National Republican., 1883-01-18
TENNESSEE TOPICS.
The Defaulting Treasurer Looking Forward 10
q Long Rest in Jail
The Grand Jury Preparing a Doubled
and Twisted Indictment
The Tariff Question Soon to Become Prominent and
Popular Issue in the State
The Confederate Monument at Nashville
General News.
Special AeNer.

NASHVILLE, TENN, Jan. 15.-The return
Of the deiaulting treasurer to his home was
not an ovation. Only about two hundred
curious idlers gathered at the Chattanooga
depot, where the train stopped, and gazed
with vacant stare mt the man. From the cars
he was driven at once to the county Jail and
turned over to the iailer, and now he occu-
pies
LUXURIOUS APARTMENTS
in that institution. He remained in the Office
until late in the afternoon, when he went TO
his cell In tho meantime the cell had been
carpeted and nagnifcently furnished, aud
there, with wine and brandy, he receives
and entc.taius his friends. lie SHOWS
the marks OF anxiety and trouble.
His face is pale and his eyes bloodshot.
He has evidently been drinking deeply, and
has suffered great mental trouble as well. He
has been annoyed to death with reporters
who have boarded the train at every stopping
place, and tried in every conceivable way TO
extort an Interview. When they could get
no facts, th"y spun out specials to papers that
would take them, embodying all they had
heard. or imagined they heard on the train,
from those on board. II was no use to lock
the doors of the car. While the train was be-
ing transferred across the Mississippi from
Hopeicld to Memphis, one enterprising fell
low crawled in at the car window to reach
Polk. But tho effort was vain as Mr.. Polk
steadily declined to say anything The grand
jury of Davidson county have prepared
BILL OF INDICTMENT,
embracing two counts-embczzlemcn and
larceny. The indictment is said by competent
lawyers to be " ironclad," and is sure to stand
without flaw. The case will not be called
for trial during the present term of court, and
Polk will remain in Jail. In an interview,
Judge Quarlcs, of the criminal court, said the
bail ought to be fixed very high, and Atty
Gen. Washington said that the sum of $780,
900 would not be excessive for this case. His
attorneys will, however, make no application
for bail at prcsent-ccrtainly not during the
session Of the legislature, which will continue
over two months yet. Colyars and Childress
and Judge Il. uCast have been retained by
Polk as counsel, and they are strong legal
team. Polk claims that he has been misrop-
resented by all parties who havo Gent tclc-
grams concerning his flight, capture,
escape, recapturc, and journey home.
Only tho bare facts are true, and all the Incl
dents and embellishments are based upon
imagination alone The family and relatives
have already begun TO claim that Polk was
not running away; that he was going upon u
purely business trip and intended TO return.
Polk himself says that the shortage in his ac-
counts will not exceed S136,000. Tho telc-
grams to the effect that his statement would
involve high officials in Tennessee were un
TRUE. IOlk Will prepare u bluUcnlcnI OF inc
facts from his point of view, which will be
given to the public at an early day. Capt.
Fleming, his confidential clerk, and other
| friends have visited Polk in jail and were
! pleasantly received. Noreporters arc wanted,
however, rs nothing is to be said until tho
formal careful statement is prepared. The
interest in the event is dying out and soon
other events will como up to replace this one
i'll tho minds and conversations of the people
The senatorial fight will be ended by the time
you receive this. There is no doubt that Har-
ris will be reelected. His opponents have
based their hopes mainly, during the last few
| days, on vigorous agitation of the tariff
for revenue only" issue, on which Senator
| Harris Is not considered demOcratically sound.
By the result you will be able to judge of the
virtue Of that doctrine in Tennessee
THIS TARIFF QUESTION
is going 10 be n prominent ono in tho south
from now on. Tho lower house of tho legis-
lature has adopted resolution declaring in
favor of n tariff for revenue only" the old
democratic slogan. The resolution was fought
| by some of the best men in the house, but it
went through. This is no doubt the position
of II largo majority of tho democratic party
in the south to-day, but the intelligent men
of the party are very fast chang
| ing front rs manufactures increase here
and capital comes southward seeking profta-
| bic investment. As one of the leading men
of Tennessee said to-day: "Ihe democratic
party was defeated in 1880 by HancoclIs tariff
letter, and they will be defeated as long as they
occupy the tariff for revenue only stand
point. The only hope for Tennessee, with her
vast resources of mineral wealth, is in protec-
| tiOn, and you can mark my words, in five
years the south will be tho hottest protection
section of the union, and the democrats of the
south the advocates of the highest tariff pro-
posed. Northern democrats see tho folly of
/ In old Nf 10
abandoned they will abandon tho party.
There is no hope of democratic triumph in
national election until this tariff question is
fairly met"
THE STATE DEBT.
One of the most certain things is that the
present legislature will settle CD the state debt
on the 50-3 platform of last June and refuse
to pay any interest on the bonds already
funded under tho 60-3-4-5-6 compromise un-
less they shall be refunded. But even among
those opposed TO the late settlement there eX-
lists strong doubts MS to the power of the lcgis-
lature to compel n refundmg, The tGmper of
some of the holders Is shown in II letter re-
ceivcd from Brooklyn by Gov. Hawkins in
which the holder of 100000 of the cOmpro-
mise bonds intimated his purpose to test in
tho federal courts the states right TO fund
and refund at low and lower figures at
pleasure. Some of the best lawyers in
tho state fear the time when " test of
this question shall be made in the supreme
court of the United States. In the state sem
ate, when the bill repeating the late settle
mcnt was up for action, IL was opposed by
three of the best lawyers in that body on the
ground that it was question of law as to
whether they could interfere with vested
rights at the pleasure of the legislature, and
they preferred that the Judiciary committee
should first consider the bill Their appeals,
however, had no effect and the bill passed.
The friends of 50-3, too sec that their triumph
may be short, as more than one prominent
low-tax politician has let fall his fears that
the republicans will regain control of the
state at tho next election.
At meeting Of the
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION
Friday night, in II speech concerning the 10.
cation Of the proposed monument on Capitol
hill, Gen. w. B. Bate, the governor-elect, re-
icrred TO the fact that the state government
might pass into the hands of the republican
party, and the monument be referred to as n
rebel monument The Confederate Monu-
ment association, by the way, have been meet
ing weekly for nearly year. and now give
indications that beautiful monument will
at no distant day bo erected. The selection
of n site has been the question to perplex and
annoy them for some time past, rs there
were number of impraCticables who
insisted on tho purchase of q site
in the heart of the city Mt greater
cost than the erection of the monument itself
More reasonable cOunsels now prevail and
the monument will very probable be located
in some easily accessible part of the suburbs,
where it will be an attraction as well as u
benefit to adjacent property, Several prop