Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-05-06
FOR GOVERNOR,
pRowrrow AND HIS RECORD.

BROWNL0W AND his RECORD'
Our Conservative exchanges in this
State are engaged industriously in the
work of ripping up the planks that com
pose Governor Brownlow' platform, anC
exhibiting each in contrast to the rest
There is, we believe, product of cabinet
skill called mosaic work, in which incon
gruous material is so skillfully joined as
to present the appearance OF solid mass
The record of our Governor presents
every variety of material, but the skill o.
the artist is wanting The blocks, OIL
blanks, are heaped together in admirable
disorder, and remind one rather OF
woodpile than a product of art. We have
no fancy for instituting contrast In the
timbers. Really we loathe them so much
that nothing but public duty impels us
to touch them at all. We care little what
that remarkable person has or has moi
said. We have long been familiar with
his character, and though at one tipe
we labored in the Wing ranks with him,
we always thought his violence did the
cause more injury than benefit be
was then, as he is now, the embodiment
of intolerance, and never seemed to act
upon the suggestions of reason, but IN
variably from passion or impulse. He
called the abolitionists of the North
harder names than any other man in the
South, and travelled to the North to de-
fend slavery and attack them in the hot
bed of all the disgusting isms of the day.
We are not disposed to hunt up his
record, though it may be worth while,
perhaps, to lay it before the people, that
they may be informed of the true
character of the person who demands
their votes or their Acknowledgement.
This shall be done in due time, disgust
ing as the job will be. And yet, perhaps,
all that he has done and said, will hardly
enable one to locate him. Feeling in
basket of snakes fer an eel or two is
supposed to be a perilous operation.
We shall not attempt similar dive into
the basket of Brownlow's inconsistent
cies. As our contemporaries are pourin 6
them out all together to wriggle and
writhe on the ground, we shall contem-
plate them at our leisure, and discover,
if we can, how the snakes and the cells
can live together IN hermony. Here is
snake No. l.
Brownlow, in his issue Of May 2Sth,
1864. saws: This internal war was
brought about by the unprincipled Dis
unionists Of the South, on account Of the
Niger.
In an article in the same issue, we hnd
what may be characterized as eel No. l
ave are no advocate for threads upon
the Constitution, but the subject deserves
serious consideration; and had the evil
been provided against years ago 1t might
have saved us the horrors of the late
disastrous war which, to say the least oil
it, qresc out ofthe Presidential question
though al is pretended that The RiggeT
was The cause Of the rebellion"
These passages can exist together with
all the harmony Of loving snakes and
aaectionate cells. Here is a very big
snake. In the Knoxville Wing Of May
2sth, 1864, we find this:
We have never differed with the South
upon the abstract question Of slavery
and do not now differ and we are free tc
say. that the condition of the slaves
VIXEN liberated, if left in the South, viii
be worse than il has been during theil
seryitude. But we are for emsncipating
every negro in the South, notwithstand
ing all this.
This will do. The condition OF the
negro if liberated and left in the South,
will be worse than that Of a condition Of
slavery. And yet Governor Brownlow'
paper saysiti is for emancipation. Why
That the negro may find himself in a
worse position Is This friendship fol
the negro2 1t is understood, though we
have not the proof at hand, that he has
advocated the policy of removing the
negro population, and filling their places
with foreigners In his message Of De-
tober, 1865, he said:
"In connection with this subject Of
emigration, beg leave TO say that 1t Is
far more safe and rational process OF re-
generating the South than any sudden
and compulsory admission Of the blacks
10 The ballot Dor 1t involves no coutro-
ver,ed question Of State rights II occa-
sions no necessity for arbitrary and mil
itary rule.
In 1861 he is the leader in a sudden
enfranchisement Of blacks, and the com
mander Of an arbitrary military force
provided al bis own suggestion. ln 1851
in public discourse at Knoxville, to the
Southern Commercial Convention, Wm-
G. Brovnlov uttered the following a.
his deliberate opinion:
eve endorse, without reserve, thai
much abused sentiment Of distinguished