Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-09-14
MORE RADICAL MALIGNITY AND
MISREPRESENTATION EXPOSED.
The Press and Times Of the slst ult.

contained the following article:
LAwLEssNEss IN DYER County,
letter received at the capitol yesterday,
from one of the most prominent citizens of
Dyer county, and in whose every word i'm
plicit confidence may be placed, represents
affairs in that section in an extremely
gloomy light. In the vicinity of Dyers-
burg they are Overrun with outlaws, muir
derers and thieves. Depredations are
committed in all parts Of the county, and
Union men lead life Of constant terror
The civil authorities find it impossible to
enforce the laws Criminals from other
sections, it seems, have fed to this county
as a sort Of Eldorado, and matters are in
sorry plight indeed. We make the follow
ing extract from the letter in question:
"Men are banded together here defying
the civil authorities, and are encouraged
in their resistance by this Rebel commu-
nifty, and still further by little Rebel
sheet published in the town of Dyersburg.
Now, Governor, if we have any laws on
our statute books prohibiting seditious pub
locations why are they not silenced? If
these Rebel sheets were silenced and pun
ished we might have peace, otherwise we
cannot"
The letter petitions, in conclusion, to
have a company of State Guards stationed
in the town of Dyersburg, in order to Sc
cure the peace and quiet of the citizens,
and to stop the outrages of the lawless
crew who overrun the country.
The Dyersburg Gazette of the It'll inst
thus exposes the falsehoods which this
mischief-maker has been pouring into
willing ears at the capitol
In our own county, the simple publica-
ton of the above brands is with the lie
The man that could give birth to such ma
licious, infamous lies, in such a vindictive
spirit, would not hesitate to assassinate his
neighbOr, and this is tbs opinion Of the en-
tire community that he has so slandered,
vilifed and traduced.
Let us recapitulate: Areckless discharge
of firearms was heard in and around our
town, night after night; horrible murder
was committed nearly under the nose of
our county officials; no arrests were made /;
our county oficials-Brownlow' APP
pointees-seemed Indifferent and were in
capable Of preserving public safety;
meeting of citizens was called and it was
largely attended by all parties; a safety
committee was organized, and Hon. Isaac
Sampson, Judge of this Judicial Ciruit, and
an appointee Of Brownlow, delegated to the
committee the lawful authority to arrest
offenders. The result is that the indis
criminate night shooting has been stopped,
and public quiet and safety are returning
20 Dyer county. Is this "defying the
civil authorities ?" Our letter writer says
that Union men lead a life of constant
terror here" The assertion IL a notorious
lie. The only murder committed in this
county was in the immediate neighbor-
hood of one of Brownlow's appointees,
whose negro was arrested on suspicion, and
who, we are informed, believes the murder
was committed by an ex-Federal soldier.
We hear of no Union man, not even
worthless Radical, being threatened.
The editor of the Gazette denounces
very earnestly the insidious appeal to
have his paper suppressed, and adds:
We challenge Gov. Brownlow to give
the charges in the letter proper invests
cation, and if every allegation in it is not
proved to be an infamous lie, then we will
sing praises to all Radicals as the purest
and best men the world ever saw.
The Gazette states that Judge IL
Sampson and the Rev g. w. D. Harris,
for many years a Presiding Elder in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, have writ>
ten Gov Brownlow, ephatically contra
dieting every statement in the most in
famous and mischievous letter referred to
above