Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-07-17

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g be distrustcd and watched. 'Fhi
was one of the objects which the
{ were designed to accomplish. An
y other WAS TO furnish the means b,
which tife i;ssiiss ssi sf sssf the states to su
pervise The exercise of the electlvl
: franchise within their own border
: could be degraded and controlled
J For the accomplishment of these
! objects these laws have been effect
: ual.
After speaking Of the Davenport
and deputy marshal laws, Mr.. Cur
It's went on:
4 | have now two things to urge
: and shall make them the burden
of my whole plea for the success Of
the democratic party in the coming
presidential election. First and
foremost and beyond all things the
country needs peace-the peace OF
fraternal loye-the peace of fidelity
to the constitution and to every
part of it. In my humble efforts to
understand the moral obligation
which every man takes upon his
conscience when he swearS TO sup
port the constitution of the United
States, I have always found that
that oath is not fully kept unless it
| is made to include conscientious
and careful support of the rights
which have been reserved to the
state governments and the SOW
ereignty of their peoples. Gap
plause.) All merl are not called
upon to take an official oath to sup
port the federal constitution, but all
men are alike bound to know aud
to heed the obligation which makes
/ fidelity to that constitution fidelity
] to the whole of it. This election is
| to decide whether the men who
| have governed this country for
| twenty years shall continue in
power. Their claim to the suffrages
of the people is based upon a mon
opoly of all the virtues which they
profess to hold. All the talent, pa
triotism, craftsmanship, fidelity to
the constitution, capacity for public
affairs that exist among the public
men of the country are claimed to
be concentrated in the persons of
the republican leaders. Every dem
ocratic statesman of the north or
the great west or of the Pacific
slope, and all the democratic voters
of these vast regions are said to be
engaged in a conspiracy to restore
the government to the domination
of the southern brigadiers laugh
teri, which means that the men
who took part in the war on the
southern side are to control all the
intellect and character of the other
sections of the country, i'm the adj
miniStration of the government in
case of democratic success in this
election. This is too ridiculous for
serious argument, but we may as
we'll look at it for q moment. A
reasonable amount of party gascOn-
ade and Self-Sufliciency may be eX-
cused. 1t is in the nature of party
spirit to believe in the exclusive
virtue of our own side. But when
It comes to be gravely put to the
people that there is but one set of
men in the country who are fit 10
govern it, it is time for that people
to look about them and see where
this alleged monopoly of public
virtue will lead and has led them.
One thing is certain. No people
can ever institute reforms or correct
abuses in their government who act
constantly upon the assumption
that the leading men of Il particular
party are alone fit to administer
their affairs. TO me it seems that
the people would do well to consider
not only to what this assumption
will continue to lead, but also to
what it has led. At the last preSi-
Dental election majority of a
quarter of million in the popular
vote decided on change of admin
istration. Yet such was the reli-
ance placed by the leaders of the
republican party on the conviction
of their followers that their cnntin-
ued political power was a public
necessity, that they thought they
could dispense with the laws of
common honesty. Accordingly,
they stole the electoral vote Of Il
state which belonged to the demo-
cratic candidates; and the steady S !
to vote of an extra constitutional
commission ratified the fraud. Does !
any man in his senses believe that |
public men would have thus acted !
If their cOnscienceS and their honor I
had not been scared by a political |
fanaticism which had its source in |
the party belief that the welfare of |
the country required that the re- |
publicans should continue to hold |
the executive power, and that this |
end justified the means? Is that |
"damned spot"-that dark stain on |
our national e5cutcheOn--never to |
be wiped out? Voice. YES, yes."l |
Do the people of this country pro- !
pose themselves to reward the men !
who were paid with public place,
from cabinet seats and foreign mis-
siOns down to tide-waiterships, for
their services in that infamous bust |
ness ?
A generation has come forward |
into active political and social life to |
whom our civil war is a matter of
history only. l pray the young |
men of the present day to study the |
political system of their country
and not to accept as political gospel
the traditiOnary assumption that |
because their fathers or brothers had |
to fight for the supremacy of the
federal constitution there are no |
principles of state rights for which |
they ought to contend by the peace |
full instrument of the~ballOt. | eX- |
hort them above all not to narrow |
their minds to the foolish belief |
that the party which has governed |
this country so long compre-
hends all the craftsmanship and |
public virtue in the land. If / can |
see this election result in the reform
alton which believe to be SO much |
needed, | shall be content to re-
main where belong, wishing only |
to have it said of me when my days |
are ended: "IIe never left the paths |
of private life, yet in his day and |
generation he contributed few |
things to the stability of the repub-
lie, 20 the strengthening of its foun-
dations and to the SOLDERING of the |
people," Applause.
Our government, as respects the |
executive department, has descend
ed to a pretty low plane. The Office
of president has been occupied by a
man of the most moderate abilities, |
who was content to take it, know
ing that he was not the choice of
the people, knowing that the dOcu-
ments which gave him certain elec- |
toral votes were the productions OF |
forgery and fraud and knowing /
that the majority of the tribunal |
which awarded to him his dishon- |
est title was governed by fixed |
party determination to secure pos
session of the Office, however plain |