Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-12


erOus Appeal 30 Moderation. ...- .
To the Editors Of the Union and Dispatch. .
How best to preserve the peace OF our
State is just now question Of paramount
Importance, and is well worthy of deliber
ate, patriotic consideration. If the people
Of the State will enter upon a calm inyes-,
tigation Of this subject with an honest pur-.
pose to do right, the difficulties Of our situ-i
alton would rapidly disappear. The cause
Of all our troubles il manifest, and all that
ia necessary to be done is to, remove the
cause, and the preservation of the public
peace will have been secured. However
il may be with other forms Of government, 1
ours, which has its Foundation in the con- I
sent Of the governed, can only be main
tanned and made efficient to the advance
ment Of the material interest Of our peo-
pie, when organized and administered upon
principles Of Justice and equality to all.
II there Is any exception to this general /
rule, it arises only when the elective fran
chise is committed TO the yirtuous and iu-
telligent portions Of a community and not
as in Tennessee, to the ignorant and de-
PRAYED. And just here lies the secret Of
all our troubles past, and prospective.
Under the franchise acts as administered in
Tennessee, the holding Of popular elections
il nothing but an idle ceremony TO de-
ceiye the unthinking populace. These
statutes, when considered in connection,
constitute cunningly devised system
which, under the form Of popular elections
concentrates the whole political power OF
the State in the hands Of the Governor.
No man, whatever may be his qualifCa-
tion, can vote under these laws until he
shalI have first obtained certificate from
Registrar appointed by and removable at
the pleasure of the Governor And, un-
fortunately for the peace and good order of
the State, the Governor in making his ap-
pointments has had an eve single to the
perpetuation Of his own power, and the
punishment of those he most disliked, and
he has been, as we must all know, un-
usually successful in the selection Of his
vile Instruments, appointed to execute
these laws in conformity with his wishes
except in a very few instances, IN which
he was mistaken in the character
Of his appointees He has COM
missioned as Registrars to sit in
Judgment on the right Of their fellow,citi-
zens to vote, the bitterest, meanest and
most uuscrupulous of hs ignorant aud bru-
tai rstainers who, in the execution Of
their judicial functions, pay no regard to
the legal qualifications Of Electors apply
ing for certificates. Men Of character and
intelligence, and Of unblemished Union an
tecedents, have been rudely thrust aside,
and denied the right Of suffrage 10y these
brutal instruments Of a petty despot,
although clearly entitled 10 it under the
laws, while Rebels Of high and low degree,
Convicts Just pardoncd out Of the peniten-
tiary, and ignorant negroes Just emerged
from slavery, have been enfranchised en-
lpassc and driven to the polls like cattle to
the slaughter, and voted in the interest of
Brownlow and his party. So shameless
has been the conduct Of these officials, that
it defes any Just description. None but
those who have been subjected to their in
suits and victimized by their Partizan Judi
cations can realize 10 what extent their
corruption has gone.
Every conceivable subterfuge to evnde
the issuance of certificates to those known
to be adverse to the Radical party, has been
resorted 10 by these Registrars. Their par
tiality, though acting in judicial capacity,
is as open as the day, and as well under
stood as any other fact in the political his
tory of The State. And yet these men, so
exacting and rigid in the enforcement Of
the laws, in its application to one party,
deal out with most liberal hand favors to
their political friends. Towards these,
notwithstanding the law makes them the
| judges, investing them with the power to
set in Judgment, hear testimony, and de
termine who are entitled to vote and who
are not-a power which they cannot dele
| cate-they have handed ont in numerous
| instances, to their trusted followers, blank
| certificates TO be used on the days of cleo
tions, and given Unfortunately TO any and
| all persons who could be induced to vote
with them, and in this way large num-
bers Of ignorant negroes, imported
for that purpose, into every available
part of Tennessee, have been furnished
with certificates and voted in the interest
Of faction now holding possession Of the
government by force.
But these evils, however gigantic and all
peryading, If left alone, would in a few
wears correct Themselves by a fIndameu-
tai law of nature, prescribed by God for
wise purnoses, men, banded together for
corrupt ends. cannot long maintain their
| unity Of action. Such organizations carry
with them the seeds Of their own destruC-
tion. Ne truth ofthis declaration Is made
manifest hy the present condition of the
Radical party in Tennessee. The attempt
10 reverse the natural order Of things here
to stand the political pyramid upon its
apex instead of its base-to exclude prop
ertv and intelligence from the ballotboNr
and commit the State government INTO the
hands Of reckless ignorance, has, az might
have been expected, excited the ambition
and stimulated the hopes Of n class OF small
men, and brought them actively into the
political arena, all Clamorous Tor place, and
a. there are not officers enough for
them all the conflict Of personal ambition
has produced violent chickering's, local
feuds, bitter personal alterations and such
contrarieties, which, in a short time, would
do its work in so distracling their conn
eel, and dividing their ranks as to enable
the disfranchised 10 interfere and recover
their LOST rights But even this slow pro
cess of escape has been closed. Governor
BrowuIow was not content 10 leave anybody
in a situation to act independently of his
will. and hence this possibility OF lo'ing
his power from party discussions has been
amply guarded against. The franchise
acts give no permanent vested right Of
g,,fir9ce 10 any one. As understood and