Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-03-18
THE TROUBLES IN TENNESSEE -
a RIDICULOUS PANIC.

A RIDICULOUS PANIC.
A most ridiculous panic has been ere
ated in Washington in regard to the con-
dition Of affairs in Tennessee We copy
from the Washington correspondence of
the Cincinnati Commercial an account |
OF the manner in which this panic has
been got up. 1t appears that General
Thomas has had his fears wonderfully |
worked upon by two communications he |
has received. The first is from man
who is represented as an agent of the |
Quartermaster'a Department at Bridge
port, Ala, who tells most marvellous
stories a. to the depredations Of the mys-
terious Ku- KiuX, but fails to furnish the
proof of a single outrage. In illustra-
ton ofthis lawles5ness, however, he mems
tons having seen one man draw a revolver
upon another, but nobody appears to have
been hurt This is one of Gen. Thomas
witnesses. The other is Mr. VIM Bosson,
the Representative in the Legislature from
Rutherford county, who appears to be
frightened almost ont Of his boots for
his own personal safety. His whole rig
marole is mere hearsay, and so thorough
ly is he frightened by the stories which
have been retailed to him with the en-
bellisbments which the most vivid mag
nations could impart, that he implOres
something; and frankly confesses that
our civil authorities are powerless, and,
terror struck themselves, not only fail to
arrest, but are silent and inactive" This
witness is IA member Of the Legislature,
who feels that his extreme, ultra course
in depriying the great body of the white
people Of Tennessee Of their rights and
privileges as citizens of the State, of
which they are "native and to the manor
born" has justly subjected him to the
contempt of this people, and in that cons
tempt he fancies treason of the deepest
dye. In all his legislative career
and he has been a member of the Legis>
lature since its assembling in April, 1865
If he has risen to one generous act to-
ward the people of his State with whom
he differed politically, we do not now re-
member it, and such a remarkable act
would scarcely fail to make an impress
sion. He is one of that class who de-
nounce everybody who do not happen to
agree with them as Rebels and traitors,
who have no rights they are bound to
respect and having acted upon this
theory during his entire legislative ca
reer, Mr. Bosom imagines that he is a
marked man for the vengeance Of the
people he has thus outraged Thus
frightened, he fancies the State is upon
the verge Of a terrible outbreak, which
is to sweep him and the like of him from
the face of the eorth. And Gen. Thorn
as, who has resided in Tennessee, and
who, if he posted himself as the comman-
der of a military department should, can
not fail to know that such representations
are the merest bosh, eagerly catches
up these stories to impress upon
Gen. Grant that the enemies of the
present State government in Tennessee
are organized for resistance to the laws.
There are some facts which are patent to
every intelligent man not only in Tennes-
see but in the whole country, and Gen.
Thomas bitter feelings toward the peo-
pie of this State who do not happen to be
Radicals, cannot distort these facts or
withdraw the attention of honest men
from them. "The present State govern
ment' has had control of the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of the
government since April, 1868, and laws
have been passed to meet every emer-
gency which it was thought could possis
bly, be provoked by the harsh, pro-
scriptive policy that has marked the
administration of the State gov-
ernment especially in its executive and
legislative departments, and the Judiciary
have been ready to execute these laws in
the spirit in which they were enacted.
The administration of the laws has not
been obstructed in a single county in the
State. The courts have been held regu-
larly and processes have been executed
whenever and wherever issued. Now,
we defy the malignant men who have
been secretly urging the quarteIing of
soldiers upon the people of Tennessee in
time of profound peace; in time when
there is not the slightest impediment to
the execution of the harshest laws en~
acted by malignant partisan Legisla'
ture, to point to a single instance where
| the civil authorities have been INSTRUCTED
in the discharge of the duties imposed
upon them If the white men of Ten-
nessee who do not happen to be Radicals,
are the lawless, rebellious spirits which
Gen Thomas is so swift to certify, how is
it that none of them have been caught in
the drag net spread by a Legislature COM
posed Of men who would rejoice in see
ing every mothers son Of them extermis
mated, and worked by an Executive and
Judiciary who were only too willing to
see this people thus entraPped ? We APP
peal to the Judicial records of the State
for a complete refutation of the charges
which Gen Thomas and has swift Wit
nesses make against the enemies Of the
present State government in Tennessee %
This charge Of forcible resistance and
organized attempts to overthrow the
Brownlow government has been made so
frequently, and upon mere assumption or
proof so ridiculously absurd that it
would have been thrown out of a Magis-
trate's Court, that men of candor and