Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-10-16
quarter Of a million Of dollars peran-


mum"
Does this fellow Prosser not know
that the special elections held in 1866
demonstrated the fact that the Demo-
Gratis had a majority of the registered
voters in the Statea So clear was it to
the Radical rulers that the Democrats
would get control of the State govern
ment under the first franchise law, that
they refused to allow Democrats who
were elected by good majorities to take
their seats in the Legislature, giving
the seats to Radicals who were ''elect-
ed'' by Brownlow's revision of the re-
turns, and then made haste to pass
second and more stringent franchise
law. By the application of this law,
thousands of Democrats who had reg
istered and voted IN 1866 and 1866,
were deprived of theright tovote forsev-
eral years, until the Supreme Court de-
cidedth illegality of their disfranchise-
ment 1t was by the most outrageous
exercise of arbitrary power that the
State Government was then kept in
the hands of the Radicals, such as no
Democratic Legislature and Governor
would dare to perpetrate. This decision
of a Republican Supreme Court, and a
fair and honest registration, gave the
Democrats a majority of voters, and
they were thus enabled to get control
of the State legitimately through the
ballot-box. This is what Prosser de- |
clares was In violation of law. Did
brazen impotence and utter disregard
of facts ever assert more? He de-
clares that 1.-THE interest on the State
debt was being regularly paid under
the Radical Administration. And yet
Brownlow had to take the school fund
to pay the last interest paid under his
administration, and had to fund the re-
mainder. Prosser says "a thorough
and efficient system of public schools
was being established" But he fails
to state the fact that in al Of Brown
lows administration, of nearly four
years, only about quarter of a mil
lion dollars was paid out for school
purposes, while 81 ,637 900 of this fund
was appropriated to other than the pur-
poses for which 1t was levied and col
lected. All this excess, together with
the school fund, was squandered in an
illegal manner. What a contrast does
the present Democratic administration
present in this single item Of schools,
the bold assertion OF Prosser to the
contrary notwithstanding. Prosser as
serts that ''the State debt is almost as
large as it was five years ago." and |
this he does in the face of the repeat
ed publication of late of the facts and |
figures showing that the debt has been
reduced nearly one-half by the present
Democratic administration. His last |
shot is at the penitentiary lease. Does
the fellow forget that under the Brown
low regime the penitentiary was
conducted at an expense Of
a quarter of a million dollars TO the
of the State, instead of be-
ing self-sustaining institution? The
reports of the Comptroller show that
the cost of the penitentiary up to Sep
TENDER 80, 1868, was S244, SIS. SO.
Whatever may be said about the lease
Of the penitentiary, it brings il some
revenue to the State, instead Of being a
heavy expense.
We know it is cruel to thus put poor
Prosserupon thespit androast him, but,
then, it may teach him to be more cir
and careful in his statements
hereafter. A man who would sit down
and deliberately concoct such an incen-
diary and unreliable a document as bears
the signature Of "a. S. Prosser, Chair
man," deserves palmer and more en-
phatic speech than we have INDUCED
toward him