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

DISSERTATION.
There is something deplOrable and
shocking in the death-struggles of
the republican party. Now that
the guilt Of many years lnalfeasance
i'm Office is about to be visited upon
il by the resOlute condemnation of
IA long outraged people, the doomed
faction seems incapable of either
repentance and submission or of
deliberately calculated resistance ;
but the widest and most desperate
eXpedients are resorted to and then
abandoned, one after another, while
destruction still stares them in the
face in spite of all.
The universal conviction that the
popular vote will entail Overwhelm-
ing defeat on their party has evil
IDENTIFY impressed itself more strong
ly on the republican politicians than
on anyone else, but submission to
the popular vote is the last thing
which occurs to them. They have
made their standard-b bearer one who
was a master workman i'm defeating
the popular vote in 1876, one who,
rs n "visitingstatesman," asa men,
Der of congress, as member of the
electoral commission, devoted him
self body and soul to the Ubiquitous
game of fraud and force by which a
usurper obtained and held for four
years the chair once filled by a
Washington, a Jefferson and a
jackson. They have placed second
on their ticket a man condemned as
n corrupt political trickster by the
heads of his own party, and they
have already blocked off the nefari-
Gus method by which they hope
again to neutralize the growing
force of the public Indignation
against them.
First-The gang Of supervisors APP
pointed and maneuvred by John
Davenport are to supervise elec-
lions, and, to facilitate their purpose
of throwing out democratic votes,
all sorts of minute regulations as to
the printing of tickets are laid down
in New York (where counting out
is most neededD as an excuse for
cancelling them.
Second-FOr fear that should not
work, i'm states where at present
there is republican majority i'm the
state legislatures, but where it is
feared that Il popular vote might
give a democratic result, it is pro-
posed not to allow of a popular vote
ut all, but for the state legislatures
to appoint electors who will elect n
republican president.
Third-In case of this being OBJ
jected to i'm congress, the vice-presi-
dent is to open and count the votes
and decide which are genuine.
These are the three cardinal meth
DDS by which the presidential cleo
tiOn is to be taken out of the hands
Of the people and placed forever in
those of the existing executive.
That this is n deliberate purpose
is evident from the way in which
the legislation on which the meth
Ods depend was managed. We will
briefly examine them separately.
First-The Davenport laws have
been i'm existence since 1870, though
their full capacity for mischief was
not discovered till some years after
wards. A scrutiny into their work
by congress has proved that they
are capable of being used and have
been SO used as to enable the party
which for the time controls the ex-
ccutive to override the popular vote
by placing the supervision of cleo
tions in the hands of partisans APP
pointed for their partisanship and |
shamelessly raked out of brothels,
saloons and low gambling |
houses. Such men are placed by |
these means in absolute control of |
the polls i'm large cities, with almost |
power of reversing the
vote of the people both by impris-
Oning men before they havea chance 1
to vote and by cancelIing their
votes after they are given in.
Ever since the democracy has had
R majority i'm congress it has en-
deavOred tn repeal these infamous
laws, while the whole power of the
republican party has been inter
posed in their favor. The house of
representatives, by its control of
appropriations, tried, if not to re-
pt'al, TO modify these laws, and the
mode in which it was thwarted at
every step shows how desperately
he radical party clings to their
means Of reversing the popular vote.
First the house sent up the appro-
lriation for the judicious expenses, |
With a rider forbiddlng the appoint
nent of assistant supervisors. This
vas vetoed on the ground that riders
# that sort were unconstitutional.
Then an appropriation was sent up
Win q provision contrived by Mr..
fairfield that the assistant superyis-
rs should be appointed by the dis
riot courts instead Of by the chief
and that they should be