Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-17

uersdn county tltt auAit VI lt-o 4"i q
boarding OF prisoners, who escape
= thraugh the bad condition Of the Jai
Referred.
Mr.. Mullins presented a c0mmunie'
DC lion from A. Johnson, jr., Keeper q Oh
> PeEitenuary, which was referred 70 u
% Committee on PenitentiaTy.
s MESSAGE FROM THE GOvEBNOR.
STATE or TENNESSEE. ENEcUrIvE nEP'r-.l
nssHylIIlE prii IS, 1855. D
o I Gentlemen Of the Senate and House Of Repre-
4 ssntatiyes.
9 The extraordinary circumstance un
. der which rou resume your seats aIts
the untoward events Of the past SO
3 weeks, make it my duty, as I conceive
. % send you this communication glFlnt
such information rs ] possess concerning
3 the state OF the government
Two elections have occurred sinceyOul
deliberations we're broken up by the &C
tion Of q portion Of the House the one
] a general election Of county officers on
Z the Sd Of March, the other a speCia.
election Of twenty-four representative
and two senators. ID different parts Of the
i state. The result Of these elections.
carefully studied, wiz furnish you much
instruction In the discharge Of your pres
ent duties. It viii appear that the public
safety absolutely requires a thorough re-
[ vision of the present suffrage laws. While
{ ir Is true that IN many counties in West
I Tennessee a very creditable, and ia some
I instances, s successful effort was made
/ 20 execute the act OF the 5th OF June last.
I In some counties Of that section. and ia
/ the greater portion Of Middle Tennessee,
/ the law was totally disregarded. IN the
I county Of Davidson, for instance, where
there has been 20 much clam0r against
. aH H.
/ the people were disfrauchised bv it. the
I sEgTe-ate vote exceeded, by over a th0G-
1 sand, the average vote in county cleo
tions before the passage Of the law.
Candidates in many localities openly
and publicly based their claims TO elee-
! ton upon wounds received and losses sn-
CURED in tie cause Ofrebeli0n, and were
0fleu successful.
In the special election nearly all Of
Z those who had by revolutionary conduct
I broken up the LegisIature aud p&ralyzed
Z the Govern ueut were candidates for re-
I election. under pledges to repeat their
Z performances unless the majority VIII
yield % them the control Of your pro-
4 ceediugs. With two exceptions ia West
4 Tennessee, one in Middle Tennessee, and
two in East Tennessee, they have been
returned by large majJrIties- This result
may well excite the Rpprehen7i1ns Of
the fiends Of civil government. It
shows tust not only the revolving repre-
seuJatives, but that their constituents,
are ready 70 destroy the state govern
malL The fear expressed IN nv pr5cla-
nation Of the Sd Of March, thar " our
peoI l. have not sufficiently recovered
from the demUraiiZing effects Of the late
rebellion 70 appreciate the blessings Of
peace, P l. thus painfully realized.
A. the legality and prOprieiy Of my
proclamation Of the Sd Of Marcl in or
derinE some Of the elections have been
questioned, and may come incidentally
before You in deteTmiug the qualifications
OF the new members, will present
briefly the grounds Of mv action.
Tie Constitution provides that d" where 4
vacancies happen IN either House, The
governor for the time being shall issue
Vrrits OF election To Ill such vacancies
No particular form Of vacaung seat Is ]
prescribed. Il is sufficient If the seat is Z
not occupied, and no legitimate excuse /
or reason given for its remaining SO. I'll
a member wilfully and persisteuuy re- I
fuses to occupy his seat and perform any I
Of the duties of his place, the seat Is in I
fact and in law vacant Il may be the l
duty Of the House TO notify the executive I
when q vacancy happens, but when the I
House is CisorgauiZed OF not in session,
it becomes his duryto know when to act. 4
Upon this construction OF the COnsJitu-
ti0n and this view of my official duty, I
issued wits Of election 70 i'll the seats Of /
those who had absented themselves from
the House for the declared purpose Of dis
organizing IL, and who had publicly pro-
Claimed that they had withdrawn from
your deliberations. This much I deem
proper TO say in justification Of my ac-
tion. You are the exclusive judges Of
the qualification and election Of yCUT
members, and I only announce my own
action and the reasons which governed
it. and refrain from any recOmmenda-
tions as 10 the rightsof the newly elected
members. The extreme peril of the
crisis in which we find ourselves VIII,
however, justify me in calling your at
-entiCn % the fact that a number Of
members are asking seats in your body
under g pledge, indOrsed by their con-
,rituents 10 disOrganiZe the Legislature
1y revolutionary conduct I therefore
invite your serious attention 70 the grave
question IL presents.
