Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-16
THEY ARE "ALLEE SAMRR."

The columns OF the GAINESVILLE
Chronicle and sort of tariff assimila-
ting hopper into which the most di-
verse views and declarations may be
put and few turns of the crank by
which il is run, made, and 10 they all
come out one and the same thing.
The Ohio platform, the Democratic
National platform and the MontgOm-
cry county resolutions are all made to
mean exactly the same thing. All
reduced to two propositions, reduction
of the tariff to the lowest revenue point
and protection of American industries.
-DemOcrdt
We won't stop to comment on the
admirable perspecuity of the above. 1t
is one of those Japanese puzzles to
which our neighbor occasionally treats
its readers, and which we can't under
take to interpret.
Making a rough guess, we suppose
the Democrat has reference to an edit
Orial in a recent issue of the CHRoEI-
Gle headed "The Tariff Not an Issue"
and intends to dissent from the views
therein expressed. Our contemporary
would make its assertions more effect
i've If it would place the platforms of
which il speaks side by side and point
out their differences. The simple dec.
laration that they express ''the most
diverse views" is not, in itself, con-
vincing.
The editorial alluded to made no
mention of the Montgomery county
resolutions. Our recollection of them
is that they contained a good deal of
high sounding buncomb that meant
nothing in particular. But in as much
as they declared for a discrimination
in duties reduced to the requisite rev.
enue point, we do not hesitate to ex-
press it as our opinion that they do
mean about the same thing as the
platforms mentioned in the above.
The Democrat INDUCES in some fine
spun arguments as to the impossibility
of adjusting a tariff that raises no more
revenue than the Government requires
for the purpose of placing American
labor and industries on a competing
basis with those of foreign countries.
That is not to the point The question
we are discussing is whether or not
the platforms put forth by both the
Republican and Democratic parties
declare in favor Of just that kind of q
tariff and whether or not they are
identical in that particular! We
would be glad to have the Democrat
put the two platforms in juxtaposition
and point out the difference in their
meaning.
The phrase requisite revenue" ia
found in the Republican platform and
that document declares strongly for
reduction of the surplus." The Dem
Ocratic National platform, as it speaks
of reduction, differs from the celebra-
ted Ohio platform only this much
The latter calls for "a tariff for revenue
limited 10 the necessities of the Gov
eminent economically administered"
and the former says, "All taxation shall
be limited to the requirements of an
economical Government" The Ma
tional plank is the least definite of the
two, as it does not relate purely to the
tariff. All three of these platforms
clearly express the adjustment idea.
1t is only the Republicans who are
trying to make the tariff the issue of
this campaign. As Carl Schurz says,
@they use the tariff question as a
great fig leaf which they stretch and
spread TO make it hide the crooked
ness of their standard bearer" The
Democratic platform was so framed as
to prevent this concealment and we
shall give our aid in helping to tear
away the fig leaf
1t is altogether improbable for
Democrats to be warning among them
selves at this time on any issue, and |
we don't care to be a party to such |
unseemly strife. The Democrat and |
THE CHRONICLE are striving to elect !
the same candidates and it won't help |
the cause along for them to quarrel |
about the issue on which the fight
shall be made. In fact, we fail to find |
wherein the Democrat differs with us
on the tariff, since it agrees to admit |
discrimination in duties for purposes
of protection, but its argument in
that regard seems to us to be paradox
icsl with what goes before.
TwEETY-ONE thousand widows of