Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-02-23

operation Of thslpeople and this Convention fer
tie common harmony and prosperity and happi-
By Hon. E. Symmetry, Of Carter:
We. portion Of the people Of Tennessee, in
Convention assembled. Impressed with the sad
condition OF our country; sensible OF oar dificni-
ties as q people: aware OF the dangers which
threaten our liberties; determined 10 preserve
those liberties land the great charter by which
they were guaranteed; longing for the restora-
ton Of perfeot peace and concord between ouroEn
citizens and between the different sections Of this
nation. and holding ourselves bound by every
patriotic consideration to make the sacrince
which may be Necessary to accomplish these no.
bic ends. do declare.
attachment TO the Government Of the United
States, and pledge ourselves 10 defend and main
tain it in all its purity.
I'd. That we are entitled to Representation m the
National Congress, and our lawfully elected sem
ators and Representatives should be admitted 70
their seats. So
in carrying OFT his present policy for the restora
4th. That we hail with pleasure the PRESIDENTS
recent veto ofthe Freedmen's Bureau Bill.
9Th. That we honestly believe the great mass q
the people OF Tennessee have returned N good
faith to the allegiance they justly owe TO the Gov
eminent of the United States. ana are determined
9th. That all the rights Of citizenship should be
restored to the masses Of the Southern States at
a. esrs ynd DAY % aS bs &c xSoe
7th. That CIR former slaves are entitled TO our
kindest consideration; that we are. bound by
every motive to protect them IN their rights OF
person aad property, and to encourage them 70
become industrious and 70 obey the laws that we
may TINS avert. if possible. the evils attending
hasty emancipation. 49,
BY P. q. S. Perkins, of Giles:
Resoiced, That in restoring Tennessee to her
hnr
citizens areentitled 10 full compensation for the
loss of that property of every kind far as prac
tieable, of which il was the policy four country
in the late struggle to deprive them. =
BY A. w. Putnam, of Coffee:
COMMITTEES s PUBLIC. SENTIMENT AsDoRDER.
Resolued, That the Chairman appoint a COM
miftee Of - to report as TO public sentiment
and order in the State of Tennessee.
Resotred, That the DELEGATES from all the eoun;
ties represented in this Convention furnish to said
Committee on Public Sentiment and Order full
information MS to the prevalent temper and con-
duct Of citizens in their respective counties and
especially proofs f there be suchs) of lawessDess
sedition and crime. st
The Committee on Resolutions appeared
and through their Chairman, Mr.. BAXTER,
reported the following as the result Of their
deliberations:
The friends Of the Union, and Of the National
Administration. have deemed the re ;urring anni-
yersary of the birthday Of the Father of his Coun-
try to be a proper occasion on which to assemble
in Mas. Convention. for the purpose OF declaring
their continued devotion 10 the Federal Consutu-
ton, and the Federal Union and OF prociaiming
their earnest approval of the policy adopted by
President johnson, in his patriotic efforts TO pre-
serve the Constitution, and to re-establish the
Union of the States, and thereby TO secure, for the
whole country, the blessings of permanent peace
and of republican freedom Such a celebration of
the day is rendered peculiarly appropriate in view
of the extraordinary resistance made BY Congress
to the restoration Of the Southern States to an
equal participation in the benefits of the Union;
and in view OF the fact that small portion OF The
people of Tennessee, possessed OF an accidental
influence in the government, are giving encour-
agement to that spirit of sectional santacism in
Congress which has threatened to paralyze the
arm Of the Federal Executive. and which persists
in holding the Federal Union state Of virtual
The people of Tennessee are excluded from the
benefits of the Union upon the unfounded assump-
ton that they not sufficiently loyal 70 be ad-
Congress The delegates to this Convention, re-
presenting the great body of the people of the
State, embracing as well those who participated
in and eympathized with the rebellion as those
whose loyalty to the Union was never questioned,
come forward TO place upon the record their
united testimony against the truth OF this imputa-
ton of disoyalty made against the people OF the
State.
Upon the surrender ofthe Southern armies. the
people of Tennessee accepted the result as a, con-
elusive settlement of the issues involved in the
war. BY the act of laying down their arms, and
surrendering to their victorious enemies the
Southern soldiers acknowledged their defeat, and
pledged their honor not again to renew the, con-
fict. This pledge was made in good faith by brave
men. They returned to their homes, resumed their
peaceful avocations, and have distinguished them
selves by the zeal and energy with which they
have prosecuted their various pursuits.
