Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-02-08
TENNESSEE AND THE SOUTH.

y
shall not enter into Congress- might b
the motto of the Jacobins, with the RIM
of Scripture about it. In point of fact
it is true Was not Tennessee rebel
lious State as well as Mississippi, ant
why is one in Congress and the othe
not? The great body of TennesSeean'
went into the Southern armies, and thu
State government was in the hands o
the Confederates. Itissued money, len
its credit and both by legislative anc
judicial action gave its adherence to the
Confederate government. But it fell
first into possession of the forces of the
United States, was held during the wal
and governed as conquered country
The accession of the Brownlow govern
ment was but part Of the military sys
tenn and what it was in 1864, it is to-day
although pretending to be State. Per
haps it is less a State now than when
the counties of East Tennessee sent
members for Shelby, and when the
leeches of power fastened themselves on
the capitol at Nashville as the govern
ment. The rule of the Federal comman.
ders was mercy itself, justice sublimated,
when centrasted with the despotism that
now blackens, thickens, and casts its
disgusting odor about u.s. There was
then no pre.ense of civil government.
The bayonet was the rule, and the shout
derstrap announced the law. Ina state
of war, its authority was legitimate,
necessary, and no one protested. 1t was
only when we became State in the
Union, and sent members to Congress
only when civil authority was committed
to the people-the people that real
despotism came 1t was only when the
smoke of the battle lifted from the field
and disappeared among the clouds, that
we discovered the forms, the dimensions,
the animus of those left in the seats of
power.
And what history they have made !
But they could have made none other.
The hyena cannot leave the track of a
man, nor the fox that of the lion. Such
talent is capable of nothing great, good
or noble. 1t is fit only for measures of
petty malice, and mean revenge. They
have driven the State, under the sane
ton of Congress, into minority despot-
ism; and it was only allswed to come
into Congress when it had been bound
and laid helpless at the feet of Brownlow,
Arnell, Stokes and Richards 1t is
libel on a free State to class Tennessee
as one. 1t is scandal to the Union
that such a State should be one of its
members. 1t is ponderous lie, foul
and black, that this is a republican State.
No tyrant was ever allowed to rule free
State, or domineer over republic. The
moment he stretches his rod of iron over
it, it becomes a despotism. Is not
Brownlow the absolute despot Of Tennes-
see2 What is it he cannot do2 What
is it he cannot pass through his Legisla-
ture? What right, except that of exist
ing, has he not taken from the people ?
Can any man lay his finger upon soil
tary measure, of general application, Of
his eternal Legislature, that was not
meant to vex and harrass the people ?
Look at the great States of the North.
Could Brownlow, or his Legislature, exist
an hour in 0hio2 He and it would
swiftly be
-" In one red burial blent,"
amid the curses and execrations of the
people. 1t is only in this down-trodden
State that they can exist
If Congress can reduce States to Ter
ritories, for The sake Of humanity, to say
nothing Of justice, let Tennessee be in
d cluded with the other Southern States.
Why should she be kept in the Union to
suffer and bleed when her sisters are al
lowed to remain peacefully out Isshe
more guilty than they She is not and
yet she has been dragged into the Union.
Why this discrimination against her
Why has she become a point for the
gathering Of tbs vultures3 If admission
into the Union shall cost the other South
ern States what Tennessee is paying for
the privilege, let them rest satisfied as they
are, and remain out The vote that admits
them viii sound the knel Of their fate.
Is It not beitert 10 advocate the reduction
ofour State to a territory, than insist on
the admission Of eleven oihers2 Is il
lust in Us to wish them to share our mis-.
fortunes, 10 embrace : situation from
which We would fyl We think not
They must become as Tennessee, II they
come into the Union. They are not
blind 10 the terrors that encompass ~
They must, all Of them, have their
Brounlow, and a Legislature similar ID
his They must be disfranchised, taxed