Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-10
- =. NAV, . STATE Convention '

o oo,s;ds Of these two journals and our
For one we are free TO say that we DO
not want State Convenuop; uos sep;
sentation in the General pemocrnuc
Convention, unless the people 0, 'ne
State are ready and willing to SPEAK;
We do not want any "seiec, von'
vention, nor do we want packed 7 de'e'
eates to New York.
II the times are not ripe for atrue rep
reseutation Of the people; IL the people
ara NOT ready 10 assert their rights 10 pc,
l;t;cal caucus eyen--we are dead, anu
have no right to intrude into isihg
party like the Democracy.
Are the people Of this State alive po-
l;t;cally. or dead2 Are they ready 70
,aLe their fate in their own handsY De
they feel competent to do so or 40
they choose to be forever the snu','ec1ck
of fortune between Brownlow ana John'
SON? Let our brethren Of the press an
swer, IL they represent the people.
The above is from the Nashville Ga
setfs. Bad as is the condition of the
State, we have hoped that there was life
in the land yet. We are told that Ten
nessee is o State Of the Union, and as
such entitled to choose her own rulers
and control her own destiny, as well as
Massachusetts, or New York. lfthat is
not so. if we are indeed dead, If the
people cannot or will not speak, then we
say with our contemporary we want no
conventions, caucuses, or privilege TO
kick orsquirm, or intrude into living
party like the Democracy" But it is
because we have both the right and the
power for self-government, as we think
if we will but exercise it, that we urge
both a political convention and peo-
ple's State convention. One may beget
the other. A political convention, an
effort to be represented and aid in the
great regenerating work Of the Democ'
racy, which is to redeem the country,
can do us no harm, to say the worst of
il And we have therefore indicated q
wish that the Democratic Committee at
Nashville should call convention for
the selection of delegates.
Is that committee dead2 If not, why
is it dumb2 If the State is politically
dead, why is the Gazette busying itself
with politics, and the Banner, the Dis
patch, and other of our able journals at
the hub, straining every nerve to beat
sense into the dead, instead of delving in
the inauities of literature, and singing
lullaby and soft songs? If the press rep
resents the people at all ID is not yet
true that they are dead, for it is in the
main manly and outspoken for all the
rights of free people. We want union
of the press, energy and action; not any
throwing up of hands in despair. We
want no rivalry, but emulation and CO.
operation in sustaining right views,
though they come from the humblest
honorable and conservative journal of the
State. We believe the difficulty is not
| that the people are dead, but more that
the press is silent, when it is an incum-
bent duty 10 discuss and to speak.
If it is right and expedient to
hold either a political or radical
peoples convention, that right needs
advocacy, without which concert
for efficient action was never seen or
known among any people. 1t is not
they, but the press which has been remiss
in this matter. If it is unadvisable or
wrong to meet in convention for any pur'
pose, let that appear by fair exhibit
of reasons. Then the matter will be sci
| at rest. We count the Nashville Gazette,
the Columbia Herald, the Greenville
Flag, the Chattanooga Union, the Mem
| phis appeal and the Avalanche, of the
Conservative press of the State, ss favor
able to Democratic organization at least
There may be others, and more than have
spoken. We speak on this subject be
cause we occupy an humble place among
the journals of the State, and have
right to speak. We say what we think,
while we aspire not to lead, but to take
respectable place, where others more able
and wise may lead. We unite with the
Gazette ia the request that the press
shall speak out Cd this subject Ii il
through the press alone that any desirable
| initiative can be taken.
We are tired of an exclusive devotion
to matters Of national importance, while
what concerns as SO nearly at home il
ignored. Our State government is more
contemplate than the Rump itself, and
it's high time that it was scotched. II
is in our power, A peoples convention
will do it, and it is that peoples privilege
And we shall be, if we are not already
the has and jeer of the States, il, trem-
bling and daring not the exercise Of Q
plain constitutional right which belong
to Us, we remain under the aominRii u
of a twentieth Of our whites, who drive
the blacks, and whose dominion we car
brush away as a cobweb, when we will
as they yto,gould be free, and themselves
will strike the bloV. Shall we not have
even political conyeDdon7 Shall w
not even meet and compare noesi
Can any good reason be urged why
lnkewarmness on this important subject
should longer continued Are all right
so completely ossstbrown in Tennesse'