Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-07-01

Before the Democratic Club Of Nashville,
June, 1859.
(Coatinadsal

oEcHJ INC kOoOEu VI CdlluluHte lof QoVcEBOf OF
this State. 1t is said that Col. NErHERLAND's re-
cord is not legtimstely issue in this canvass,
it viii not govern Or influence his conduct or
tieEs hereafter. 1t is true it may mott bat it is the
custom OF the day TO do this; and the object Of which
is, to enable us to judge Of the qualifications, the
principles, snd sympathies of the nab. would
ask the friends of Col. NETHERLASD, do they en-
dorse or repuiiate his recordg
Ii they endorse it. / would know where TO locats
them; II they repudisie it, how they ask the
people to support him? We dnd, from his r,5oFd,
that, at one time JACKSON man, he opposed high
Tariffs Banking, and Internal Improvements by
the Government. The enemy Of Banks, he opposed
the ehsrtering Of the Planters Bank; AMI whilst
in the Legislature in 1885, he vas placed Gp5n an
investigating committee TO examine into certain al
legtd outrages on the part OF The Union Bank, and
Ia his report stigDstiZed its conduct IS fraudulent.
Yet strange to say, be is now endorsing them and
advocating their re-charter; committed upon the
record as the enemy Of Banks, we ind MIN voting
for the charters OF the Farmers Bank Of East Ten
nessee, Bank of Chattanooga, and the Citizsns Bank
with laws TO govern them which, Instead of protect
ing the people, actually protested The Banks and
enabled them to practice great frauds aud wrongs
upon the people. We find MIN also il 81 and -
vatipg for individual liability to depojtors and re-
fdsing it to the note holders. Deposiors are gen
orally men of means. who live convenient to the
Banks, and upo1 the first suspicion of pan.c,
or susp:nsicn, would Withd,a their der o.
elItS, dHa GHty sAelet9ro h0Hlu leeu out 1lltle
pToteeion. Note holders afG usually men Of small
MEANS scattered over a large eztsHi CT country,
holding small sums for heir hon5st labor. This
class Of peIs ms need protection for they are al
ways the last TO hear Of bank suspensions and are
least able to judge Of the approach of crisis in
monetary affairs.
We find him agai1 voting to exempt, in the hands
Of the usurer, all five hundred dollars aud
the pleasure carriages of TIE wealthy; ct the same
time he would refuse, by his vote, that protection
which is given to The mechanic and the humble
tller Of the SOIL by the exemption law. Is this law
Of no importance - you? Have ycu not contended
for it from the first organization OF our State gov
eminent up 10 hs present time? Article after article
you hsve had exempted until adequate protec-
tion has been given to your wives and Little ones.
Srs, to subject those articles t. execution, need
full to the ller Of the soil, neeifu fer the sup
port of his family, would DO but 10 beggar lis chill
dren. To deny him the means Of making his bread,
you had as well deny him The water which flows free
from the fountains and which God has made FIR the
benefit of mankind. Thus leaving him impoverished
and helpless, he had as we'll be imprisoned undsr
the old ca. 81 lava law which wa3 disgrace to
humanity and although it has been repealed, it
leaves stain upon the statuts-5ock TO ,r the spot
where it STOOD blot upon he history of our S ate,
and reprOaoh to the Legislators By whom it vas
first enacted.
We find him voting, in 1885 10 repeal SO much o.
the law exempted mechanics tools from execution.
The causes for this discrimination | cannot under
stand. The meehanies-are they not as worthy
class, and deserving the same protection, as any
other citizens! PROFESSIONALLY they are. Sup
pose, by honest misfJriune he failed in the com
petion of heavy job for which he had contracted;
the result is, he is iaYolVel and his rem0rseless
creditors stand, like old Shylock, Eheting his dull
knife on the hardness Of his SOUL demanding his
pound of flesh, !he forfeiture of his bond. lie az
peals 10 the Legislature for protection He asks
that his tools may be spared him. Col NEIHERLAND,
with an answer which would seem to indicate heart
hard that there would not he poser n the tongue
of man to make an impression en- it-iells him,
NO!
