Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-08-25

e dignity and regard for the eourtesies of life
4 these toadies are Mortified beyond reason.
d The President displayed his profound re-.
e gard for the courtesies Of lifc-not To saw
p diwity-in denouncing me to members Of
o the Tennessee Legislature, and others visit
y ing Washington, with curses and bitterness
d for fifteen months past He increased his
stock Of dignity when he caused to be writ
1 ten various letters to Nashville. 10 procure
t the defeat Of the constitutional amendments
by reducing the House below quorum I
! lie went for dignity when, at his Inaugural
tion as Vice President, he exhibited himself in
,, the presence Of Congressmen, Foreign Min
lsters and even LADIES' This man NAV do
to hold up as an example Of dignity among
the traitors and low order Of toadies who
nave hlm IN charge. | do not belong to
HAT school Of dignitaries. -
+ feel called upon to warn the honest low
al masses against matured scheme Of the
JoHNsON-Copperhead leaders to have the
Government pay them for all the negroes
they lost by the war. Not more than onein
ten Of the loyal men, South, ever owned anv
slaves, or desired to own them, and it would
be downright robbery to tax nine Iaboriao
men to pay for slaves Of one gentleman. 4
direct tax Is the only mode by which the
Government can pay for the emancipated
slaves; and it is better that one loyaI slave
owner suffer than nine honest laborers.
equally loyal, suffer to make his losses good.
Most OF the men now in the COpperhead
ranks in the South are men who exrect
when the Southern States are represented in
Congress, that they will be compensated
for their negroes. Not few of them think
they will even get slavery restored. Our
people can afford to pay direct tax toliqui-
date the war debt, through period Of several
years, but tax them to pay for -FOUR MIL
LIONS OF SLAVES, owned by a small number
of nabobs and original secessionists, and
they will not get through with tax-payingin
a life time. :
To the Union Masses the honest working
| voters l say, in all candor, watch the men
who advocate this paying for their lost ne
| groes. If the Government will tax the
slave-owner5 alone to pay for the negroes. 1
| go for it, but l shall never consent to tax
! men to pay for negroes who never owned
| any, and never desired to own any. Slave
| holders got up the big dance in 1S61-they
| continued the frohc for four years-and they ]
are the very men 10 pay the fiddler!
The present Legislature of Tennessee has /
| been more bitterly and perseveringly abused
| than any General Assembly that ever con-
yened in the State, and yet no legislative
body ever did as much for the best Interests
of the State. Sixteen months ago this BODY
Of men assembled in the Capitol, and took |
charge Of what little was left Of the State
and her records. The State was prostrated, !
her archives gone South, her money squan- !
dered, and her credit utterly ruined War |
was still raging, courts were nowhere held |
with safety, and justice was administered |
only within few fortified posts, protected |
Nr-
broken up, and peace officers could do |
nothing. Our schools and academies were
closed, as they had been dilring the four |
years Of war and anarchy which previously |
reigned
Our grand system Of railroads was in
ruins, while the military Authorities were
rnnning such as were necessary to their sue
cess. Gueuillas prowled without restraint
over the whole State, and our farmers were
liable any night TO loose their last horse
and their only hope of raising bread The
Legislature, by its judicious legislation, has
placed the State upon her feet again, ena-
bled the treasury to meet all demands, put
their roads in running order, enabled them
to meet the interest on their loans The
credit of the State is restored, and the State
herself Is restored to the Union. The courts
are everywhere open for the transaction of
business. The farming operations of the
country are going on finely, and our schools
are opening in every county. In a word, it
has been the proud privilege of this Legisla-
ture to restore this noble old Commonwealth
to prosperity in business, and to her ancient
position in the Federal Union. And the
members of the Legislature have done all
this in defiance of the abuse of traitors the
ISLANDERS of their prostituted papers, and in
the very face of a war made upon them by
the President, whose patronage and dicta-
ton were brought to bear upon them through
bad men who had sold out to the Admins
tration, or lacked the manhood to stand up
against its denunciations. All honor to the
patriotic Legislature of Tennessee, and the
brave men in both Houses who have faced |
the storm of rebel abuse, copperhead sian
ders, and the treason of those in high places!
l cannot close this address without warn
ing the loyal men Of the State against the
speeches, arguments and appeals of that class
of leading men, who, in their worse than
BALsHAZZAR revelry, praise ANDREW JOHN
son as the man after their own heart In |
Middle and West Tennessee, at the breaking !
ont Of the rebellion, their frenzied rage
always directed itself with unerring preci-
sion, against the Government and its Union
friends, Most Of them either belonged to a
Vigilance Committee or a rebel military |
League, sacrificing better men than them
selves to the Moloch of rebel hate In East |
Tennessee, for the most part, they were men
who sought Office under the Confederate
Government, spoke and wrote in favor of
the rebel cause, denounced LTNCoLN's viola-
tion of the Constitution, and at a later day
advocated the election of MCCLELLAN and !
PENDLEroN Most Of these men would like
to see second rebellion, as a means of ac-
quiring political notoriety and making
money. They are not ofthat class Of men !
who would enter the ranks and fight for
their principles. They are the advocates Of
a convention to set aside the present State
Government, even if the experiment should !
cause scenss to be enacted for which civiliza-
tion will be made to blush.
The massacre Of Fort Pillow, the brutality
of Andersonville, the base assassination Of
LINCOLN, the murderous furry of the Mem
phis mob, the wholesale hanging and shoot
ing down of EastTennessee Unionists-all at ,
length paralleled by the inexcusable slaugh-
ter in New Orleans, have no terrors for these
admirers of Mr.. JOHNSON. though /
he is becoming startled at the atrocity of his I
own deeds, and the legitimate fruits of his =
insane policy
In this address l have used great plain !
ness Of speech, and for the reasons first, that
desired and intended TO be understood; | p
and next, because this is no time for putting !
forth an uncertain sound. l have desired to {
act in harmony with the President-so has :
the great Union party Of the country, the \
Legislature Of the State, and Congress, as l :
took occasion to write him about the begin
ming Of this year. l hope he may publish !
that short letter.
have resolved that the President should
not call a grayback convention at Philadel-
phia-a convention 10 be composed of Office 4
holding Republicans of delegates from the !
party that opposed the war, and Of delegates 1
from the rebel Congress, and the rebal armies, I
and out Of these materials organize JOHN !,
son Democratic rebel party, and turn me >
over 10 it, to be dictated 70 and controlled
by the men who fought four years 10 de- h
stroy the country. This is the pass to which ,
We have come at last, and those who are &
willing that a faithless President shall ~
transfer them to his new party organization, A "a
can 60, and may JOY go with them. Divide q
and sub-divide as we may, there can be bit
Two parties in this country-a disloyal and
a loyal party. Choose We between these