Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-02-16
Misrepresentation.

Never, we venture, have more unfounded nlsrepre
sensations been circulated than those that have been
started within the lssfew months By the sntislavery
press Of the North against The people of the SOuhern
confederacy. This would not be 80 much regrett ed
lift were not for tae fact that those misPreaenta-
tions have been eagerly snached up BY many Of the
Southern press, and hurriedly sent into every nook
and corner Of The eight slsvehOding States now in
the Union. The very papers that have been most
eager to give currency to these false reports have
utterly failed to correct them, when the truth came to
be known. The people have been told with great
gravity about Constitutional Monarchy about fore
ed loans the reOpeniug Of the African slave trade,
taxes at the ra te Of SIC o So, per head, properly
qualification for voters in South Carolina, and such
like reports all without the slightest foundation
We were, yesterday, shown letter from success
full Ant-secessioa candidate for the Convention, in
East Tennessee, from which We we're permitted to
make the subjoined extract The writer OF the let
tor, although Union man has been astonished and
shocked at the Misrepresentation, which he has
heard urged sganst tS3se who are bone OF our bone
and flesh ef our flesh: He says
"FrOm what 1 can learn q lsrgs majority has
been given against the Convention. The people
or its consequences. Never has the public mind
been SO abused by demsgogues of both high and
low degree Every species Of falsehood was in
vented circulated and believed. Appeals were made
to the lowest sentiment of the human mind. The
poor were arrsyed against the rich. The storm has
been fearful and things resly look like approach
to a conflict Of classes and social war. But reac-
ton will soon come. The people want light. They
90 cot understand the questions Of the day. There
has been time to allow OF investigation. They
have been told G,st they had interest in the in
sttution Of slavery; Ei.St one step towards main
tanning it. would involve thes n ruineus taxation
that poll tax of $22 per head woSld be levied !;
that they would be called off to fight fol the rich
mans property; that Victories second son was to
be brought over and placed on the throne" SC.
tn matter of humiliation that such disreputa-
able mears were resorted to by any for the purpose
Of deceiving Of those patriotic but misguided people
who had not the time aud opportunity to obtain
correct information and act advisedly. Even if
Tennessee should conclude to remain in the Union
at all hazards and to the last extremity, would it
be good policy, in dollar and cent point of view
Independent of all other considerations to at least
allow small proportion Of honesty and patriotism
to our brothers in the South. No rejecting man
can deny the intimate business relations existing
between Tennessee and the Southern States. What
is it that Tennessee produces that does not seek
market in the seeded States? We might illustrate the
policy of speaking of the people of those States
in such manner as to retain their respect, even
though we remain in the Union, by showing in de-
tail the thousands tens OF thousands, hundreds of
thousands, mdions of dollars that are paid annual
ly to Nashville trade by the citizen of the seeded
States. Let some one of our wholesale dry goods
merchants give US the approximate value of dry
goods annually sold here to citizens of Alabama,
Georgia and Mississippi Let some one of our
wholesale grocery merchants tell US the value of
groceries sold by us to those States. Let retail
merchants make similar calculation to their
trade, and so on through all the varieties of trade
and business Take the one small item of schools.
There are at least six hundred students from the
cotton States annually attending the various literary
and professional institutions IN this city. We may
safely assume that each of those pupils spend
or cause to be spent here every year
for tuition, clothing, board, books, incidental
expenses, amounts spent by parents and friends
visiting here &c, &c, at least four hundred dollars
That would amount in the aggregate TO S24O,00O;
very respectable little item in the trade of small
city. We do not believe that Nashville could in
any way retain her preseat trade with the seeded
States if Tennessee should refuse to join them The
great proportion will go to Charleston, Savannah,
Augusta, Mobile and New 0rle ans just as certainly
the trade of the United States has hitherto gone
to Boston, New York and Philadelphia instead of
Montreal and Quebec. But if we should desire
to retain any portion of present trade it seems
that policy at least would dictate that we should
hesitate before giving currency t. such gross mis-
representations Black Republican ingenuity has
devised.