The Union flag. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1865-187?, 1866-09-21
THE EAST TENNESSEE UNION FLAG.

Tered and pledged BY the iathers Of the he'
public, we lmplore your help against a reor-
gAnlled oppression, whose sole oblsvi is %
remit the control Of eur destiuies 10 the con-
triVers Of the rebellion aher they have been
VAnQuiShed iR honorable battle thus 81
once to punish us for our devotion to ou'
country, and to eutFench themselves In the
Official Notifications Of the Government
Others have related the thrilling story oil
our wrongs from reading and observation.
We come before you as unehAllenged wit
nesses, and speak from personal knowledge
our sad experience. II you fail us, we are
more utterly deserted and betrayed than II
the contest Of arms had been decided against
as; for in that case even victorious slavery
would have found profit in the speedy par
don Of those who had been among It's brAVest
foes.
Unexpected perhdy In the highest place Of
the Government accidentally filed by one
who adds cruelty to ingraiitude, and forgives
the guilty as he proscribes the innocent, has
stimulated the almost extinguiShed revenge
Of ths beaten conspirators aud now the
rebels, who offered TO yield everything 20
save their own lives, are seeking to consign
US to bloody graves.
Where we expected q benefactor we find
a prosecutor. Having lost our champion, we
return 10 you, who can make Presidents ana
punish traitors.
Our last hope, under God. Is in the unity
and Rrmness Of the States that elected Abra-
ham Lincoln and defeated JET Davis.
The best statement Of our case Is the APP
Mailing, vet unconscious confession Of An
drew johnson, who In savage hatred Of his
own record, prOClaims his purpose to cloths
four millions Of traitors with the power to
impoverish and degrade eight millions Of
loyal men.
Our wrongs be'r alike upon all rNces, md
our tyrants, unchecked BY Won. will award
the same fate TO white and black.
We can remain as we are only as interiors
and victims.
We may az from our homes but we
should fear to trust our fate with those who,
after ~denonncing and defeating treason, re-
fused 20 right those who had bravely as
sisted them in the good work.
Till we are wholly rescued there is neither
peace for you nor prosperity for us.
We cannot better define at once our
wrongs and our wants than nv declaring
that, since Andrew johnson affiliated with
his early slanderers and our constant enc
mics, his hand has been laid heavily upon
every eornest ~loyalist In the SoHth. Histo-
~, the Just judgement Of the Present and
the certain confirmation Of the Future, in-
vite and command us to declare
Tint, after rejecting his own remedies for
restoring the Union. he has resorted to the
weapons Of traitors to hruiso and beat down
patriots.
That, after declaring that mont hnt the
loyal should govern the reconstructed Sonth,
he has practiced upon the maxim that none
but traitors shall rule.
That. while in the North he has removed
conscientious men from office and filed many
Of the vacancies with the sympathisers oil
treason, In the South he has removed the
proved and trusted patriot and selected the
equally proved and convicted traitor.
That, after brave men who had fought for
the old flag have been nominated for posi-
ton, their names have been recalled and
avowed rebels substituted.
That every original Unionists In the South
who stands fast 10 Andrew JohnsOn's cove
nants from 1861 TO 1865 has been ostraeised,
That he has corrupted the local oonrtS by
Offering premiums for defiance NJ the laws
Of Congress, and by openly discouraging
the observance Of the oath against Treason,
That. while refusing TO punish one single
conspicuous traitor, though thousands had
earned the penalty Of death, more than 4
thousand Of devoted Union citizens have
been murdered in cold blood since the sur
render Of Lee, and in no case have their as
sassins been brought to judgment.
That he has pnFdOned some Of the worst OIL
the rebel criminals, North and South. inclu-
ding some who have taken human life under
circumstances Of unparalleled atrooity.
That, while denonncing aud lettering tb'
operations Of the Fresdmen's Bureau, be
with a full knowledge OF the f~alsehood, hal
charged tGat the black men are lazy aud re-
belliOus, and has concealed the fact tha
more whites than blacks have been protected
and fed by that noble organization anC
that, while declaring that 1t was corruptll
managed and expensive to the Government
he has connived at a system Of pro6igacy il
the use Of the public patronage and publiI
money wholly without parallel, save wbeI
the traitors bankrupted the Treasury, AM
sought TO disOrgHnize aud scatter the arm
and the navy, only to make IL more easy Il
capture and destroy the Government.
That, while declaring against the injustice
Of leaving eleven States unrepresented, h
has refused to authorize the liberal plan Q
Congress, simply because It recognizes tb,
loyal majority, And refuses to perpetuate thI
traitor minority.
That in every State south Of Mason ant
Di1ou's line, his "policy" has wrought tb'
most deplorable consequences, social, mora
and political.
IL has emboldsned returned rebels 4
threaten civil war in Maryland, Missouri
West Virginia and Tennessee, unless the pa
trios who saved and sealed these STATES 4
the I'D Gag surrender before their arrogan
demands.
IL has corrupted high State officials, elect
ed by Union men, and sworn t0 enforee ihI
laws against returned rebels, and made then
the mere instruments Of he authors Of thu
rebellion.
II has encouraged a new alienation between
the sections. and BY impeding emigration Il
the South, has erected formidable barrier
against free and friendly intercourse will
our eounuymen IN the North and the West
IL has allowed the rebel soldisry to perse
eute the teachers Of the volored schools, An'
TO burn tho churches ~ which the Freedmen
have w%orshippsd the living God.
That = system so baTbarous should havI
eliminated In the fughtful riot At Memphis
and the still more appalling massacre At New
Orleans, was IS natnrAl as that 4 bloody va