Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-10-18
MASSACHUSETTS TO SOUTH
CAROLINA.
John quincy Adams.

and kindly speech as we can fndspace for I:
Now you can see clearly enough to-day
where your interests lie. II you invoke
the Constitution, it is not hard to find the
reason. You need most terribly Just that
protecting medium interposed between you
and the governing majority. A Constitn-
tion is meant for just that to mitigate and
distribute the blows of msiorities. Some
| day, have no doubt, we shall see in Mas
saehusetis the merits of its operations as
clearly as YOU do now. But fear it will
not be until We are in a minority, and look
in vain for the shield we threw away TO
ward some threatening blow.
But TO you, my friends, this necessity is
pressing, is overbearing-somethi you
must have, you think, or perish. Now
without going so far as that, / believe hat
the very best thing for you TO try TO Z
back is the Constitution of the United
States. Now you are substantially prison
era of war, held by military force, and Ii
able at any time, to further orders from the
majority. / do not intend to speak disre-
spectfullyef your State government, and /
would especially urge the utmost obedi-
ence to your de JGetO rulers, but ! take il
that it would not be long insisted upon
here if it was understood that the North
took 10 manner of interest in it. You
want the original principles of Union re-
stored, the right of the States to manage
their own domestic affairs without the in
reference of the general government, and
the manifold checks and balances, and dis.
tribu!ions of powers, which our ancestors
desired re-adjusted, and agree with you,
that it Is your only practicable escape from
your Jail, which Radicalism North and
South has made of your good old State, so
far as you are concerned, and this brings
us TO the key of our discussion-how can
this be done?
Why how did it happen to need TO be
done. | mean the last and proximate
cause CT yonr present unprotected con.
ditiOn. 1t was, | think, mainly because
the extreme, impatient and fanatical por-
lion Of the governing party were enabled
partly in consequence of Mr.. Lincoln's
death, and partly by the indisaretion of
the South to. overpOwer the calmer and
more moderate men in the party, and WELD
its whole force against you.
OF course nothing could tend more
simply 10 justify the several measures of
the Republican party towards You, or Sc
cure FOR them more surely an indefinite
extension of political power, than TO be
able to persuade the North, which in the
early days Of peace, was inclined to place
a generous confidence IN your professions
of sincere, and absolute acquiescence in
the event of the war, and yonr purpose to
abide in good faith by the decision, that
you were mere dissemblers and dishonor-
able perjurers. That your purpose was to
redeem by hard swearing, what you had
lost by hard fighting, and you yourself in
many cases furnished the material for max
ing evidence against yourselves. Part of
it was Legitimate, and part was very infe-
Tior, but it all was eagerly caught up and
unsparingly used. If you had been a
dangerous and foreign foe, whose utter de-
strnCtion was necessary to our safety, greater
pains could hardly have been taken to in.
tiueuce the people against you and TO close
their hearts to your appeals. | doubt if
Cato took more trouble to show the Roman
people that Carthage must be destroyed
and Punic faith must have been very bad
indeed If II was represented to be worse
than your own. Every hasty word, every
natural regret, every expression of pride
in the memories of the old campaigning
days-eyery ebullition of heat was care
fully remembered and spread before the
North. II an irresponsible newspaper
editor or reporter published foolish and
iniammaiOry article, il WAS instantly
pounced upon and scattered all over the
North TO show that the mass of Southern
feeling was as rebellious az ever. If you
made any attempt to take part in politics,
you were bent on revolution. If you re-
fused, you were sullenly plotting new
insurrection. The peaceful presence of
delegates at the convention in New York
was plot, and the resolutions were die
tated by you and your only object wsa to
seduCe The Democratic party into new
war.
As yoGr committee wisely and truly say,
in the letter of invitation 10 me, "The
policy Of the South is peace, it is her only
hope, vOu will see this with your eyes, ind
hear il with Your cara" And they are
right, / have seen it with my eyes, and
heard it with my ears, and ! am persuaded
that all this people know that they are
right and feel az they DO upon this point.
/ fear also that the admission of all the
| negroes in these States TO suffrage, and the
exclusion of, substantially, all The leading
men OF the South from share in shaping
| your Constitutions and laws, coming when
| it did, and az it did, will seriously aggra-
vate the difficulties which beset your way
| back to 4 cheerful and peaceful re.estab-
ment Of mutually satisfactory relations
Taken by itself, think you might render
! it tolerable. With universal amnesty, !
think that many of its more alarming
! features wOuL4 disappear or be vprS much
! ,...,l.1H.trl fnLa e, 81
! Of the reCOnstTuCtiOn policy, TO encourage a
| class of political demagOguea, TO stir up
strife and ill-feeling between the whites
! aud blacks here, upon which 10 found their
own political fortunes, is undoubtedly one
! of the grayest defects of the system, in its
practical working. Ii embilters relations
which might he cordial and must be friend
! ", if you are 10 live together in peace and
| prosperity. And here again | must urge
| you to be patient, and, difficult though it
he, TO call little philosophy TO your
aid. Snch a commission as you have ex-
peTienCed must needs leave multitude Of
lesser ruptures in its train, which require
time more than anything else to readjust.
With a return to constitutional government,
| | think that even universal suffrage, SUP
posing il was found necessary to let it
stand as il IL, a. a choice of evils for | GER
tainly regard it az an evil at this time and
place, might be made compatible with good
order, good government and good feeling.
Considering the relations which formerly
existed between the two races, and the
great advantage which the wealthy, educa-
ted and intelligent land owner is always
found to possess in agricultural Communi.
lies, | think you can hardly depreciate or
dread competition with adventurous stran-
gers upon a fair field of rivalry. Your
legitimate and proper influence fairly ex-
erted, must prove, in the long run, more
persuasive than that of strangers, or others
who are lacking in these advantages. Al
least this has been the general experience
in other countries. But in order TO secure
a fair opportunity even to try the expert.
Inent, it is essential that the dangerous ele
ment of hostility of race. should be kept
ont of the calculation. If that poison be
once firmly fastened upon your vitals, yoaI
political future il desperate, or curablt
only by all anIidote which / cannot con.
template with calmness
, Next thea to peace, / think, you an
bound TO cultivate friendly relations will
, the negroes among You. Your true inter
Z ests a:e identical, and their identity mus
: in time become az apparent as it is demon
| strSble You should spare no efforts ant
6 no practical measures Id your power 4
: show his clearly, both by word and deed
TO the freedmen. You have no right Il
forego the execution. An honest and man
ful attempt now may save you iBcalculab
: mischief by and by.