Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-10-04

Inc icllOWing Cdrus nave Dcch puDiisiru
in the Press and Times; eta
CARD FROM GOV. BRowELoW.
find remarkable speech reported in
your paper, said to have been delivered in
front of the capitol, by the Secretary of
State, and have come TO the conclusion
that many Of my most considerate friends
have-that is to say, the object of the
speech was an attack upon me. | propose
briefly to notice two or three points in this
nnkind and ungenerous attack.
Speaking Of the appointment of North
ern men to Office, Mr.. Fletcher says:
We have put them on the bench and
made them Attorney Generals. Some of
them are very shrewd in the pursuit of
Office. One Of them, some time since,
from about Columbia, obtained a commits
sion of Chancellor before there was any
vacany, long before he was eligible, and
lifetime before he had any fitness for the
Office"
The individual alluded TO is j. J Noah,
of Columbia. To the best ofmy recollec-
tion and belief, Mr.. Fletcher is the only
man who ever did, IN person, urge upon me
the favorable consideration of Mr.. Noah.
On two different occasions, in my room, in
the presence Of Hon. D. w C. Senter, Mr..
Fletcher spoke to me of the superior talents
Of Mr.. Noah, and especially of his famil-
iarity with the law books. In a word, he
placed higher estimate upon Mr.. Noah's
abilities than | did. The two had not
then fallen out. After speaking of my staff,
Mr.. Fletcher adds:
Yes, the person who occupies the Gov
ernor's chair in his absence, and presides
over the Executive Department, is not a
citizen of the State, and does not expect TO
become a citizen of the State"
H.H. Thomaa did not force himself up
on the State government, but came from
Washington at my special invitation, and
invited him because had confidence in
his talents, integrity and loyalty, and for
the same reason / retain him on my staff.
As a Federal soldier under Gen. Burn
side, he fought his way in Tennessee, and
achieved by arms the right to live here
and TO hold Office, If conferred upon him.
l am not party to the personal quarrel
between him and Mr.. Fletcher, and will
not be made party.
In concluding his speech Mr.. Fletcher
says:
az have been asked repeatedly to-day, if
Gov. Brownlow had espoused the cause of
particular candidate for Mayor, and 1
am told the aforesaid chief of staff so de-
clares. / know nothing on this subject"
If Mr.. Fletcher knew nothing on this
subject, he should not have said anything,
or at least he should not have made the
impression that / had pitched into local
contest between two Union friends. Gen.
Thomas, Col. Innes, Gen. Cooper, DR.. Spar
ling, Senator Fowler, Major Brown, and
other citizens of Nashville, can inform him
that l told them, in person, that under no
circumstances could be induced to take
any other part in that contest than to
enforce the franchise law Of the State.
Finally, the filings at me in this speech,
and worse, were made during the late can
yass by Rebel and Conservative enemies,
and the loyal people OF the State spoke out
in my defense through the ballot-box. TO
the same people hand over these attacks
from an unexpected quarter, and | am will
ing to abide their verdict
w. G. BRowNLow.
September 28th, 1867.
SECRETARY FLETCHER's REPLY.
regret to feel called upon to reply TO a
card from lthe Governor of the State.
have heard of no other person who con-
strued my speech into an attack upon the
Governor, and certainly nothing was
father from my intention. The speech was
provoked by repeated attacks upon me by
non resident adventurers, and by repeated
declarations that native Tennesseans and
old citizens were all unworthy OF trust
that Tennessee loyalty was all delusion
that no man who had ever lived South
of the Ohio, during the days of slavery,
could be relied upon. / intended to resent
and repel these attacks and shall do so
again, if occasion requires, regardless of
assaults from any quarter, high or low.
Every candid and fair minded man, with
whom have conversed, who read the para
graph in my speech to which the Gov
ernor excerpts, considered him excused and
defended by it instead of being attacked.
Indeed, the Governor seems to have pc
rused it twice and considered of it a week
before he could find anything in it to take
exception to, and then he had to divide a
sentence and omit greater portion of il
before he could imagine himself assailed.
/ reproduce the entire paragraph, and sub
NIT TO a candid people that it is couched
in kind language, and is enculpatory and
defensive of the Governor:
81 have been asked repeatedly to-day il
Gov. Brownlow had espoused the cause of
a particular candidate for Mayor, and am
told the aforesaid chief of staff so declares
| know nothing on this subject. | feel
sure, however, that if the Governor was
here on the ground he would do no such
thing, as he would consider it did not com
port with the dignity of his Office, to inter
fere in any way, except to keep the pes sce
and enforce the law. If it be so, however
that his Excellency has taken sides, ! am
sure he has been misled and deceived as tc
the facts, and / can only say that he is only
one man, and each of you is another-the
one as free as the other. If he has beer
misled and imposed upon, that is no reason
yoi should be-"
The eestence next to the last may be of.
feDsive, but / hope not.
I did not make the impression that hh
Excellency chad pitched into local quar-
rel" That impression was made by th,
peerless hero Of "talents, integrity anC
loyalty" who fought his way under Burn
side into Tennessee, "and whose splendid
achievements by arms" the Governor 81
much extols. This General Thomas, No
., (who will hereafter be confounded in tn,
public mind with the hero Of Chickamaug,
and Nashville is reported to have re
peaiedly declared in his speeches to th'
negroes, that the Governor was for Alden
Certain il is that the Governor was so re
presented continually, and that fellow re
ferred to as authority.
The Governor will not be able t,
prove by d. w. c. Senter, that l Uroet
him to appoint J. J. Noah TO the ofhc,
Of Chancellor, or anything else. II
1865, upon the urgent application of Mr.
Arnell, under a general authority from tbs
Governor, issued commission to Noah
as Attorney General of the Columbia dis
trict, without conferring with the Governor
on the subject. At that timsReither tn,
| Governor nor myself had ever seen him.
have no doubt afterwards spoke of Noah
shrewdness and familiarity with old au
thors, butit was at time when he was no
an applicant for Office. The Governor seize
| upon a casual conversation of this kind
with view to cast the Odium of Noah
| appointment TO the office of Chancellor
upon me. ] protest against this. as hi
EXcellency we'll knows that by letter an,
in conversation protested against his ap
! pOintment to the high Office of ChancelIor