Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-01-07

for amelioration by State Convention.
10 relation to the situation and impend-
ing necessity be says:
On nearly the last day Of the last ses-
sion Of your predecessors, an act was
passed ITO amend section 2, ia, article
Z. chapter 3 of the Code Of Tennessee,
and for other purposes" The third sec
ton Of this act provides, THAT the reg
istration in the county of Davidson,
heretofore had under the franchise act Of
Nay 3, 1866, be, aud ia hereby declared
Gull and void" Section four extends the
provisions of this act :" to any other
county in this State, when It shall be
made to appear, to the satisfaction OF
the Governor, that frauds and Irregular
tiles have interviewed in the registration
Of voters in such county" This act did
not empower the Governor TO set aside a
registration had under the then existing
law, but "a registration had under the
Franchise Act of May 8, 1866. which had
been superseded by the act Of February
rs, 1867, though it was otherwise under
derstood by Governor Brownlow.
On the 2eih Of February, 1868, your
honorable body passed an act by the 6rst
section of which you empower the Gov
crnor ito set aside the registration Of
any county in this State, or any part
thereof" when it shall be made to
appear, to the satisfaction Of the Gov
ernor, that frauds and irregularities have
interviewed in the registration of voters
in such county"
BY the second section you legalize the
acts Of the Governor in setting aside the
registration and removing the Commis-
sioners, and ell other acts done by him,
affecting the act of 1867.
By the third section you make it mis-
demeanor to vote, or attempt to vote, by
virtue of certificate thus declared void,
punishable by fine not less than fifty,
nor exceeding one hundred dollars.
Now the question which / wish to pre-
sent is: Ought not this act to be amended
or repealedf Can the people safely iu-
trust such power as this in the hands of
any man, however honest he may be2
In few weeks Governor Brownlow
will transfer the Executive power of the
State to the present Speaker of the SEN
ate, Hon. d. w. C. Senter. Mr.. Senter
may be, and doubtless is, an honest man;
but wish to make use of the present sit
uation Of affairs simply to present an ex-
ample of what may be done by man oc-
cupying his position.
Il will not be long until you will have
Convention to nominate candidate
for Governor. If Mr.. Senter desires the
nomination, will your Convention dare
to refuse him, even though vast major
ity might greatlyprefer another, when they
know that be would hold in his hands the
power to defeat his successful rival ?
While be can WELD this power if he
desires the nomination, no other
candidate need think of opposing him.
he can, if be chooses, crush any and all
other candidates for the nomination
At the end of two years he can again do
the same thing, and, finally, when he
gets tired of guberBatorial honors, he can,
in spite of you, choose his own successor.
To incur his displeasure would be to
make the defeat of your candidate GER
tain.
Can you not see that if this thing is
continued it would ruin your party, if it
did not bring destruction upon the coun-
try? Would not public spirited, enter
prising and ambitious men abandon an
organization where they are so complete
ly tsbooed by the reigniug dynasty1 Aud
if the hope of successful opposition is
thwarted by the Governor power to :" set
aside" the registration in localities where
such opposition is strongest, and thereby
give the minority the power to crush the
majority of those who, under the Fran
chise Act, have the right to vote, how
long can you hope to escape civil war
and revolution2
But, waving the question of expe-
dienoy, is ii right to give man who is
q candidate for the highest Office in the
gift of the people of State, the power to
say who shall and who shall not vote for
or against, without any regard to the pro-
visions of the Franchise Act, which the
Supreme Court has decided to be q part
of the Constitution.
H In other words, the Constitution (of
which the Franchise act is a part, pre-
vides that every male citizen of the
United States, aud of this State, twenty
one years of age, and for six months a
resident Of the county-if he shall never
have borne arms against the United States,
or sought Office or given support to the
or other Government hostile
to the United States or, if he shall have
done any or all of these things, and shall
have an honorable discharge from the
army or navy of the United States since
January, 1852; or if he voted for Presi-
dent in 1864; or voted for ratification in
1865; or for Governor and members of
the Legislature in the same year; or have
held Office under johnson or Brownlow-
" be shall be entitled to the privilege of
he elective franchise" and vet. BY
law not part of the Constitution, you
give the Governor the power to say that
be shall not exercise this constitutional
and for attempting to exercise
i you say be shall be fined at least nifty
dollars Again l ask, is this right ?
Will the most patient people upon the
lace of the earth quietly bear it for any
great length of time If elections are 10
be carried in this way-it constitutional
rights are to be thus unconstituiionally
Uttered away, / fear there is trouble
ahead. Believe me, gentlemen, this COM
nunication is not written for the fun of
he thing, nor to create an apprehension
which do not believe to be well founded.
II the next Governor and Legislature
IRE to be elected by prostitution of the
Franchise act in this way, and if Com
nissioners Of Registration shall refuse,
With IMMUNITY, to register those entitled
o registration, if registrations are to
De set aside, and whole counties disfrsn-
,hised, if every other remedy shall be
lenied the people thus wronged, is there
lot danger that there will be limit to
heir endurance, and that we will, at no
Instant day, have to grappls with serious
Grant that resistance
you'd be wrong If Won choose. vet. will