Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-19

ton of his party, and in defeating |
some obnoxious nominations in the |
have so turned his head that |
he seems to believe that the policy |
of the two great parties i'm Congress
are absolutely at his disposal. But |
with all these motives, so infiuen-
tial with a man of great intellect
but excessively limited moral sense,
we refuse to believe that the whole
of a great party will be de-
voted to eonvicting itself of deep
and damning guilt in order to fix
upon the victim of its wrath the
stain of that which is lighter guilt
even if they can prove the counts of
their indictment. Insane, however,
as would be the conduct of the Re
publican party in taking this step,
it would be still wilder pitch of in
fatuation for the Democratic party
or any considerable portion of its
delegates in Congress to join in this
attack. We are known to be no
special admirer of Mr.. Hayes; in
deed we have offended some who
take more stock in him than we can
find it in ourselves to take, but if it
comes to question between him
and Conkling, it is as one between
angels of light and darkness. In
the latter are concentrated the very
essential principles of all that is
selfish and all that is hateful in pol
itics. His own advancement, favors
to his own adherents, hatred and
persecution for his opponents-these
are the motive forces which alone
actuate his political activity. What
is his quarrel with Hayes? His
Southern policy? Does any Demo-
crat desire to see it abandoned :?
His political appointments? Does
any Democrat desire to see them
applied to the building up of Conk-
ling's influence in New York? The
promoters of this scheme must have
miscalculated in supposing that any
Democrats in their evaporation at
the loss of the Presidency are likely
to take part in this precious scheme.
Consider its effect on the business of
the country. Let it be known that
an attempt was to be made at this
time to reverse the decision of the
Electoral Commission, and what is
left of business activity in the coun-
try would sink PROSTATE altogether.
Consider the business of Congress.
Measures are before ii of the deepest
Importance to the DISTRACTED finan-
ces and commerce of the country,
and these measures have yet to meet
with a strong opposition in Congress
and a still stronger and more formi-
dable one in the lobby, and the in
terested antagonists of these meas
ures would be delighted at finding
Congress engaged in such a senseless
struggle as this scheme would create.
Indeed it has sometimes seemed to
us, in our utter inability to conceive
of any rational motive for such a
policy, that it may have been de-
vised by the Wall Street lobbyists
as a means of Withdrawing the at
tention of Congress from the hated
silver bill and the repeal of the re-
sumption act. Congress has no time
for such fooling. The people are
terribly in earnest in demanding a
completion of the necessary financial
and monetary legislation which has
been so well begun, and that MEM
Der, whether in House or Senate,
who shall divert the attention of
Congress from these momentous sub
iects to partizan squabbies, will be
doing the work of Wall Street and
the bankers in the lobby as well as
| that of the bitterest Radicals now in
politics, and will have a heavy reck-
oning to settle with his constituents.
Let us leave the rats which are
fighting for the possession of the
sinking ship to devour one another
at their pleasure; but he who joins
| in such a melee can reap neither
honor nor profit, but only share of
that universal condemnation which,
as things stand, is the exclusive
RIGHT of the Republican party.