The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-06-18
Ftom, the Ne,O York Tribune.
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| We ask those VINO 1aVOr-On What-
ever ground-the continued proscrip-
| ton and disfrenchisement OF those who
| participated in the late Southern Re-
bellion to consider the aspect now pre-
sented in Tennessee. The facts are so
| instructive that he must be blind and
| deaf who can mistake their purport.
Tennessee was the last State to plunge
division never fully succumbed to 1t.
When the State was finally voted out
of the Union-June 8th, 1S6l-after one
attempt had been ignominious1y de-
feated-though thu Middle and West
gave six for secession to one against 1t,
East Tennessee, on full poll, gave
morethan two votes to one Tor mo Sepa-
ration The Rebellion for time over
whelmed her, and treated her Union
lists cruelly; and that part of the state
was not recovered till late in 1868 The
strife was here hand to hand and knlte
to knife, and almost every survivor
mourns relatives or near friends VINO
lin his vleW) were murdered by the nd-
verse combAtantS. The State recon-
strucie,i herself on loyal basis while
| the war WAS at its hight, and OF course
disfranchised all the Rebels and fasten-
ed them down by stringent Registry
law. Thus they have remained; and
no one can lawfully vote or hold office
who ever favored the Rebellion. A full
third OF the Whites, with all the Blacks,
are loyal to the core; and these have
the political power completely In their
hands. If any State can maintain it
self on basis OF persistent Rebel dis
reimbursement, that State Is Tennessee.
Hon. d. w. G. Senter is, by virtue OF
Gov. Brownlow's resignation. acting
Governor of the State, being President
ofthe Senate. He is an East Tennes-
seeRn, and naturally shares the feelings
of the Unionists OF his section. BE Is
candidate for election as Governor, OPP
posed only by Col. VIM. B. Stokes, also
a Unionist. In his address to the peo-
Pile, just issued, Governor Senter says:
"rhe question which most interests
the people of Tennessee at the present
time, and which, in itself, Is perhaps
more pressing and important than any
other, Is the elective franchise. On this
subject, l am free 10 say that, In my
Judgment, the time has come, and is
now, when the limitations and dtsabilt-
ties which have found their way into
our statute books, as the result of the
war, should be abolished and removed,
and the privilege OF the elective fran
chise restored and extended so as TO
embrace the mass of the adult popula-
ton of the State. In other words, am
in favor of SO amending the constitu-
ton aud laws of the State that the
present dtsfranchis1ng clauses ana pro-
visions shall be made to disappear from
the same, and the privilege of the elec-
tive franchise made to rest upon the
facts and conditions of the present in
stead of the past, and upon principles
of impartiality, equality and justice.
For, fellow citizens, whatever may have
been the suggestions of prudence, per-
haps the dictate of imperative necessi- |
ty, Immediately after the war-when
the greater portion of the DISTINGUISHED
people of the State were fresh |
from the support and service OF
the Confederacy, to which they |
had acknowledged and paid will
Ing allegiance, when in fact many
If not most OF them were paroled pris-
oners of war, and when the disposition |
and purpose OF the General Govern.
ment toward them had not been made |
known-before OWL government in the |
State had been fully reorganiZed and |
restored, and before the peaceful dlspo-
sitiOn OF the majority of the late rebel |
lOus people had become apparent
these reasons, amply sufficient then,
cannot be urged now, when the civil
government of the State has been fully
restored and firmly established, when
now the General Government has ex-
tended amnesty and pardon to all par
ticfpants in the rebellion, and when the
mass of the disfrRnchised people of the
State can have no longer hope or pur
pose of rebellion. are engaged in the
peaceful pursuits OF life. bearing fully,
and for the most part cheerfully, their
share of the burdens of the Govern
ment having, from necessity, no inter-
ests as citizens, save in common with
their enfrauchlsed neighbors, and such
as lie in the promotion of tn. common
good, and especially when now the
power OF the General G0veTnneut has
been placed firmly in The h"uLs OF Its
friends, and the declared policy of the
nation is that of enfrsuchisemeut and
not of disfranohisement.
"Disfranchisement was adopted as
only temporary 1.ecessity growing out
OF the needs and situation of the time,
and with no expectation that it would
be long continued; and there can be no
reason for its further continuance now |
except in a selfish partisan ambition to
gain office, or selfish partisan fear OF
losing 1t. Disfranchisement necessarily |
produces resllessness and discomfort,
and, as we have all seen, engenders an
lmosities, discord, and strife.
"Eufranchisement will, in my Opin- |
ion, heal the animosities which have so
long divided our people, and bring con-
cord, peace and prosperity to the State, |
while at the same time it is most con~
sonant with the theory and principles |
of our republican form of government |
and with the declared policy and pur-
pose of the party now in power"