Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-02-14
LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.

paper, now nearly four years ago.
At that time the Ohio politicians
and journalists were engaged in
their determined effort to force
their extreme doctrines of an incOn-
vertibIe currency of Government
paper upon the Democratic party as
an article of faith.
The present editor, then new in
the editorial harness, though an old
Democrat, openly protested against
such an effort. He thought he
knew what Democratic doctrine
was and felt quite sure that the
Ohio idea could in no way be made
to accord with the standard deelara-
tions of the party in former days,
and he said so, and, in short,
peremptorily declined to nurse the
rag baby.
But, in addition to this, he earn
estly protested against making
party issue of questions in finance
which it requires much abstruse
study and acute mathematical fac
ulties to master; he represented the
inpossibly of pursuing in stump
speeches and heated editorials the
severe logical methods by which
alone true results can be obtained
in the investigation of problems in
political economy.
This brought down on him the
wrath of the soft money champions,
and he remembers distinctly being
the object of fierce TRADES in many
journals of that stamp, among Others
the Cincinnati Enquirer. The gist
of these attacks was that the doc
trines of the CHRONICLE were anti
Republican, that they assumed the
American people to be incompe-
tent to the management of their
own money affairs; that they sought
to put the nation in leading strings
and give its money to some oil
garchic syndicate to take care of,
etc, etc. This editor was silenced
but not convinced; he knew that it
would not do to proclaim in the
court of King Demos that there was
any subject of which his majesty
could be ignorant, especially when
there were nultitudes of brilliant
courtiers there who were proclaim
ing that his majesty knew all about
it; so he laid his hand upon his
mouth and talked about something
else.
Meantime the Ohio madness
became fast and furious in many
Western States and gained consid-
cradle acceptance in some of the
Southern States, and notably among
those politicians in Tennessee who
proposed to deal with the State debt
on the wet sponge principle. 1t
seemed at one time as if the Ohio
idea was going to absorb the Demo-
cratic party, and as if old Demo-
Gratis were to be told that they could
only retain the name on condition
that they should turn their backs
on all the principles which had
been recognized as Democratic in
days gone by. That regeneration
we declined, and fortunately there
were enough conservative men in
the party to keep us In eountenance.
Ohio, however, kept on in her
course until she had wrecked the
party on the quicksands of fiat
money and ruined the career of
every politician who had accepted
and advocated her "idea"-amOng
the rest, alas, that of her distin-
guished Senator, A. G. Thurman.
Another thing which has contrib
uted to reduce the strength of the
soft money movement has been the
almost total collapse of the indie
pendent Greenback clique every
where. But for its convenience as
a rallying point for unappreciated
soreheads from either party, that
organization, practically dead as it
is, would not maintain even NOM
inal existence at this day.
In the face of all these discourage
ments and against the entreaties of
political leaders of all compilations,
the hards and softs seemed destined
to come to a collision at the COM
mencement of the present session of
Congress. Mr.. Bayard on the one
side and Messrs. Beck and NOOr-
hees on the other were resolved to
take the yeas and nays on their
respective positions.
The Republicans tried the first
skirmish, Mr.. Fort of Illinois taking
the initiative in behalf of the infla-
ton doctrine; but the Republicans
have excellent discipline in their
ranks and the controversy was soon
hushed up. 1t was not known then
but what Sherman might be a can
didate for the Presidency, and,
finance being his hobby, it would
not do to start him on his ride with
his hobby lame on one side.
On the Democratic side either dis
cipline is laxer or the Democrats
are more for principle and less for
party expediency than their antag-
onists, and it was soon manifest
that pitched battle was resolved
upon by Mr.. Bayard on the one
hand and Mr.. VOORHEES, on the
other. However this may be, Mr..
Bayard (who is hard to hold in
party harness) introduced a resolu-
luton in favor of Withdrawing
from the treasury notes their legal
tender quality, which was referred
TO the Finance Committee. On the
18th of last month Mr.. Allison, as
Chairman of that committee
brought up its reports on the Bayard |
resolution. This report announced |
an unimportant verbal amendment /
to the resolution which the COM |
mittee had made and then pro-
nounced adversely to the resolution