Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1868-01-01

Southern Conlederacy. In the eastern part Of ID,
State the Oldest and most populous part, there /,
not large coored element add the eunenfrHnchised
rebels are few Ia those portions OF the State where
the rebellion was the strongest the black popula-
ton was tho most numerous. These facts taken To-
! gether show why so few oomparatiyey-less than
two-hfths-of the whites arc uBenfranchised
sim, gentlemen viii say the dissgreeabe fact
remains that black men can and DO vote, and that
there are white men who cannot. shall not hero
and now discuss the subject of colored suffrage. He
who supposes that -four million free people with
votes enough 20 elect thirty members Of Congress,
are to be permanently excluded from the polls, now
that the abrogation Of slavery has rendered their
exclusion no longer pecuniary necessity has stud
led American politics 70 very little puFpOee Do
moi suppose disregard or misapprehend The results
OF recent elections apparently decisive Of the point.
Inese results sre only apparent. We have but to
look moment at the adverse msiorities In Che
hrst place, there is large political party whose
past record is so hostile to the colored man, and
/ whose treatment Of him has been so grossly unjust
and cruelty mean, that they are hopeless OF obtain-
ing his vote II enfranchised Their opposition Is
political necessity They have nothing TO lose by
opposition, even if they gain nothing by it. 0neof
their organs in my own State frankly declares
We Shall lose nothing by a oold avowal Of our
/ unqualified opposition 70 negro suffrage and of our
intention, when Ss come into power, as we shall
surely do, Of tstsins away from the negroes the
power Of ruling sEhi:e men,
Having attempted in the canvass Of last summer
with infinite sglidensl and sacrifice of sefrespeet
TO secure the colored mans vote, and having met
with universal and humilating failure because they
could not successfully disguiGe their iEsuceritv
these people now display their true colors and re.
slst tho vote certain, if cast to be agains. them
Then cooperating with them in this matter though
by no means Of them is a class Of respectable, very
respectable, wel-to-do people who are afraid of
beng radical. This same kind of people have al
ways opposed the extension Of suffrage. IheV were
opposed TO extending il TO poor peopla-people
without property, and consequently wthGnt inter-
est IN the government, having nothing tut. them
selves their wives and their children 10 b. protect
ed and cared for by it. They were bitterl9 opposed
TO extending It 10 foreigners, the down tFodden of
the Old World despotsms. They oppose extending
1t TO ignorant persons wearing dirty ccshes un-
wholesome whose touch would soil kid glaves.
Many Of the objections 10 negro suffrage igno-
rance subjection TO the control of former masters
venality, timidity, and liability TO deception have
been rcuted by the colored people themselves when
they have been brought fairly 10 the .asl. The
election last summer in Tennessee was s=ca test.
The canvass opened in April and contI.iEsd with
over-ncreasing activity through the montas of May
and June and July TO the lst Of August. Piles of
documents, appealing both to their REASON and to
their prejudice were printed and circulated among
them speakers Of their own color, and white and
in the interest of zach party traversed the State
from the mountains TO the Mississippi e.'ervWhere
professions, music and inscribed Banners were
among the paraphernalia of the campaign. Yet
in spite Of sophistry and misrepresentation ofsp-
peas 20 appetite and cupidty 10 the reelectIon OF
childhood and early domestic associations of threats
Of violence and loss Of home and employment, of
trick and fraud and cunning, of tickets substituted
and falsely read and Of simulated and counterfeit
tckets ana The other schemes Of artfu and uuscru-
puous electioneerng, tho great body of these men
voted according TO their own judgment and convic-
tion.
