Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-08-07

Condemnation and proscription. becausea
man has been sufficiently appreciated by
his fellow-citizens, before the war, % have
been elevated by them to places Of homo
and trust.
-Prefsrrine TO bear with my people the
reproach-if ~rsproach 1t is--for having
participated In the war. / declined TO ask
the pardon Of President Andrew
son, and only received 10 In common
with the mass Of our people, by his pro-
clamntion OF July 4 1895, while b Ma
tional Democratic Convention at New
York was balloting for g candidate for
President. I felt that 1 had done no
wrong for which to ask pardon. I recog-
nized my State as my sovereign, and my
self as her subject, and believing this,
fought Is a duty for the South to the best
OF my ability, from the beginning 70 the
end Of her tragic struggle: Neither did l
directly or indirectly ask the last Con-
gress for the removal of "dlsabilities,"
and no action wss taken for relief. IL
was hoped that a more liberal policy
would have been pursued by the last
Congress, resulting In the removal of
" disabilities" IRON such as were OBJ
~noxious to the Fourteenth Amendment
to the Constitution, and thus relieve en-
barrassmsnts that might arise from their
supposed existence, but it was not done.
This question of disabilities" as II Is
now presented, is a legal one, and should
be decided by the proper judicial tribu-
nal. Until this Is done, 1t matters
little what may be our individual
opinions in regard to It., while those
who hold the power in the nation adhere
to a contrary opinion and keep the sword
of Damocles, in the shape of treoonstruc-
ton" in threatening attitude above the
people of our Safe. Therefore, while /
do not, in Common with many of the
best lawyers in the land, believe i am
xnIar" oCu aaAfaahflfffaaf ern1tad hv the
said l4th Amendment, after the objection
able acts which it seeks to punish were
committed which, IL carried into execu-
ton, would be as retroactive as any other
er post facto Lau0); yet, l am not disposed,
for the honors and emoluments OF any
office in the gift of our generous people,
to do anything calculated to proximateiy
or remotely even hazard the quiet of our
State. / cannot, therefore, give my con-
sent to allow those whose good opinion /
prize, whose friendships i hold dear, d
with whom have a commOndestiny ,touse
my name for Governor of Tennessee, when
il might become a sourceo of embarrassment
to a people whose patience has long since
become FESTIVE under the irritation of To-
cal oppression. Not thatI believe myself
legally under disabilities" have ] thus
written, but that a majority of the
National Congress seems to think
that those who are situated as
/ am, are under the ban OF governmental
prescription as to holding office. Tonnes
see owes me no Office. She owes me
nothingbut legal protection while I live
and an honorable grave when "life's htful
fever Is Ger" and / can serve her no long
er. She owes to herself, however, a vir-
tuous consistency, and to b memory Of
her warrior dead she owes a ritual of sor-
row that shall be chanted by the muse of
history through b fretted vaults Of the
famplaa Of her futnra GLORY That QG nm
portunity offers, she will recognize these
obligations / have nc donbt. 1 do not be-
lieve that either of the gentlemen whose
names have been mentioned in connec-
ton with the candidacy for the next Gov
ernor of Tennessee, are n "disabili-
ties"-and / know either of them would
make an able and efficient chief magis-
trate. -I
Like you, I regretted at the time, and
do now, that our late Constitutions Con-
yention, by its action, caused to be
brought on the election for Governor
and Legislature, so o o after the
last election, and more than a year
-ineugurated. AS a citizen, l used
whatever influence / could exert,
20 prevent it, bat to no purpose. Had the
election for Governor and Legislators been
postponed until lS7l, h timein course,
according to precedent, much of the en-
barrassment which now exists would
doubtless have been avoided, and our peo-
pie. without app~rehensious of {" recon
struction I" would have then felt free to
act in bringing about such organizations
as their untrammeled wishes, guided by
patriotic wisdom, might dictate. We
would thea have heard less Of " third
party" and seen less of the prejudice of
st olden times" / confess 1 cannot dis
tinguish the features of Wing and Demo-
erat through the battle smoke of four
wears of strife. II we STOOD together in
the hour of peril, in defense of constitu-
tional rights, on the battlefield, ought we
not still TO do so in seeking to maintain
the same right by more peaceful means?
Our sacred dead, whose bones are crossed
and bleaching in their soldier graves,
could they speak, would say so. Were |
to visit the battle fields of our victories
and defeats, and, like a political ghoul,
go searching among the mutilated forms
for Wings and Democrats, l would feel
d~ishonored in the act and fly their sacred
precincts like Irving's Ichabod from the
headless horseman.
The election. however, whether brought
on inopportunely or not, is upon us by
constitutional provision, and we must
meet it as the soldier a fight when at dis
advantage-the best we can. Under these
circumstances l yield TO the invidious dis
tinction against me, believing 1t to be for
l LH6 KOOQ OF my OIdlct hdb 4 HuOhA0 " ~
4 candidate. In this, i only represent my
individual feelings, and intend no criti-
cism upon those who act differently, tor
/ cannot consistently, and will not, with
my ideas of political rights, make a valid
objection to any true man because the
shadow of the XVIII amendment rests
upon him. With me 1t is no mark of dis
honor, but simply a Confederate scar,
placed by the heavy hand of Government
upon a surrendered soldiery with unyio-
lated paroles in their pockets. You know,
and SO do all fair minded men, that as q
class, there nave been, since the surrender
of our arms, no citizen more observant
of their behests to society and the Gov
eminent, han Confederate soldiers, more
free from vice-none who have responded
more readily to our onerods taxation,
even without representation, and none
so full of hope and enterprise, even while
in our State, they were politically IN Vln-
cubs.
You saw the cloud, dark as itjwas, for
us, thar arose from the forty-frst Con-
gress, vet at least il had a '.silver lining"
and may we not expect that the next
Congress, with an increase of Demo-
cratic. element, and q softening OF Radi-
cal asperities, to dissipate its angry pre-
iudices and by legislation relieve the in
cumbrances, and place us on a footing of
equality in the race of lifep II you de-
sire 10 make Inls puDilcf you Will nOS uO
so until after the ensuing judicial cleo
ton, as / do not wish to say anything
that might seem to initiate against the
position of any candidate who may be
charged with having disabilities" upon
him. / feel most grateful to my friends
in West Tennessee for their preference
shown for me in this matter and espe-
cially to those in your city. Hoping for
harmong of action and that a better day
is dawning. / remain your friend, etc,
WIN. B. BATE
To the Editors of the Appeal:
In response to my friends here and
throughout this district who desired me
to become a candidate for a seat In the
forty-second Congress, / must say how
ever grateful it might have been to my
feelings to rave complied with their
wishes, existing laws that govern that
body make it my duty to decline.
And to those too partial friends who
presented my name AND advocated my
nomination to so responsible . position
permit me to return my thanks warm,
earnest and sincere, and to assure them
that their generous confidence and dis
interested friendship will be gratefully
cherished and remembered with the
brightest and most pleasant recollections
of my life. ~
To be the representative of this people
In the Congress of the United States, n
to be their choice, down-trodden n OPP
pressed and in chains as they have been,
bat always q gallant, patriotic and intel
ligent people, might well fill the Measure
of an honorable ambition.
The love which i bear to this grand
old Commonwealth is 10 dollhouse exotic
that withers with the first cold breath of
adversely, for it has been the home of my
ancestors for more than q century n
Ion0 hafora a star blazed in Our banner
that answered to the name of Tennessee.
The green sod of her generous soil which
thew pressed while living now rests light
ly and lovingly owe their ashes when
dead, and recreant would 1 prove to every
instinct of an honorable manhood and