Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-02-22


flesh could brook. When that word
met his eye his whole soul sPrang
to arms and death and destruction
went darkling through the atmos>
phere. He harnessed himself for
action, mounted his fiery-well, it's
a .iackass but he fondly imagines it
a majestic war-horse-gathered in
his powerful hand his trusty fall
chion, and came laundering down on
the poor, devoted CHRONICLE like
an alpine avalanche. He seized
our Washington correspondent, held
him aloft, and then dashed him
against the earth, with the force of
dozen forty-horse power steam
engines. Five physicians are with
him day and night but all hope of
his recovery 10 given up. Eheu
After performing this doughty deed
he leveled his Goliathan beam at
the editor, but he, knowing that
prudence was undeniably the better
part of valor, had fed to the noun
tains, where no man could pursue,
and for the nonce is safe. This
done, the high and heroic warrior
| rode back to his castle like the
chivalrous Chevalier Bayard, that he
is, and received the ministrations of
fair and adoring female friends. Ut
might be well to remark for the
benefit of those not acquainted with
this amiable editor, that the fight
was all on paper)
The objective point against which
all his engines Of destruction were
directed was some structures in our
Washington letter on the proposed
registration laws of South Carolina,
and the ammunition with which they
were charged was Massachusetts.
Now, lift be not too much impudence
on our part to point out some differ.
ences between these two states land,
ifin our present discounted state they
would be credited after the Tribune
has said there was none-we would
Ike to do it. IF the learned editor
had directed his great intellect to-
wards an understanding of the edu,
cational laws Of Massachusetts,, in
stead of searching musty old tones
thattell of ante>revolutionary events,
he would have detected these differ
ences. In the first place, Massa>
chusetts has a compulsory educa-
tional law, which requires all chill
dren between the ages of eight
and fourteen years to be sent
to school as much as twenty
weeks in the year. Has South
Carolina this law In the second
place, when the educational restric-
tons to voting were adopted in
Massachusetts, no man was disfran-
chised, but all men who had been
voting, whether learned or illiterate,
were still allowed that privilege.
Does South Carolina propose to do
this ? In the third place, the pub
lie schools in Massachusetts, are
among the finest in the world. Is
this the case in South Carolina ?
In the fourth place, Massachusetts
allows all foreigners five years to
learn to read and write. Is this
clause found in the South Carolina
law? We repeat: If the editor of
the Tribune had turned his atten-
ton to these points he would not
have betrayed such an amount of
asinine folly as is to be found in his
editorial of yesterday.
We think we have said enough to
show the utter untenableness of the
Tribune's position, and yet we have
said nothing of the animus of the
proposed South Carolina law. This
is every thing; it is the turning point
Of all the arguments on the guess
ton. If it is fair, patriotic prin-
ciple that induces the trainers of
this act to bring it before the legis-
la.ure, the change might be defended
to certain extent; although even
in that case the bill is wretchedIy
framed. But that is not the case.
If he had watched the course of af-
fairs in that state, as the editor of
every journal ought to do, he would
know that the Charleston News and
Courier was the framer and staunch