Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-07-14
sUFFR4GE~AN NATURAL, INHERENT
REGHT.-'


The constitution Of the United states
provides that "the United States shall
guarantee to every State in this Union a
republican form of government" Have
we such form of government in Ten
nessee2 Let the Press and Times an
swer In that paper Of May 30, 1865,
this position is assumed in the leading
editorial:
"In brief editorial yesterday morning,
We endeavored to show that suffrage was
not q privilege, But q NATURAL, INHERENT
RIGHT, like the right of self-government,
for in a political sense, enlightenment
goes no further than suffrage. Every sane,
law abiding man has a natural right to
vote for the officers and the laws Of the
government under which he lives. Suf-
frage is not a privilege, for a privi-
lege is a favor granted arbitrarily
10 a few 10 the exclusion of others.
We conceive these privileges TO be
the foundation of popular government
they constitute the everlasting basis OF
American democracy. We have announced
them at this time, for the reason that
during the somewhat protracted discussion
of the two franchise bills pending before
the Legislature, we have been surprised
10 notice that the principle and philosophy
of suffrage have been passed over with
hardly an allusion. The discussion has
been protracted, we say, but still, far from
exhaustive; il might continue as long
again with lasting profit to the State. Suf-
frage, then, we repeat, is the natural, inhe-
rent right of every sane, law-abiding cltl-
zen. In the present condition of Hennes-
see, il is question of the first magnitude
whether that right can ever be forfeited =,
or whether citizen has power to divest
himself Of that right"
Now, upon what grounds can the
author of this article justify the disfran-
chisement of thousands of "sane, law
abiding citizen" of this State Why he
will whiningly justify this outrage by
telling you that they are "disloyal" Dis
loyal to what DO they not obey the
laws ? Go to the records of your courts
and search them from beginning to end,
and you viii find that no indictments
have been presented against them for
violations Of the law Of any character.
Any insinuation against their standing as
good citizens, therefore, is unwarranted,
and is simply a SANDER upon them. In
what then does their disloyalty consist
Why not confess what every candid, fair
minded man knews to be true, that it is
because these lawsabiding citizens viii
not vote to continue in power the present
dynasty7 That is the reason. Did you
ever hear of rampant 'Rebel, who had
borne arms 10 the 'Rebel army" or held
Office under the ''Rebel government" and
afterwards espoused the Radical cause
being DISTINGUISHED, or ever having diff
Guilty in securing certificate of regis
tration Look around in your neighbor-
hood and see how many cases Of this
kind you can find Is not this proof posi-
tive that the thousands of law-abiding
citizens who have been deprived, not o.
"a privilege" but Of "a natural, inherent
right have been so disfranchised fol
party purposes 1t was bodily proclaimed
by the Press and Times but little over
two years ago, that ut is question Of
the first magnitude whether that right
of sufrage can ever be forfeited, or
whether a citizen has power to divest
himself of that right" Yet at the bid
ding men who rose to the surface after
the waves of revolution swept over this
State, this great right of the citizen has
been stricken down that they may riot
in their il-gotten power. And this is the
parody upon "a republican form of gov
eminent which Tennessee presents to
the world to-day.