The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1870-02-12


As for tins gentlemans political past.
| have before me an address issued by THE
! District Executive Committee to the Repub
| iican voters of the Eighth Cengressiona
| District Of Tennessee, and signed bv j. l.
| Chandler, Robert Medlin. J. w. Parriance
/ a. K. Davis and s. J. Ireland, and dated
/ Oct II, 1863 and this address publishes tc
the world the infamous political record oi
/ this man, that | gave in brief in my letter
and much of such infamy l did not give
| fdr lack OF space. Take, for example, his
/ support while in the Legislat ire Of Tennes
/ see, of Edmund Coopers bill, that sought
directly to reduce the colOred citizen to his
| former state Of bondage, and which the New
! York Tribune denounced as establishing q
system which ffered from slavery only in
/ degree. As Old Jerusalem is running on
sympathy, it would be we'll for the sympa-
| thlZers 70 look up this record and see how
far his pAstagrees with their present.
Then, in this address follows the charge
that, as member Of the Tennessee Legis
lature, he snld his vote and influence to the
Memphis Freighting Company, for twentye
five thousand dollars, paid in stock of that
| company, that was so in famous in its Illegal
monopoly that the people sustained the
courts in their destruction oft
The next charge | give in the language OF
the cor umittee
'Another plundering scheme. the verv
creature of Saith, has thus far been success
full NO such swindling project has, within
| our kno~ledge, ever before been devised
and put IL operation under the form of law
Of this or anY other State. We refer to the
Nonconpah Turnpike Company. The ori-
ginal charter was granted May 24, 1866, and
empowered the corporation to build bridge
and repair the levees across the Nonconnah
Greek and bottom, on three of the principal
roads leading into Memphis, and to charge
heavy tolls, the right extending to IL period
of twenty five years. By an amendment 10
the charter granted on the 4th Of March,
1867, power was given to tue company to
take and use dirt stone and timber within
sixty feet on each side from the center of
the road, without making any provision
" hatever for compensation to the owners for
property taken. The company, under this
charter obtained by Smith, has seized the
bridges over the Nonconnah on the Her
nando and Horn Lake road built BY Shelby
county, and its property, too, Just as much
as Is its Jail, and it Is levying toll of ten
cents on every foot passenger, and from,
twenty i've to seventy five cents on teams
crossing the bridges on either road. Thus,
the property of Shelby county is under a
color Of the law, seized by few of It's
citizens and made use Of to fleece the
community. Every poor negro passing
Nonconnah to or from Memphis, who
crosses on foot these bridges, buil6 by the
county, Is charged ten cents In one
instance, q negro wishing to cross the bridge
on the fernando road, and having no money
WIS refused permission. IN his anxiety to
cross the stream, he endeavored to ford it,
and perished IN the attempt. The right to
charge these tolls extend as we before
remarked, for a period of twenty five
years, before which time Memphis will
probably number over two hundred thousand
people, and the value OF the privilege, if not
declared unconstitutional, will be incalcul-
able as will he the burthen Of the public
For his services in securing this charter w.
J. Smith receives a gift IF one fourth of its
entire interest Does this look like equal
and exact justice to all men p
| have not the space nor the time to
follow this man through his infamous career,
from the gumdrops and peanuts of the
Grand Junction, to his appearance on the
floor of Congress, as a member elect from a
civilized community in Tennessee. There
is no step that Is not tainted with fraud, and
no act that has not been left with clear,
positive proof to sustain the charge of cor
raptiou. He entered the army to plumber,
and the Legislature to steal, and has used
one diligence in the prosecution Of both,
with no shame to restrain and no conscience
10 check him. | have not to d half, for there
are some charges too foul for my pen or
your paper
We owe it to our party, if not our coun-
try, to shake off such creatures How long
we can retain the confidence os the people
while crowding such creatures to the front
trusted agents, if not leaders, any one is
prepared to answer. 1t is degradation to
our Congress that, under shallow pretense
of loyalty, such members should be retained,
and we polute the war records of our gallant
soldiers when We permit such camp followers
to draw hOnOrs from them.
AMI here leave Old Jerusalem; and if
the Republican party in Congress can
sustain him l can stand It. But do not
want to hear any more of the cry Of wanton
cruelty and persecution.