Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-10-27
CIRCULAR.

| me TO see you all Ill person, L deem 1t pro
per to address you through the medium o
| this circular OH one or two questions which
my honorable competitor has raised in this
Senatorial contest, and which ought not tt
go unnoticed by me.
| The first, and most important one, is his
position on the school question. Col. Ed
| wards defines his position to be as follows
81 am in favor of liberal system of educa
ton, and to raise a school fund. / am
ain favor OF recovering, by process of law
from the purchasers, the sections of school
Gland, in this State, which were illegally
"sold under an unconstitutional act Of the
Legislature of the State of Tennessee"
"The proceeds of these lands, which were
intended for school purposes, have been
"lost to the children of the State by the
rascality of the Radical party; and now
" [ propose to recover the lands and hold
"them for school purposes"
Let us consider this proposition briefly.
Whether the act under which these lands
were sold, was, or was not, constitutional,
is a question which | shall not discuss.
But the people of the State through its Leg
islature which enacted the law, guaranteed
to the purchaser of these lands good and
sufficient title and relinquished and quit
claimed to the purchaser all the States in
terest therein. And they are, or the State
(the purchaser in the quiet and peaceable
enjoyment of his property, whether pur-
chased from her or private individual
Every principal of honor, good faith and
fair dealing demands it.
But, suppose the theory of my honorable
competitor is practicable, and that the law
authorizing the sale was unconstitutional.
If the State or the School Commissioners
of the several counties, shall institute legal
proceedings in behalf of the minor children
against all the purchasers of these lands and
recover them, what will follow as a neces-
sary consequence The State will be
called upon, and will be in duty bound to
refund to the purchaser the amount paid
by him. together with interest OH the same,
and the value of all improvements, which,
it is safe to say, will be far more than the
land is worth to-day
EveTY dollar which the State could real
iZe out of these lands. if recovered to her,
aCOuLd cost her tUO. Such a reckless pro-
ceeding, to say nothing of the injustice
done to the innocent purchaser by ruthless
ly turning him out of doors and out from
land which he bought from the State and
paid for, would be unworthy of an honor
able people whose high sense of justice and
fair dealing has become prOverbial,
The State could gain nothing by the pro-
ceeding, but OH the contrary, would lose
heavily, as every sensible man can readily
see, besides losing her honor and dignity by
thus trifling with the rights and interests
of the citizen. But there is one class of men
who would certainly gain by this raid
upon the vested rights of these innocent
purchasers. One suit aOdS brought before
the aUdr to recover a section of this land,
in Polk county, Tennessee, on which
valuable copper mine was discovered, and
my 70 for yT-oC n
prosecute the case. He prosecuted with
vigOr, and plead elOquently for the rights
and interests of the poor minor children
who had been robbed Of their 6irtb-rightS
10y the sale of these school lands. . He won
the case recovered the land for those poor
minor children, and ought to have been
well paid for his services. But what fee
do you think he charged those poor minor
children, many of them orphans, for his
services in that suit? Only the sum of
TWENTY THOUSAND DoLLARs-and he
has had lien declared OH the land to Sc
cure the payment of it. The rents from
the mine yearly, fail to pay even the inter-
est OIL this fee, and the poor minor chill
dren have received not one .fdrthing by this
suit! No wonder my honorable competi-
tor feels such deep interest in this subject.
If he could manage to bring few more
such suits and get his fee secured by lien
upon the property, the minor children of
the State would no doubt reap rich har-
vest (?) from his labors.
With regard to the sacred school fund,
which the Radical rascals" squandered,
there is this bit of history connected with
it which my honorable competitor never
relates in his speeches.
In 1861, the Union men of Bradley
county sent my honorable competitor to
the Legislature of Tennessee, to look after
their interests in the storm which they
saw was just bursting upon them.
He went to Nashville, took the oath and
was duly ensconced as 1.-THE member from
Bradley" in the lower house. When the
"BOys who wore the Blue" made their APP
pearance opposite Nashville, a vote was
ordered, in the house, to decide the ques-
ton, whether the assets of the Bank of
Tennessee, including this 'sacred shOOl
fund.-" over the loss of which my honora-
BILE competitor sheds such huge Crocodile
tears,u should be removed to q place of
safety.
The vote was taken and it was decided
TO remove them to the city of Memphis
and my honorable competitor voted to re
move the school fund with it.
The rebel Legislature found it uncom-
Portable to remain in such close proximity
to the "Boys who wore the Blue" and
COnCluu6u 10 lOllOW UhC oetClSsa
fund.- to Memphis This was done ION
double-quick, )" and my honorable competi-
tor would have won piles of Confederate
money in this race if any one had bet on
hinl-Gilpin speed was slow time III com,
parison. The next thing heard OF the
''sacred school fund.- was about the close
of the war. The Federal soldiers captur-
ed few thousand dollars Away down
South in Dixie" and it was brought to
Nashville, which, on-examination, proved
to be part of the assets of the Bank OF
Tennessee.
No one could tell what fund it was
Whether school fund, money of depoSitors
or what,-but Governor Brownlow declar-
ed it should be held as the remnant Of the
school fund, and the Legislature sustain
ed him in this view. This, then, is the
sacred school fund.- which my honora,
BILE competitor alleges the Radical
rascals squandered.n AS my honorable
competitor, assisted by his Uotc, in remov-
ing it from Nashville, the legal place OF de,