Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-12-02
The Cause Of the Iawiessness In Nash

Nashville has of late become the scene
of countless acts of violence. The author
tiles have made frantic efforts to correct
the evil, but in most cases they have di-
rected their effe rts against the negroes
resident in and near the city. This unfor-
tunate class has been held responsible for
nearly all the CRIMES that have been COM
mitted in that region since the termination
of the war. The other day all the colored
men residing in a certain locality
eighteen In nuInber-were arrested and
thrown into jail because two unknown ne
groes had been charged with the commits
sion of robbery. The causes of all this
lawlessness are thus given by the Nash
vile correspondent ofthe Cincinnati CONF
merciat:
Nashville is believed to contain about
double the population it possessed in time
of peace before the war. More than half
is composed of men who have no perma-
nent interest here Many of the business
men are looking forward to old homes in
other States, and have no rooted anxiety
for the growth and prosperity of the cor
poration. This derogates from public spirit |
and enterprise in their larger sense. A |
very large number of others are merely |
soiourners and strangers in the land |
Their stay being limited, they seek not 70
make acquaintances outside the necessity
of immediate purposes. A murdered man
of this class might fail of immediate iden-
tification, and hence the trail of the perpe-
tratO of ha iuhf
Still another numerous subdivision con-
sists of officers and men who have been
mustered out of the service, and of govern
ment employees who have been discharged.
They are mostly unmarried, having few
ties to bind them to any spot, and hnger
about large city without definite purpose;
or having squandered their little means,
have neither money nor inclination to
carry them away. Numbers of these grad
ually drift into loaihg and vicious habits
But the prolific cause of crime here may
be found in the swarms of drinking saloons I
which meet the passer on every street. In {
round numbers, there are five hundred of
.hese places. That so many, being one for $
about every one hundred and twenty of q
can contrive to exist, to say
nothing of making money, is an index to I
liquors which must be consumed daily in a
Nashville. The intimate relation which b
,xists between drunkenness and crime is a 5
act so well understood, that it scarcely t
leeds to be referred to.
Another very productive occasion of the Il
PREVALENT lawlessness is to be seen in the Il
.reat number of brothels which not only a
luster in open shamelessness in notorious p
hI1t xub bIRh ok slt-I |
ave settled down quietly into respectable b
treets. Not long since, the inmates of o
hese dens of infamy almost monopolized o
he use of the numerous hacks, in which, r,
by some male associates, t.
hey were wont to roll along the thorough tC
ares, Haunting their degradation in the OF
lost public places, at all hours of the day
nd night. Even now, every fine day, you
lay meet any quantity of these human ci
ampires perambulating the pavements r;
18th as much nonchalance as if virtue a,
ere a myth, and responsibility matter n,
universal contempt. n
At one time this class were so numerous ~
lat no lady who valued her reputation OF
ired to appear out of doors, except in the W
ainest of apparel, lest the costliness of
sr raiment might be misconstrued into III
e Sauuy plumage OF the women OF Ine fe
VIZ. 1t is well known that these nynlphS m
pare spend considerable sums of money; A
at they constantly live in an atmosphere ro
crime, and that the paths they tread in
ad inevitable to ruin, misery and death.
he presence here of these creatures, in
ch numbers, is a sure index te the pres w
zee of a large number of bad men-bur- co
ars, thieves, pickpockets, highwaymen
ID murderers. From the patronage of to
e wicked and debased must necessarily no
ise the larger share of their hellIsh gains. G,
A still further incentive to crime lies in TO
e gambling rooms, sown broadcast over N,
ashville If not as splendidly appoint re,
as some of the Eastern cities, they exert W,
auences none the less baneful. The num- fo1
r of these hells is a sufficient guarantee
the presence of men who value neither ste
v nor right, and with whom lawlessness 90
an old acquaintance. mc