Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-16
RECONSTRUCTION.
Il Would be a Cruel Blow to the Business
and Property Interests Of Tennessee.
Governor Senter's Testimony Opposed by
that Of Another Circuit IGdse---A
Radical Correspondents Testi-
mOny---A Test Of Loyalty.


To W. s. Scott, G. H. Roulstone, Alfred
Gardner, John z. Vincent. W. B. Travis,
q. r. Brasfeld, John J. Druery, y. G..
Parker, W. ). Morrow, q. Patterson,
Cbas. NJ. Ewing, W. n. Brasfield and ).
B. Ayres:
Gentlemen: / received your COM
municatiOn Jew days since. upon
the eve OF starting to hold the Circuit
Court at Trenton, when the occasion
did not permit an immediate answer,
in which communication you pro
pounded to me several interrOgatOries,
tO-wit:
!. When were you made Judge OF
the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, and by
whom?
Answer. l was commissioned by
Governor Brownlow in October, 1867, /,
Upon the application of number OF
the members Of the bar in this circuit.
,. By what tenure do you now
hold your Office, and when were you
elected?
A. hold the office by virtue of an
election held on the 10th of January,
1865.
3. What counties are embraced in
yOur Judicial Circuit?
A. The counties of Weakley, ObiOn,
Gibson and Dyer, in which there are
seven courts held, and large amount
of business Transacted.
1. What length Of time have you
been engaged in the practice OF law at
this place?
A. l have been engaged in the prac-
tice Of law, with the exception OF the
term have been on the bench, about
tWenty-three years.
.. Has any sheriff made return to
YOU that he has been fOrcibly pre-
vented in executing any process?
A. No sheriff in the judicial circuit
has made return that he has been
nrpvAl.ted in the execution OF any
process.
%. is there any resistance to Union
men. or persons of color getting their
rights in the courts when you have
presided?
A. As TO the actual administration
Of the law by the courts and jurles OF
this circuit, there has been no resist
ance as to cOlOred or Union men in Sc
curing their rights to be enforced.
But in a few occasional instances per-
sons charged with high crimes and
confined in Jail, have been taken from
their confinement and executed by
laWless men, whose names are un-
known to me. In some Of these IN
stances the parties were cOiOred; IN
Others they were white persOnsi as 10
their political opinions ] have no
knowledge.
Z. are The people, regardless Of party
distinction, allowed to sue for any
violation Of rights Of persons or prop
erty in your circuit?
A. All persons, regardless OF color
or party distinction in my circuit, are
allowed to sue for any violation OF
rights Of their person, or OF their prep
erty.
;. Were you a Colonel in the Fed
a The President Of the United
States bv the Secretary OF War, is
sued to me A commission as Colonel
i'm fine United States army, under
which l served a5OAt twelve months.
In'conclusion, then, 1 will say that l
think il due TO the people OF TINS
Circuit, to state what l know TO De
true, that the officers of the courts
have unhesitatiDgly and promptly eX-
aeuted such process a. issued TO them,
and that the people have yielded "A
ready obedience to all orders made
bv the courts: but l can say TO you,
gentlemen. that it is only due to
truth, and the high respect ] have for
YOU. that l am induced 10 answer
your communication, for the reason
4 !. I'M
as a judicial officer to avoid any con-
nection with the political struggles OF
the tim@s. thinking that 1t might un-
der some circumstances exert an M
furious influence upon the minds OF
the people.
With much respect, remain your
Obs1ient servant.
JOHN A. ROGERS.
From the Nashville correspondent Of the
Ny. Evening Post tRadical)l.
l have endeavored to give fairly the
stNtemeuts of each SIDE, that it may
be Neen how difficult 1t is far one at
the North TO understand our real con-
dition. 50 thoroughly partisan, on
one side or the other, are most OF tile
repOrts sent from the State, that we
sometimes despair Of being correctly
understood. Now, though ii would
sc, very unsafe 10 follow either OF the
above statements, neither one Is alto
gether untrue. That in Tennessee,
Irnion men, or Northern men, or
.cOlored men, as a class, are unsafe in
life or property is utterly untrue.
That they are ever murdered or out
ragged, as belonging to any Of these
- -g.rH d a
wicked falseh0Od. Thus, statement
las been made on the floor of Con-
IS that all the Union men in one OF
r. districts of this county had been
Doti6e,' to leave, and that one had
heo,i mn, 1ered already. 1T was false,
- oo1rsn But when We are told that
6nmsp life in Tennessee is perfectly
- e'--1'el- nIan ~ toiarab W protected by the
lou one csnnot Ia, t demur. Murders
and ontrsges are not Invented by pol
iticians. though their HSaliSss may De
misstated for party ends. IIlat 'lese e,'.
occurrences have been unf NeStSa~ -
frequent during the past few SnonIhs
is notorious, and our people have ue-
plored il.
The Cincinnati Gazette (RadicaD
HIKES uttlucul9 EDOA pOihA AtA
following paragraph: E" Tennessee
and Georgia ought TO be reconstructed
out of the Union, and set back into
a state Of probation. We were not
persuaded Of this till we saw in the
chattanooga Times that Mr.. George
j. Lewis gives the cost of making pig
iron Nith stone coal, at the lockwood
7furnaQe, ROane county, Tennessee, as
sslf.SO pek ton; and that Major l.. L..
TThomasson, for a long time superin-
f,eudent Of the Cornwall furnace,
cherokee county, Georgia, gives the
figures Of several weeks run, showing
tRat IL laid down charcoal iron in the
rolling mill at a cost OF $22.37, or at
the fIrnance $l9.63 This is dislOyalty
II Ia worse than the Ku-KiuX or re-
sisting the Fifteenth Amendment. 1t
Z, an attack on Philadelphia and pro
.rfhitory protection, which Is vastly
xOsrse than an attack on the Union
Itiix contrary to the great American
orineiple that anything Of common
nse should be made cheap. Let tnest
states he suspended until these public
,enemies shall certify that iron canno,
Ihe made in America for less than IS
a ton. This is the test Of loyalty.
RAILROAD.