Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-07-23
THE FIGHT Ar ALBANY.

Like Samson, Roscoe Conkline
will pull down the pillars Of the re
publican temple in his fall; or. in
other words, his conflict with thead-
ministration has exposed such rot.
tenness and weakness in the republi.
can party as to warrant the hope
that that party cannot much longer
lord it over this country rs it has
done and keep the helI-fire Of sec.
tional hate burning in the Northern
heart.
Among the haters of the South.
and the promoters of hate against
our section and our people, Roscoe
Conkling has been the most con-
spicuous and the ablest. His whole
public career has famed the flames
Of sectional discord, and stood Al an
entrenchment between national
harmony and sectional reconcilia-
tion. Hence, we rejoice at his fall f;
and may il be many a long day be-
fore New York, or any other state,
shall ever send his like again to the
public councils, to mar the prosper
ity and disturb the peace of the
country. There is not a pulsation
of his heart that has not beat
in unison with the revolution
of the political machine which
he has manipulated with so
much audaeity and ability. He
is rs incapable of a broad and pa
triotic impulse as are the snow clad
heights of the Andes of sending
from their frozen SUBMITS the gent
al warmth and baliny breath OF
spring. Let him 60, and joy go
with him. His lordIy strut and in
sOlent swsgger can be very well dis
pensed with in the United States
senate. Let him be relegaIed to
the walks of private life. The
country will never miss him, save
when it cOngratulates itself that he
will no longer ventilate his brutal
and barbarous manners in the high
places of official power. The affair
of CanOnchet onght to have damned
him in public estimation at the
time, but the dazzling splendor of
his reputation, thanked by an am
cunt of cheek that the devil him
self might envy, enabled him to
look public decency out of eounten-
ance and strut on as if nothing had
happened. But the misdeeds that
failed at the time TO kill him will
gather about his political grave and
form a combination against his res
direction too powerful for him to
overcome. He Is fi0lctltS 06iciO.
Poor little Plat would excite the
pity of the country if public con-
tempt did not rise to rebuke the ex-
ercise of so amiable a quality to-
wards him. The climb on the step
ladder and the peep through the
transom planted him in his little
green grave. His exit from room
No. lib was not unlike the exit of
his illustiOus master from Canon
Chef. COnkling ShOuldered the dis
grace of Canonchet and walked off
with it. But the step ladder was
too heavy for Plat; he staggered
and fell under its weight, and
crawled off into Oblivion, thanking
his stars as he left that he was al
lowed the privilege of escaping.
But think of such a method being
adopted by men, who claim to he
respectable, to get rid of an oppo-
nentl The Half Breed members of
the legislature who engaged in this
disgraceful step ladder affair, by
their conduct on the disgusting oc-
casiOn, vindicated their right to be
called Half Breeds. No well-bred,
no decent, no honorable gentleman
could have been cOaxed or forced to
take part in such transaction.
The bribery and corruption and
contemplate espionage disclosed at
Albany reflects true likeness of
the republican party. 1t has been
nothing but dirty scuffie between
unprincipled politicians for the con-
troll of the machine, and we see but
little choice, so far rs the country is
concerned, whether the machine is
run by Conkling or Robertson. In
fact, during the entire struggle the
supporters of Conkling seem to
have conducted themselves with
more decency than the supporters
of the administration. The truth
is, and we rejoice to know that the
country is fast finding it out, the re-
publican party itself is vast poIiti-
cal machine, run for the benefit of
its leaders. The custom-hOuse, ut
New York, ought to be lifted out of
the atmosphere Of party politics. 1t
belongs to the people of the whole
country, and they are all more OF
less interested in its correct admin
istration. The president OF the
United States owes it to the people
of the whole country to see to it
that it is not run as a COnkling or
anti-COnkling machine. He fell
far below his duty to the country
when he gave the control of 1t to a
mere politician as a reward for per-
sonal or partisan services. Mr..
Garfield has it in his power now to
utilize the universal sympathy felt
for him in his great misfortune as
q lever to lift his administration
from the miasmatic atmosphere of
mere partisan conditions to the
high, broad plane of patriotic duty
and national inspiration.
But he must change his whole
program from what it has been so
far. He must apply the flowers
that grow in the executive green
house to some other purpose than
bouquettes for Malone,
and the great patronage which he