Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-11-22

custody for any known military offsnse
but so far as the parole alone is concerned
be takes it to be clear that it has no legal
obligations after the cessation of the war,
and closes with declaring il to be not ad-
visible, even if it were practicable, to bring
the case before the Supreme Court.
After this, no further attempt was made
to afford protection to Union citizens, by
enforcing the obligations of paroles, which
appear to have been of little value except
to the paroled.
The termination of the business and dis
Posal of the public property connected with
the military railroads, with which / was
charged 10 Executive orders of August 8
and October IA, 1865, has been conducted
| with as much success as was possible under
the peculiar circumstances connected with
| it.
The public property was sold to the rail-
the terms prescribed in the Executive in
structlons, but the obligations of the pur-
chasing parties have not yet been fulfilled.
Extensions Of time Of payments we're sp-
Piled for. In some instances this was
made necessary by the actual inability Of
the companies to meet the engagements
made, bat in general it was only to defer
payments until the fallacious claims set up
by them for payment from the United
States government for the use of the roads
should be allowed as Offsets. These appli-
cations were either approved or disap-
proved, IN accordance with my judgment
on the facts before me. Partial collections,
az far as permitted in instructions from
Washington, were made and in progress.
until, BY direction of the Secretary of War,
dated November IL, 1867, the business
was transferred from these headquarters to
the Quartermaster General Office at Wash
ton, d. c.
In forwarding the final report of the
Quartermas er in charge of the business
l made the following Endorsement, dated
November %, 1887:
The attention of the Hon. Secretary of
War dd interim is respectfully invited to
this report as giving complete statement
of the Indebtedness of the Southern rail
roads Of the United States at this time, and
OF the efforts Of some of these companies
TO evade or defer payments. As under re-
cent instructions from the War Depart
ment the charge of the collection of these
accounts is to be transferred to the Quar-
termaster General at Washington, reliev.
ing me from further responsibility, 1 can
only recommend that the gOyernmen
hold these roads to their contract; that
they be compelled to liquidate their in
debLednes5 upon the terms agreed upon,
without consideration or recognition in the
least degree of any claims for damages or
use by occupation Of the United States
such claims being believed 20 be without
foundation in justice or right. A persis-
tent and combined effort on the part Of
these corporations TO compel the recOgni-
ton of these claims, has as psrsistently
been ignored and repudiated By me, until
the Efforts, from want of success, have
gradually been relaxed II is believed
that now, under the prospective change of
affairs, these claims will again be urged
and pressed for recognition; hence this
earnest recommendation
With this, my official connection with
the business of the Military railroad
ceased.
Reversing occurrences connected with
the administration Of affIirs in the depart
ment for the past year, l am enabled to re-
port that TO some extent the presence of
troops has prevented personal collisions
and partisan difficulties; but only partially
so, for it is Notifying to acknowledge that
the State and local laws, which should DO
90, and the more powerful force of public
opinion, do not protect the citizens Of the
department from violence. In fact, crime
is committed because public opinion favors
| it, or, at least, aequiesees in il. The local
laws are enforced or not, according to the
! controlling opinions Of the community
I A nr1uninaI nh -. -
| can set law at defiance; but if man Is
only charged with suspicion of crime, if
he Is inlmical to the community, he IL
| likely to be hung to the nearest tree, or
shot down at his own door.
The causes of this Iawle5sness are differ
ent in the different States, and apply more
particularly to Kentucky aad Tennessee
than TO West Virginia. From the latter
| State there has been no complaints re-
ceiyed other than that y. the Governor in
| his application for troops before mentioned,
| the sending of which accomplished the OBJ
| jects for which they were needed. la
| tennessee, where a majority of the late
| Rebels are dIsfranchised, they, aud sym
| pathizsrs with them, have a hatred for the
| State authorities which Is unconcealed and
| aggressive. Ia localities where the dis
| franchised element is strong, a spirit of
| persecution toward those in sympathy
| with the authOrities-thOse who recognize
| the political rights of the enfranehised
negroes, and the negroes themselves es-
| pecially, shows itself IN utter contempt Of
| all respect for law. Violence Is openly
| talked of. The editorials Of the public
| press are such az to create the most intense
| hatred ia the breasts Of ex-Rebels and
their sympathizers. The effect of this is
| to cause disturbance throughout the State,
| by melting the rufilnly portion of this
class of citizens to murder, rob, and NAL
treat white UniOnists and colored people
in localities where there are no United
| States troops stationed The local author
tiles often have not the will, and more
often have not the power, to suppress or
| prevent these outrages.
Ia Kentucky, Acknowledgement can not
be alleged as a reason for the disturbances.
Here the mass of the people are in sympa-
| thy with the State authorities, ndthOse pc
| liticAlly opposed make no attempt to resist
them. The colored people are quiet aud
| peaceable; they have no political rights,
not being enfranchised, yet rUfia0s are per-
| mitied to tyrlnniz5 over them without
| fear of punishment. The testimony Of ne
! groes is refused in the State courts, and the
| United States courts are difficult Of access
!, to an ignorant people without friends or
| influence. In some districts ex-Union SOL
diers are prosecuted by their more numer-
Gus Rebel ueighbOrs unt!l they are forced
into a resistance which sometimes ends with
the loss Of their lives, or they are COM
| PEELED, ia sell-delense, to emigrate. An
appeal to the courts affords bat little hope
for redress, as magistrates aud juries too
! often decide in accordance with thsir pref
udices, without regard TO justice. Tue con-
trolling cause of the unsettled condition OF
affairs IN the department Is, that the great
est efforts made by the defeated insurgents,
since the close of the war, have been 10
promulgate the idea that the cause Of lib
erty, justice, humanity, equality and all
the calendar of the virtues of Freedom,
suffered violence and wrong when the eff.
fort for Southern independence failed.
This il, of course, intended as a species OF
political cant, whereby the crime Of treason
might be covered with a counterfeit varnish
| of patriotism, 50 that the precipitators of
| hand in hand with the defenders of the
government, thus wiping out with their
own hands their own stains-a species of
self forgiveness amazing in It's effrontery,
when it is considered that life and properly
Justly forfeited by the laws of the country,
of war and Of nations, through the magma
nimity of the government and people, vas
not exacted from them. Under this iuspi-
ration, the education of the great body of
the peop!e-mOral, religious and political,
has been turned into channels wherein all
| ro;rbf uniFp IN common The ir,povariab