Il is intimaled, however that The regults of our
elections attributable 10 armed intervention, or
as one gentleman expresses IT, the Brownlow bay
onets' This is but faint echo here of one Of the
poisiest eectioneoring clamors of our opponents
What are the facts Although the State govern |
ment from the time Of its reorganization had un-
resisted and uninterrupted jurisdiction, thero were
certain localities where the fragments of the defeat
ed rebellion had collected too formidably for the
ordinary agencies Of the law. Crime rsd-handed, |
went abroad with impunity. In reunty, for
instance a Senator and his son wero essassinated
and the offenders not even brought ~ trial. In
another six white Unionists were slein, and the
fduHdercrs wont 0nPanI1hSd. Ia a fagfd, thirteen
colored mon were put 10 death, and tia man-slay-
ers went free To remedy this evil, and to strength
the Of the civil law, the Legislature author
lied the Governor 10 provide limited militia force
% be used when in his opinion, the safety Of life,
property liberty, the faithful execution Of law
might require IT, Under this authority the Gov
ernor organized, all told less than 5wO thousand
men (about seventeen hundred force absolutely
contemplate if intended for overawing the popu-
latioB, more than ono half Of whose men Of the
arms.bearng age had during the war served in one
army OF the other, and were still not unprovided
with weapons bat sufficient aud, as experience has
shown, efficient TO repress desperadoes and keep the
peace.
have not YET considered what after all, is the
most grievous complaint against us our failure TO
enfranohiso unrepentant rebels To discuss this sub
iect fully and in all its bearings would require q
treatise IL would be folly TO attempt it with these
other matters in the compass of an tours speech,
! shall content myself therefore, with the state
ment Of certain propositions, for the maintenance
of which It requires no great courage Of selfasser
tion 10 challenge all comers.
Under our system Of government State citizen
ship is inseparabe from national citizenship. One
cannot owe allegiance to a State and not at the
same time owe allegiance TO the nation nor can he
repudiate the latter without also repudiating the
former. The right of selEexpatFiation has been
constantly asserted and conceded by u.s. The south
ern secessionists were at liberty, If they wished 70
throw OF their allegiance to the United States. In
that case they must have taken up permanent resi-
dence beyond their jurisdiction and renounced the
protection and all other advantages of American
citizenship both under the State and national gov
eTnments Had they done this and nothing more
there would have been no cause Of complaint They
would have been transformed from citizens 20 aliens
and become the citizens subjects Of such foreign
governments as they might adopt
But this they did not do. They ronounced their
allegiance TO the government Of the United States,
declaring that they were no longer and would be
nevcrmore citizens Of this government, and by
swearing allegiance 10 another power aud by every
other act Of renunciation they capable Of, Ia
bored 10 make their declaration good. They vol
unfairly cast aside their citizenship and made Them
selves aliens As such we must treat them and
either resdmit them 10 participation with US in the
State and general government not at our discre.
ton. But they did more than this. They atteDp-
ted by arms 10 dismember tho nation TO subvert
the government and TO set up another and hostile
power within its territorial limits thus by the CON-
mission of treason making themselves criminals as
well aliens. Il their two-fold character OF GRIM
1 inals and aliens they must DO dealt with by the
government; and whether criminals or as aliens
our power over them under the constitution is alb
soute and complete. We NAV punish them as
criminals and refuse b. oniranchise them aliens,
or We may grant them universal amnesty and uni-
! verssl suffrage, or either Of them only, We may
think proper. y presidential pardon may relieve
them criminals il cannot enfranchise them as
aliens. There is no legal or necessary connection
between the two characters they have assumed, and
none between the methods Of cur treatment in re-
I ference % each.
If from considerations OF policy og hamanily
we forboaf 20 chastise them for their crimes, IL by
I no means follows that We must reinstato them IN
The rights and privileges aud ranchises of citizen
/ shin We NAV do SO or not, according @ our ludg-
nnent Of what is for the best and If We decide not
10 DO So neither they nor their friends Oh this side
OF the water or the other, have any just cause Ter
4 compleinl In Tennessee the men charged with the
work of inaucaraiing the restored government did
not think il FOR the best that these persons should
be re-es.ablishe1 in political power, which IN many
/ localities would have implied supremacy nng con-
trol. And here ! ME st le, the matter rest as one