Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-06-12

Is a letter dated December 10 1900, anu
to the President of the United
States, from. which We extract as fol-
l |. s;., ,kda.l.L.-. u 5In.,A.,, ],
the Honorable Secretary Of War, | left
Washington city on the twenty seventh Of
last month for the purpose Of making a
tour Of inspection through some Of the
Southern States, or States lately in rebel
lion, and 20 see what changes were neees-
sary to be made in the disposition Of the
military forces OF the country h0U hese
forces could be reduced and expenses etlrtdiLed,
etc. and to learn, as far as possible, the
feelings and intentions Of the citizens Of
those States towards the general govern
ment. = Both IN travelling and while
stopping / saw much and eonversed freely
with the citizens Of those States, "a we'll as
with the officers Of the army who have
been stationed among them. The follow
ing are the Conclusions come 20 by me:
am satisfied that the mass Of thinking men
of the South accept The present situation
of affairs Ia good faith. The questions
which have Hitherto divided The sentiments
Of 4hepeople Of the tWo.sections--slaVery
and States' rights, or the right ola State
to secede from lle Union-they regard as
barring been settled JOrercr by he highes tribG-
nal-drms--tlsat man can resort 70. was
pleased ID learn from The leading men
whom met that they not only accepted
the decision arrived at rs final, but, now
that the smoke of battle has cleared away,
and time has, been given for reelection,
that This decision has been a torttGdte one
for the uh0le country, they receiving
like benefits from it with those who
opposed them in the field and in
council. There Is such universal
acgtiescence IN he authority Of The general
goDGumept throughout the portions Of The
country Uisite9 by me- that The mere presence
Of a military force, without regard 10 Numbers,
Is sufficient 10 8aintaip order. The good Of
the country and economy require that the
force kept in the interior, where there are
freedmen, (eiseWhers IN the Southern States
than al ports upon bte sea coast no force as
nccessarg,) should ali be white troops. The
reasons for this are obvious, without men
tioning any of them. The presence Of
black troops, lately slaves, demOralizes la
Dor both by their advice and by furnishing
in their camps a resort for freedmen for
long distances ground. White troops gen.
orally excite no opposition, and therefore
small number Of these can maintain order
in given district. #E8# My OBJ
servations lead me to the conclusion that
the citizens of the Southern States are dRr-
io18 TO return TO seltg0Uenmcla tcjtiiR The
Union as soon as possible; that while recon
strueting, they want and require protection
from the government; that they are earn
eat in wishing TO do what they think is re-
quired by the government, not h1naaidtiny
d them as citizens, and that Il such a course
was pointed ont they mould proScrUs Il IN
good jaith. Ii is to be regretted that there
can not be greater commingling at this
time between the citizens of the two sec
tiOns, and particularly Of those Entrusted
with the law-making power"
Here is the testimony of Gen Grant
as to the character and disposition of the
southern people, at a time while he was
not restrained by political considerations
from giving expression to his honest con-
yictions The people Of whom General
Grant thus wrote nearly three years ago,
have not been Festored to their position
in the Union, but have been deprived Of
the few rights they then enjoyed, and
themselves handed over to the DONNA
ton Of an ignorant class Just released
from the bonds of servitude. This same
Gen. Grant, in his letter accepting the
Chicago nomination, says, Let US have
peace. This explanation indicates that
peace does not now exist in this country.
And why is this 30 Nearly three years
ago Gen. Grant declared from personal
observation that therel was "uni-
versal acquisescence in the au-
thority of the general government
in the portions of the South which he
had visited. No hostile demonstrations
have been made in the South since the
period Of his visit, and yet he says there
is no peace in the country Why Is
it the fault Of the Southern people that
peace and union do not shower their
blessings upon the land That
people have been utterly powerless for
any purpose of war, and General Grant
himself is their best witness that ever
since the close Of the rebellion, they have
been peaceable and quiet-anxious to
have their States restored to the Union
and to live in amity and brotherhood
with the people Of the North Then
why is there no peace in the land
Simply because Radicalism wills it other
wise, because the policy of hatred, re-
venge and oppression has been steadily
pursued toward the crushed and bleed.
ing and PROSTATE white people Of the
the Radical leaders have
determined that the negroes shall cons
troll The South and govern it through
such men as will abase themselves to the
level of that class. And row Gen. Grant
accepts the championship Of the men
who would thus degrade the white
people of the South lie Is their candi-
date and pledged to carry out their
policy If elected, for he declares in his
etter of acceptance that he shall have
no policy of his own to enforce against
he win Of the people, by which he
means the will Of the Radicals.
There is another short speech by
zen. Grant, which illustrates the manner
f man he is. 1t is dated Nashville,
Tenn, January %, 1864" and addressed
o Hon. Isaac n. Morris, Of Quincy, ms
n this short speech Gen. Grant says
I" Your letter Of the 29th of December
did not receive until two days ago. l |
eceiye many such, but do not answer.
Yours. however, is written in such kindly
pirit, and as YOU ask for an answer, conf |
ientially, will NOT Withhold IT, Allow
ne to say, however, that i am not politi- |
ian, never was, and hope never 70 be, and |
'ould not write a political letter. My |
,nly desire is 10 serve the country in her |
resent trials To do this efficiently il Is |
lecessary 10 have the confidence OF She
lrmy and the people. | know no way 20
letter secure this end thsn by faithful
,erIormance OF my duties. So long a. l |
,old my present position ! DO not believe /