Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-15
THEFRANCnISE Law.
An Important Statelhent : The His
tory Of the Observation-Disclosures of the
White Men in Tennessee.

Il hil' Promthe Memphis Appeal
Il 4 thank yon for the correction, in The
columns fthe Appeal of to-day, that am
not one Of the Radical leaders. / am not
! only not 4 Radical leader, but i am not a
Radical at all. Ii is true, that in January
1885, in conjunction with Andrew Johnson,
then Military Governor, and other leading
: men then in the State, I participated in the
convention which submitted amendments
y TO. the Constitution, and inaugurated
u measures whereby civil government was
re-established in Tennessee. Then there
were. but two classes-Union men and
Secessionists- our sole object in the
movement, as j understood 1t, was to re-
lfeve our people of the onerous exactions
y and tyrannical sway Of the military com
manders, who ruled over us, with as
sublime a contempt for therights and priyi-
leges Of citizens, es of all law, humane and
divine. ! was honored with a place on
| the Business Committed, 10 which all propo-
sitions had TO be- referred for report before
action by the convention. There wasmuch
4 diversity of opinion, even among the most
! sagacious members, as to the elective fran
1 chise. The war was still being waged, and
/ ITS existence was Of uncertain duration.
| Then, as now, some feW we're for wholesale
dfsratch isennent, willis others we're Tor tie
/ most liberal policy possible under the cir
| eumstances. Finally, after nearly two days
| celebration on the subject, the Business
Committee Submitted an article tof snf-
frage, which excluded no one from the
| privilege of franchise except the Governor
and members of the LegislatuFeOf 1861,
the judges who had VOLUNTARILY retired
from their positions, the members of Con-
gress who had voluntarily left their seats.
and those whom President LincoIn's proc /
lamatien had excluded from the benefits
bf amnesty. This suffrage act was re-
garded as triumph by the liberal and
conservative members Of fhe Convention.
Then there were 20 advocates of negro
suffrage. except Senator Fowler, James |
Hood of the Chattanooga Union, and |
possibly Hon. Horace Maynard, This !
article on suffrage formed part Of the
first report made by the Business Com
mittee to the convention. It was opposed |
by the delegates. from East Tennessee in
convention, because in re-enacting the |
proviso 10 the first section, Article ", |
of the Constitution, which provides that |
no person shall be disqualified from |
voting in any election, on account
of color, who is now by the laws of |
this State a. competent witness
10 a court ofjustice against a white man."
1t was thought to have a possible squirting
at negro suffTage-to which, in all possible
phases, not only East Tennessee, but nearly |
theentire convention, were bitterly opposed
SO strong was the pressure against this
feature of the suffrage article--a feature,
however, which still remained in the Com
stitution, because unaffected by any act of
the cOnVention-that there was a subse-
quent meeting Of the Business Committee
10 modify their original report By vote
ofthe majority, that report was modified by |
leaving out the article on suffrage alto.
gether and, 10 lieu OF it, at the instance of
Mr.. Maynard, the ninth section of the
schedule was inserted, giving power TO thelI
first Legislature assembling under the
amended Constitution, 10 determine the
qualifications and the Limitation Of the |
elective franchise; )" and, as thus modified,
The report was submitted TO the convention
and adopted. 1t was commended, and not
without some show of reason, that the war
was then an progress, but the situation
might be- changed before the Legislature
contaminated their work, and then they
could afford to be even more liberal than
bad been proposed in the convention. 1t
vas with this understanding that gave
my assent that the franchise question |
should be RENTED Iothe Legislature at all,
The first Legislature under .a -g5.l
Constitution assembled at Mas .sslrYl n
Sd day Of April, 1865, and on the 2Ist
day of April--iust eighteen days thereafter
-Gen. Lee and his army surrendered. hos
Utilities ended, and peace was inaugnrated.
And yet the Tennessee Legislature, with
full knowledge of all the facts and cireum-
stances under which the franchise question
was RENTED to them, and in utter disre-
gard of the wishes of an overwhelming ma
iority of the Union men of Tennessee, as
clearly expressed at the convention Of the
JANUARY previous, not only did not eyince
more illiberality than had been proposed
by the convention pending a state of war,
but months after hostilities had ceased
on the 9th day Of June 1865-actually
perverted and prostituted the power which
had been conferred upon them, and passed
IAN act TO limit the elective franchise"
which excludes from the privilege of suf-
frage very large portion Of the people Of
Tennessee. As soon as the act was made
public through the columns of the Bulletin,
Of which was then editor, denounced it
as grossly proscriptive and flagrantly I'M
constitutional; and from that day to this /
have not ceased to make war upon it as
one of the most ubiquitous and unjust
measures that ever disgraced the statute
book Of any State. i-''Ht
This franchise act is the one distinctive
badge Of Radicalism in Tennessee. Until
its adoption by the Legislature, there was
no Radical party in the State. 1t was de-
vised not in the spirit Of liberal statesman
ship or fraternal concord, but entirely
in the interest Of party. It was to keep the
State government and the members Of the
Legislature in power, and not TO promote
peace and harmony among the people of
the State, that it was originally enacted
and it is now insisted upon, as was recently
affirmed by Hon. VIM. b. Stokes in his
speech before the present Legislature, in
order to keep the Radicals OF Tennessee
Fon top" When it was found that the
original franchise act would not keep the
party ia the ascendant then it was that
"negro suffrage" was resorted to and even
that is now contumaciously persisted in
while an overwhelming majority Of our
white citlzens embracing many of the
largest tax-payers, are made aliens ia their
own land-a land which many of them
would die to save. No such example Of
selfish partisanship, and of outrage on the
principles Of free republican government
can be found outside of the limits Of Ten
nessee; aud it ia to be hoped that the Re-
publican party Of the Union, which is
solemnly committed to universal suffrage,
will frown Indignantly upon the miserable
faction in this State, who assume utilization
with the party only to violate It's platform
and ignore its protested principles.
You will thHs perceive that while I was
a Union nlan, c0-0perated with other
Union men in devising means for the in
auguration Of civil government in Tennes-
see, am in no manner responsible for the
illlberal and unconstitutional law by which
my fellow-citizens have been 30 ruthlesslv
prescribed; but that, on the contrary. /
have, nom the first inception Of their
iniquitous scheme TO the present moment,
opposed, with whatever vigor could COM
mand, their mischievous Vaccinations. a.
we'll as against the Constitution, as Of the
peace and welfare Of the people Of Tennes-
see.
I