Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-06-30
4 DEAD ISSUE.

we nave no U6olF0 10 UOEe tie
public with the discussion of dead
issues. The present editor of the
CHRONICLE, as has been before
stated, supported Gen. Bate fer
Governor in the last State elections.
We announced in taking charge OF
the paper that we considered the
State debt question in abeyan6e,
and said we would rejoice if the
debt should be settled according to
the terms of the sos act. We
thought all sensible people and pa
pers were abiding the issue of events
on that troublesome subject, for
there is nothing else to do, We
certainly thought that all lovers of
Democratic harmony were anxious
10 heal the breach that the discus
sion of the debt question caused.
That is the view that the editor of
the CHRONICLE, as a Bate man,
took of the situation, but those
lightning editors on First street,
imbued with the spirit of progress,
began war on all papers that fa-
vored "a strict maintenance of the
public faith, State and national"
in the last campaign, and attempted
TO read them out of the party on
that account.
In quoting from national plat
forms to prove their revenue only
doctrine, they studiously avoided
the expression quoted above, which
occurs in the Democratic platform
of 1890. For that reason we in
quired if they Endorsed it, and they
have answered plainly that they
do, though the admission was ac-
companied by circumlOcution and
tricky attempts to revive discus
sion on the State debt question.
Now all we want to say in that
regard is this: If you endorse
that utterance of the National De-
mOcraCy quit trying to drive papers
that supported RUSSELL cut of the
party because they endorsed it and
stood by it. The head and front of
the Fussellites offending was that
they insisted on a strict maintain
ance of that principle though it was
impractical for the Tennessee De-
mocracy to do so, on account of the
Wilson bolt.
In Montgomery county the Fus-
sell party was stronger than in
other sections of the State, and it
seems exceedingly strange 10 q
person coming from a district
where the "sky blues" were practi-
calIy unknown, that the contest
should have stirred up so much
feeling here. To the outside world
the question that our neighbor on
First street seems so ready to talk
about is not only dead issue, but
in its life time was local issue,
locality. 1t seems exceedingly silly
then that newspaper that prides
itself on its progress should be so
eager to discuss such matter, and
when the Democrat began such talk
we thought it was meant as jest and
not as serious argument.
The Democrat takes the liberty
of formulating a nOnsensical SEN
tence, putting it in quotation marks
and crediting it to the CHRONICLE.
Such an act is perfectly unjustifia-
BILE. If the Democrat wishes to
give what 1t cOnceives to be the
substance of a remark it should so
state the fact. A sentence so quoted
and credited as the one above al
luded to, indicates that the exact
language is reproduced, without al
far from being true In the sentence
alluded to. We don't believe the
editors of the Democrat would in
tentionally and wilfully make such
a misrepresentation of fact, it must
have been the result of carelessness,
but we hope they will in the future
confine themselves to quoting our
exact language when they wish to
make extracts from the CHRONICLE,
and never credit us with what we
didn't say.
The sentence which we refer to in
the above paragraph is this: "DO you
swallow home rule and a tariff for
revenue OnIy?" The CHROOICLE
never asked such foolish question
or anything resembling it, although
it was quoted and credited TO us in
the Democrat.
Everybody knows what that ex-
preston "hOme rule" in the plat
form of 80 referred to; but the
smart young men of the Democrat
give but little credit to public intel
ligence. Federal authority under
Republican administrations had re-
peatedly interferred with State
elections prior to 1880. That was
notably true in 1876, and the plat
form of 1880 meant to rebuke that
interference by a declaration for
home rule, simply that and nothing
more. We are very strong for
home rule anybody is against it;
but we don't know that that bull
wark of liberty Is in immediate
danger.
We will close this editorial by
stating emphatically that we will
make no discussion on issues per-
tanning to the last State elections.
They are dead and of no interest to
the people.