The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-10-30
That Pow-Wow.

/
Yes it came off ON Saturday evening
last at the Courthouse with w. J. Smith
as chief fugeman. a large and noisy
crowd of negroes filed the house. Smith
! gave them first description of the meets
ing at the Greenlaw Opera House on
| the Thursday night previous, and repeat
ed substantially Barbour Lewis speech
on that occasion as reported in the Mem
pEiis papers The little general, " as
might have been expected, then went
furiousiy into what we know up here as
his "war speech" that same old har.
angue that he used to repeat all oyer the
district when he was a candidate for
Congress. The negro is as good as
white man and great deal better In
fact, Smith prefers the darkey. The
Republican party saved the nation and
freed the negro The democrats then are
none of the Offices, even # they are to
the rights of suffrage These were not
Smith words, but his language and the
drift of his whole argument will bear
no other construction. He extolled the
BrownIOw administration which the
people of Tennessee will remember as a
complete parody on free government,
and not less oppressive than that of Kel>
logg in Louisiana and of Moses IN South
Carolina.
Can our people ever forget that this
same little general was an impor-
tant character at Nashville at a time
when very many of the tax payers of
the State were deprived of the right to
vote? at this very time not even a poll
tax was levied upon the negro, but the
ballot was placed in his hands with which
to vote away the rights of the disfran>
chised white man, and he was backed up
by the never to be forgotten militia who
we're stationed throughout the State.
Without giving more space to this
most contemplate Of all Radicals we
assert, what every one present Enows
| is too true, that Smith effort was moth
ing more than an attempt to array the
negro against the white man for the pur~
pose of securing his vote for Barbour
! Lewis
He did not say one word to en-
] courage the negroes, while cOntendiDg
! for eveey right the laws of the country
/ give them, to strive to live on friendly
! terms with the white people who own
! the lands aud upon whom they are de-
/ pendent especially in these distressing
! times His whole speech was an APP
! peal to the prejudices of the negro, and
/ from the yells of the crowd be succeed~
| ed in his base purposes. Smith did not
/ tell his hearers thai. he had once been
a slave owner and the most cruel Of
I masters The man Is now living, and
we know him we'll, that will testify that
be saw negro man belonging to w. J.
Smith, cruelty bound with shackles, la
! boring in corn field at the Junction
about the time the war broke out or just
prior thereto. Indeed, we are inclined
. to the opinion that it was in the year
! 1861 That was the year in which this
extremely loyal citizen and now negro
worshiper acted as purchasing quarter,
master at the Junction for the Southern
Confederacy and Joined Hurst's regiment
Of loyal cavalry to prey upon the proper
| ty of his neighbors.
At the close Of the little generals
remarks that pink of consistency and
! nominee of four white men and forty
negroes DR. Nathan H Prewitt took
the stand for no other purpose, if we are
70 Judge him by his speech, than to re-
ply to an editorial in the last issue of the
/ BULLETIN wherein some of his idiosyn-
crases were pointed out He had the
! efrOntery to assert that there were more
than four lchite men in the Convention
which nominated him, when it can be es.
tablished by dozen of the best men in
this community that there we're but four
one of whom was the Doctor himself
We adhere stoutly to our original asser-
ton that the convention alluded to con-
tained only four iOhites that took any
part in It's proceedings. Any assertion
to the contrary by any body We stand
ready to prove as false.
We ask pardon of the readers Of the
BULLETIS for deYoting so much space to
smith and Prewitt as a good advertising
Is what they most desire. After this
week we shall hear no more Of them
tall the next canvass when they vii
make their next appearance 10 the same
old role with the same cid speeches.
We had some little hope OF Prewitt till
we saw him with Smith. Weknew then
be was IS gone fawn Skin"
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