Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-27

out of his own eye, that be may wee
clearly to cast the mote out OF his BROTH
er's eye.
1t is not to be wondered at, MIR. Speak
er. that men like those have described,
men who are loaded with crime added to
perjury-I say it Is 70 wonder, sir, that
such men should have those horrible Ku-
Klux visions, when their conscious crimes
are eating out their very vitals. do not
wonder, sir, that they cry night and day
for help to put down the horrible ghosts
of their murdered victims. There is
nothing truer in Holy Writ than that the
murderer, the thief, the robber flee when
no man pursueth. Hundreds of Union
men and Federal soldiers live IN Tennes-
see that have never been insulted bya
Rebel soldier. We mix together there
daily, and in all peace and good will.
Each honest and faithful soldier always
loves the other, whether he be on the one
side or the other, and it is perfectly
natural that he should do 80.
A few words more, Mr.. Speaker, and
am done. | want to ask the gentle
men on the other side, upon what evil
dence is the President to act as to when
he shall declare martial law in State or
part of State2 Is he to act upon the
testimony of one man, two men, or ten
men, or must the testimony come from
some responsible oficerQ These regard
as important questions, and as the bill
does not fix it l think they ought ID be
carefully considered. Suppose, sir, some
thief OF scalawag comes to Washington
and reports outrages in some State, coun.
ty, town, OF parish, and upon that testi-
mony the President declares the State or
neighborhood under martial law, and
whole community lose their liberty upon
the testimony of few perjured thieves,
are you, as the Representatives of free
people, willing to go before the country
with such record as this, and ask an
honest people to sustain you in the year
1922
Now, Mr.. Speaker, before close my
remarks it might be proper for me to al
lude to that class of men known as
carpet-baggers in the South, as it is
through them that most of these Ku-KluX
reports come; and as ! have already
spoken of them, it will only be necessary
at present for me to give the character of
one now in the United States Senate from
the State of Mississippi. l shall only
speak of him as specimen of the men
forced upon the Southern people to mis-
represent, SANDER, and insult them, Hon.
Adelbert Ames, who is holding a seat in
the United States Senate under certif-
cate of election signed by himself but l
will content myself with reading an arti-
Gle published in the Vicksburg Herald,
as follows:
''The shoulder-strap puppy and pol
troon, Adelbert Ames, who spoke
piece in the Senate last Tuesday, is
more censuamate liar and fool than we
ever gave him credit for. We knew him
10 be happy combination, admirably
of the knave and the fool We
knew that he had no regard for the truth,
decency, or honor; we knew that he was
a poor, political coward, who wears q
brevet that his courage never won, and
that he was entirely destitute of princi-
pie; but we did not suppose that the i'm
pudence and vanity of the poor creature
would ever betrsy him into such jun
bic of folly, falsehood, and stupidity as is
exhibited in that speech of his.n
Now, sir, do not vouch for the truth
of the statement, but think, where so
much is said in the newspapers and not
disputed by the honorable Senator him.
self, that the country might begin to look
about for men who stood higher in their
own estimation, as well as in the estima-
ton of the public press, to represent the
people of great State in the American
Senate, a position fit to honor the man if
he were but fit to honor it.