Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-07-29

I
| in Tennessee politics, he has been
| recognized as straight-out State
Credit Democrat. In 1877, / think
it was, he wrote letter which was
published, to Gen Porter, approx
ing settlement of our Indebtedness
at 60-6, which had been proposed by
our State creditors, and a settle
ment, too, which had not been
offered TO be excepted by the "pOOr
blind girl" of Lawrence county.
1t is said, too, that he favored the
| passage of the 1908 bill, and some
people say that they have heard he
Signed Il petition addressed TO our
State Senator asking him to vote
for that bill. He must have been
helping "Illc big fellows" to hold
the great big prineiplc"' up by the
! tail to keep it out of the reach of
| the repudiat0rs. lie made speeches
| favoring the acceptance OF the J04
! settlement which Governor Marks
/ proclaimed had beun offered by the
/ bondhOlders. He favored that,
when the poor blind grip of Law
renee county had not agreed to ac-
cept 80 cents for her one bond.
| Notwithstanding the fact that Mr..
! House declined to advocate the
principles laid down incur State
Democratic platforms contiding
constituency generously supported
l-hin and have -four fines elected
him, believing him TO be not only a
true Democrat but Il sound State
Credit Democrat. They believed,
or at least some of his very Warmest
/ friends and supporters believed,
that even if he should differ with
them about the policy of Withdraw
ing from the late 10Th of-June Con-
ventiOn and nominating a eandi-
date in favor of maintaining the
settlement already made at Go 81
5-G, that he would not find it neces-
sary to charge in a letter intended
for publication, that s'thiS bolt is
the most ineXcusab BILE and ridicu-
lous political movement ever made
in Tennessee" and that "there is
some treason to the Democratic
party mixed up in it, too" Urea
son! To whom BY whom? |
suppose traitors are to be punished
and the treason is to be made obi
Gus. If Mr. House had been more
explicit and stated his meaning
fully it would have been more sat
isiactory. lie says i'll his letter that
every Democratic Congressman of
Tennessee, except Senator Jackson,
will support Bate, and that he has
yet to meet a single member of the
senate or House who does not de-
| l,iuro the action of the boilers. Mr..
House and "every member of the
Tcnntssee delegation must know
| that they are the servants of the
people of Tennessee; and if they
wish the people of the State to pur-
sue pal ticular course, they should
give them the advantage and the
benefit of their own opinions by
discussing them befUre,the people,
and not wait until they act, and
abuse them for doing that which
they themselves declined to do.
1t is an awful thing TO think of,
that the congressman are. opposed
to the "bolters.n And then it is
bad to know that Col. House has
failed to meet Il single Senator or
| member of the House who does not
deplore the action of the boilers.
Of course he excerpts Senator jack
son. But has he talked with Sen
ator Bayard. III Es .r...=-
Col. House, before he got his con-
sent to make such fling at the
"bOlters," should have examined
himself to see if he had done his
whole duty in an effort to avert the
present condition of the Democracy
of Tennessee. When the struggle
was going ON and the State Credit
~ Ill, la,a
State-hOnOr business" during the
canvass of 1889 where was Col.
House? For about one month of
that important crisis he was maxi
ing speeches away up i'll Ohio in
favor Of Hancock, while the enc
mics of his own Tennessee Demo-
cratic platform were busily at work
in his own district. The "Congress-
man. ought to have been present,
using his powerful eloquence in
favor of his own Tennessee DemOc-
racy, helping them to do a estate
honor business that might have
prevented the present state OF af-
fairs. But while the voices OF Bal
ley, Luke Wright, James and Others
were revcrberating through the
State urging, begging and beseech-
ing the people to stand by the honor
of Tennessee and forever settle the
Vexed question of our State debt
according to the plan proposed by
the Democratic platform of 1880,
the Congressman of Tennessee were
dumb as oysters on that, the most
important question to the Democ-
racy and the State then and now
before the public. Now that our
distinguished member has deter
mined not to be a candidate for
reelection he finds il very cOnve-
niant toannounce his principles and
talk flippantly about treason being
mixed up in the action of good men
who chose to use their own judg-
ment upon Il state of facts then
before them. They could not from
his record know what hisjudgment'
would be about their action. Eight
hundred miles separated him frOiii'
them. He had not declared what
lie thought of the "IIigh 'JOint"
Convention. No one knew, or il
they did, they did not make it pub
lie. In utter ignorance of what the
congressman thought or would
think about their action they pro-
ceeded To act. If he had given
them the benefit of what he thought
about the funding questions that
would probably come before the
joint convention, and his sugges
tons had been disregarded then he
would, at least, have had that fact
to plead by way of justification for
cracking his Congressional whip
over the heads of his dislOyal aud
"bOlting" subjects. '
A STATE CREDIT DEMOCRAT.
July 81, 1882. @.'. 30"
- .-z-------....- e ~