Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-09-03

a lar 80 a
ltlon 30
Stokes-I didn't want 10 come b.r.
occupy rather delicate pasitiou. Bnt IA
Union men Of Tennessee caus To n,,. ~,
sald must come aud 40 what could a.,
ee' the T. deral government TO Interfere O.,
lueir proiecti"n. They are in a po.itrr
10" slmiiar TO what they were IN 1861. .td
Tue worst has uot come yet.
COT.-How came the Republican p,rty
To be 1ivided In Tennessee what was m
real cause Of iti
Stokes The republican party Wa, not
dvideh at all. Tha's Just wh.,eArnn,,
~ the North here make mistnke. IN.
h'PuOhean y riy "l Tenu' sS,ee, wi,h *.
crption so few that II caunut be called :,
division, voted solid Tor me aud the I, pular
candidates.
Cor;-Well, then how came you to be- de-.
| leated Wv
StokeS-I will tell you rs bri, A, ,sTc,,
In the hrst place | didu', want To- make tle
run, because knowing Sentrr as w,u ,s /
| ulu, auu knowing that be- by lis bosit a.,
| Lad tue power To do Just what has t.,,
done, didn't want 10 give any occssi,,n tor
possible defeat Of the Republican uartv
AT the onset was the liberal man. Senisr
| Sald that To enfrauchisr the old r.bels
would be TO break up the Republican marry
ia the State, and be would never do thaf.
| Ny plan was to carry the election G,r onr
party and afterwards allow the Legislature
gradually to remove the disabilities of sncb
as should show themselves deserving of /,
| l thought the OK rebels would aut,r.cists
the thing better in this way. | told NV
| friends that L did not care to be a candi
| date, and sent committee 10 Senter IN
say that II he would manage Ills side of the
convention would manage niue aud W.T.,
could go in together and nominate some
good man who would command the v,trs
OF The Union men OF State. Senter reCns
| ed, and my friends SAID there were si.tv
hVe counties n the convention Instructed
TO vote Ior me. and that must be a capdi.
| uate' had DO choice. Senter's friends
subsequently came TO mo and wand IA
bargain. Ii | would Withdraw. thew sa,d
III iavOr Of Senter, they would insure ma "A
seat In the United States Senate in plac. nt
Fowler. l aid, Gentlemen, can make no
such 0arg in. l have no authority to do il
am Ike rider on n bbrrowei horse. aud
am not at liberty 10 trade him [ am IN
the hands Of my tiiends." Will. the Don-
luatlOn was made, and | saw at once that
Sentrr ~Uuid be a candidate. NV friend.
SAID If they were gong To have irescbe Y
ana political Vlllalny To meet they would AS
soon meet IL now as at y other time, and
80 they said let the fight come on. Senter
being Governor, or acting q vernon had the
appointment Of registers OF ell ction, lie
put IN just such men as h- knew would Do
his b.ddng. They at once opened The
food gates and let ia every body. The dis.
'rauchising clauses OF the State Coustitu
lion were Ridden under foot, entirely dis
regarded. Certificates OF qualification as
voters we're issued to dstTanch sed rebels
and even boys OF sixteen and eighteen were
allowed to vote. Besid, this there was o
course of intimidation pursued, all under
the instructions OF Senter, which prevented
hundreds, and l may say thousands, oi Re-
pubhctns from voting. You see, S.nter
sas Governor. He had the militia, and he
intended 10 use them if necessary to elect
himself Orders we're issued preventing
men from voting any where outside of the
precincts, which is contrary to the constitu-
tlon. In mans places where The rebels had
the upper hand OF the republicans, special.
" the negroes, could not vote in Il cir pre-.
clnis Tor fear of personal vioience. What
defeated us was the rebels who are disfran.
chised under the constitution. / got 59, 900
votes, which was Grants vote last fall -
Seymour was $4,000 last fall, but Senter's
vote this time Was lI9, 900. The 81, 900 Ad-
dilional which Senter got were rebels and
minors, some Of whom voted as much AS
four times.
Cor.-How about B,ownlow, Colonel
What effect had his course ON the Rcpubii-
cans Of Tennessee
SIoheS-Very little. You see the od
man Is IN his dotage, lie IS rick and is in
the hands OF others. He was controlled b,
his sons and sons-'n-law. / don't believe
nc eVtr wrote one OF the letters or manifes- |
toes that were got ont, and to which his
name was signed. They may have been
read to him, but ycu know he is a little |
deaf, and lie may not have heard them.
Cor What interest had brownlOw's sons |
In the Senter movement; thought they |
were rampant radicals
StokeS-Pl tell you John BrowDlow is a |
receiver OF one of the Tennessee rail- oads. |
A couple ut Browhlow's sons in law hold |
slmilar places, They have a salary If
sS,OOO year, but there are some pIckIngS. |
In addition to this the Brpwnlow boys have |
been dabbllng ia stocks with certain Seuter |
men, who led them Uf. The Browulows
are all fond Of making money. Now here's |
the point. Ii had been elected Guyereur
with Legislature in harmony with me, | |
was pledged TO break up certain rings ia
Tennessee that are trading in the rail- Dad
Interests of the State and doing their best |
10 ruin tAem. | was also pledged To break
up other rings connected with the School
fund Of the State. This might have inter
tered with the BrowulOws a litCle | don't
know any other reason they could have ip
opposing my el, ction But their opposition
didn't amount TO much. The people of
Tennessee--l mean, of course, the loyal
Union men-don't follow Brcwnlow es they
dId. They understand that he has fallen
into the hands OF interested parties.
Cor Who do you think will DO elected
Senator, Oulouelf
~. MI -. l.. |
Legislature will be a good deal mixed ON
that subject. | suppose Audy Johnston
stsnds as good a chance as any VI them.
Tnere are several caud dates besides john
sion. There is Baile p ptoD, Tor instance,
but don't think th,y viii take HIM up.
He is an old fossil whig, aud Is really out
side Of politics now. Ii Audy Ghosts TO
make the dght there l. none of that school
who can beat him. He's got prestige ON MS
side, bu; theirs good many of the old roO-
els who hate him tor his past record. TLey
have old scores to settle with him, and now
that they arein power they may take occa.
sion to do 1t. The general Impression IN
Tennessee is that they will take up some
new man, one who has not been Identified
with politics much,
Cor.-Dou't you think the old rebels
have forgiven Andy by this timer lie has
pardunsd good many OF them, you know'
StoSes- Yes, so he has. But he don't
know those men. They never hIgive
IL you lived in Tennessee you would mud
that out. Besides, Audy was pretty hard
on them when he was Military Governor.
lie kept tigbt rein On them, tell YOU
But, AS | said before, II Andy wants u
make a iisht IL will take a good man to beat
him. He understands the ropes, having
been through the mill before.
COr.-W bat do you propose doingi
Stokss-Thars the question. am here
TO consult with the President aud the mem
beis OF the Cabinet as TO Shat Is best To be
done. Something must be done or recon
struction in Tennessee anu every southern
State is a failure. Aud II the Adminlstra-
tlon ana Crngress refuse 10 lake cOgnlzlnce
the condition Of affairs in lennessee l shall
proclaim reconstruction farce and a tail
ure everywhere.