Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-03

laws. When all these classes are exempted
who is to pay? Are common people 4
pay their own taxes and those of the priv
legged class also Instead of extending tht
system, let us break it up altogether, ant
subject all property to equal taxation.
OPPKEssLNG THE sOUTH-A TER
RIFLE ARRAIGNMENT.
The Hon. d. w. Voorhees,, Of Indiana,
made speech in the House of Represents
tives on the 23d Of March, in which he an
raigned in a terrible manner the Radicals
and The Grant administration for their OPP
pressiVe measures toward the South! lie
declared that the condition ofmany of tie
States of this Union excites the mingled
pity and indignation Of the civilized world;
that they are the theme OF sSrrowful and
bitter comment wherever the channels Of
human intelligence penetrate; and that they
engage the attention Of all the departments
Of the government. He then proceeds
Executive pfOclanations spread evil It'd
ings about them, and huri every principe
of their liberties, every m nimeut of Their
slfety 10 the ground. Congress enacls
laws against them which utterly destroy
every vesiig e Of freedom, and forge and
rivet on their helpless limbs Tie ietters OF
deSpOtsm. IL also sends forth IFS power
FIJI missionaries Of mischief in the form o!
committees, backed by the money and the
power Of the Government, whose abors
are 10 blacken the character and fame OF
their people under The guSe of official in
vtsligatiOnS and official reports. The head
of the Department of Justice, the late At
torney &c. .eral, he who led his people into
the war and then returned 10 plague and lay
waste the heaTth-stOn of his followers,
superintendent in person the inquisition
and the torture inflicted upon the descend
ants of those who fought in the battles
of the Revolution. The Army Of the
United States in time Of profound peace
is launched lie a bolt of destruction into
their midst. Ii is engaged in Selling, with
out sworn charge or warrant Of law, the
youth, the middle-aged, and the gray-haiFcd
graIflsireS, in the sanctuary Of American
homes, and driving them like herded beasts
into crowded prisons. The odious service
of Clayerhouse, kirke, and Dundee, IN the
bloody expressions of Scotland, which gave
theirnames more than hundred wears ago
l.
is being repeated hourly on American soil.
And the President himself, in his recent
message, prepared, as lac says, I'm haste, as
if he had affairs of greater importance 10
engage his attention, yet found time to give
his sanction 70 all this and TO add his malig-
nant mite to the general arragumeHt and
accusation
And so Mr.. VOORHEES, proceeded 10 ar
raign the Radicals, charging that they have
filled one-third of this Republic with all the
curses and calamities ever recorded in the
annals of the worst governments known Oh
the pages of history; that since peace came,
seven years ago, they have poured upon the
unresisting and helpless South the floods OF
disorder, corruption, bankruptcy, crime, OPP
preston and ruin. When, said NJ. Vor-
hees, the mighty Nazarene made his brief
but sOrrowful sojourn upon earth, he point
ed out the means by which the spurious
pretentiOn of false, corrupt and plunlering
leaders of the people shall always be ie-
termined
"'Ye shall know them 10y their fruits. DO
men gather grapes OF thOrns, OF figs OF thistles?
Gwen so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit
"Let this Interchangeable standard Oftruth,
established by the physical and the moral
sciences, and sanctioned by the voice Of Di-
vinity, be applied to the party now in pow
er, and 10 its unbridled and unreslraiuGd
dealings with the people and the States OF
the South. Who has planted and nurtured
q, -
there? We have heard endless speech here
and everywhere in regard to the fruits Of the
war. By whose wicked devices have they
been turned into apples Of SOdom and of
the Dead Sea, and been made 10 mock the
hopes and the expectations of the aux-
ious beholder? by whose conduct and
policies has every blessing Of free govern
men been scoW ged from a face of couu-
try containing over twelve million people
and larger in extent than many of the fore
most Powers Of Europe? | call upon the
majority in this House TO answer. Have
you not had all power from the beginning
Of what you cali reconstruction over that
subject las there been anything wanting
to your absolute authority? What has
stood in the way Of your wishes, your par
iisan plans, your lswless ianaticisnl? The
Constitution has been no restraint upon
your actions. IL has been Jramped under
foot, dwarfed into a dead letter, or widencd
and extended by fraudulent amendments,
according as the INSCRIPTIONS purposes of
apOwerful party would ba best promoted"
Mr.. Voorhees, then rem INDEED The Radicals
how they rode roughshod over the Consti-
tuition. No law, however revolutionary,
barbarOus and destructive, was ever found
by their construction TO be in conflict with
its provisions, if it was demanded by the
interests Of their party. lie also reminded
them how they controlled Presidents. When
one of their own election rose up and stub
bornly confronted them with their own
precedents and solemn cOmmiltals in rr-
gard to the inviolable existence Of States,
and their perpetual right Of representation,
they sought his overthrow and ruin with a
fury and hate until then unknown in the
history Of legislative bodies. While they
barely failed 10 hml Kim from his place,
they were completely successful in render
ing him pOwerless 10 execute his policy or
TO prevent them from executing theirs. The
House of Representatives was puraed in a
memorable way, in order that the Radicals
might have the two-thirds majority with
which to pass Unconstitutional laws over
Presidential vetoes. EXpusions Of mombers
took place under the thin and fimsv sllise
of contested elections, until the minority
was sufficiently depleted and the Radicals
became paramount over the Executive and
absorbed all his official functions. Law.
less legislation then broke loose upon him
by which he was bound hand and foot, and
made as powerless as a manacled prisoner
in the depths Of dungeon. Continuing
this terrible excoriation, Mr. VOORHEES,
charged that Federal patronage, with its
immense and coTupting influences, has
been used in this work of oppression with