Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1871-10-21
inaugural Address of Gen. Johs
&. brown.

uaEural A0uFess o. Oens JonA
e. Brown.
Fellow citizens Of the Senate and Of the
House Of Representatives:
The proud Commonwealth, whose
affairs have been called to admin
lister by the voice of unrestricted
suffrage, boasts in her history the
names of Executive officers so emil
nent and illustrious that can prom
Use only to initiate their virtues and
emulate their fidelity.
Did not see around inc so many
of a coordinate branch of the Gov
ernment, whose antecedents and
whose intelligence give ample as
surance of hearty cooperation in
all measures calculated 10 advance
the prosperity of the State, shonId
despair of being equal to the emer-
geney.
The responsibility 1 am about as
suming is much enhanced by the
financial endorsements of the
State and the impoverished cOndi-
tion of her people.
The termination of hostilities
found the civil government of Ten
nessee in the hands of a meager mi-
nOrity. The ballot was denied to
freemen; suffrage was extended
merely as venal consideration in
exchange for partisan fealty, with
out regard to the anfecedents OF the
voter. Military power, at an enor-
nous cost, perpetuated this outrage
upon liberty and hushed the popular
voice. The public debt, in the short
/ period of four years, sWelled- from
I sixteen to forty-two millions of
dollars. Violent partisans, aided by
swarm of nomadic adventures,
/ squandered the revenue unjnstly
! extorted from a captive people,
prostrated our credit in the money
| markets of the world, and inaugu-
rated a carnival of crime unheard
of in the annals of the State, for
/ which they, and not we, are respon-
sible.
/ The seeptre at length passed from
their hands, and peace again reigned
over blighted country. Two years
1 of conservative legislation and wise
administration have done much 10
restore confidence and repair
wrongs.
Much more yet remains to be done
Among the Ifost pressing and i'm.
pOrtant of our duties to be discharg.
ed under circumstances of peculiar
difficulty is to preserve the good
faith of our State by placing heI
credit upon a permanent basis, and
at the same time relieve IL possible
the burdens of taxation. If we ear
inaugurate a policy by which these
most desirable ends can be attained
we viii preserve the honor of the
State and confer upon the people /
blessing that viii secure to ms iheil
. lasting gratitude.
/ believe il can be done. Wisdom
:. in counsel and bOldness in actor
r will accomplish il. Heedless alik,
of the clamors of creditors and tn,
I willy opportunities of SPECTATORS
let us keep steadily in view the in
tegrity of the State on the one hand
, and on the other the prosperity O
, our people, thereby replacing Ten
nessee in her true position on thu
; roll of States, and giving her a new
impetus in a career of glory tina
: will attract hither capital and labo
= to develop her many and varied re
/ sources. Thus in the early future
! she may become, as she ought to be
: the great State of the American sis
a terhood.
A The new Constitution undo
I which you have been elected and OF
ganized, with whatever of good O
evil it contains, was overwhelming
d ~ adapted by the people. The pei
{ nicous tendency of the times to ceI
tralize all power in the legislativ
d department induced the trainers {
r that instrument among other thing
TO eurtail and limit many OF Ii