Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-07-01

OAOA n Va Nh0ANOit onA AifS0tO OOAlb
| and held boiling convention.
this convention Brown aud the othe
prominent candidate was exposed !
a defaulter, and to avenge his wounc
ed honor, summoned the armed mo
| that came to the town and produce
the riot, with instructions to brin
/ every man thateould pull trigger an
every gun that could snap cap. Al
this Gov. Ames knew when he pub
lished this remarkable message, an
certainly when he gave his late testi
mony, which leaves us in doubt wheth
er it is most remarkable for the sup
preston of truth or the insinuation Q
falsehood.
THE TRUE THEORY OF THE LATE ELEc
ig TIoN.
But we emphatically deny that an,
| illegal, intimidation, or that any fraud
ulent voting was practiced in the lat,
election; and we insist that the trus
theory of the result is to be found il
the bold front, determined efforts, anC
in the grand spectacular display anC
demonstration made by the Democratic
party. The negro is fond of demon.
stration and display, and, being trained
to obedience in the days of slavery, he
gives an undue weight to the exhibit
ion of power, and naturally inclines to
that side which seems to him to be the
strongest. In 1868, even after the
odious legislature of 1865 of which so
much capital has since been made, we
had but little trouble in carrying the
election In the State of Mississippi, be-
cause we then had confidence in our
own strength, aud the negro voted
with US because we impressed d him with
our own confidence and infused into
him belief in our power. But when
our victory was taken from us; when
our election was declared void, and our
officers refused admission to the seats
to which they had been elected, we
lost confidence in ourselves and openly
acknowledged. that we were powerless
in the hands of the Federal govern
ment. The negro was quick to per-
ceive our weakness, and with the in
stinct Of his nature abandoned us, and
seeking the strong side, allied himself
with the Radical party. Our depres-
sion amounted almost to despair, and
in the hour of our greatest adversity
we appealed to the negro to relieve us
from the heel of oppression. But our
appeal fell upon cold and callous ears.
The mass Of the negroes had passed
under the complete control of carpet
bag leaders and negro politicians, and
these not only turned deaf ear to our
entreaties, but gloated over our fallen
condition. They insulted our weak
ness aud rioted in their own confidence
and strength, and because we were pa
tient and long-sufering they miscon-
strued the character of our submiss-
ion and pressed US beyond endurance.
When the people Of Mississippi, thus
goaded by oppression, awoke to sense
of their true condition and began to
look around them, they realized the
extent of their desolatIon. They look
ed to the circuit court and chancery
bench, once adorned by the learning
of Yerger, Guion and Trotter, and
saw it filled for the most part with
pigmy lawyers, quack doctors, and
newspaper editors They looked to
the halls of Congress, where the sill
very eloquenee of Poindexter, the
financial genius of Robert j. Walker,
the matchless craftsmanship of Jeffer-
son Davis, the integrity of Brown, the
brilliancy of Barry, the bright intel
lect and keen wit of Wiley p. Harris,
once made the name of Mississippi
famous among the States, and, except
ing Lamar and Alcorn, they found
their places filed by men whose chief
was that their con-
scious insignifcance made them sus-
silent and obscure. They
looked to the halls of the legislature,
where once the eloquence Of Prentiss,
the genius of Roger Barton, and the
1nrivaled logic of Joe Matthews, gave
tone and character to the legislature
of Mississippi, and they saw their
places filed by an ignorant and cor
,upt rabble, whose leaders were bar
Oers, hack drivers and brothel-b bullies.
They turned to the executive mansion, |
ind in the seat once occupied by NJ Mutt
ind Quitman they found a man whose
ncapacity was only equaled by his
malice toward the people Of the State.
When they turned to the trea sury they
5ound it surrounded by vampires ready
20 suck up each dollar as it dropped |
q the till. When they examined the
of the people they found
hem dried up and withered like the
lowers in August, upon which no |
friendly shower had fallen for many |
lays, and yet in the midst of all this
suffering, they saw the governor pre-
1aring, illegally, to appoint tax-eollec-
ors, who, under straw bonds, could |
wiring from the people the last remnants
If their property, and with impunity
ly away with their stolen millions to
DIN the band of Radical martyrs who
lad fed the State and proclaim that |
hey too had been driven off by the in
imidation of unrepentant rebels. And |
more than this, they saw that governor
to surround himself with an
Irmed militia, band of Janissaries
Who would eat out the substance of the
and while they protected him and his
,hicial plunderers in their unhallowed
york of devastation. When they be-
leld all this the manhood of Mississ-
ppi determined to assert itself. The
nan who, under the stars and stripes,
N the plains of Buena Vista, had
Matched victory from the jaws of de-
eat; the men who had fought last and
ongest at Shiloh the men who charg-
d Malvern Hill with empty guns; the
nen who inscribed the name of Mis-
issippi in deathless fame upon the hills
f Gettysburg, where the intrepid spir-
t of Barksdale winged its immortal
light, and side by side with these men
n gray, many of the true men who had
Vorn the blue, who followed the flag
f the Union under the command of
Iraut and Sherman, were all aroused
nd could no longer stand like dumb
Iriven cattle and submit to this Egyp-
ian bondage. Believing that self
is the frstalaw of nature,
hey turned upon the Radical robbers
nd said Thus far shalt thou. go,
,ut no farther The carpetbag lead
RS were amazed at this unexpected
,oldness, and trembled for their safe
', The mass Of the negroes, true to
he instinct of their nature, deserted
he neutrality-suspicious. and rushed
o the side of boldness and confidence,
nd the. election was won. But
more quiet, peaceable and orderly cleo
ion was never held in this or any
thor State. If, there was any intimi-
ation in this. it was but the intimi-
ation which outraged virtue inspires
n cringing vice. 1t was the intimi-
ation of the thief when the off
ers of the law are on his track
t was the intimidation of the hungry
yolf when the sudden appearance of