Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-04-07

Nj PHIS DAILN
| been drawn more and more to questions
/ affecting their material interests Here the
! influence Of the old Wig doctrines BEGAN to
make itself felt IN favor OF the Republican
party. A msjority of the people Of Tennes-
see are in favor OF protective tariff that
| shall be well regulated; four-ffths Of them
| are Republican to-day on the question Of
national currency; all parties there are in
| favor Of internal improvements. On these
and kindred questions the people find the
| Republican party much more 20 their liking
than the Democratic party. The Democrats
have been weakened, too, by the steadily
! diminishing confidence of the rank and file
Of the voters in the ability OF the leaders TO
| win presidential election. This has been
emphasized by the fact that the party is
inharmonious on all these material questions,
while the Republican party is far more con-
| sistent on all of them. Up to the time, how
ever, that differences arose in the Democratic
party itself on the debt question, the process
OF change was slow. 1t took good deal Of
| courage for men 10 leave the party and come
| over. Terrible pressure was brought, and
is yet, to keep men in the party. 1t Is still
| taught that it Is not quite respectable to be
Republican, though that is becoming an
obsolete argument. When the Democratic
were well ucFSiOpSuy INT StdSc VI
rapid change was reached, and every year
| has shown an increased Republican vote I'M
til, in 1880, @ arfield received nearly los, 900
votes, against 129 900 for Hancock. Many
men are coming over now who have hated
| the Democratic party for years, and hated its
leaders, and yet had no good excuse for leav-
ing it. The preference for Confederate
soldiers has made trouble in Tennessee, as in
Kentucky. The Tennessee plan has always
been to nominate ex-Confederates in the sure
Democratic districts but TO give the Union
men a chance in the doubtful districts, where
the Democrats could not win without the
votes Of Union men.
THE REPUTATION PARTY.
"The reputation party in Tennessee,
the lowta party, as it ia called, really took
definite shape FIRST in 1874. The Legislature
OF 1878 had refunded every dollar of the
debt, with the accrued interest, the Repub-
licans solidly supporting the project, and
one payment of interest was made. But in
1874 the Democratic State government de-
faulted on the second payment, though there
was said to be enough money in the treasury,
which has never been satisfactorily accounted
for since, to make it. In that year and the
following, the low-tax party began to develop
considerable strength. A number OF promi-
nent men showed themselves in connection
with il. Though the Democrats controlled
several Legislatures, they never made any
provision to pay the interest on the debt.
All that they did do was to submit to the
people a proposition for repudiating one
half the debt and funding the other half at
four per cent. interest. This was defeated
by the votes of the men who were not
willing to repudiate any part OF it, and the
men who wanted to repudiate the whole
of it. By 1879 this repudiafing element
was we'll organized. The Democratic party
had always had a repudiating element-In
favor OF repudiating even the national debt
In the Legislature OF 1879 the low-tax party
formally organized, and by the following
year the quarrel between the factions had
gone so far that the party was IN hopeless
confusion. The low-tax men had only 200
delegates in the Democratic convention out
of ZOO, because the Influence of the rail-
roads, etc, were all on the side OF State
credit; but the low-tax men seeded and their
candidate for governor received So 600 votes,
to 10 600 for the State-credit candidate. But
that vote does not represent the party as II Ii.
A majority of il is for Republication. What
helped the State-credit Democrats to cast
their large vote was the implicit faith oil Dem
ocrats generally that Hancock was to be
elected. They wanted 10 be in harmony
with the Democratic platform, aud they par
ticularly wanted TO he in harmony with
Haucock's administration. When the cam
paign began the low-taX candidate, in my
Judgment, had two-thirds of the party with
him.
sANGUINE THAT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR
WILL BE ELECTED.
"Governor Hawkins, our candidate, re-
csived few thousand Democratic votes, but
they were only of such men as were tired OF
the Democratic party, and will continue to
vote with US. Many OF them were Union
Democrats-men who had fought In the
Union army, or had sons or brothers in it.
A great many cau-es working together
for the Republican party in Tennessee. The
defeat of Hancock has disgusted and dis
heartened many Democrats, who are saying
now that the party can never carry presI-
dentalIelection, and it is OF no use to keep up
the organization. The sentiment OF all
honest people is with us on this debt ques-
ton, and the Republican party has taken
the leading position in the Eight, We will IN
eyitabIy gain votes among them. And right
here let me say that the decision of the Su-
preme Conrt, if it was a political maneuver,
was a great mistake for the Democrats. The
law funding the debt had taken: he debt ques-
ton out OF politics, and the Democratic
party would have been far stronger to-day II
it had been kept out. The decision revived
the controversy, and split the Democratic
party in two again. Then, as l said before,
the growing anxiety of the people OF Ten
nessee to develop their immense nat
ural resources inclines them 10 the
hepuDllcdn party, WHICH IL INC oniy Pfu'y Vi
protective tariff and national currency,
and makes them eager to do anything that
will bring in Northern capital. You will
find the Tennessee papers full of complaints
that Northern capital is pouring into other
States, but not into theirs, and telling the
people that this is what they must expect If
they don't pay their debts as people. Ten
nessee will not only, in my opinion, elect
Republican governor this fall, but with
proper help from the party in the North it
will give ills electoral vote to the Republican
candidate in 1884"
WHAT DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS SAY.
Tennessee Democrats in Congress do moi
show much anxiety TO discuss the situation
in their State, They assert, in a general
way that the decision of the Supreme Court
will have the effect of reunitiDg the party,
and declare that all parties in Tennessee
have held that the State had equities" in
the matter OF the debt. These equities"
are found, on inquiry, to consist in the argu-
ment of the Democrats that because the
bonds sold below par the State ought not to
pay the full amount.