The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-06-19
RANDALE.'S RIVER AGAIN
Reply to RIac8bI4rn's lard.


To the Editors Of the Herald and Mail:
In answer to Mr.. Blackburn card
your correspondents wish to say that they
had no intention to injure his or any 9TH
Their person character by giving a con-
densed statement of what was done and
said at Lots Chapel on the night of goth
Of May. If the tact that he attended that
night meeting with colored, mixad am,
Republican cand'd@:.tces has injured his
prospects of election, che cannot shake
his CORY locks at US and say that we did
it. He made his own bed and must lie
IN 1t, lie says that 1t was not a league
meeting Of course no one ever believed
it to be regular meeting of the Loyal
League. We didn't mean to make him
mad by saying he went to league meet
ing, and will allow him to christen the
concern as he chooses. "A rose by any
other name" etc.
him defend himself against charges pre-
ferred against him by the Lock Box can
didates.' We hope his audience, and
particularly Albert, Balaau, Arch and
the Major, were at.sfed that any charges
preferred against the only honest Comp
troller Tennessee has ever had, and the
only thoroughly truthful man who has
lived since the dark days of 76," were
utterly groundless.
The thee candidates heard of the
meeting-anHiong them Latta and Whit
tnorne.1 True, but the Kernels "mPssen-
ger" didn't let us know OF II. Perhaps the
coIored candidates for RegIst~- AVID ,r,,s
tee ana the '-u'r -. candidate for Collec
torr, and the 'Indepeudent" candidate for
Circuit Court Clerk, wanted to defend
themselves against charges preferred,
etc" Well, somebody forgot to prefer
charges against US on Randall's river
but have done good deal of that sort of
thing since we were there.
Blackburn first charges US with listen
ing through wall Really he fatters
himself too much. We would have been
glad to have heard him make his de
fense' under the impression that no
white men were present; but we were I'M
willing to act eaves-dropper, even to show
up hundred such candidates as Mr..
Blackburn. He then charges us with
misrepresenting BALKAN in saying that
he announced himself for social equality.
Blackburn first called Balaam s attention
ed Why should BALKAN be 'misrepre-
SGuItu VIZ ludI pOAIII. w Ill uG IOSG any
colored friends by saying so, or will he
make any white ones? Blackburn and the
"Independent' candidate for Circuit
Court Clerk are the only men who decline
to say whether or not they are going to
vote for Balaam or not, and we can't say
how that statement would affect them or
their votes. A controversy with Balaam
can't be forced on US. We didn't so
there to hear BALKAN, and may have
been mistaken as to his statements,
though we think we are cOrret. The fact
that Balaam represented this county in and
opened with prayer the Colored owen |
ton in Nashville which demanded Civil |
Rights, is-suficient to show his sentiments |
If Blackburn "hasn' room" to reproduce |
his remarks about lying, thieving law
yers and swindling counterhoppers," nei- |
Their have we He can't deny having 50 !
spoken Of them. And in regard to the |
unkindest cut of all, he asserts that we |
say Jury when he said Court" and |
that we left out, eff he demands it, &c.
We are convinced that Mr. Blackburn |
did make the statement as we published |
it. We have talked the whole matter over
with him twice, and this is the only thing
that he claims is a mistake. When we
remember that no colored man in this coun
has ever asked for a jury of his own col
or we can easily see that Mr. Blackburn
wanted to defend himself in few ora
torlcal hourishes in order to create pref
udice in the minds of his colored au litors |
against the courts of the country. He |
may wish to change the expression or
wording Of his sentences but his con-
temp;ible sentiment is the same, and de- |
serves the scorn of every decent man in |
the country. Create prejudice against |
the courts and laws of the country, and |
you have done more to ipcite riot, arson |
and blOodshed than if you>were to head a |
hundred mobs.
And then Blackburn winds up his |
charges by saying that we stated that he |
staid all night with Albert Our former |
letter does not read that way, nor did we |
intend t to do so, and having no wish to |
do ilbert any injustice, we stated that |
Blackburn staid with Gregory and that |
Albert BALKAN and Arch returned to |
Columbia
The Colonel reports our speeches in |
the Court House correctly. And he ca /
find t1co men of the kind he Gays he has |
not yet found by calling at our offices J
We have had no wish to have any con-
troversy with Mr.. Blackburn. We called |
upon him and in the presence of A. NJ. |
Hughes Jr. politely requested him not to /
publish any letters, that we wished to |
know wherein we were mistaken in our |
letter, that we didn't want him to play, |
prosecuted, the injured and innocent
game on US, to make votes for himself |
and lnlure US; that we wanted no news