Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-02-26

to excite the surprise OF the people oI
Tennessee The false impressions ere
ated abroad as to the condition of social
and political affairs in this State, may
have prepared the minds Of strangers for
an Executive illumination Of this sort,
but to our own people, who are familiar
with our internal situation, it comes like
g clap of thunder from a cloudless sky
subject of establishment, if not an
omen of evil
In view Of the manifest purpose for
which it is set forth, we desire 10 submit
d few facts, the successful contradiction
Of which we defy
From February, 1862, the civil governs
ment of Tennessee within the boundaries
Of the State was practically suspended.
The government which it previously had
was then displaced by the military power
Of the Union, which took possession Of
the capital, and gradually thereafter ex-
tended itself over the rest Of the State.
A military Governor was appointed, and
such qualified authority As he righttully
possessed. he exercised. The courts were
closed, not merely by the strong arm of
power, but by the controlling course Of
events and the individual action Of many
of the Judges and other officers The
State, from one end to the other, became
the theatre Of active war, and so con
tinued, to a greater or less extent,
until near the close Of the year
1864 During this period Of almost
three years, in the midst of arms the laws
were silent Early in the year 1868, an
effort was made to restore to the people of
the State the blessings Of civil govern
ment, of which they had been 80 long
deprived, and Of which they stood go
much in need It was successful, and
the result is known In January Of that
year the constitution was modified in
February the changes were ratified by
the people in March the Governor and
Legislature were elected and in April
the latter met, the former was inaugura-
ted, and the process Of reorganizlng the
civil departments OF the State was com
pleted by the appointment Of magistrates,
Judges, Attorneys General and other ne
cessary officers In March 1866, regular
elections were held for county officers
under the laws of the State as modified
by this new Legislature, and the entire
machinery Of the State administration
was fully restored 1t has 50 continued
ever since
This all occurred before the war closed,
and while there was not Rebel in arms
on the soil of Tennessee. At the close Of
tho war, and when peace had again I'M
folded itsgracious pinions over the land,
those Of our citizens who had been en-
gagged in the war on the Southern side and
who survived, returned to their homes.
They fully, freely and voluntarily accept
ed all that had been done in their absence
have obeyed all the laws since, and
have behaved in conformity with the du-
ties and requirements Of good citizenship.
In the course of the war personal iniu-
ries and private wrongs were in
ficted on both sides, which excited
private and personal enmities that
did not subside with the cessation
of public hostilities. This was especially
the case in East Tennessee, and many of
the Southern adherents from that section
were deferred from returning, and have
not yet returned to their homes and are
still eziles in other States Many Of those
who did return were hunted like wild
beasts, prosecuted in the courts, perse-
cuted and some Of them murdered for
their previous acts Some Of them are
now in the penitentiary for crimes they
never committel-and others are wan>
derers in strange places 20 escape the
fury of their personal enemies This
was the state Of things in East Tennessee
in the latter part of 1865 and the first
part of 1866 In the other divisions Of
the State all was comparatively quiet
In some few localities there was strife
and disorder, forced upon neighbors by
lawles4 characters, who were generally
persons who did nothing on either side
during the war but awaited themselves Of
the absence Of laws to assume the role Of
robbers. These disorders were, perhaps,
natural and to be expected, under the
unusual circumstances While they
were in progress in East Tennessee, at
least, there was no voice raised by the
Governor for their repression. For the
past six OF eight months there has been
less strife and violence than was usual in
times of party and political excitement
even before the war The Rebels,
particularly have been upon their good
behaviour determined to have peace, at
any cost to their personal pride II there
has been any exception, it has been in the
recent occurrences in Obion county. And
these were not antagonistic 70 the au
thority Of the State, nor in their nature
political, but originated in personal
grievances springing from occurrences
during the war In them the body Of our
people have no interest except that OF
violation Of law-and cannot be held
responsible for such exceptional viola
ton
In every case Of the laws violation. the
courts have been open The ministers of
Justice we're of the Governor appoint
ments, from the highest to the lowest
except a few appointed by his predeces>
sor They are free and unobstructed
throughout the State, and the injured can
seek redress without let or hindrsnce
The posse is at all times subject TO their
orders There has been not single IN