Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-03-24
The SoHh's Dead Friend.
plaltinnnra SIM I3fh

The claim of the Peabody Insti-
tute that the Tennessee bonds given
1t by Mr.. Peabody as a necessary
ceive as favorable consideration as
educational institutions within the
State of Tennessee Is of such indis-
putable force that we cannot but
think that when serious thought is
given to all the many equities of
the case the members of the Tennes-
see Legislature will cheerfufly agree
to the claim. The Institute in this
city is the cap-Stone of the educa-
tional structure which Mr.. Peabody
sought to rear in the South, and it
is a gratifying evidence of the re-
spect in which his memory is held
that in both the upper and lower
houses of the Tennessee Legislature
an exceptionally favorable reception
was given to the bill introduced by
Messrs. EdmundsOn and Glass. Its
meritorious character ought to COM
mend it to the cordial support of
both branches of the Legislature,
and it is easy to believe that when
the bill is discussed it will be frank
ly acknowledged that these bonds
occupy an exceptional position.
They were the property of public
benefactOr, whose trustees have
given 20 Tennessee from the fund
which he established to promote
education at the South sum in
annual installments very nearly as
large as the amount for which the
Tennessee Legislature is now asked
to provide. These very bonds,
moreover, were by Mr.. Peabody
devoted to educational purposes,
and in handing them over to the
Peabody institute he declared his
confidence that the people of Ten
nessee would ultimately pay them
in full, principal and interest. We
should be very sorry to think that
his confidence was misplaced. The
impoverished condition of the State
after the war may have neceSsiated
a delay of payment OF interest on
them, but length of time cannot
weaken the obligation resting upon
Tennesseans, as recipients of his
bounty, to pay them when they be-
come able. These bonds are not
tainted with the suspicion of fraud
ulent issue which attaches to some
others. They provide means of
culture, open to Tennesseans equal
ly with all other southern people.
TO scale them down is to scale down
the realization of Mr.. Peabody's
plans for the intellectual advance
nent of the South. In the South
at large he has provided for ele-
mentary instruction. In Tennessee,
as elsewhere, there are schools of
higher grade fostered by Peabody
funds preparatory to the Peabody
Institute, but depending upon it for
the completion of a scheme of edu-
cation of which they form a part.
To cripple it is to weaken the whole
scheme. When it is further con-
sidered that Tennessee has honOred
Mr.. Peabody by giving his name to
her normal educational school, be-
cause that school has been for years,
and we trust will continue to be for
years to come, liberal sharer of
his bounty, we can not conceive a
case that more strongly appeals to
the sense of justice of those who
represent Tennessee in her legisla-
tive chambers. Like Mr.. Peabody,
we have an abiding faith that Ten
nessee will recognize these bonds in
their integrity, and that the Legis-
lature, by passing the bill now be-
fore it, will justify the confidence
he always had in their ultimate
value.