The result had established the indcstructibility
Of the Union, by means of separate State seces-
sion, and hence that the several States which had
sought to form n new confedersey, had never been
withdrawn from the Federal Union. In this re-
suit the people of Tennessee acquicsced unhesi-
tatingly, and have waited patiently for the adop-
their former rights in the Union. In the mean
time they have submitted, without complaint 10
all the terms and conditions imposed upon them
as citizens of State lately in rebellion; and have
complied with all the acquisitions by which their
sincere loyalty to to the Constitution and the
Union could be made manifest.
The delegates to this convention, with a full
knowledge Of ther responsibility, do not hesitate
TO affirm that the people of Tennessee were never
ut any former time, more sincerely anxious for
the preservation of good order and the restofa-
ton of civil law. nor more earnestly united in
their determination TO support, defend and pre-
serve the Constitution and the Union against all
assaults, open or concealed. domestic, or foreign
than they are at the present time. They are as
ready now as they ever were in days gone by, or
as are the people of any other State in the Union,
to pledge their fortunes their lives and their sa-
cred honor in defence of the Constitution and the
In declaring their willingness to maintain the
Constitution, they desire to be understood as re-
cognizing the late amendment, forbiddng the ex-
istence of involuntary servitudc, as part thereof
and ayowing their determination to give to that
clause an honest and sincere support; They are
prepared 10 aid in extending to the free persons
of color such protection as shall secure to them
the undisturbed enjoyment of all the blessings of
freedom: and of conceding to them all the civil
and political rights that may De reompatioie Win
ever that this subject belongs exclusively to the
people of the State and that the same has not been
trapsferred to Congress by the amendment afore-
neous influences are withdrawn, the relations be-
tween the two races will be established upon
principles of justice that will be mutually salts
Entertaining these sentiments, the people Of
Tennessee with unprecedented unanimity, have
observed with unaffected admiration, the wise and
patriotic efforts, made by President johnson, to
secure an early and complete restoration of the
Southern States to the Union. By the liberal ex-
ercise OF Executive clemency, he has shown that
he understands and appreciates the plighted faith
of bravo men, and by reposing in them this gen.
erous confidence. he has now their hearts, and
renders their pledge Of loyalty doubly surg, not
only in securing their Jealous support of the Union,
but in overcoming sectional antipathies, and in
restoring sentiments of liberation and fraternity
between those who were lately public enemies,
The people of the Southern States had respond
ed so promptly and efficiently to wise sugges-
tons and the liberal policy Of the President, that
when the present Congress assembled, most OF the
States lately in rebellion had complied with the
terms and conditions upon which their restoration
to the Union was to be contaminated. Nothing
was then wanting for the effectuating Of the great
work of re-establishing the union of all the States
except the approval by Congress of the policy
adopted and carried out by the President. This
approval was withheld by a dominant majority Of
Congress, who have thereby repudiated the policy
Of the President, ignored the existence
of the Southern States, repealed the Sena-
tors and Representatives from the two halls
of Congress. and usurped the power to govern the
Southern States a. conquered provinces, As Tito
make their usurpation more glaringly revolu-
tionary this dominant majority instead OF acting
in accordance with the provisions ofthe Constitu-
ton, in the matter of admitting the Southern re-
presentation, 'abdicated that high position, and
handed il over 10 joint committee of fifteen
n committee which sits with closed doors, which
deliberates in secret, which shuts itself out from
which does not even desire to give the information
it was appointed to collect, but which sends its
receipts into the two houses and demands their
ratification. without reasoning and without facts
before the going down of the SUM-.
Awaiting themselves of their usurped power, the
majority in Congress do not hesitate to declare
their purpose of excluding the Southern States
from the Union. until they shall have effect
such amendments of the Constitution as will rem
der the Southern States utterly nnpryilegedin ell
future time: as will insure political, civil and So
eial equality between the white and colored
races; as will concentrate all political power IN a
dominant majority of Congress, as will absorb and
annihilate all the rights reserved 20 the States,
and as will perpetuate the power and dominion Of
the political party which now holds the reins OF
government In these efforts to undermine and
revolutionize the Federal Government. and TO
build upon it, ruins a fanatical despotism. the
Congressional eonspirators have the jealous sym
nority of our own State. who are knowingly defy
ing the will of an overwhelming majority OF the
people, and persistently deprving them of their
just rights in the Government.
In this fearful conflict between patriotic devo-
ton TO the Constitution and the Union, on ono
side, and sectional iansticis, seeking 70 perpetu-