Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-09-26

The natural and inevitable r
suit of this state of things is, ths
!, the negroes in Tennessee will b
: deprived of homes and throw
out of employment, to the exter
. of the power Of the disfranchise
and enslaved majority of the pei
Iple. Political power they hav
none, but moral and social power
which is much stronger, they have
the whole of which will be exc,
cised in selfdefence and retaliation
No threats of confscation, or fur
ther degradation, can prevent it
exercise. The very instinct oi
every true man assures him tina
there is no safety in yielding t.
such threats. Confscation oi
private property in peace! Wha,
is it? 1t is robbery! The man
who talks about the confscatior
of private property In time of
peace, if he knows what he is
talking about, is a robber, and
would steal, if not deferred by
fear. You cannot save your prop
erty or your life by yielding to
such a man. The threat Of con-
fiscation is.a threat of war. 1t is
a ridiculous absurdity to talk of
confiscation in time Of peace
When that begins there will be no
peace. God have mercy on the
cowardly traitors who talk of con-
fiscation! If any one dreams
that he can save his property by
yielding to the threats of such
traitors, he is wofully mistaken.
Having deprived you OF your lib
erty, which is much dearer to
every true man, they will not
hesitate, by any scruples of law
or conscience, to take your proper
ty if they dare do SO. Every
man worthy the name will take
six feet by three of his real estate
rather than resign his right to
control it, When that hour ar.
rives life will be no longer valua-
BILE to every such man, and be
will sell it as dearly as possible.
But then these are only the
threats of unprincipled towards,
and would-be rulers. Every man
of sense knows that the confsca-
tion of private property in time
of peace is an impossibility. 1t
cannot be done. Let towards
and traitors therefore threaten and
buster; all true men will stand
firm, and simply refuse to prosti-
tute their manhood, or sacrifice
their selfrespect by licking the
hand raised to smite them, or by
harboring their enemies.
My dear sir, I have written as
/ have more in sorrow than in
anger. You know that / am not
one of the prescribed, 80 far as
the right to vote is concerned
It is well known to you that no
man in this nation sympathized
less with the movement to estab-
lish a Southern Confederacy than
/ did; no mans feelings entered
stronger into opposition to that
movement than mine did; and no
man did more in proportion to his
ability and means to prevent lis
success than I did. In taking
that course l thought and still
think / was right; but I neverbar-
gained for disfranchising and en-
shaving a majority of my fellow
citizens who differed from me,
and in doing SO were equally hon
est and equally patriotic with my
self. ] should hate myself were
/ capable of such meanness and
such malice.
Towards the poor negroes, who
are simply the victims of the times,
l have entertained only feelings
of kindness. For three years,
seven families of this now unfor-
tunate race have had homes on
our place, in preference to myI
own race. They have done, SO
far as being industrious and moral
are concerned, as we'll as i had
any right to expect. In renting !
them land and giving them en-
as freedmen, / and my
family were the pioneers in this
country. We exposed ourselves
to no little odiun, and much se-
we're criticism on that ACCOUNT
They were invested with the cleo
tive franchise, very nnwisely as I
m1t T never attemnted fol