Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-07-14
rhse CHRONICLES CREED.

IN Keeping with its action i'm trying
10 induce them to believe that the
more they pay for an article the
more prosperous they will be.-Dena-
Ocrnt.
The above is a sample of the
boosted logic of the Democrat.
Those able young editors, so capa-
bic of argument and discussion, will
resort to misrepresentation they
copy the style of the artful dod-
ger and "wabble on the gudgeon"
most beautifully. But we assert
again that the Democrat can
not fool the farmers, and that ii
VIII fail most signally in the at
tempt when it trys to impose on
the astute granger as TO the position
OF the CHRONICLE. ave favor a
tariff for revenue limited to the ne
cessities of the government econom-
lcally administered" we want
the tariff and all other taxes levied
on the basis of actual necessity; how
then can our position be such as the
paragraph above would indicate?
We further believe that the tariff
"should be so adjusted in its appli-
cation as to encourage productive
industries at home and afford q just
compensation to labor" and as an
illustration of what that means, we
believe that the duty on tobacco
ought to be high enough to keep
the article which is imported from
Cuba and other countries up to such
figures that Il good price can be re-
allied for that raised at home. Then
the tariff should be so adjusted as to
sustain the manufactures of the
country and encourage those that
are being built in the South. In
this way it will give employment
to twenty millions of people who
would otherwise engage inagricul-
ture, and furnish a home market
for the produce of American farms.
While revenue has to be raised for
the support Of the government, the
best plan is to raise it by properly
adjusted tariff.
But why does the Democrat per-
sist in these efforts to discuss the
tariff with the CHRONICLE? 1t
seems as if that journal thinks its
only hope of salvation is to differ
with the CHRONICLE on the tariff
question. Since the Ohio platform
was adopted by the Democracy of
that State, all shades of Democrats
are standing on its tariff plank, and
the war has ceased all along the
line. Does the Democrat imagine
itself possessed of sufficient force to
prOtract the strife and give color to
National politics? If it wants a
discussion with the CHRONICLE on
the subject, it will have either to
contend for free trade or a high
protective tariff. We are opposed
to either extreme and are in accord
with the Democracy in advocating
a.mean position on the subject.
We are unable to define the DEM
Ocrat's present position on the tariff,
and we don't believe any one else
could do so. The fact is, those fear
less young editors have wandered
in the may labyrinth of tariff talk
until they are lost and don't know
where they are themselves. They
started out to follow WattersOn, but
when they got into deep water
their pilot left them, and now they
are swimming around loosely with
out any knowledge of their bear
ings. They see the Ohio plank
floating in the distance and would
like to crawl on it, but they don't
know how to get there. That an
cient and ugly rock, a tariff for rev.
enue only, which wrecked the DEM |
Ocratic ship in the last election, is
between them and this tG6uLanl IN
and they don't know how
to swim around it. Their case is a
sad one, but we can't suggest any
relief for their awkward and uneasy
attitude.
Sometime before the Ohio con-
met we tried to induce the
Democrat to abandon its clamOr for
revenue only and come out for tar
if reform. We asked it this ques-
ton, directly: "What do you say,
brothers of the Democrat, to reve-
nue. reform ," but never received
the seInblance OF an answer. After
the Ohio convention had favored !
the party with that happy and well |
chosen utterance which is pinned |
to the CHRONICLE masthead, we |
inquired if the Democrat endorsed |
it wholly and without reservation,
but again that sagaciOus organ was
dumb to our questioning. Now, we
are more than willing to discuss
with the Democrat any subject on
which we differ from that very log
zeal journal, but we don't propose
to be forced into false attitude by
misrepresentation. We are not
and never have been in the ranks
Of the high protective tariff advo-
Gates We have from the first and
affirmed that we favored
1 conservative and judicious course
On this subject. Before the Ohio
met we quoted this sem
fence from the Courier-JOurnal and
aid we fully endorsed it. 1.-THE
.ariffa as at present fixed is unuttera-
ply and wholly evil and must be
'educed." We strenuOusly opposed
he:little adverb only until it was
buried at Columbus, but we have
aid all the time that the present
ariff law is partial and imperfect.
The following is the CHRONICLES
reed if the Democrat wants a
with us, it will please
luote it in full and state what it OBJ
ects to, otherwise we can't come to
n issue: