Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1865-12-27
Tricks of the Enemy.

ThOs who took the rebel side in the late conflict
and those who are in sympathy with the friends of
the rebellion, utterly hostile TO the Government,
falsely claiming to be Union men, see great evil
in the proposition before the Legislature to enact
Negro Testimony Lar. They take advantage ofthe
preudices of loyal against hearing negroes tes-
tify in our courts and tell them that the negroes
will swear away their lives property and characters,
that such law will bring about negro equality and
degrade our people. They do not tell them at the /
same time, that judges jurors, magistrates sher
ifs and clerks will be white men Of our own cneos-
ing, who will Judge of the testimony, and take 1t
down, giving to it the weight that the intelligence
and character of the negro witness msy eRttie TO-
Il does not suit the purposes of designing deaa-
roges. and enemies of the Government to disclose
these important facts when they take an hohesS
Union men to one side sn0 seek 10 prejudice him
against negro testimony aud negro equality We
caution our Union mea in every quarter, TO guard
against the tricks of such men-they are enemies to
the Government, and to the resteEatioa Of peace
Disgusting their treason under false eolors. They
aim to divide and distract the Unaa party as they
did before the war. It was their faah that they
| Imposed upon us thenr-t viii be our fault If we
| suffer it again, from The saEe men. 4hen these
men come whining around you nov, seeking to in
fuse their poison ask them two questions Did you
advocate the Lincoln and johnson ticket, or the
McCleleu and Pendleton ticket, at the late PTesi-
Dental election Do you not seek to release from
their rebel difficulties regeoas that took the side OF
the rebellion?
The honest truth is, that giving the negroes the
right to testify is the only condition upon which we
can get rid of Freedman's Bureau before whom
white men and women of all grades, will be forced
to appear IS defendants and witnesses We speak
by the card, when we say, those courts, ten times
more to be dreaded than the negro testimony BILL
will become permanent, and will be sustained by
the President and Congress if the negro is not adj
United to the witness box. It is choice Of evils
that we advocate and he who is the best friene to
our people, will not hesitate to take the same side
The rebels of Middle and West Tennessee, advocate
the negro testimony BILL the only means of get
ing rid of the Bureau court. They have seer and
felt its effects and are anxious for the change Our
people in East Tennessee have not OF felt the
workings of these negro courts and they cannot ap-
preciGte the lesser evil. They wiR appreciate the
difference if the testimony bill shall fail to pass the
.
fully they will sse who is the friend Of the white
E man. and who is not.
2 But day or so before we left Nashville the Blu
roau regularly notified the Recorders Court that in
the future all negroes charged with ofenses must
be tried before such officers as Gen. Fisk would sp.
point to the intent that justice might be done the
2 coored man, and that their testimony might be
! heard Our people seem to have forgot that Mar
taL LulU is still in force in Tennessee and many
aboring under the erroneous opinion that the civil
courts being restored the military power is null and
5 void
: If our people can get of by giving the colored
i man his evidence without giving him more, they
will do WE'LL and may consider themselves fortunate
And if they don't choose to doit Of their accord
Congress will do it for them and add to it the right
. of Voting also. We know whereof we speak, and
z we warn our people that the mutterings Of few
sore heads who have lost their slaves will not avert
= the evil The Constitutional amendments have
been ratified by the requisite number of States and
, under the amended Constitution, Congress has au.
. thority to carry into effect the same by " APPRo
r PIRATE LEGISLATION Congress will deem the
right of testifying in court and the right of voting
e appropriate" and will force it upon every State
that went into the rebellion. And when the conflict
comes-whch is close at hand-we intend to go with
e Congress and-to stand by the Government come
. what will. Here we plant ourselves, and here We
intend to stand, if not another man in this end o.
the State stands by This is the class Of loyal
lists to which we belong, and if we have not mista
ken the Union element of East Tennessee the grea
- body of them on the same platform. They have
suffered enough from the tricks of rebels and rebel
sympathiser and they will be slow to let the same
- men trick them again.