Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-08-16
TIE TENNEssEE ELECTION.

| cation. We republ1Sh extracts from var
$ Gus sources describing the enactment c
this mockery of liberty and fiendish outrag
9 upon American citizenship. First anon
: our extracts We find letter from q corr es
pondent of the Cincinnati Commercial,
I Republican journal. In an editorial of th
same issue the Commercial endorses th
correspondent as ga Republican, but VIII,
: does not believe in Brownlow" This Re
publican correspondent, with some honest,
in his composition, was on the spot. H
saw what he narrates. He felt the inius
tice and the outrages he describes He il
a man with Republican sympathies, but he
is nevertheless Il man, and has dared tc
speak out his condemnation of the demo
MAC contrivances of Brownlow and his myr
midons to acquire and retain power. He
writes as follows:
Correspondence Cincinnati Commercial
NASHVILLE. August 2, 1867.
The election, one of the most peaceable,
| If not the most peaceable, of any that has
ever taken place in Tennessee, is over, and
the result which everybody looked for
the success of the Radical ticket-has be-
come an established fact On account of
the extraordinary preparations resorted;to
to prevent outbreaks and bloodshed on
election day, the event, as far as freedom
| from bloody collisions was concerned, has
been slgnalized by the most charming re-
suits. Reports from every portion of the
State are to the effect that no disturbance
of any kind has occurred. batting those of
too trivial Importance for mention. Tile
election itself, from causes which have been
heretofore mentioned i'll other letters, 7cas
simply a fu2ce and could not be otherwise
while William q. BrownloW was the NOV
ing spirit in the performance. The best
jI,1jD an B0 tlHo
been Loy0l Mr0ugh tie wt0le L0nq Mutt Of
rejection, ace7e denied yegish1Hion certificates,
tclHe ser09ToS Of tie most 7'c0npa1H rc6eIs NlaL
erel di$J1Uccd tie nation, or murdered Union
men in cOld biOOd and t"c2e na07e rOfe7.s on
condition Of fC(tSting their ballots for BT0,onEOar
This is no idle assertion, but what can be
established by proofs innumerable. And
then, Judging from the past, successful
Conservative candidates would stand but q
slim chance Of being admitted to the Legis-
lature, while others would have hard work
Ill securing the seats they might be justly en-
titled to in Congress. There never was a
man more fairly elected to Congress than
Dorsey B. Thomas last year; and yet Arnell. |
who received but a handful of the qualified
voters, was admitted and retained his seat
until the close of the session. And so in |
the State Legislatures, in numerous instan-
ceS. Yes, the Radicals and their rebel al |
lies have gained a decided success while |
the COnSerUUireS tie nObLeSt and best Union |
men IN Tennessee, battling on the PLATFORM of
tile National Republican party lace met ar:M |
q defedt that ac0S simply unavoidable ard
yet tie great, loyal North, not realizing the
real situation here, and blind to the devil
lsh hate and fiendish malignity which
prompts every thought and action of the
present occupant of the gUberratorial chair,
Will be apt to rejoice over q ''great Repub-
lIcan triumph ia Tennessee" " and shout at
5he defeat of the ''rebel Democracy p
Alas for the Republican party, if it is con-
.ent to bear the sins and enormities of
Tennessee Iadicalism ;, and alas for the
,ountrys reconstruction and peace, ii
BfoWnloW is true exponent OF the princi-
)les which to-day rule the nation
The colOred vote was cast in unpreceden-
ed maJOrities for BrOwnlow and the Radi-
al ticket. L once estimated that probably
one-sixth of the negroes would vote other
wise. Judging from the results which have
already come IN, and what [ observed on
ny trip from Knoxville yesterday, there
Sere not over two thousand colored votes
;ast for Etheridge :; or about one-twentieth
If the entire negro voting population. This
Will account for the large majority Brown
ow and his party will receive. In Knox
lille l heard it stated that out of Il colored
-otlng population Of six hundred, believe,
'nly three would vote the Conservative
lcket. In reply to questions at every town
long the road between Knoxville and
Chattanooga, the answer almost invariably !
vas, that a majority of the white votes were :
asst for Etheridge, but that the negroes vo-
ed solid the other way. At Sweetwater, !
II reply to question of mine as to the col !
red vote, demure-looking individual, re- :
Oicing in slight Milesian brogue, respond ;;
4, ''bad luck to 'em, the divil wan Mig -,
,er out of seventy three has voted theright =
ray" Just then a bystander remarked =
cmewhat enthusiastically, I thought that d
ne of the 'niggers - had really voted the :, :
right way" an announcement which
'as received with apparent satisfaction by
few Conservative chaps present. Suppose
hey consider even one out of seventy :
hree wasn't SO bad after all. It was quite y
atural, in the first place, that the negroes, =
lmost en- masse, should cast their ballots s
Or the party who enfranchised them and =
len, what with the Influences of the 10y :,
Leagues, absolutely compelling them to =
ote in one direction, it must not be Won =
cred at that the colored vote has been cast y
5 it has. It is quite probable that in West =,
ennessee influences have been brought f.
} bear on some of the negroes to deter =,
AoAAA 'OCALS5 90 I14Cy "oet1I1 In
is extremely doubtful if the greater r
mount of undue influence and intimida- y
on on both whites and blacks, especially !,
East Tennessee, has not been resorted -
} by the Radicals. Some of the most y
rominent Unionists of Knoxville, among =
lem T. A. r. Nelson and John Baxter, ~
formed me that fully one-fourth Ct the "
hite voters of East Tennessee would be f. f.
Inundated from going to the polls. AL ~ ~
!ough a majority of the legal voters there 4
e Conservatives, ii is m0toriOusLy true that "
G Ra0icdlS absorb the acOrst elements Of tie -,
,pu1Caion, and taking their cue from tie F.
OUernOr, h0Ue lille hesitQacy in intzicting &C
TRACES on their political opponents. A spe- W
men of the worst of the crowd is w. O. II
zemore, of Rogersville, the head of the
oyal League, and successful candidate,
believe, for the Lower House of the Gen GA
al Assembly. This man, was told, on tn
nat I considered the very best authority, tic
IS already murdered eighteen men, tie last Co
ctina being dispatched about ta0o aceehs ago. Or
tis man, as hundreds assert, nOto1'i- ra
s rebel in The early days Of the aOar, and at
Iped TO murC}e, his oaon father, the offence Of orr
, I0tIo3. hoi,1D that he Union s120u Tf "a