Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-04

u kn6 NOiullO VI iuCfeaecu luucDt6uut 90
and increased taxes put upon these people,
and answerme, if it is at all wonderful that
corrupt government should be impeached,
that these people should be FESTIVE at the
call of the tax gatherer2 Think for
moment of the condition of your Ameri-
can white brother, disarmed, lorded over
by the ignorant, thriftless black, who, the
slave and tool of miserable tricksters and
plunderers, yet flaunts his freedom in that
brothers. face. Can you wonder that his
blood will occasionally outrun his judg-
ment?
But, sir, while these outrages upon the
white men of the South, upon civiliza-
ton, ay, upon humanity itself, have been
VIGOROUSLY and persistently perpetrated,
and while out of them may have grown
what by some was deemed a necessity, to
wit, an organization or organizations,
secret, yet l am here to say that / do not
excuse crime or become its defender, no
matter in what name or for what cause
perpetrated. And l am here to say that,
from information and belief, these So
cieties were personal, not political; were
deemed a necessity for the protection of
the life, property, and honor of the white
race against the armed, organized bands
or leagues of the negroes; armed and or
ganized by appeals to the worst passions
of the negro, whose hatred
was attempted to be aroused against
the white man, and by those whose
motives alone was plumber, and who to-
day are in the sight of God the response
bic authors of all the mischief flowing
from secret societies or combinations in
the South, and who to-day seek to fur
Their their plunderiDg schemes under the
sanction of the General Government.
But, sir, no secret political society ever
received my sanction. l have said on
more than one occasion, and in fact at all
times and under all circumstances, they
were wrong in principle, and more likely
to produce evil than good. / have said
to my people that the security of the
weak, the humble and the unfortunate, az
well as the honest and virtuOus, was in
the Openness of the administration of
law; that it was their only safety and pro
lection, and so believe; and go does the
great body of the people whom l repre-
sent.
Much of the complaint that comes
from the South is, in the causes which
produce it, akin to similar complaints
which come from California and Massa-
chusetts, as to the Chinese, 10 wit COM
petition in the fields of labor. This char
acter OfcOmplaint is not local or peculiar
to the South or to this day; you find it in
times past and to-day in the labor and
cooperative unions existing throughout
the whole country. Surely, sir, while
you and l agree that every citizen within
the limit of the United States of right may
contract to work where and when he
pleases, at his own fixed value of his
labor, and may and do condemn any in
reference with his right and unite in say
ing it ought 10 be punished, yet we can
not withhold our sympathy from the
man who says his Interference is dictated
by the hungeTed cries of his children for
bread. ... ....s.
have but glanced at the picture as it
exists in the South. l would, sir, that
before action had been taken upon the
representations which ! know do that
people most gIievous wrong and injustice,
an inquiry, impartial and fair, had been
made. Justice, l fain believe, would
have been done. You would have seen,
sir, how grossly they have been slandered
and how maliciOusly they have been mis-
reported; how mountains have been made
of mole-hills; how giants and heroes
have been manufactured out of dwarfs
and sneaks You would have seen, by
the removal of the skin, the ass; but be-
You'd all that you would have seen what
to you would have been a most con
elusive answer to these libels upon States,
Commonwealth, and people; and
as your eye took in the full
measure of the picture your heart
would have swollen with exultant pride,
and your judgment and patriotism would
have paid a tribute in their wonder and
satisfaction at the convincing evidences
of the devotion Of this people to law and
order, presented in their repaired and
new built railroads, in their increased
manufactures, in their flOurishing high
schools, in their luxuriant and rich yield
ing crops, in their growing cities and
towns, in their improved farms, and in
their increase of population. Sir, look al
these cireumstantial witnesses, whose tes-
timony Outweighs a thousand such as
malice and disappointment have sped to
,-orrr naDifol.