Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-08-20

70 be Provinces for an empire. with slaves |
FOR Senators and panders for people All |
the ills Ofcouquered ), ates doth cljnstOtbem
reduced TO poverty and want bv heart |
less system Of taxai ion levied bF heartless |
caTpei-bas Governors, recently imported.
anu having no interest in the State. exeeDt
to plumber the people and fatten upon the
spOiiS-taNes 50 enormously l,ign rs To
amount TO cOnfscAfion Of their es.ates.
and ali for the benefit Of themselves and
thei allies, into whose pockets every dol
lar went, thus wrenched from the peoD,e-
taxes levied without any AUTHORITY of law
and when collected, not one dollar went
into the State Treasury, nor did perser1-
ton end With the plumber of their estates.
They were depri ed Of e.ery political
right, DISTINGUISHED and reduced TO A ,oD-
dItiOn below that of their former slaves.
The long reign Of despOtism, eor1rption
and anarchy in these States has been nm
broken, by single mitigation of charity
or Humanity to the fallen, nor has its
darkness been Illuminated by single raw
of hope. Thousands of the most gaIlanr
and cultivated people, to whom '.di,ho1orss
shadow is a substance more terrible than
death here or hereafter" have been humi-
lated to point where they have felt the
iron Of domestic misrule enter so deeply
into their souls, that some, indeed MANY.
weary of protraeted wTetchedness, have died
Of despair.
Ii is not enough that they have reduced
them below their former slaves, they must
hnmiliate the whole South still further,
and for that purpose they have passed in
the Senate the Civil Rights bill, and will
pass il in the House next winter unless
the gathered thundcTs Of the peoples indig-
nation shall break upon their ears in No
vember next and start them from their
dream OF power. Applause.l They say
they must pass the Civil Rights bill as a
tribute TO the memory Of Charles Samner,
who left il as legacy TO his eOuntFymen.
When we look round and see the mischief
IL is producing. Il may more properly be
called PsndOra's Box, If il is no. offensive
to the genius Of classic lore to say 50, with
this difference only, that after every evil
that eau afilict mankind has flown out Of
il, hope is not found at the bottom. Wash
ington left the legacy Of his farewell adj
dress to his cOuntrymen, and Madison tho
Constitu. ion Of the United States. Lega-
eies, indeed, richer than the mines of Cali
fornia; but Summers legacy cOnfers no
good upon any one, but evil, and that con
Iinually, upon the whole people, white and
black, upon the whites whom he de-
lighted to punish and harrass, and upon
the blacks he prOfessed To love. In vain
may YOU search the history of the world
for a-pFecedent 10 this arrogant and vim
dictive attempt to revOlutiOnize the habits
of a great civilized community, and to force
upon them social equality with an inferior
and ignorant race, in the full and equal
enjoyment Of accommodation, advantage,
facility and privilege in inns, public con-
Veyanees by land and water, in theatres,
and other places Of public amuse
ment, in common schools and
other institutions Of learning or beneyO-
lence, supported in whole or in part
by general taxation, in all cemeteries and
institutions known as agricultural colleges
endowed by the United States" Not con-
tent with forcing the negro race into social
equality with the living, they invade the
sanctity Of the grave aud insult the memory
Of the dead,
They claim the fourteenth amendment
of the constitution cOnfers this power. The
fourteenth amendment provides thai no
State OF the United states shall make or
enforce any law which shall 05rtdge the
privileges or immunities Of citizens Of the
United States. 1t will be observed this
does not give Congress the power 10 legis-
late or the subject and TO enforce these priv
ileges and immunitieS by law, and By
original proceedings in the United States
courts. The only constitutional guarantee
under the fourteenth amendment Of these
privileges and immunitieS, is that no State
shall pass any law 70 abridge them.
Tss-..-.t o. ,fst,, 81 S.a4as
in Louisiana, Justice Bradley, Of the
Supreme Court, has decided in the case OF
The United States against CTOOkSlanks and
others, that when any OF those rights and
immunities named in the Civil Rights bill
are secured to any class OF persons in the
constitution, only b. the deolaTatiC n that
the United States or the States shall not
violate or abridge them, il Is at once un-
dersloOd they are not created or Conferred
BY the constitution, but that the cOnStitu-
ton only guarantees that they shall not be
| impaired by the United States or the States,
! and that the fulfllment Of this guarantee is
the only duty with which the government
on the United states is charged. The affir-
native enforcement of these rights and
privileges belongs to the States as a
part of their residUary sovereignty.
! Congress ang pGWuF tOenlOrce attirmatiyely
these rights, but only prohibits the States
and the United States from violating or
abridging them. He saws there can be no
constitutional legislation of Congress for
directly enforcing these privileges and i'm
munities BY original proceedings in the
oourts of tie United States, where the only
constitutional guarantee Of such privileges
and immunities, is that no State shall pass
any law to abridge them.
The Civil Rights bill, therefore, to say
nothing again Of its infamous attempt TO
force social equality between the whites
and the blacks, and in SO far becomes the
sum ofvillanies,r is clearly demonstrations
y, and Eeyer cen be enforced so long as the
Supreme COuIt LGI4ains the b,iliwalk
against the exercise Of unauthorized AM
unconstitutional power on the part Of Con
gess. lApplause.l
Gentlemen OF the convention, profoundly
thankful for the honor YOU have conferred
UPON me ia calling Inc 10 preside over your
deliberations, | have felt it was my duty
10 review some Of the questions that would
probably be brought before you, and TO give
YOU NV candid opinions upon them,
opinions which are not warped by any selfish
Ambition EhatsFef, ana lave al least the
merit Of being honestly entertained.
Standing as do, a sort Of connecting link
between the past and future history OF the
State, proud of her former TenOwn, and ex-
ceedingly anxious for her future reputation,
| have felt il was proper, indeed my solemn
duty. befuro that last link W25 broken, 10
bring distinctly before YOU the bright and
luminous history Tennessee has made
in the past, having given already
three Presidents to the United States,
and taken her position in the
role "a hCnSr nSxt u Virginia, Ihs
perils that surround US in the present, and
the obligations that rest upon us to send
our State on down the march Of time, all
bright and glowing, to the coming future,
with the fame of the past and the unfair
nishei honor OF Lhs preseat eEoiSeiin5 her
brow.
Gentlemen Of the convention, / invoke
upon You the spirit Of wisdom and harmO-
nv and of bro,herly kindness and Of patri-
otism in all of your consultations and de
liberations in Spreading before the world
your preamble OF principles and reSOiu-
tions, and especially in the presentation to
the people of a candidate for Governor If
the State, who shall be worthy Of their suf-
frage, Of the past fame of the State, and
equal to the task of bearing your banner to
olDrsou= pirfn-r