Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-06-05
The South mt CIncinnaai.
New York World


1t is not far out of the way to say
that the south will be on trial next
month at Cincinnati, and that upon
the conduct of the south in the dem
Ocratic national convention the issue
of the contest in November will
turn. The democratic party, as po-
litical affairs now stand, is identified
with the south and the south with
the democratic party. In'the house
of representatives well-nigh one
hundred out Of the one hundred and
forty-six democratic members rep
resent southern constituencies, and
there is a like proportion Of southern
democrats in the senate. Indiana
is the only northern state which
was left entirely democratic after
the elections of last autumn. Mod
crate republicans and immoderate
republicanS-party men and no.
party men--lo0k upon and speak of
the democratic party in national
affairs as the south. They know
that the south is able to control the
policy of the democratic party
whenever it makes up it's mind that
its duty is to do this. The World
has certainly earned the right to
speak frankly as a friend to the
democrats of the south, and it is
time for every true friend of the
south to tell southern men plainly
that they need not seek or hope to
evade or escape the responsibility
of their plain, demonstrable relation
to the democratic party by profess
ing either that they have no opin-
ion as to what manner of man
should be the democratic candidate
at Cincinnati, or that they think it
discreet to withhold any opinion
they may have formed. The pre-
text Of this southern Indifference, or
southern retieence, is the notion
that any democratic candidate will
be prejudiced in the north by south
ern advocacy of his claims. 1t is
time for all grown men at the south
to understand that this notion has
been industriously put about by Mr..
Tilden's friends in order to bulIdoze
the southern majority of. the party
into shutting their eyes and opening
their mouths and taking what
Gramerey Park may send them. 1t
is time for grown men at the south
to understand that, no matter who
may be nominated at Cincinnati, he
will be denounced to republican
voters as a southern candidate. If
he is a northern man he will be re-
viled as ''a northern man with
southern principles" The stalwart
contention and outcry this summer
must be met, and boldly met, by
any democratic candidate. The stall
wart yell in 1880 against any demo-
crat will be like the stalwart yell in
1872 against Horace Greeley-that
the democratic party is q southern
party. Why should it not be? In
1876, Mr.. Tilden went out of the
northern states in a minority of a
quarter of a million, but when the
real ballots of the southern states
were added this was turned into a
majority of quarter of million.
The country has got on now TO a
point where it longs for nothing so
much as for frank utterance of the
true and best sentiment of the south.
The business men of the north and
west desire to see the Union as it
was in the hearts of the whole peo-
pie. New England, and especially
Massachusetts, the brain of the anti
slavery war, is looking back to the
better days of the republic, and
proves this to demonstration by the
feeling which it displays in favor of
such national statesman as Mr..
Bayard. The colleges, the churches,
the best elements OF Puritanism and
the best elements of Catholicism in
Massachusetts all manifest this feel
ing. The independent, right-mind-
ed, no-party men of the east and
north are intently expecting what
the south will do at Cincinnati. By
what thesouth does at Cincinnati the
south will, we repeat, be judged
and in the northern judgment OF
the south the democracy will be
Judged. No man in New York or
in New England is SO uninformed
as not to know that the south can
control the Cincinnati nomination.
Is the south so demoralized that ii
no longer has any political convic-