Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1872-09-25
THE PESITENTIARY LEASE.
Senator Gibson's Reply 10 Governor
l. Brown.
JACKsBoRo', TENN. Sept. 20, 1872.

|. Brown.
JACKsBoRo', Tenn, Sept. 20, 1872.
EDITORS CHRONICLE: / have just been
shown copy of the Nashville Union and
american containing report of Gov.
Browns speech at Lebanon, wherein His
Excellency does me the honor to refer to
my late Knoxville speech.
The Governor makes three assertions in
his speech:
1st. Governor Brown pronounces my
Charges "false in every particular
Cd. Governor Brown reads n note from
Thos. O'Conner, who says "NIr. Gibson
said to me that he believed that the lease
of the penitentary was the very best thing
for the State and that if it requires his
vote to pass the bill he would vote for it
but inasmuch rs he believed the bill would
certainly pass on its own merits, he would
simply vote against it, but would make no
| speech or do anything against it. He gave
as his reason that it would affect him To-
cally, as he had some constituents that
were miners"
Sd. Governor Brown says / have "the
effrontery to charge him and members of
the Legislature with secretly sacrificing
| the best interests of the State.n
| Now for the facts in reply to the Gov
| ernor.
| My first charge is that "this lease was
made with the utmost secrecy"
| Read the proof. / was n member of the
Senate Penitentiary Committee. The pro-
priety of making this lease was never COM
municated to me, or, rs L have reason to
| believe, to any other member of said COM
mittee except Mr.. Warren, the Chairman.
Mr.. Warren informed the committee that
| something important was up which the
| Governor would communicate to the Sem
ate in few days" Mr.. Warren intimated
that the Governor did not wish it known !;
and the balance of the committee were left
to guess what it was, and never did know
until the lease was signed and witnessed.
The lease was witnessed by Mr.. Warner,
chairman of the Senate Committee on the
Penitentiary and by ]. B, Heiskell the
Attorney General. And the Governor in
his message on the Penitentiary matters
says: ''That he conferred freely with the
| Chdirn1en of the Committees and regarded
them as rejecting the will of their respec.
tive Committees, as we'll as the desire oi
the two Houses" So you will see that the
Governor by his own words shows that he
"regarded" these two Chairmen as equa
to the 1.-TWO Houses" of the Legislature.
, Again: The publication of the lease tool
every body, outside of the Governors ring
with surprise; and the public at larg'
knew nothing about it, until the lease haC
been signed. 1t was openly charged il
the Nashville Banner at the time the leas,
: was first made known, that "as the lease o
the Penitentiary has been made so private
, ly, and an effort is being made to hurry it
ratification through the Legislature, W.
would respectfully request those who ar
, posted to inform us why so much privacy
, Why so much haste to ratify the contract
, Why not invite other proposals? Wh'
constitutes the ring? Who are the back
r ers? Has any bonds been paid or to b.
paid, to any person or persons, for their in
> fiuence?
Gov Brown never notified the publ
that the Penitentiary was to be leased, ant
, that bids would be received. If he did, j
, would have been much more effective t.
, have read the advertisement out of som
newspaper, than to have pronounced m!
''charge" "false in every particular" /
= is one thing to deny, but quite anothe
call on truthful men throughout the stat
to say if they knew anything about tn
Governor desiring to lease the Penitentiar,
until after the lease had been made.
@ Gov. Brown will submit this question t
a his audiences it is all / will ask. Beside
the foregoing proof that the lease was Sc
cretly made. I will refer the Governor +
the protest of Messrs. Speers. Eckle, Sam
sell, Padgett, Nowlin and Bean, thre
Democrats and three Republicans, on tn
House Journal, lst. Because there was n,
notice given to the public"
And yet in the face of all this, John
Brown denies that the lease was secretl,
made, and says the charge is "false ii
every Particular My second chdrgc /
. that "when the lease for $50, 600 gross wa
. finally presented to the Legislature, it wa
. rushed through in most unseemly haste
although other solvent parties offered SO,
900 more.n
Now for the proof. The lease was sen
to the Senate on Monday, Nov. Goth, ant
: referred to the Penitentiary Committee
On Tuesday, Nov. 2lst, the majority of tn
. Committee reported the lease for ratifica
ton. II presented a minority report, founC
below On the same Tuesday a resolution
to ratify was introduced by Mr.. Warren
3 The Senate Rules required that this reso
{ luton should lie on the table one day be
q fore being acted on. This rule was at onct
= suspended, and the resolution adopted
Gibson, Porter and Tolley voting no. Mr.
: Tolley moved to postpone the matter, this
; motion was summarily laid on the table
Another Senate Rule required the resolu
tion to be retained in the Senate during
two days of actual session to give Senators
t a chance to reconsider. But the Senate or
/. dered "that the resolution be immediately
: transmitted to the House." which wa!
done. On Monday the very day the LEASE
was sent TO the Senate, Mr.. Enloe, the
D House Chairman, introduced resolution
e into the House TO ratify the lease. The
rules of the House were suspended and the
resolution referred instanter. And thi!
was before the lease had been sent TO the
l House, thus showing concert of action be-
tween the two Chairmen,. .whom the Gov