Republican carefully, and
thought that no item ever escaped
his notice. | remember that on the
night of January 81, 1878, the Sena-
tor expressed himself as perfectly
satisfied with its utterances, and
was emphatic in assuring me that
it had not been too extreme in its
treatment of the Louisiana business.
Bearing this in mind, let your read
erS peruSe the following from an ed
itOrial of January ,, headed LET
the Truth be Known :" "Under the
circumstances no honest man can do
otherwise than insist upon a
complete and satisfactory investiga-
ton of the affair, no matter whom
it may hurt. If any attempt is made
to smother investigation, it must
badly damage those who follow
such a policy, and its effect upon
the Republican party cannot but be
disastrous. No innocent man will
be injured by such an inquiry"
Surely the effect of attempting to
smother investigation in May cam
not be different from such an at
tempt in January-at least, in Mr.
COnkling's opinion. The latter dis
agreed with his Old-time enemy,
Mr.. Curtis, on this point, as witness
the following from the Utica Re
publican of January %, 1873: "To
Mr.. George William Curtis, greet
ing. The position you take in your
article in Harper's Weekly in 1.-THE
President and the Country" seems
to be, briefly, that, even if there
were a corrupt bargain and sale in
South Carolina and Louisiana, it is
better to wink at it now and not
open old sores. Do we interpret
you correctly, and is this to be the
sort of path civil service refOrmers
tread? To US it appears only an
effort to compound felony, and so
utterly dishonest that we are shocked
to see its blackness gilded by so able
pen"
Concerning the Presidential title,
the home organ of Senator COnkling
spoke as anyone would speak who
simply desired honesty in the cleo
toral count, and had no fear that
honesty could ever "MeXicanize" a
stable Government and an upright
people. The Republican of January
II said eve have never urged any
attack upon the Presidents title,
but we do insist that the very seri-
Gus charges of fraudulent bargains
for counting out Packard and Cham
berlain-bOth of whom received
higher majOrities than Hayes in
their respective StateS-Ought TO be
investigated. Its evident
that by foul conspiracy in high
quarters the States of South Carolina
and Louisiana were handed over"
&C., DC. Another editorial of the
same date contains these sentences /:
Somehow, our Democratic friends
fail to see that the proof of a corrupt
league between Stanley Matthews
on one side and Nichols on the
other, for the purpose of OuSting
Governor Packard, would not inVal-
idate the title of President Hayes.
There is no trouble about the title at
all. The Republican party want to
know who sold out Packard and
Chamberlain, and to punish them
for it-and they will find out, too"
That the result of investigation
might involve the resignation or
retirement of Mr.. Hayes without
touching on the validity of his title)
was limited at in an editorial of De-
cember %, on 1.-THE Rewards of
Treason" which ] can honestly say
was directly inspired by Mr.. Conk-
ling. The following language Oc-
ours in it: "The revelations made
recently in regard to the bargaining
that passed between the personal
friends of Mr.. Hayes and the follow
ers of Hampton and Nichols preVi-
Gus to the 18th of March, haveamaZed
many and have aroused universal