Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-02-05
SMITH.
Don Piatt Answers the Card of ". is
Friends.
Net a Grease SPOT LsTt Of the Member Of
Congress from the Eighlh District.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.

since, communication ii the Com
mercial, signed by a number OF citi-
zens Of Memphis, purpOrting to be a
cUunter-statemen to my biographical
sketch OF the Hon. w. j. Smith, more
/ iamiliarly known rs ''Old Jerusalem"
This communication escaped my no
I tice at the time OF its publication, and
l learn since that much sympathy Is
excited in the House by what the
1 friends of this member are pleased 10
term "a wantOn attack on a good
Union man, who fought gallantiy his
way up from private 10 the position vi
I Brevet Brigadier- General"
As TO THE CARD OF SMITHS FRIENDS.
L beg these sympathetic friends to
suspend their generous emotions until
they learn IL few facts. And the first
that | propose TO impress upon their
iOydl, inpulsiVe bOSOns is that l make
no WantOn attacks on any one. As a
journalist, It is my duty to puncture
chariatlns and imbeciles to the best Oi
my ability, aud ii is not with me d
labor OF love. l do it from a high
sense OF duty 10 my party and Gov
ernment, and can appeal to better
record OF loyalty to both than two
thirds OF these sensitive syJ1pathizeTs
can show, and, above ali, 1 want them
20 know that | am certain OF my facts
| before | make move, involving such
cUnseq as does a personal as
saUlt on an honorable member OF Con-
gre5s.
Il will be observed that the commu-
nicati0n referred TO does not pretend
to refute any assertion Of fact that l
made, It is a certificate OF good char
acter generally. Now such evidence
of good character is applicable only
when the charges OF misconduct are
in doubt. This IS not the case In the
present instance, and it would be well
for the friends 10 begin by denying at
least some of the charges made time
and again against the gentleman in
e--''"n- Then the allegation Of good
character in genera ,-''u1u w w :
applicable. Ii Is at best negative
s6rt OF oVideEce, aud means only that
the witness knows no III OF tie person
indicted, aad in the case OF the VeHe-
rable Jerusalem this amounts TO con-
ftssiUn Of not knowing him at all.
sHITH's FIGHTING.
IS for his fighting, it is the dreary
sort oil STUFF We hear rung in oar ears
5y every rogue vino see.N5 70 hide his
shortcomings under the ample lQlds
ot tne sIar-~pangied banner that has
been so often used in thai way that il
Is getting 10 be very dirty and ragged.
Smith was melpper OF the west
tennessee cavalry subsequently C....-.. -.
ne a,Gth ECunessoe, ana if this regi-
meut did any IignGGg other than that
Ci hummer campaign among un-
armed people for piunder, IL was IN
known 10 the officers in command
during the war, in Tennessee. The
zymp thJZars can test this by appeal
ing 10 Gen. Nashuurn, now on the
floor with them, and | viii abide by
uis response. If not satisfied with
TINS, they can appeal to Gen. George
IL. Thomas, or any other general oiIi-
Ger in command in that part of len
nesSee.
OLD JERUSALEM BRILLIANT CAREER
OF Old Jerasalem's part in this no
bic sJNie of warfare, we have some
records that throw much light on his
brilliant career. l hold in nay hands
a document marked " General Orders
No. lGS" and dated Headquarters,
Sixteenth Army Corps, Memphis,
Tennessee, December 9, 1858" which
document purports TO be the record of
" a general COurt-martial which con
yened at Bolivar, Tennessee, pursuant
10 SPECIAL Orders No. l., paragraph
II, dated i8.h March, 1865, from these
h adquarters, ana of which Col. Rob
ert b. Latham, lU6th Illinois Infantry,
was President" when w. J. Smith
" was arraigued and tried on charges,
first, Of robbery" and the specItica-
tluuS let forth about as vile detail OF
stealing a sidcsaddie, then = mgla,
Jhen bed-ciUthing, such as quits,
c0dnteTp0nts sheets, etc; then ne
robbed church, then a bale OF cot
ton. All going, l suppose, 10 make up
the property lie claimed to have been
taken from him by the secessi0ulst7,
and that grew in value from the S4OJU
paid Gy the order of the general cOm-
MauOshg, by a tax collected on the
ueigGUorno0d, 10 the enormous
amount noW pending before Congress.
SMITHS EABEZZLEsIHNTS AND INSU-
BORDISATIoN.
The second charge is one of 4" misap-
pl;catjOn and embeZzlement OF public
property intgusted 10 him."
Charge third Is Of INSTRUMENTATION,
while The fourth is Of conduct unbe-
coming an officer and gentleman, anu
IS the rehash OF the iirst, the officers
composing the court laDorlug under
tb,. i5eiiti that a robbery Of woman
oi her side saddle and of church, Is
rather ungentlemanly and unOfiicer-
ike.
This document is authenticated by
the name Oi "S. \. lIulburt, Major
General, end I. IL. Harris, u. 5. ~,
AdjutaRt General, and I am assured
bv GOOD authority that the reason that
this old fellow did not find his way
into the penitentiary instead of Con-
gress, is that in the trouble that fol-
lowed the mia" brought about by
tho unexpected arrival OF General
Hood and the Confederate army, the
case was not followed up to a just con-
ciuslOh,
So much for Old Jerusalem's mill
tary record.
Ii any one cares to peruse the mill
ttry part as something to be proud Of
he must use due diligence in knocking
such shallow prerendeFs in the head.
Ii is Il duty We owe TO ourselves and
the gallant men who really offered
their lives 70 their country.
SMITHS POLITICAL PAST.
IA for this gentleman's political
past, / have before me an address Is
sued by "The District Executive
Committee to the Republican voters
Of the Eighth Congressional District
of Tennessee" and signed by J. l..
Chandler, Robert Medlin, J. W. Pai-
rianye, A. r. Davis and ). J. Ireland,
aud dated October II, 1868; and this
address publishes TO the world the in
famous political record OF this man,
that [ gave in BRIEF in my letter, and
much of such iniamy l did not give
for lack OF space. Take, for example,
his support, while in the Legislatu e
OF tennessee, Of Edmund Cooper 8
bill, that sought indirectly 10 refuge
the cOlOred citizen 10 his iOrmer state
Of bondage, and which the New York
Tribune denounced as establishing
system which differed from slavery
only in degree" As Old Jerusalem
is running on sympathy, it would be
well for the sympathiserS to look up
this record, and see how far his past
agrees with their present.
Then, in this address, follows the
charge that, as a member OF the Ten
nessee Legislature, he sold his vote