New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-07
TIE TENNES sEE LESSON.

There are two distinct objections to the
policy of perpetuating the Acknowledgement
and exclusion from Office of those who were
prominent supporters of the late Rebellion ::
1. 1t is unjust and unwise. Chat is our OBJ
iection) g. 1t is impossible. eve think this
should be conclusive with men like Gen. But
Ter, though not with those so invinCibly wise
in their own conceit as Wendell Phillips)
Tennessee was reconstructed during the
agony Of our great struggle not by Congress,
nor by any Federal authority, but by her own
| fighting Unionists. led by Andrew Johnson and
ParsOn BrOwnlOw. These had been prosecuted
hunted, harassed by the Rcbels-had seen their
unarmed neighbOrs and kindred shot in their
own dwellings and dooryards for no ofense but
devotion to their country-and they were natu-
rally in no amiable temper. On gaining the
upper hand, they proceeded TO deal with the Reb-
els as the Rebels had dealt with them, and would
have continued to deal had they retained their
ascendency. They reconstructed their State on
the principle enunciated by Andrew Johnson
g Loyal men, White or Black, shall rule
America :" though it was not till some two
years since that they conceded to the Blacks
the Right of Suffrage. After A. j. was called
to Washington, they chose BrOwnow Cover
nor, with Legislature to match as they had
previously, under A. Us manipulation, chosen
Lincoln and johnson Electors for 1854; but
Congress refused to count their votes. In
short, no jughandle was ever more completely
on one side than Tennessee so long as the
Rebels were vigorously excluded from the regis
tries of legal voters.
But this was altogether too good (for those
who liked it, TO last and the inevitable
breakup came this Summer. Parson Brown
low elected to the U. S. Senate, vacated the
Governors chair on the LIST of March last, and
was succeeded, pro tenn, under the Consttu-
ton, by De Witt G. Senter, President of the
Senate-also an East Tennessee loyalist and
Republican. A new Governor, as we'll as a
new Legislature, was required to be chosen by
the People at the regular State Election
in August, aud Republican State Con-
vention was called to designate The man.
This Convention quaTeled and split-as Con-
ventions are apt to do when their choice is
presumed equivalent to an electiOn-the larger
number of delegates nominating Col. VIM b.
Stokes, an East Tennessee Representative in
Congress; while the minority (who claimed to
be made so by dishonest returns,) presented
acting Gov. Senter. So they separated, and
started a repetition of the famous performance
of the Kilkenny cats.
But Senter had inherited from BrOwnlow the
power Of changing at discretion the registrars
Of legal voters; and, as his prospect of obtain
ing majority of those already registered was
very doubtful, he soon began to appoint re-
gistrars who were mot unnaturaIly) intent on
making votes for Senter In little while, the
Fifty Thousand who had been excluded from
the registries because of their alleged Rebel
antecedents, began to understand that matters
were going well for them at the rcgistries,
and swarmed thither in regiments. Senter
on the stump every where proclaimed
his conviction that the time for general