The weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1869-18??, 1870-03-30
s CONDITION or lrrlIRs n rEsnrssEE.
The Reason. WY y, Sss; ssa,sr can. for


The Reasons why Gov. Senter calls for
Troops. i
OF HON. A. J. FLETCHER,
in the 0eurt Hosss at NdsRpills, on the
1eth day Of February, 1870,
Atan adjourned meeting, at the Court
House, at night, the Hon. A. j. Fletcher
addressed the assembly. ,.,s.zs as ..,s
He said :, That his relation to the pres.
sent meeting was certainly interesting. In the
first place, any speaker, addressing Re
publican audience in Tennessee, at this crisis, |
speaks, as it were, with halter around his |
neck, and with consciousness that the |
muzzle Of q pistol may be at his brain in q
few hours. But he, (the speaker incurred |
the additional hazard Of impeachment, cen
sure and arrest by the Legislature and the
so-called Constitutional Convention, now in |
session. As Secretary of State of Tennessee
these bodies had him completely in their |
power. They might depose him, they
might impeach him. they might ceusure
him, and they might libel him on their jour
nails, as he believed they would, and he had
no redress The Kuklux or Pale Faces,
might hang him as they had Barmore, or
shoot him as they had Senator Case. and a
thousand Others, but the Constitution Of
Tennessee guaranteed to him the freedom
of speech, and of the press and the right to
speak his mind on political questions and
he proposed To do, so long as that Constitu-
tion was in force, and so long as we had tue
form OF q free government. Be the conse-
quence to myself what they may, whether it
be deposition, impeachment, censure, or the
halter, / intend to arraign the present Leg
islature and Convention and the party In
power in Tennessee for usurpation, disloyal-
ty and oppression. The loss of an Office or
even of one life is small matter in com
parison with the great rights now endan-
| gered and, it may be, lost
What, sirs, have we witnessed 10 this city
| 10 the last few days Half dozen gentlemen
meet by accident They are Republicans.
| They talk over the condition of things in the
State They know that tho words and ac-
tons of Republicans are daily misrepresent-
ed and tortured by the press. They see
vast secret organization first known as Ku-
klux aud then Pale Faces, nightly riding
over the country in masks and shrouds,
butchering, in cold blood, at the hour of
midnight, the unofending citizens, and
| such acts either suppressed or grossly mis-
represented and directly or indirectly justi-
fed. They see a Legislature in session re-
pealing every law on the statute book that
may afford any protection to the loyal eiti
zens, and enacting just such laws as they
can or dare enact for their oppression. They
sec Convention, Calling itself Constitu-
tional Convention, assembled without au-
thority of law, laying it hands upon the
most sacred rights guaranteed to the citi-
zen. They see, in short, that the govern
ment of law has ceased and that brute force,
armed and masked, governs the State. One
| gentleman, an old and honored native of the
State, suggests that newspaper ought to
be started with the courage to lay these
things before the country, and another sug-
gests the Importance of organizing the Re-
| publicans of this State into party on great
national principles. and they separate with
an agreement to see other friends and in
| vite them to unite in an effort to effect these
results. Finally they agree to send out
circular letter, calling attention to these
facts and these necessities, and inviting Re.
publicans to meet at the Capital of the State
to confer together OF the subject of their
common welfare The circular letter was
written and signed by eighteen citizens,
printed and sent by mail to prominent Re
publicans in different parts of the State. 1t
is written, it is true, in plain and direct Ian.
guage, but no stronger than was usual with
the Wings and Democrats in similar pro-
ceedings in former days. 1t states, in brief,
that the crisis is alarming, that violence pre-
walls in many parts of the State, and that the
acts of the Legislature and Convention are
oppressive. Its design was to call an ordi-
nary political meetingfor ordinary and prac-
tical purposes, but it is true at an extraor
| binary crisis. No sooner was the circular
made public than than the attention of the
Legislature was called to it. Not, it is true
by member of any experience or weight Of
character, but, as might he expected, by the
busiest. most meddlesome and most ofiicious
of them all. Yet, sirs, proceedings were
commenced in the Legislature against those
4 who proposed to call the meeting and was
I voted for by the party in power almost unan
Il imously. Acommittee with power to send
I for persons and papers was raised and it wa!
IN Veclared inthe debate and in the newspaper
&tShst the Sergeant at arms should bring thess
81 apas ' her y fssissn.asg',
he proposed 7atl lzlllss5 !ezl 1unced a
I conspiracy, and state ofdt1an Who han
Il Signed the call were promised Impeachment
Itand deposition. The committee met in hot
haste, and, without q particle of evidence, a
proposition was made and seriously consid.
cred for the expulsion OF the twelve Repub.
lican members who had signed the circular
But it was thought best, though this expul-
sion was then apparentlya foregone conclu.
sion, to go through some form Of trial. II
was determined at one time to put eigh.
teen persons UNDER THE RULE, and send fol
them one at at a time and examine them Sc
cretly. But this Lilliputian Star-chambel
backed down from this and concluded only
to send the Sergeant at arms for them, one al
time. They selected for their first victim
member of the House that they thought they
could most easily embarrass and intimidate
The Sergeant at arms took him before the
committee. He begged them for counsel
He implored them for permission to send fo
witnesses to prove himself guiltless of offence
But, sirs, this august aud majestic commit
: tee were deaf to all these supplications.-
They parted his applications and excused
. themselves upon the false and hypocritica
} | ground that he was not on trial, but that b,
/; had arraigned the Legislature and that the,
were trying that august body. 1t was il
= vain that this plain and modest farmer refer
! ed to the Bill of Rights and to the liberty o
: speech and of the press. They were inexo
g rabe and demanded of him what right h
!. had tn make cbarges AGAINST the I.eo;sia tur
; of Tenncssee '-''1' '-'' '''A'A'
, But I will saw no more now of these nro
ceed;nos Ne Ieynec, 70 no ,oLeu hsf,ro hi III;
, comm;ftee mvseIf Vet 7 will cav 80, = wnr ~,
80 e. 80 VI
consn;racp Of mvssif w;sh ' :" aA .a ~, i h.,
Gt.Id ~ 80. 40 l;,S."i w Soy ~
t;na pannb1;o.o &c, ne ~. sH.. = J
adyocata ths rsmova, of 81, J;sah;I;.;as &C.
tbose who had toten n.rt in the rahel,;o o
Rnt 7 did NOT tb;nt !. pecessar;IS fo,loxa,
that Ihad 70 io;n tba rebel ne1ocrat;c =,
! NV -'O -''' '' "''' -