Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-13
LIBERAL IDEAS.

The leading Radical papers of.
the Northwest hail with delight the
stand Gov. Senter has taken IN ia
vor of the restoration Of the right
of suffrage to the white PAYERS
Of this State. There can be no
question that the Governor struck
the popular chord when he took the
position he did. This is clearly in
dictated by the extracts we have
already made from leading Radical
papers of the North and West. The
st. Louis Democrat, the leading
Radical organ in Missouri, says in
its issue Of June 10 :..asa sri
ave copy a part of the speech of GOV
Senter, as reported by the Nashville
Press and Times, Stokes organ, in orr
der to show the position which he takes,
and with it an article from the Chicago
Tribune, in which that journal takes the
same view of the contest in Tennessee
that we have taken, and urges with force
that permanent Acknowledgement any-
where or under any circumstances is
contrary to the policy and principles Of
the Republican party. 1t is also worthy
of notice that the Cincinnati Gazette,
which has looked with more favor upon
the policy Of iisfranchisement than any
other leading Republican paper, now
takes ground strongly against it, arguing
that the time has passed when such
measures are necessary or can 90 any
good The tendency toward removal of
all restrictions grows more apparent and
stronger every day, and in this State as
well we constantly hear Of able Radicals
who have become satisfied that the time
has come to adopt that policy, and take
measures for the acknowledgements Of all
citizens who are now excluded from
suffrage.
an Tennessee the question of ne
gro suffrage is settled, and there is no
longer any necessity on that score for
delaying removal of restrictions. A re-
cent decision of the Supreme Court Of
the State practically admits to suffrage
a considerable proportion of those ex-
cluded at the last election, and it is rea-
sOned by Radicals that the continued dis
reimbursement will only tend to keep
alive feelings of animOsity, without dos
ing any practical good. As the COnser-
NATIVES will have no candidate, those OF
them who vote will be likely to favor
Gov Senter rather than his opponent In
fact, the situation is precisely the same
as in Virginia, where there are two Re-
publican candidates and organizations
without any Democratic or Conservative
opposition In both States men who
have been most hOnOred as staunch
Union men are found among the adTO-
Gates of liberal policy, and in Tennes-
sse Senator Brownlow has written a
strong letter in favor of .the cleo
ton Of Senter. ....
We have no doubt the leaders Of
the Stokes wing of the Radical
party, with possibly few exceptions
regard the restoration of the right
to vote to the white taxpayers Of
this State as a foregone conclusion
and we consider it very question
able whether they will attempt to
make fight on this issue. They
know that the enfranchisement o
the white men of Tennessee cannot
be postponed much longer, and
they feel that Stokes missed hi,
opportunity when he failed to tax,
the chute that Senter did. 1t is a
gratifying as it is wonderful tina
liberal ideas have made such rapid
progress in the Radical party il
this State.