Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1866-06-15


people were nearly unit In support of the
measure.
Q. There were then not many loyal peo-
pie In Texas2
A. They were almost unanimously 10y al
that is, TO their Government. A few men
of influence and character LEFT the State un-
der the influence Of the Presidents proclama.
ton, giving forty days fur departure; and q
few men who had welded influence remain
ed, utterly without influence, and opposed,
as was understood, to the Government.
Q. Were such persons safe2
A. Not entirely 20. An expression of
their opposition would have endangered the
best of them. They received such epithets
as Southern sympathizers In your Northern
State, but were not 50 generally published. -
Some were arrested.
Q. Were many put TO death?
A. None that know of. II was stated
that, on the frontier, some were hung. was
not in the service In that quarter, and such
obituaries were not likely to be published.
Q. Are they safe now in returing? A.
Many have returned, and believe all are un.
molested. Generally they are not much res
pected. Some are now in the Convention
One Is Governor.
Q. What portion of the Convention are
known a. Union men2 A. I am not in
formed. have seen statement that eleven
were what we term Radicals.
Q. What will your Convention probably
dot A. believe they will acquiesce in all
that has been prescribed to States reorganiz-
ing, viz: the abolition of slavery by the Goy-
ernment of the United States; the surrender
of secession; the repudiaton of the Confederate
debt and the recognition of civil rights In
the late slave.
Q. Will he people of Texas probably pre-
pare for th9senfrancbisem ment Of the negro,
! or such of them as may meet certain quail
fications of property and intelligence?
A. Never, as believe. They hold to dis
tinction of race that they may have q repup-
nance to compromise. They do not believe
In the capacity of the negro for republican
citizenship, and If they did, will not consent
to affiliate with him. In this they are probably
as stubborn, as the people of the North, who,
like them, feel the repugnance of race that
God has planted in our instincts.
Q. You stated, in the former part of your
testimony, that the census tables exhibit a
great disparity In the reproductive power Of
the negro in freedom and slavery, Please
state TO the Committee how you account for
the difference. A. The difference between
the free blacks, North and South, is chiefly
due to climate, believe; the tropics being
the native cline of the negro. But it may
be partially due to the readiness with which
destitution is relieved at the South. As be-
fore, we have no poor-houses no beggars.--
The difference between the free and slave
blacks Is chiefly due to two spec ial causes
The care we take of infants, and the protec-
ton of the marriage relation in slavery
The discipline and police of the plantation
enforces faithfuluess in husband and wife,
and secures, as consequence, the prolifcacy
of families. There is little confluence in The
race, free or slave, and no pride of chastity
Promiscuous commerce is fatal to fecundity
This is recognized almost universally by
those who know them well by close obserya.
ton. Negro mothers are proyerbially reck.
less Of and cruel to their offspring. Blacks
whether infant or adult. have very little a
the vital force to resist disease that white,
have. When they ret sick. unless wei
cared for, they die. The owners interest II
his slave land possibly little sense of dut,
and humanity prompts him To take care q
|, every life. Nurseries are established OF
plantations, supervised by the doctor an,
. and the mistress, that save the lives of in
fants. The mother only comes TO nurse he,
child, and she is too happy to be rid of fur
ther caro-. She has little of the affection
for her young that characterizes white moth
ers, or many of the lower animals. Her de
votion to the children of her mistress is of
ten far greater than to her own. There fact
will explain why the negroes lately emanci
pated are dying so tearfully. They have /,
thank the emancipator for taking the life o
one of every of four in this brief time an,
the process will continue, in spite of Faneui
and Exeter Halls, Civil. Rights bill
, and the Freedmen's Bureau. Even the lux
ury of voting would not save the race from
, the doom of freedom and death.
q O. Has the mortality been so great as re
presented? A. ! believe it has never beel
exaggerated. have seen il estimated a
one fourth the whole number, and do no
think it too great figure. Had SLAYER,
. given as many stripes, all christendom woul
; have been horri6ed. Emancipation, blacl
J with its million graves, gets only peaps Q
praise the world over. Time and histor
will, we belieye, change the song, despite tn
: hurried records aud willing testimony OF tn
Lossings the Aohotts, and the Bancrofts.
i z. Is the good order you represent IN In
Southern States the result OF total abandon
ment OF the struggle, or is 1t from the tenn
pory necessity OF quiet. Would the struggl
I, bs willingly resumed A. Permit mo
explain in reply TO these queries.
: There Is no Intention anywhere to reneV