Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-01-13
P0Lk'S DEDICATION,

POLh'S DEFALCATIOA,
The news of the heavy defalca-
ton of State Treasurer Marsh. Il.
Polk was sudden and stunning
blow to the already troubled and
sorely tried people of Tennessee. 1t
came like thunder-clapi in a cloud
less sky, unexpected, ursuspicioned,
startling. No man in Tennessee,
1t is safe to say, no, not even his
bosom friends, knew of the real
situation and its stupendous extent,
and yet now that il is known in all
its ugly features and unfortunate
phases, there are many knowing
ones and would-be wiseacres who
bob up here and there with the dis
gushing, silly twaddle, II told you
So" and are daily busily engaged
in hurting extravagant reckless
charges against this man and that
or this party and that.
Viewed in whatever light it may
be, it presents to our mind no re-
deeming side. 1t must and can
only be regarded as the sad regret
full downfall of a man who has
heretofore been respected and hon.
ored by all who knew him, and
what is sadder, more to be regret
ted, more far-reaching, more un-
fortunate still, as yet another heavy
misfortune and depressing blow to
the good name, credit and prosper
ity of our sadly vexed and much to
be pitied State. The heavy default
of Polk is indeed a deplorahle affair
for himself and for Tennessee. Az
ter running il over in our mind in
all its phases and reading the COM
ments of our friends and enemies
abroad and at home with a view of
trying to determine what will be
the outcome of it all, its effect, if
any, upon the unfortunate situation
in Tennessee, we must confess we
can find no satisfactory quieting So
luton. Taken in all its bearings
there is little doubt but that it will
have more or less effect upon the
political situation. This much
is easily gathered from the
tone of the press at home and
abroad. And yet this ought not to
be. His default was personal af-
fair and should alone, in our mind,
be attributed to his own lack of f.
deity and personal integrity. There
seems to be little doubt in the
minds of those who knew him hest
and who write of his great crime
and sin against himself, his family
and the State, that he is the IN
thoughtful victim of designing,
scheming, overreaching sharks and
cOrmOrants who took advantage of
his warm friendships and guileless
mind and led him unthoughtedly
into wild speculatiOns, to carry on
which he appropriated money from
the States treasury and brought
his name under the ban of eternal
disgrace and infamy. This how
ever is no excuse for the man and
little paliation for his crime. How
great was his temptation is not
known, how far he abused his trust
is, and he is personally responsible
in law and morals for the cOnse-
quence of his act no matter what
were the causes which led him
thereto. And yet If all this is so, it
is not possible to deny him sympa-
thy, that pity which always springs
eternal in the human breast. II he
was, as has been said of him ''sim-
ple-minded and simple in his tastes,
without business habits or business
knowledge, not strong in will or
exceeding strong in capacity, and
was a pure and honorable man I'M
til beguiled and led beyond his
depth by designing knaves," it
may be that he deserves some mer-
cy, for
AT the balan zee let's be mute
We never can adjust it,
What's done at least we may compute
But never what's resisted
But still we do not wish to be
understood as appearing in any
sense as an apOlogist for his crime.
Looking at in the light of tenderest
sympathy and regret, it is absolute
ly indefensible and no man can
hope to go free of deep censure for
assuming that he could use the
public funds for his own purposes,
even if he was sure he could re-
place them. We cannot attempt in
this article to surmise what will be
the political effect of his default.
We learn that he has been captured
in Texas and will be brought back
20 Tennessee for trial.