Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-11-30
HAVE AT THEM :

! Tine Three .deekers OF the Tennessee
| Legislature Os Rebel Employment
| A Lively Scene la the HOuse-RrOwn-
lev Ou1 -HrORnIewed aud the Devil
| En the Shnde-NO Bread GOP Southern
Mechanics. efe-, etc.
A stranger to Tennessee and TO Tennes-
see politics dropping into the capitol an
hour ortwo almost any day Of the present
session of its Legislature, would hardly 90
away without some extraordinary ideas Of
modern law-making in the South. The
unique diction Of It's labored bills, drawn
mp in the antique penmanship Of East Ten
nessee, would hardly be a more interesting
feature Of the morning and evening per-
formsnces, than orr new-fangled Statesmen
themselves, whom the so-called logic of
events in August last pronounced available
for legislative timber, and accordingly put
forward to their present positions.
Yesterday morning the famous Omnibus
Bill, appropriating several millions of dol
lars as State aid 10 our railroads, was be-
fore the House, having been transmitted
from the Senate, and. of course, had the
effect Of bringing ont a characteristic dis
cussion, tedious enough, until Hamilton, the
strsight-haifed Scion from Shelby, moved
an amendment, providing that no persons
who ever sympathised with or aided the re-
bellion should be employed on any Of the
roads aided by the State until they (the
persons, not the railroads. should have
taken the oath prescribed by the franchise
act.
Speaker Richards, Simon-pure Radical
as he is, could not swallow this, and jump.
ing to his feet, ironically moved an amend
ment in lieu of that Of the Shelby man,
providing THAT no person who sympa-
thised with or aided the late rebellion shall
be allowed to eat, drink, or sleep, until he
shall have subscribed TO and taken the
oath prescribed by the franchise act passed
February 25th, 1867, and shall file the
same in the Secretary of States Office"
The straight hair bristled at this, and a
rehearsal Of the names of all the railroad
Rebels in the State followed, interspersed
with all sorts ofcharges and denunciations,
As he was speaking, a heavy gale swept
over the capitol, crash Of glass from the
windows that light the gallery brought
portion Of the House cup standing" and
the door came shut with a report so near
ike the crack of a rife, that it might have
been taken for the opening shot from an army
of besiegers. The horrible moaning of the
wind and the rattle of displaced stationery,
might have given one a ghostly notion of
a high carnival Of evil spirits, which seemed
at this time TO have reached its height.
The flags above and around the portrait of
Lincoln futtered as if about to fall, and
Hsmilton's voice seemed cracked as he
spouted his invectiges in the direction of
Richards.
As he concluded, Richards capped the
climax by offering another amendment,
providing that Rebels should not be all
lowed to travel on the railroads, as accord
ing TO Hamilton's ideas, they might use
their travelling privileges to eonspire
against the defenseless government.
Considerable confusion followed, several
members rising to points of order and
things becoming decidedly mixed. A mo.
ton which nobody seemed to understand
was carried by light vote, when an old
gentleman in blue jeans, whose ideas Of
internal improvement ran rather to board
lighthouses than to railroads. lifted the
vail and removed the pressure by moving
an adjournment until 2 o'clock, motion
which quickly knocked over the Omnibus
Bill for a couple of hours and broke up
the eventful morning session of the Lower
House of the Legislature of Tennessee.