Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-05-11
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ducts SO reduced that honest la
Dor is denied its just reward, ant
industry is prostrated by invidi
Ious determinations a. f
Nearly 200, 100000, acres of
public lands which should have
!, been reserved for the benefit of
the, people, have been voted away
, to grants and corporations, neg
lecting our soldiers and enrichine
"a handful of greedy spectators
and lobbyists, who are thereby
enabled to exercise a most dan.
gerous and corrupting influence
in our State and Federal legisla.
tion. If the career of those con.
spirators be not checked, the
! downfall of free government is
! inevitable, and with the elevation
!. of d military dictator on the ruins
/ of the republic. Under pretense
of passing laws to enforce the
Fifteenth Amendment and for
other purposes, Congress has con,
ferred the most despotic powers
npon the Executive: and provided
an official machinery by which the
liberties of the people are men.
aced and the sacred right of local
self-government in the States is
ignored, if not tyranically over
thrown, laws so ,odious that they
are at variance with all the sa-
cred theories Of our institutions.
The construction given by these
Radical interpreters of the Fif-
teenth Amendment, to use the
language of an eminent Senator
[Trumbull, of Illinois, is the an
Inhalation Of the States. Under
the last enforcement bill the Exec
tive may, in his discretion, thrust
aside the Government of any
State, suspended the writ of ha-
beas corpus, arrest its Governor,
imprison or disperse the Legisla-
ture, silence its judges and tram
pie down its people under the
armed heel of the troops. Moth.
ing is left to the citizens of a State
whichscan any longer be called a
right. iaH Il
Our hopes for redress are in the
calm good sense and sober second
thought Of the American people.
We call upon them to be true to
be true to themselves and to their
posts, and disregarding party
names and minor differences, to in.
sist on decent equalization of pow
er, the restoration of the Federal
authority within Its just and
proper limits,leaving to the States
that control Of their domestic af-
fairs, which is essential to their
happiness, tranquility and good
government, Everything that
malicious ingenuity could suggest
has been done to irritate the peo-
pie OF the Middle and Southern
States. Gross and exaggerated
charges of disorder and violence
owe their iorigin to the mischiev-
GUS minds of the political mana.
gers in the Senate and House of
Representatives, to which the Ex-
ecutive has, we are sorry to say,
lent his aid, and these have helped
to infalne popular feeling. In all
this course of hostile legislation
and harsh resentment no word of
conciliation, of kind encourage
ment or fraternal fellowship has
ever been spoken by the Pcesi-
pent or by Congress to the people
of the Southern States. They
have been addressed only in the
language of prescription.
We earnestly entreat our fel-
low.citizens in all parts of the
Union to spare no effort to main
tain peace and order, to carefully
protect the rights of every citi-
zen, TO preserve kindly relations
among all men and to discounte-
nance and discourage any viola
ton. of theprights Of any portion
of the people secured under the
Constitution or any of its amend
ments. aS ,ags.n2lsaaT
Let us in conclusion earnestly
beg of you not to aid the present
attempts Of the Radical partizans
to stir uplstrife, in the land, to re-
new the issues of the war, or to
obstruct the .Ieturntof peace and
prosperity to the Southern States,
because it is thus that they seek
to divert the attention of the cOun-
try from the corruption and ex-
travagance of their administration
of public Offices, and the danger
GUS and profigate attempts they
are making toward the creation of
a centralized military government.
In the five yearsaof peace follow
ling the war, the Radical admins
Itration have expended 81, ,200,0 ,000,-
600 for ordinary expenses alone,
being within $500, 900. 900 of the