= The Oh ijeCtious 70 a stringent suffrage
aw are plausible, and made under the
yuise Of equal rights and republican lib
srty but experience viii show that those
VINO, but a few months since were en-
gagged in the work of destroying all gov
srumeur, and VINO succeeded in destroy
ng our State government and only
'ai.ed 70 destroy the national govern
nent by being oyeTp0wered by force OF
arms, are not yet safe repositories of the
elective franchise. Ii is not a question
l. TO who shall be disiranchised, but as
% who shall be eufranchised. Those !
ahs committed treason disfrauChised
themselves. To restore them at
,nce 70 the right Of suffrage is
simply to hand over TO them that
government which was organized in
uite Of them upon the ruins Of the one
hev had destroyed. This is now what
hey demand, The red handed maraUder
Who has inflicted the most Gightiui
wounds upon the body polite, claims
han he, Of all others, Is the proper sur
,eon to heal them. They claim the eS-
'lusiye right to destroy and build Up-t0
Kin and % restore TO life. You alone,
gentlemen. can dispose Of this question,
Ia q crisis like this, We should adopt no
imid course. Let us fe8rlessly perform
,ur part. and leave the result TO God. l
invoke YOUR prompt attention to this
-ital subject. We can have DO hope lhat
.apital or loyal emigrants viii come
j.
II urotectiou against rHbe! rule / am
..-Ired mat the tide Of emigration now
lowing into Missouri is owing 60 the
ample protection given 10 thsm Ia that
!, ale by The ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of the de-
troyers Of law aud order.
have been compelled, bv sense Of
humanity. % direct the comptroller 70
ssue his warrant upon The treasury for q
sum, without sny act OF ap-
3ropriauon, TO supply the couyicts Of the
DeuiteDtiaTy with the necessarles Of life,
am informed that they are s-sin ln
lanrer Of suffering. The agent Of the
institution Is procuring supplies on credit,
Giving upon you 10 meet the payment.
The hospital for the insane is IN like ne
,assitous circumstance, and the salaries
IF the officers Of both Institutions are Gn-
paid. Yonr early action IN relief Of both
s an absolute necessity.
I appreheod that sufficient provision
las a0t yet been made 70 meet the July (
interest on the state deot proper, and up
30 the bonds loaned 70 such railroads rs
nav rau 70 nav their coupons then fall
ng due. / recon- mend the temporary
OF the funds realized by
he saie OF the specie e8ptgred with the
'einains Of the Bank Of Tennessee for
hat purpose, without permanently with
iraWing Il from the schOol fund.
After mature deliber2tiOn, ] have de-
ermined 10 recommend % your iavOra-
De consideration the remuneration Of
oval citizens Of Lhls state for losses sus-
aimed by the occupation Of the country
~ lie national armies. The passage Of
he so-called ordinance Of secession, and
ife assumed transfer Of the State 70 the
o-called Southern COnledeTaey, paced
tennessee IN the attitude of rebellion,
nd her people in the position Of enemies
q the National Government. The con-
aauence was that upon the occupancy
Il The state by the national forces, our
.eople were treated az enemies, with but
no discrimination between the loyal
ud di-loyal. Their lancs ard houses
we're occupied, their property impressed
II DESTROYED, and their provisions con
umed In East Tennessee this was done
rom necessity, by an upsppphed armYi 70 I
no extent that reduced the people 70 ao-
olue suffering. Thus far the Federal
governments, chasing iFIznessee with me
'ebel States, and unwilling TO assume
he losses incurred in the whole SOUTH
las not regarded the applications Of our
oval people for remuneration. ! uder-
.tand that similar losses by the citizens
lI Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio have
been promptly assumed, and Vet the na- /
ion knows, aud the world knows, that a
more loyal people inan those fu mennes- (