Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-12-09
THE CURIOsITIEs OF vOTING IN
TENNESSEE.

THE CURIOSITIES OF vOTING IN
TENNESSEE.
We print this morning the full OH
cial returns of the vote cast In the re-
cent election in this State. Taking the
vote for Governor as the basis,
these returns show that over
one hundred thousand qualified
voters strayed away from the
polls. Tennesseeans have been, In fact,
rather proverbial for neglecting to ex-
ercise the highest right of citizenship,
even In hotly contested elections; but
since the war, or rather since the dis
franchising acts have been stricken
from the statutes, this stay-away habit
appears to be growing upon our people.
For instance, the census of 1850 shows
that there were about 1880
voters-au white, of course, at that
date-in the State, yet IN the
hotly contested election between Camp
bell and Trousdale for Governor, only
25,OO6 votes were cast, showing that
more than $1,000 voters did mot ex-
ercise that right regarded sod ear to a
Tennesseean.
Again, the census Of 1860 shows that
there were about.18l 800 men entitled
to vote. In the contest for Governor,
in 1859, between Harris and Neither
land, lbs, IA votes were cast, while IN
the exciting Presidential contest Of
1860, with Bell, Breckenridge and
Douglas in the field, there were only
AS, 1873 votes. The vote in the June
election, 1861, on the question of sep
aration' or "No Separation" was
l52, 163, falling nearly 10000 below the
number of voters the census Of the pre-
vious year showed the State to have
contained.
In 1867, after So, 900 negroes in the
State had been invested with the ballot,
the total vote for Governor amounted
to only 97,O32-an illustration of
the extent to which Radical disfran-
ment was carried. Two years later the
vote for Governor was LIS, 1863, and yet
the census of the succeeding year
showed that there were 263, 1S7 "sover-
eigns'' in the State entitled to vote, and
that of these more than $1,000 were
still DISTINGUISHED or stayed away from
the polls, in 1869. Probably the larger
portion of them kept away from the
bauot-box because the DISTINGUISHING
act, although more literally construed
than previously, was still on the statute
books.
The next year, after all restrictions
had been swept away, the total vote for
Governor in the Brown and Wisener
race was only 1894, demonstrating
that over las, 900 took no interest in
such triAing matters, row that voting
was free thing.
And, though the contest of 1872 was
the most exciting we have had since
the war, owing to the peculiar nature
of the contests of that year-though
the largest vote we have yet polled was
then cast, more than $4,000 voters did
not put in an appearance.
Another noticeable feature of our
elections is that, when no issue is at
stake calculated to inure to the benefit
of the Radicals, they cannot poll $4,000
votes. Brownlow's vote of 74,484, in
1867, did not represent the Radical
strength, for it is well-known
fact that a large number voted
for him then who never after
wards cast Radical vote.
The drill sergeants' were on
active duty in 1868, but they could not
force the vote for Grant, in that con-
test where the issue was simply Repub-
Ican or Democrat, above 56,757. Such
was the reis n Of terror the Radicals
kept up, that any thing like free
election was unknown from 1865 to
1869. In the latter year we had the |
nearest approach to such an election
under Radical rule. Stokes was the
Radical candidate and he received but |
IS, g35 votes, while very few of that |
party voted for Senter. The next year
Wisener received only Al, 27S, but his |
''rebel record in the early stages of |
our civil war probably cost him the |
difference between his and Stokes |
vote.
The three-cornered contest for Con-
gresham from the State at large In
1872, swelled Freeman's strength, as
it did Maynard's and Grants to IN
natural proportions. This is demon
strated also in the gains the Radicals
made in both branches of the Legisla-
ture.
In the late election, Maynard received
about the true Radical vote. The Dem
ocratic majority was a magnificent one
all the more so because of the COM
parative light vote. And in this fact
lies our only danger. We must be-
ware Of our own strength. I