Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-05-06
anne Truth Condensed.

present letter is to sum up my statement:
on the debt question in Virginia, and TAX,
a kindly farewell of "True Democrat" In
his farewell article he says "'T.' is rarely
right except by accident" This implies
l am right sometimes. But "T. d. i,
never right, even by accident" He get,
things twisted in a way sad to think of
Consider the point he admits l have taken
issue on, and see if [ have supported my
view by my W opinion only.
Iasserted that the negro vote in Vir-
ginia constituted the factor that gives the
readjusters any particular weight. In
proof 1 quoted the number of votes cast in
the late presidential election for electors.
The funder electors received 96,9l2 votes,
the ~resdjusters 81, 1874 and the republicans
5000. Did not this meager vote of the
readjuste7s prove that in their victoriou;
campaign of 1879, they received large re-
Inducements surely not from their avowed
opponents on the debt question, but from
the republican ranks. / strengthened this
conclusion by testifying to personal
knowledge of combinations between read
iusters and negroes. l referred also to
the republican support Of Malone in the
senate ofthe United States. In reply"T.D
asserted that in certain parts Of the state
where the whites largely prevail, the re-
adiusters have still the majority, basing
his conclusions upon figures furnished in
the election of candidates to the assembly
and to congress. This answer is INSULT
Gent, owing to its contracted applica-
ton, and next il begs the question in de-
pending upon figures to prove a readjus-
ter majority which l claim, from the
issue joined, are made up in part at least
of negro votes.
Now m a tremendous question
"Can he mean that an honorable gentle
man will do a ~dishonorable or mean thing
under compulsion, or that it will morally
excuse him in such an act?" Why, GER
tainly, AT. ID" If d man can't help him
self, but is deprived of all free
agency as the people Of Virginia
were in the reconstruction days,
who would hold him responsible
for what another might make him do I'M
der compulsion2 AndIhere is a difference,
1T. D." between the cases Of Memphis
and the state of Tennessee, as you hunger
so to know: Memphis was a dependent
corporation with which bondholders con-
tracted, knowing that at any time she
might cease to exist as The city Of Mem
| phis, while Tennessee is a sovereign, indie
pendent state. But this does not bear
upon the Virginia debt question.
| Affirm my correctness regarding the his
tory of the democratic party. My spelling
stevens" for stephens" was not as bad
as TT. DIS" spelling those, "that," and
making two additional errors of a rheto-
rical nature in the same sentence. The
name stevens" is a more common one
than stephens" and now l remember
there was also another historian from
Georgia, whose name was William Bacon
Stevens. | am prepared to maintain by
indisputable proof that the party of Jeffer-
son was called the democratic party as well
as the republican party. Now, at. D."
you asserted that Mr.. Stephens
is very particular in his Ian
guage and knows that words are
things and uses them accordingly" and
yeHin the face of this assertion you try to
interpret the words Of this accurate his
| AOIAulg llOuku NOu dlhiOM ltlEt lAuk III
speaking of the anti-federalist party,
measures and caucus, he repeatedly uses
the term democrat" But Is this "un-
supported opinion" on page 25S, where
Mr.. Stephens says, speaking Of parties as
early as the administration of Washing
ton, "The latter ii. G., the centralists) lad
hered to the name Of federalists, while the
former took the name Of republicans in
some places and democrats in Others?
Is anything moro evident than that
words are things" True Democrat"
VeDable in his school history testities-
speaking Of the administration Of Wash
ington-"Many of the republicans or
democrats as they were now beginning to
be called" page l4l, Again, on page
l43: 1.-The democrats were now greatly
in the ascendancy, and Jefferson, their
candidate, was elected president" Rid
paths school history, page 240:
Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
were the candidates of the demo-
Gratis" On page 24l he says; "At the
beginning Of his administration Mr..
Jefferson transferred the chief offices OF
the governmental the democrats" Quaek-
enbos' school history, page go This
party which embraced Jefferson and other
distinguished patriots, soon became known
as republicans or democrats Mr..
Goodrich, likewise, page 209, spea';s
ofthe Jetiersonian party as the democratic
party. Thus, according TO some of the
most competent historians, the name'dem-
ocratic party" dates from the beginning of
the government. The true followers OF
Jefferson have always retained that name;
and the history of the great democratic
party is coextensive with that of the
United States. You have been weighed
in the balance, and f ind wanting, IT'D"
The above quotation from Mr. Stephens is
a settler. Let me boil down my proofs
and arguments on the funder side. /
maintained that the debt of Virginia ought
to be settled with consent Of creditors. In
cases Of individuals therei Is no doubt about
the moral requirement Of consent on the
part of those persons who possess
the right. But state sovereignty
is q big word, and r~eadjusters
love to hide under it. In this connection
l showed that the various constitutions OF
states and union forbade the lin
pairing by states Of the obiiga-
ton of contracts" thus proving
that an agreement Of any kind was as con-
elusive upon the state as upon the indiyid-
ual. Next l showed the obligation OF the
war interest, and cited several acts under
] which the. interest had been long ago fund
ed and incorporated in the essence Of the
debt. | showed that Reputation was the
natural haven of Mahoneism: LIST. Be.
cause they (the readjusters) recognized no
rights on the partof others that they could
not diminish at will; and, secondly, because
Of the inconsistency Of Malone and his
followers and here l cited a speech OF
Malone, made at Mozart hall in Rich
mond, 1879, when he expressed himself in
favor Of paying $82,000,000 at 3 per cent,
whereas he is now committed to an ar
rangement Of S~l9,000.000 at the same rate.
/ showed that the McCulloch bill was not
a thing Of %iniquity, but far fairer to
the citizen than the readjuster Riddleberg-
er bill, which contained a provision grossly
violating private rights in taking away the
usual speedy remedies 10 resist the collec-
ton Of a tax under tae bill which some
might consider obnoxious, Here Is the