Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-04-16
NOT "a WHITENING REBUKE."

ering rebuken to the signers. We cannot
suffer the construction to pass uncontra-
dicted. We did not wish to have our ar
ticle SO understood, and do not. propose
that it shall be. The whole matter lies I'M
nutshell. Fifty or more Republicans
sent to Washington memorial represent
ingto Congress the condition of the "Union
: people of Tennessee" They allege "a GER
tain state of affairs to exist They sign it
as residents of East Tennessee. A person
living here or in Ohio, eognizant of the
fact we have never had any Kuklux in
East tennessee, would at once understand
that the memorial had no reference to our
section. If, in addition to this, he knew
the high character and position of the
signers he would be certain they could not
: mean East Tennessee, for the facts could
not be made applicable. But to persons in
the North who did not know of our tram
guilty the memorial would in most cases
$ gfvea wrong impression. Toour thousands
of readers who had repeatedly read in our
columns the declaration earnestly impress
ed that we were as orderly and peacable a
peopleas existed anywhere, and to hundreds
who intend to come here, the memorial
might seem to conflict with US. To prevent
such construction or any possible damage
that might follow a false construction, and
knowing very well the .'spirit and inten-
ton" with which it was signed, as friends
of the memorialists, we felt called upon
to make statement explaining that Gin
tent. This we did. In it we gave it as
our opinion that contradiction of the
construction the opposition placed upon it
ought to be made. At that time we had
not seen or readthe explanation of DR.. Jas.
i Rodgers or of Messrs. Ross, Stacy and
others. The latter explanation was not
received at our office until after II o'clock,
"Wednesday night, several hours after our
article was in type. 1t was such contra
dictiOns, as they made, we thought due
from the memorialists. The Esprit and
intention" of the signers being now under
stood, the base intentions, so cowardly and
unnecessarily charged upon them re-
futed, we think the whole subject ought to
be dropped. The memorial has not been
published abroad, and therefore all the
wild, extrayagant cries about injuring inn
migration, $50 ridiculous and insincere on
the part of some who put it forth are un-
founded.
The pretended indignation with which
some of our people meet the charge of ku-
klux outrages is simply amusing. No sane
man dare deny that kuklux outrages have
occurred in Middle and West Tennessee.
No man recalling the bitter partisan spirit
of our last Legislature, the decisions of our
Supreme Court legalizing the rebellion
decisions against which we protested at
the time-and the stories of lawlessness
which have so often appeared in even
Democratic papers, can deny that loyal
men in those sections need protection. We
are glad they are now to have it in the new
kuklux bill of Congress. We think they
ought to have had it long ago, and we be-
lieve if Congress had enforced the Four
teenth Amendment in Tennessee, and else
where, we would have had less of lawless-
ness and crime.
We are glad the Wig and Register has
given US this opportunity of contradicting
such a construction of our position. Our
aim was to put the memorial " in the sense
it was intended, ,, to give it the construc-
ton the signers themselves give it. We
are often called upon to differ with our
friends either in their views or, as in this
case, with the manner they are put forth.
In all such cases we exercise only the
privilege every man reserves to himself,
and when called upon to do so will do it
frankly, in the spirit of kindness, not to
provoke discussions or to encourage our
enemies.
OCCASIONALLY we find a democratic
paper like the COuricr-Journat, of Ken
lucky, honest enough to admit that there
is such an organization as the kuklux Khan.
and that its fiendish work has become so
alarming as to endanger the actual peace
of the State. That paper, as our readers
will remember, implored the legislature of, |
the State to take vigorous steps to remedy |
the evil, and assailed it vigorously for fail
ing to do sc when the necessity was evil
dent.
We find another democratic paper in |
Georgia honest enough to speak out. The
Defender, published at Newman, in late
issue says: T
We regret to hear that this organization is
again becoming active. There is neither neces-
sity, wisdom, justice nor patriotism in any ae-
ton which has been reported in regard to them,
and we feel assured that the great mass of the |
people of Georgia condemn such conduct. In
stead of proving beneficial to the State, it is do
ing much to bring upon her citizens the severest
restraints Of military power, and to defer the
longed for period Of full restoration to the
blessings of civil government, This must. be
patent to every rational man and none but
those who for personal qualification would
leopard public peace and public liberty viii en-
gage in these midnight movements against the
peaceful. the transporting and the defenceless.
process of reconstruction, and such violations
of individual rights as are now alleged against