Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1866-12-11
THE MEMPHIS KIOr-HONORABLE

hat branch Of the Congressional Inquisi-
lion which sat upon the Memphis riots.
The chairman of the committee was one
Of the numerous ofiee-holding family |
named Washburne-all Of whom are |
loyal We forget whether this was
Israel, EIihu or Cadwallader The
report which is erparts entirely in its
character speaks in severe terms of Hon.
NJ H. Perkins, United States District
Attorney for West Tennessee. Judge
Perkins is a Northern man by birth, and
was an officer in the Federal service. He
was summoned as witness with the ex-
pectation that he would testify that every
Southern man in Memphis was roaring
Rebellion, seekinga negro, to devOur him,
wherever he might he found and that
he would give evidence to crafty the
prejudices of Washburne and his COM
mittee. On the contrary, he delivered
himself in quite different style His
answers to Washburne are what a dis
tinguished politician of this State, now
dead, was accustomed to call "gut shots
His examination did credit to his head
and his heart, and put the committee to
the blush 1t explains the malignant al
'lusiOns to him used in the report We
append it as a refutatiOn of radical cal
jimmy, at once pungent and conclusive:
Q. State whether, since you have been
in Memphis, your intercourse with the
citizens has been free, and whether or not
you have had an opportunity of ascertain
ing and learning the general public senti-
ment of the people of Memphis in relation
to the negro population here?
A. think that can safely say that i
am well acquainted with the people Of the
city generally. have been thrown in con-
tact with them officially, and since then /
have met them in business and socially, and
l feel, perhaps, better acquainted with these
people than with any other people any
where, though l have been here but a short
time; and have no hesitation in saying
that, so far as l have observed, the feeling
on the part of the people of this city-of
the Southern people, the Confederatea the
old citizens and former masters-is five
times more friendly and kind toward the
negro than that which exists on my part,
or that of any Northern man who was not
raised among them. And | think that a
negro of this city would go for a favor to
one of these old citizens sooner than ne
i a.. e =, I fol &C
kindly towards them as l can feel, but !
have not the sympathy that l see my
neighbors and friends around me have to-
wards the negroes. 1t is not a feeling |
have in my heart.
@. You spoke of Northern men here; do
you not know of the prejudice existing
against Northern men who entertain senti-
ments which are obnoxious to the majority
of the citizens?
A. do not think that sentiment towards
Northern men holding those political opin-
ions is more deeply felt by Others than my
self.
Q. What is your prejudice against
them?
"A. think their policy is ruinous to the
| country.
| @: What is the policy which you believe
| to be ruinous to the country?
A. The prescribing of and the refusal to
admit these States to their original position;
the course that Congress has taken through
the winter.
Q. Do you think that man who foI
three years has been fghtingyou, and endeav-
oring to tear down the government, should
have the same rights that you should?
A. am satisfied that that man has
been brave and sincere; he believed he
was right, and he foughtlikea man; / have
reason to know that, and from his conduei
during that time am satisfied that when
he takes the oath allegiance he viii be 10y
al to the government of the United States
and that hewill never take up arms against
It; il would be better to take that man back
and restore him to his old place, than tC
pursue the opposite policy and keep him il
a state of bondage.
| Q. | do not mean any man in particular
but : you think that men who have beer
in arms against the government, and al
tempting to destroy it, should be permitted
to have the same rights in controlling thu
government they sought to destroy, as tht
men who sought to uphold that govern
ment2
A. think if any discrimination is to b.
made, it should bein favor Of the loyal citi
zen.
@. You say that no Southern man car
have greater prejudice against, or would
denounce more strongly than you would
the Northern man who would be in favol
OF that franchise law; and yet that fran
chise law is simply to prohibit mar
who has given aid and comfort to tn,
rebellion from now exercising the right o
suffrage?
A. / say, most emphatically, that if
should meet such man publicly, in poll
tics, / should denounce him, the same a
you have been in the habit of denouncinI
your political opponents.
@. 1t ia an infamous Law, you think, be
cause it prohibits a man from voting whC
has been Rebel and has given aid anC
comfort TO the rebellion2
| A. But the man has been invited Il
come back, and l am not in favor of hi.
being held as a serf, but of his being re
ceiyed and entitled to the privileges Of ar
American citizen, whose highest privilegt
is to be entitled to vote
@. What has been the. character of thu
Il
Has it been loyal since the rebellion wa
suppressed?
A. never heard a disloyal sentiment
uttered IN public. k#
Q. Did you hear the address which wa
made by Landon c. Haynes at the tourna
ment here?
A. heard part of it,
Q. Is that a fair specimen of tn,
speeches which are made here, as far a
you have heard them2 / refer to thu
whole address. Did you hear this portion
of the address, s .
"The magnanimity and grace with which
the people have aequiesced in the issue
decided against them by the verdict of tn,
sword, are only equalled by that superhu
man high-mindedness and knightly chiv.
airy which, in the hour of battle, not ONLY
extorted admiration from their stern foes
but made them seem to forget that they haC
ever heard the name of death. Applause.
And it can scarcely now be expected By
enlightened men that the people of thu
South should suddenly transfer their atfec.
tons personally to those whining canting
graceless, goddess, christless vipers in thu
human form, who, cruel in the name o
humanity, nefarious in the name Of piety
cowardly in the name of courage, warlik,
in the name of peace, and disunionists il
the name of the Union, seek to prevent fra
ternisy and concord, and to reduce a van
quished people to servitude, and to haster
them down into an abyss of ruin unequal
led in this or any other age or country
! Applause While we give our allegiance
and fidelity to the government Of the UniteC
States, we reserve our scorn for those buz