presume Col NETHEaLASD would attempt to
defend this record up5I principles of justices bat
let US see what his ideas Of justice We find
that while he would subject to execution articles
now exempted to pay creditors, upon his ideas of
right at the same time, where unfortunate debtor
pays his taxes into the treasury for the support Of
his State government, he would take 1t, and appro-
pirate it to Odd Fellow Lodges, and for the endoW-
ment CT Medical Colleges II, then, you could ap-
prove his ideas of justice, you must certainly
denim his practice. Il is claimed as a set-of for
Col. NEIHERLAND that he voted for the homestead
bill--a Law Of which none have taken the adVan-
tsge As apology for the whole tits said
"To err is human-to forgive dscae"
But We can scare find divinity enough 10 as to
forgive the man, every action Of whose life is char
ac,erzed wih discrimination in favcr Of class
and against the other.
Having disposed of Col NETHERLANDS record
l will now examine those questions in which you
feel deep interest, and as / find them embedded
in til platform adopted by the last Democratic
State Conl enson.
The first and second resolutions pass by, simply
giving them my endorsement. The third is in rela-
ZION TO the acquisition OF Cuba, snd | concur with
the sentiment of this resolution that il is de-
sirable object. Ts question of deep interest to the
South and the interest Of the South is TenBessees
interest, Tennessees interest Is your interest The
destiny of one is the destiny Of the other Without
stopping here to enumerste the advantages arising
from the annexation of this Island, l would ask,
has Florida been Of no advantage? have Arkansas,
Louisiana and Missouri been Of no Advantage, and
are they worth nothing? Are Texas, New Mexico,
and California worth nothing? Suppose Florida
was in the hands of the Spaniard to-day would it
not be source of great annoyance to the Southern
States? Suppose the L0uisans Territory had fall
len into T. hands of che British it must inevita-
bly, have dOne-a fact which foTeshaloSed itself and
was detected BY the sagacity Of Napoleon the First,
who Immediately proposed to part with 1t; an offer
which was most wisely accepted by the Chief Mag
istrate Of the Repubic-Whst would nave been the
consequences? Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana !
would have to-day been the provinces Of foreign
power. for we never could have purchased them Of
Great Britain, except at the expense of long and
bloody war; acc ompsnied by ell those disasters Pc.
cuiaf to such an evil
Thus they were acquired st a proper time, so SIS
we needed those Territories, go do We need Cuba. /
1t commands the entrance of ihe Gulf of Mexico. /
All your vessels laden with the products Of your
soil pass within the range Of Spanish guns. Cuba,
in the hands Of cur own Southern Stats, would /
yield perhaps double the amount Of sugar that it /
now Dies Their slaves remain in sn upcultivated /
state aud are inhumanly treated. Thus We see that
our sef-preservation demands that il should be an
nexed. Oar interest demands IT, Humanity de-
mqnds it, And Cuba must be ours. We have been
told by Senator's in Congress that France threatens |
aud England froWns, ard We dare not touch it.
This is the language Of national cOWards, and not
Of TIE brave yeomanry Of the land. II wou.d be
an oficious intermsddling on Their part. We seek
no war with those powers, and have already borne
insults, which if again repeated and submitted to
you'd be reflection on cur national course. But
We need fear no war withEngland upon this ground,
or commercial relations such that they
neither could nor would be sacrificed 10 en- observ-
Iuce of a mere pu2otilio of honor with Spain.
Moreover, what right has England to complain
has been her practice for ages, to sead her YES
els proving round the world with their dirt-steal-
ng crews, pocketing every little island they could
ind until she can boast that " the sun never rises or
eis upon her possessions"
The 4;h resolution not being made direct issue
before the people Of this State, shall not argue
t. 1t is declared in this resolution that slavery
nd the rights of slave holders sare protected by
he constitution of the United States, and appeal
o the Judicial tribunals Of the Union. The courts
an pass no laws, AMI consequently cannot give eff
ect to those rights, recognized in the COnsti uion
7 a., m l..