The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-09-03

pennsylvania, are now, as We alway
] have been, faithful to the Union of III
I States, opposing the secession of n,
1 South with all our influence, aud hay
ing no sympathy or association what
ever with that party in the NortI
which plotted against the Union an,
1 pronounced the Constitution "a cove
nant with death and an agreement
wi b hell" -.'
! Second That if the counsels of the
i Democratic party had prevailed, the
! Union would have been saved in all III
integrity and honor, without the debt
the slaughter and the disgrace Of civil
war. But when the formation of sec
| honal parties in the North and in the
South, and the advent of one of these
parties into the seats of power made
war fact which we could not counter
| act, we sustained the Federal authori-
ties in good faith, asking nothing at
their hands except a decent respect for
our legal rights, aud some show of CONS
mon honesty in the management of our
financial affairs, but in these partieu-
lars we were disappointed and be-
trayed
third That the Constitution estab-
lished by our revolutionary fathers is
entitled 10 our unqualified respect and
obedience; the oath to support it is
binding, religiously, morally and le-
gally, at all times, under all circum-
stances, and in every part OF the coun-
try; upon all public officers, from the
highest to the lowest, as well as upon
private citizens; it is only upon strict
observance Of its provisions, and 2 rigid
enforcement of its obligations in all
States, that we can hope for union. lib
erty, or peace Hewho wilfuuy violates
it, or counsels violation by others, is a
public enemy and dishonest man. Zap
plause
Fourth That among the rights guar.
anteed Us by the plainest words of the
Constitution are these Free press, free
dom from arbitrary arrest and illegal
imprisonment; trial by jury, the writ
of hobsas corpus. the perfect immunity
Of all persons not in the army or navy
from any species Of punishment for
crime or pretended crime, which is not
the legal consequence OF a legal cons
viction by an impartial jury; the abso~
luJe subordination Of ali military power
to the civil authority, and the privilege
of white citizens to vote at the State
elections, according TO the laws of the
State
Filth. That fully concur with Pres
ident johnson in the conviction ex-
pressed by him in 1860, and repeated
several times since, that the Federal
Government is sovereign within its
proper sphere; that it acts, not through
or upon the States, but directly upon
individuals that the States could not
absolve the people from their Federal
obligations that the State ordinances
of secession were utilities, and, there
fore, when the attempted revolution
came to an end by the submission of
the insurgents, the States were as much
a part of the Union as they had been
before Their people were bound in
the same duties, and clothed with the
same rights. excepting, of course, such
rights as individuals among them had
legally forfeited, by their own acts, in
the mean time and we hereby de
clare, that 50 far as we can prevent it,
the resumption Of their proper places
in the Union by these States, some of
whose citizens were lately in rebellion,
shall not be impeded or delayed by the
unlawful interterences OF that faction
at the North which was always hostile
TO the Union, which now pronOunces it
legally dissolved and which IS still ma
lignantly laboring to prevent its resto-
ration
S.rh. That the effort now making by
certain persons to use the power of the
General Government with a view TO
force negro suffrage on the States
against the will of the people and con
trary TO existing laws, is not only
high crime against the Constitution,
but a deliberate and wicked attempt to
nut the States of this Union (all of
Them more or less,and some Of them en-
tirely under the domination ofnegrOeg
to Africanizs a large portion Of the
country, and degrade the white race,
morally and socially, as well rs polti.
cally, TO the low level Of the black
We Will not acknowledge the incapaci-
ty of our own race to govern itself, and
surrender the destinies of the country
into the hands Of negroes, nor put
under their guarlisnEhip,
nor give up to them the political pTiyi
leges which we inherited from our
fathers. and we exhort our brethren in
other States to take up the same atti-
tude and maintain 1t Tfrmly.
S-vaHh. That we will support Presi-
dent johnson in every just effort he
NAV make to place all the States in their
proper positions, TO give TO them fair
representation in Congress, to save
them from the curses Of negro equality;
he shall have our hearty approval when
he inhicts legal punishment by means
of legal tribunals upon offenders against
the United States, and We win be with
him in every means which looks 70 the
maintenance of the public credit But
our full approval Of his administration
can be founded only in the belief that
he will execute the law, the whole law,
and nothing but the law in 81 parts OF
the country; that he viii not allow me
military 10 interfere with State eiec
tiops. that he will punish kidnapping
and robbery through the legal authoFi-
ties whether committed by Federal
officers or private citizens, and that ne
will suffar no person TO be murdered
bva military commission, and upon
these measures there can De no com
promise he that IS not Tor Us u
T,gJtI That in view Of our enormous
national debt, the great weight Of our
Stste taxes. and the local burdens I'm
Dosed mon US in divers ways, economy
sDd rstreuchunent becomes an import
or,t dutv Of all our representatives and
~ rs and the outstanding army now
-, fo.ot ought TO be disbanded, the ma
~ sbould be reduced, and the corrupt
and extravagAnt practices lately intro
duced into the Government, should be
totally abolished
Nj That our revenue laws need
10 he carefully revised, in such manner
that while the public credit viii be
,,,.;,tsined and the national homer
r-e-erved. taxation viii be equal and
Ts,E That the gallant soldiers Of
the repubEc, who 50 noblg risked their
Iives In defense Of the Union and the
Constituuon. inherit and viii receive
he updvine gratitude Of the American
reonle Living - they shall I've in
aur warmesi affections, and dying,
tbeir rnemores shall be cherished for
al lime 10 come To say. IS or polIt-
icai ouponents do, that they fought,
bled and died mainly for the freedom
Of the negro, il q gross insult on their
patriotism, and an outrage which vail
Be Indignantly resented bg their sur