Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-05
DEAD ISSUES
Letter from Gen. r. P. Blair on TIE Issues
Of the Day-S0uHd Demo-
cratic Sentiments.
Ne Fav0rs the Complete Overthrow of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments
aHd the VaIiOus Laws Enacted
for Their enforcement.

WASHINGTON CITY, March Is, 1871.
NJ. NJ. Cooke, Bsq., Editor of the Mont
gomery Mail:
Dear Sir-YOurs Of the II inst. has
lust been received. 1 am hattered by
your request that I should endeavOr
| TO compose the "dead issue" cOntrO-
versy among our friends in the South,
and I might be tempted to prOffer my
/ advice to them if l thought it would
be effective. But our people don't
/ like to be GdUiSed. They prefer dis
cussiOn and to form their opinions on
public questions by that process. /
have contributed in that way, and
shall continue to do so to the utmost
of my ability. y
In my Judgment the actual issue Of
the campaign is the broad one wheth-
er we have, or are to have, a
Federal Union on a cOnstitu-
tiOnal basis, or an absolute gov
eminent, with power in the hands
Of those who possess it to prOlOng its
| OWne existence indefinitely. This draws
in review the past and continuing pro-
cess by which the arbitrary govern
ment of to-day has been established
and is to be maintained, and the e
construction acts and the amendments
must necessarily figure in this review;
but the question OF whether they went
through the forms that entitle them to
be put on the statute books is really
an immaterial one. ItdOes not change
the argument a particle whether the
forms were complied with or not, and
il does not affect "a ability to put the
government in the hands of the peO-
pie, if we carry the election, whether
they are valid or invalid.
The manner in which these amend
ments were adopted, and the still
more significant measures passed and
proposed for their enforcement, ought
to satisfy men of all sections and par
ties that liberty itself is at stake in
the coming conflict. No thoughtful
observer of the present aspect Of pub.
lie affairs, who does not from timidity
Wilfully shut his eyes to the cOnclus-
ions of his reason, can doubt that
those who, to grasp power, have sub
verted the organic law, in dafance Of
the known viii of the people, will
fail to adopt any other measures Of
fraud or violence which may be found
necessary to maintain them in the
possession OF it, and that our only Sc
curity against new and greater viO-
lence than has heretofore been prac-
tiCed is by the timely awakening Of
the people TO the real dangers which
surround them, so that a spirit may
be aroused which will OveraWe and
disarm those daring enemies. Not to
see, or to affect to see, this danger,
and to engage the public mind in the
discussion of economic and civil
service measures, and to be
little the iron man who so lately
brought that Senate to his feet which
had his predecessor pleading at the
bar, is TO cry "peaCe when there is no
peace" and so contribute to betray
the country. If our friends would
unite in an earnest effort to arouse the
country, all will be well, and to this
end it Is only necessary to let the peO-
pie see what the real issue is. Nor
have 1 any fears that they will fail to
see it. They already see it, in spite
Of the mistaken efforts of some of our
friends, who counsel what they think
is policy, as if it was a matter of con-
ventiOn among the public men what
the issues should be and not a matter
Of fact, which they cannot control any
more than they ear the advent of the
seasons. They may not see it so plain
~, either because they do not observe
with sufficient attention, or because
they shrink from it from f%eebleness
and apprehension. Let US 90 to the
people, fairly and boldly, and invoke
their Judgment upon the record Radi-
Calism has made for itself. All the
COntrivances by which the Radicals
have sought to trammel the people
and iOrtify themselves in power can
thus be efiectually swept away.
The differences among our friends |
TO which you refer r not serious. |
They arise, / believe, chiefly from the
mistaken idea that those who con-
tinUe to assal reconstruction and the
amendments tOabOlish negrOsuffrage. |
This is not the object, and it is a very
inadequate view of the subject. This
suffrage really depends very little on
the amendments, because, among
other things, it has not accomplished
the object of those who imposed it
(Which was to give them the control
Of the SOuth), and they have begun
AACAI5clNSo alItdAg 70 Win
it in the District of Columbia, where
it was first started; but the States
have adopted it do not propose
TO revoke il, and will not, 1 am conf
dent, unless, after a fair trial, it is
shown 10 be necessary for a good gov
eminent. The Fifteenth amendment
will, in this event, be easily disposed
II, for the Radicals, who have already
leased to have a motive to maintain
viii have ceased to can't on the sub
ect.
It is not, therefore, to get rid of ne
gro suffrage that we continue to assaiI
and refuse to acquiesce in usurpations
by which the governments of the peo-
pie have been and will continue to be
wrested from them. The contest is
not to take away suffrage from the ne
grOes, but to preserve that wise distri-
button Of the powers of the govern
ment without which all suffrage is but
. mOckery, and to prevent that con-
troll by the national functionaries
is sure to create imperialism,
and viii inevitably degrade, impov-
erlsn and enslave the tOiling masses.
Yours, truly, FRANK 2. BLAIR