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

iAiii tHSy dCCcplSu int dHieuuhlSit
and the whole republican party |
voted against it, including Mr.. |
Garfield himself, the author of the |
amendment. The bill as amended,
however, passed and was vetoed on
the rider principle. The veto mes
sage found no fault with the princi-
pie OF the bill. but condemned it
because it was an appropriation bill |
accompanied with legislation.
One more attempt was made. Mr..
Bayard offered a bill containing Mr..
Garfeld's provisions, but not &C
conpanied with an appropriation,
and therefore not presenting the
desired excuse for a veto, but it was
vetoed again. So nolegislation was
passed and no appropriation made.
The assistant marshals, however,
are to be appointed, trusting to an
appropriation from future con-
gress TO pay them. We trust that
no democrat will be elected to con-
gress without giving a pledge to
vote against any such appropria-
ton.
Second-The scheme for appoint
ing electors by state legislatures in
extra session has already been
/ mOoted by the republican press
not by the higher class journals,
whose positions compromise the
party. AT present it is preached by
the least responsible and least repu-
table, such as the Louisville Com
mercial and 1--WE suppOse) the Lee
mars Sentinel (if that ferOcious
journal is still in existence.) This is
done as a feeler, and the higher
class wait to see how The suggestion
is received. But it is certain that
the plan is under consideration in
the party's cOuncil-chambers.
Third-Mr. Wheeler has taken
pains to have it understood that he
has not yet abdicated his privilege
of counting the presidential votes "a
privilege which he has never pos
sessed); and it is certain that the
republican party in congress last
session deliberately set itself against
the adoption of any prescribed
method for counting the vote.
so here is an abstract of the radi-
cal program for the defeat of the
popular vote. The radical super
visors are to makeup cases to ground
a dispute on, and a radical vice
president is to decide the cases; or
if even these arrangements seem not
to be feasible, then radical legisla-
lures are to appoint the electors
whom it is not safe for the people to
elect.
1t was one of the results of the
ubiquitous fraud of 1876 that it has
accustomed men to contemplate
such devices as possible. We are
not going now to enquire whether
these projects are within the letter
of the constitution; we believe them
all to be condemned by it. But the
spirit of the constitution, we believe,
is stronger than its letter and cannot
be suppressed by any pettifogging
special pleading intended to neu-
traliZe it. There is a law which lies
at the basis of the constitution for
which the constitution itself exists,
and that is that the people shall rule.
The experiment of 1876 will not
be repeated. The will of the people
will not be set aside by any perver-
sions of the letter of the law or of
the constitution, but All honest vote
of the people will be taken, and the
man whom they elect will be presi-
dent. The circumstances under
which the crime of 1876 was perpe-
trated are quite different from those
of the present day. Then it was in
the defeated and discouraged south |
that the outrage was perpetrated,
and men were unprepared for it;
its suddenneSS and audacity stag
gered them, and when they ought |
to have been acting they were COM |
PEELED to look around them and con- |
slider how TO act, and finally they |
accepted the illusion that men in |
the most exalted judicial position
recognized by the nation would |
pronounce judicially in the matter,
and were disappointed, and then
the crime was accomplished and it
was too late for remedy.
1t is not now in the south that the
outrage is to be attempted it Is in
several of the most populous cities
of the most powerful states of the
north, and it is not merely that an
election is to be miscOunted, but
no election is to be allowed; the
people of New York, of Connect
cut, of Ohio, are to be told that they
are not wise enough or honest
tllOuSu " CiGNl IL bEtSluCIil, anu
that their state legislatures will
take it out of their hands.
We believe that the managers of
the republican party are too wise to
attempt all this, but the rashness of
despair is incalculable, and they
may adopt it as "A last resort. Should
they do so, the result is certain; the
people will burst through the petit
Jogging cobwebs which have been
spinning around them and will
speak in a voice which cannot be
disregarded; they will claim their
voice in the election and they will
have it. !
The republican party itself is not
what it was in 1876. 1t is losing in
two directions: respectable, intelli-
gent men like Curtis in one direc-
ton are abandoning it as pol
luted thing, and in another the
of Grant ana Blaine are
giving it n cold and perfunctOry