Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-12-20
TENNEssEEs TAMMANY."

1t is very easy to make charges, but spe-
cifications are more difficult, as the editor
of the Press and Herald finds, upon re-
Election. More than week ago, he wrote
very fluently about Tennessee's De-
throned but Restless Tammany,n and, in
his own estimation, convicted the Repub-
lican party of all the thieving and rascal
ity of which Tennessee has been the un-
fortunate victim within the last ten years.
We called upon him to mention the names
of some of the bond-thieves who have
t1ourished since 1865, when the State Gov
eminent was first recognized at the close
of the Democratic rebellion. He fails to
name them. Notwithstanding he makes
charges with such apparent ease, he is very
slow to specify. The editor inquestion will
probably remember that the greater por-
ton of the State debt which has been
accumulated since the war, was the re-
suit of the passage of certain bills
known as the omnibus bills. We have no
recollection that the honest editor of that
painfully honest journal ever lifted up his
voice against the passage of these bills.
On the contrary, We have a distinct recol-
lection that the Press and I{erhLd exulted
over their passage. 1t was hailed as a good
omen for the future of East Tennessee;
and 80 it would have been, had the munifi-
cent aid thus granted by the State boon
honestly applied to the purposes for which
it was intended.
The Press and Herald neper opDosed the
issuance of these bonds, and therefore, we
must take it for granted that this honest
editor thought then, that there was moth
ing wrong in issuing them. ThewhoIe
wrong must therefore consist in the manner
they were used, If they were stolen or
corruptly misapplied, the parties to whom
they were issued must have done it. Are
they Republicans or are they Democrats
How is it about this "Tammanyn in Ten
nessee? If we have had 'fTammany,n
and we certainly have, who are I'm The
ring?" Settle the matter by giving
names.
We say that the rebels are responsible
for the greater portion of our financial
trouble IN Tennessee, and, for proof, point
TO the TACT that, previous TO the war we
were in prosperous condition. Our taxes
were not high, our State debt was not
large. But they forced the State into re-
bellion. Our territory became a battle
held. Hostile armies subsisted upon our
soil and destroyed our substance. The
machinery Of our State government ceased
to perform its functions, and because of its
itinerant character, became hiss and by
word among honest men. In the absence
OF any provision for its payment, the in
terest on our State debt accumulated. Our
State Bank was robbed of its assets to feed
SnO9O VIZ "ele usurplnS the powers OF
State officers. This accounts for the
greater portion of our financial
trouble. Since the war the State has
loaned its credit to building internal inn
provements, and its bonds have been sto-
len or misappropriated This is the only
point upon which there can be any con-
troversy. This can be settled by giving TO
the public the names of those who got the
bonds. This is the only way to settle the
question as to who are entitled to the Dem
ocratic prefix Of Tammany."
II has been demonstrated beyond the