Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-07-01
the credit Of the bondhOlder. The bond.

and take your produce alSo." When b
and by the producer finds the cred
valueless, what will he be worth
When the great revulsion come
what will be our condition2 Wher
is all the gold and silver that has bee
dug from our own soil and coined in ou
own mints? Where is it all gone? Ca
you tell me, sir? / don't speak of sue
as we imported, but what we coined our
selves-that vast amount dug out of ou
own earth. Why, it is locked up in th
vaults of the credit aristocracy. Now
sir, it Is C singular thing that no countr,
yet has ever paid off a great nationa
debt without reputation. II may startI
you to hear it, but it is true. Look owe
history and you will find am right, AMI
wherever you will find permanen
national debt, one that has not been pait
OF, you will find there is no freedom
Spain is not free, France is not free
Russia is not free, England is not free
because each of those countries has /:
permanent national debt. 1t is in th,
nature Of things, for wherever there ar,
power and moneyed aristoeracy there j:
always desire for union between tht
two. Here we haze an executive power
controlled by the bondholders. Grant is
ruled oy miserable set OF hucksters and
bondholders. He is in their hands com.
pletely, and therefore we are in
danger. The country is in peril fol
the bondholders are striving to rule
the government. The people ought
to be made to understand this condition
The people need to be indoctrinated
with che truth, and you, gentlemen Of
the press, can do it. You write a great
deal and all that, but sometimes you
write things and shoot off to the public
without due consideration. You do a
good deal of harm ard it takes q good
deal of time to remove the effect. Now
you have an opportunity to do good by
explaining these matters to the people
through the press. The farmer and pros
ducer, no matter how humble, are
always dispose to do what they think
right. You can show them the right.
They have an interest in doing what
is best, but you must explain what the
best course is, and then they will
adopt it. So you must make them un~
derstand what produce is worth and
what the credit of the bondholder is good
for. You must give proper direction
and these will follow.
Correspondent-What do you regard
as the proper course for the crisis?
Andy Johnson-Why, sir, l some
times wonder whether there be not some
strange hallucination over me. put my
hand to my head and ask myself if l am
sane. find myself use arguments that
were deemed sensible and irresistible by
some of the greatest minds Of the coun-
try, and yet they are unheeded, perhaps
laughed at. l have found myself OBJ.
liged to think deeply, when l was Presi-
dent, over great constitutional questions.
have called to my aid the most capable
minds in the country, and have drawn
from them their advice and wisdom, and
then comparing all, and adding what little
might arise in my own mind, have en-
deavored to present close, cogent, logi-
cal statement to the people, and yet /
have seen such arguments fall upon the
public mind just like water on ducks
back. They rolled off without making
an impression, as drops of water from
the back of duck. / have been almost
stunned at the apathy in the public
mind. Talk of the constitution and
liberty, of rights that used to be held
sacred and inviola0le, and you are
deemed scarcely worthy of an answer
other than laughter. What we want,
what the country demands, is solid, con-
stitutional government. Take my own
State of Tennessee, and / only use it as
an illustration, there all the wealth, all
the element that pays the taxes, that COM
bines the intelligence and responsibility
of the State, is deprived Of the ballot.
Fifty thousand negroes, with twenty
thousand whites. make a government
there for one million two hundred thou
sand people. Seventy thousand out of q
voting population Of two hundred thou
sand make the laws, while that seventy
thousand does not represent the wealth,
responsibility or intelligence of the State
Seventy thousand voters enslave one
hundred and thirty thousand voters and q
population of twelve hundred thousand
Correspondent-Wh do you think
will be the result of the contest in Ten
nessee? ...
ANDY Johnson-I think Senter will
be elected. Thousands who remained
quiet before are now actively at work in
the State. Thousands who keEt away
from the polls are now making themselves
heard, and are determined upon being
heard if they be not allowed to vote.
They will talk and talk until they make
public sentiment unanimous for justice
and fair-pIay. That is what is being
done in Tennessee now. Even old
Brownlow is coming around, wishing to
be on the winning side and seeing the
change coming. You notice he opposes
further prescription. He does this not
from principle, but from policy. 1t is pre-
cisely the same way in Virginia and other
Southern States. tell you, sir, if this
country is to be kept from despotism,
anarchy and imperialism, the nucleus
has to come from the South, when re-
stored. 1t will be small at first,
but mark me, sir, it will come that
way. Grant would see this if he
had an idea in his head, but he has not.
He has no political creed at all. l would
rather have good hereto than a man
without any faith. would place more
dependence on such man. As said
before he is a mere incident. There has
been great social upheaval and Grant
is left on the top and thinks there is
something in him. 1t is precisely like a
volcanic disturbance. The natural con-
dition off the earth is broken up, stata after
strata is broken through, things are dis.
placed and turned upside down and what
should be at the botte m is thrown high
up. That is Grants case. Why, Ben
Butler had wonderfully correct idea Of
Grant. He used to come to see me much
at one time and expressed the pro-
foundest contempt for Grant. His
estimate Of Grant was about the same
as my own. He thought Grant could b
made to do anything, that he could bt
made a complete fool and that if he de-
sired he could have himself invited tc
Grants house. 1t happened precisely so
afterwards, just as Butler boasted. You
remember Butler was invited to Grants
house, and it was brought about by But
ler himself. Butler understands Gran
thoroughly. have no hesitation in de-
| claring that Grant is a mean, avariclous
cunning, spiteful man-a complete bun
die of petty jealousies, spites and lies
He has no courage. l made him fairly
quail before my glance at that cabi
net meeting when l asked hin
about that famous corresponding
concerning Stanton. asked him ques