Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1866-01-31

only, of the laws was obtained. So defec-
tive was the execution of the law, by the
officers to whom it was intrusted, that the
Governor was constrained to declare the
August election totally void in twenty mine
counties of the State. An attempt will be
made at the present session to pass an amen
ded suffrage law, but it is doubtful whether
any effectual disfranchisement can pass,
and still more doubtful whether, if passed,
/ it can be executed, even with the presence
Of the military; certainly, such law can
not be executed if the supervising power Of
the General Government should be discon-
! tinued. In short, your memorialists an
ticipate that, at the first general election,
the entire civil and judicial power Of the
State must pass into the hands of those who
have so long oppressed them and made
actual war upon them. The judicial cleo
ton, which is the most important of all
must soon occur.
By a careful consideration of the passions,
prejudices and designs of those lately in re-
! bellion, correct idea of the course they will
| pursue when once more installed into power
may be arrived at. Your memorialists are
not driven to consult tourists nor correspOn-
| dents for information. They are all citizens
| Of the State, some Of them are natives, and
| several of them from official position are i'll
| daily intercourse or communication with all
parts of the State, and with citizens of all
parties and classes. They claim to speak
not from heresay or report, but as ritneSSeS
admissible in court.
The predominant feeling Of those lately
in rebellion is that of deep seated hatred,
amounting in many cases to spirit Of re-
venge toward the white Unionists of the
State, and naughty contempt for the negro
! whom they cannot tolerate as freeman
| The hatred for the white loyalst is inteDsi-
| fed by the accusation that he deserted the
South in her extremity, and is therefore a
| traitor, and by the efforts to set up a govern
ment Of the minority. The spirit of re-
venge is called forth by the attempt to dis
| franchise them, and by the retaliatory acts
Of the returned Union soldiers for wrongs
done them during the war. The negro is
the Mordecai who constantly reminds them
Of their defeat, and of what they call "a
Just bit lost cause, and the sight of him, in
| the enjoyment Of freedom, is constant
| source Of irritation.
The tourist would not be apt to detect the
true state OF the Southern temper. Even
| the resident observer has to look for it be-
Of loyalty. True the traveller or visitor
| might observe large number of daily reb-
| el newspapers well sustained while single
loyal paper is sustained with difficulty; he
might discover that the rebel merchant or
lawyer is full of business and growing rich
while the loyalists either fails or is driven to
pander OF dissimulate And he may find
that the rebel chaplain breaches to overflow
LII l.
truth missionary in al unfriendly country.
But he will hardly go into the social cir
Gle to learn that the Union man is not ad-
| mittcd into society or into private families;
to find that hatred of the Yankees, and
contempt for the Government, are inculca-
ted by rebel ministers and teachers nor will
he visit the township election to learn that
the bUshwhacker and guerrilla can defeat
the most respectable Union man for consta-
bic or Justice Of the Peace; OF to the courts
to learn that the despised "Lincolnitc' fails
to get justice at the hands of the rebel Jury,
and that the putting Of negro on trial is
equivalent to his conviction and sentence to
the maximum penalty of the law. Yet these
and many other manifestations betray to the
resident observer the malignant temper of
the majority Of the people.
\ party exists in the State which is every
day becoming more and more compact and
powerful, which sympathizes with the men
and principles of the rebellion. 1t COM
mands every agency to operate upon public
opinion. 1t has five well sustained and ably
edited daily papers in Memphis, four in
Nashville, one in Knoxville, and a weekly
in each Of the important villages. Their
pardoned, but talented and still popular
leaders arc with them; hundreds of rebel
ministers, who glory in having led offin the
rebellion, and who have been throughout
the war the bloOdiest minded men in the
South, are still in the confidence Of their
people. All these appliances, acting in har
mOny, mould public sentiments as they
please, and command party of over two
thirds Of the white men of the State. Free
from restrictions upon suffrage, they will
probably cast ninety thousand votes in the
State
1t is sad delusion and dangerous mis-
take TO suppose that this hatred of loyalty,
contempt for the negro, and alienation from
the Government are confined to the pOliti-
clans or leaders, as they are termed, and
that the common people have been all the
time loyal. 1t is certainly true that por-
ton of the Southern people went into the
rebellion reluctantly, and that few were &C.
tually forced into it. but it is equally true
that nine-tenths Of those who went in reluc-
family came out the bitterest of rebels
The process Of firing the Southern heart, and
Of educating the Southern mind for treason,
had been progressing for many years and
had reached all classes. Long before the
war, the common labOrer had learned to
curse the Yankees and Abolitionists, and TO
talk about negro equality and his rights in
the Territories. Filled with murderous hate,
they have fought four years against their
country. They have denounced, and heard
it denounced with every breath They have
suffered cold, hunger and wounds in an ef-
fort to destroy it. They have slain its de-
tenders, and seen their comrades fall in the
same cause, The laws Of human nature for
bid the idea that they love their country
Indeed it may well be doubted whether::the
capacity for patriotism is not eXtinguished
in many of them. Your memoralists regret
to say that Is get the loyalists of East Ten
neSsee, brave and noble rs they are have
not kept pace with the spirit Of the nation
in extending civil rights to the negro, and
consequently there exists a want Of harmo-
ny among ourselves, but they do not doubt
that that patriotic but rural people will
soon take position worthy their fame
But in any event, all legislation looking to
the elevation of the freedmen in a moral,
Il. I