Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1867-04-05
fHE DUrr OF rae HOUR.


day the people of Montgonery county, were
for the FIRST time since the war closed, brought
face to face with its actual practical results.
! refer all who were not present, 70 the re-
port of that meeting, which Ipresume will
be published in your columns, for a better
understanding Of what mean. mention
the meeting now, only as an apology for
intruding upon your readers the thoughts
it suggested. It was something new and
startling to all present. to see negroes in the
audience and hear portions of the speeches
addressed to them alone, by our trusted
leaders of the past. The meeting closed
and the audience dispersed with many and
conflicting opinions upon the policy enun-
ciated by the speeches and the resolutions.
conversed with honest and thoughtful men
Of that assembly, who deprecated all further
attempts at organized protest against the
Radical party in Tennessee, as the certain
incurrcnce of still more grievous tyranny
They pointed to the fact that all our orposi-
ton hitherto, had only resulted in changing
bad to worse, and that this last and NEST
ubiquitous measure of Radical oppression
the Franchise Law-would not have been
passed, and then fastened upon us by the
Supreme Court, but for our party resistance.
Other intelligent and earnest members Of
that audience, believed that all appeals to
the negro voters would prove useless de-
basement of our manhood and our honor,
and vain sacrifice of our dignity and self
respect. They pcrtinently asked how, with
out such debasement and sacrifice, we could
hope to compete for the votes of the colored
people with a party that sent its emissaries
amongst them on terms of social equality,
and had given them the right of suffrage
in the teeth of our fierce protest. and are now
ready to make still further bids, If necessary
for their votes, by the tempting bride of con-
6scation of rebel property and its bestow-
meut upon Radical blacks2 Others again
believed that this iniqultous strategy of the
Radical party might be successfully combat.
ed by lighting the Devil with fire." that /;
counteracting the appeals of the Radical
party to the ignorance of the colored race
by representations more demagogueical and
decetful than the latter have insulted theil
hearts and understandings with. Others
and not few, whom we have considered
the men, whose large hearts and brains have
formed public opinion, believe the true poll
cy was to tell the whole truth and nothing
but the truth to the black man, and upon
that platform to stand or fall. We have
thus imperfectly outlined all the variou:
opinions upon the policy TO be pursued by
Tennesseeans which this meeting gave ex-
preston to-that is all opinions that were
anywise positive in their character. Upon
all however, we can safely assert, there rested
the gloom of dependency, more or les:
hopeless. The light of q more cheering
dawn that some fancied 10 be dimly discerned
was believed by others to be the deceitfu
g,immer of blinded eyes. Until recently
we all looked to the Supreme Court of our
State, as the 1sraelites lifted up their coun-
tenances 10 the brazen serpent in the wilder
ness. A Moses appointed this modern en-
blem of salvation, but the God of the Ancien,
Moses gave it no healing power, and we
were not made whole. Cropping in the i'm
penetrable darkness that now surrounds US,
with the lamp of no historical precedent to
guide our steps, it behoovss us not to i'm
pugn or suspect the motives Of those who
point out paths of extrication, we believe
to lead only to more rayless glooms. The
comrades Of a common overwhelm of mis-
cry. it is next to impossible that any one OF
our number should seek to save himself and
leave behind all that can make life DEAR
Let us then with mutual sympathy and con-
fidence hear each others views upon the best
path TO direct our bewildered steps.
Our present political position has given
force to, if not originated the opinion, that
further opposition to our oppressors but rivets
our letters the more firmly. A premature
effort of that GRnt, Popular Will, has doubt
less induced the new manacles, lately fasten-
ed upon him, in the form of the last Fran
chise Law. But without space to elaborate
the proof, we can only assert that, to all
due reflection, we believe it will be apparent
policy Of "masterly inactivity" would only
have postponed this law little longer
He must have studied the signs of the times
to little purpose, who believes that suffrage
to the negro, could have been much longer
withheld, or who fancies, that through any
political changes in the future, il Is likely
to be revoked. Our opposition has done
nothing more than to precipitate an iuevita-
BILE measure. If concert of action upon the
policy of abstinence Of all opposition to
Radicalism, could be secured throughout the
entire South, it might possibly loose some
what the bonds that make the Radical party
cohere, by diminishing the diet upon which
it thrives; but even such concert iwould
effect Int little, in our judgment, without
corresponding cessation of opposition
throughout the entire North. Such uni
versal concert Of action is, in the nature Of
things, impossible to obtain, even were it
desirable. Persistent resistance, by every
means permitted US, seems to us the only
reasonable hope TO regain our lost liberties.
As TO the opinion that our appeals to the
colored race will be impotent against the
low and dirty agencies of our foes, and an