Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-04-07

JuooiiCdoiOA AOA WILL Cy -OlSuG DtIuO-
cratic Senators in maintaining the
attitude before the country which
they had maintained for the past
ten days. He wished to try the JUS
tice of their position by the light of
law and reason, so that when they
were called into that court of last
appeal (the bar of public opinion)
they should be willing to submit to
it the case they were making now.
When the Senate had met at the
beginning of the session it had found
itself under control numerically
of the Democrats. They had
claimed that it was their duty
to reorganize the committees.
Their efforts had been met by
dilatory motions on the other
side, and they had submitted to
those motions. When at length the
Senate had filed up, there were still
on this floor thirty,nine avowed
friends and supporters of the DEM
principles and party which that
standard-bearer represented. The
status of the vote had not disclosed
itself until thirty-nine avowed Re
publican Senators had brought in 8
resolution assuming that they held
majority. A great amount of mys-
terry had been allowed to envelope
the vote of one Senator, and that
mystery had remained until the Sen
ator had come had come forward and
thrown the organization of commit
tees suddenly into the hands Of the
| Vice President, who was not mem
Der of the Senate. The Democrats
had yielded, without dilatory mo-
ton, the control of committees to
the Republicans; but the question
now was, whether it was their
duty in the face of all the facts as
promptly is unquesti0nably to sub
NIT to the present motion to do
something for which the only justify~
cation was found in the doctrine that
it was the will of the majority. He
dwelt at some length upon the rights
conferred upon minorities by the
Constitution and the laws made in
accordance with it, INSTANCES had
occurred when he had felt it
his duty when he thought that a
question was fatal to the welfare of
the country to interpose everything
thrt he was allowed to interpose in
order that the question might stand
over for the sober, second thought
and action of the people, but there
must be justification for that action.
He asserted that there was no
precedent for the present election of
the Senate officers, contending that
tho action of the Democrats two
years ago in no respect presented
parallel case to the present. He re-
ferred to the important measures
awaiting action of the Senate, in
order tat four subordinates of the
Senate might be turned out and four
others put i'll. It was as Mt.
olympus to want to talk of
passing by these great objects
of public interest, and to sloop
down to displace four acceptable
officials. Referring to the recent
statement of Senator Cameron, of
Pennsylvania, that this question had
in view the coming fall election in
Virginia, he characterized it as a
dangerous step in the direction of
Capitalization. 1t was an usurpa-
ton, an invasion-it was, in the
strongest sense of the word,
a revolutionary attempt by IN
lawful and illegitimate methods to
control the free election of the
State. To usurpation was added the
terrible danger of corruption, be-
cause if this man Riddleberger was
to be chosen an officer of the Senate
in order to influence the election in
Virginia, how could he do it in the
line of his public duty.
There was another feature to this
transaction. What was the contest
in Virginia which the Republicans
expected to decide by appointing Mr.,
Riddleberger? The issue was repu-
diation, and it was on the repudiat>
ing side of that issue that the Res
publican party in the Senate
proposed to identity itself, by
choosing Mr.. Riddleberger as
one of it's officers. It was to live to
his doctrines that the Republicans
stood committed A Grecian fable
told of a man who slew the dragon
and sowed his teeth, aid whose crop
was armed men who flooded the land
with b'ood. It seemed to him that
if the Republican party assisted in
sowing the seeds Of the reputation of
admitted and honorable obligations
it was sowing a crop worse than that
of Cadmus, and one which would
bear dangerous fruit to posterity.
Republicans had no right to
strengthen the hands of those who
were actual, if not avowed, repudi-
ationsts, in order to disintegrate
the Democratic party of Virginia
, He believed he was justified in pre-
venting the consummation of this
act. This was a serious question
> and might become more serious, but
) by the light he had received he
} stood for the present where he had
been when the contest opened