Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-08-12

these Vaccinations of the chief magistrate
Of the state, and 20 urge You not 70 be be-
cessary for self-defense."
The feeling among all respectable
classes by these remonstrances was too
strong for Governor Ames, and he,
therefore, gave over his project, and
the election was allowed to come on
without the presence of armed forces.
The election took place on the second
of last November and resulted In the
success of the Democrats. AS soon as
the result was known, the State Dem
Ocratic committee issued another adj
dress thus counseling the people:
1--WE have gained by the election the
power and opportunity of reforming the
administration of the Government; re-
trenching in expenditure in State and
county affairs; reducing the taxes; securing
an honest, impartial and able judiciary;
enforcing accountability and RESPONSIBLE
~ on all who hold public trusts; elevating
the character of all Officials; redressing the
enormous evil of special and local legisla-
ton, and OF crude and uninelligible stat-
sessions or the Legislature; removing the
prejudice or race against race, and prOvid-
ing for the administration Of justice fairly
and impartially to all; ="
Certainly such is not the talk of men
who choose their officials through
fraud and violence, such as would
scarcely be accredited to savages, much
| less to civilized and Christian people. J"
But if President Grant wanted further
assurance on the subject of the cleo
ton in Mississippi, if he wanted to
know from the colored voters them
selves how it came that the Democrats
carried che State, all he had to do was
to open his own desk and Feread this
letter, written to him by Senator I'll.
r. Revels, the colored United States
senator from Mississippi, whose ortho-
dox Reputlicanism could not be ques-
tined:
"Since reconstruction, the masses of my
people have been, as il were, enslayed in
| mind by unprinoipled Adventures, who,
caring nothing for the country, were will
/ ing to StOop to anything, no matter how
and perpetIate it. NY people are natural
ly Republicans, but as they grow old in
| freedom so do they in wisdom. A great
| portion of them have learned that they
| were being used as mere tools, and, as in
the late election, not being able TO correct
! the existing evil among themselves they
| determined, by casting their ballots against
| these unprinci pied adventures TO over
throw them. My people have been told by
| these schemerS, when men were placed
upon the ticket who were VIGOROUSLY cor
| rupt and dishonest, that they must vote for
| them; that the salvation of the party de-
pended upon it; that the man who Scrached
l. ticket was not Republican. This is only
one Of the many means these malignant
4 demagogues have devised to Derpetuate
| theintellectual bondage of my people. To
defeat this policy at the late election,
| ton, united and voted together against
men known TO be incompetent and dis
| honest. We do not believe that
Republicanism means corruption, theft
| and embezzlement. These three offenSes
have been prevalent among great portion
| of our officehOlders; to them must be at
! tributed the defeat of the Republican party
| in the State, if defeat there was; but /, with
all the lights before me, look upon it as an
| uprising of the people, the whole people,
1 to crush out corrupt rings and men from
Other Republicans, white and black,
/ bore similar testimony. Governor
Ames at the beginning Of the present
year claimed, in his message to the
Legislature, that the election was car
ried by force and fraud. But Cover
nor Ames had already run his course,
and soon found himself held in such
general contempt in the State that he
was quite ready to resign, and thereby
escape the consequences that were clos
ing around him for his maladministra-
ton.
With the report of the Senate Com
mittee not yet made, and with this re-
cord before him, it hardly seems cred
ible that President Grant should make
such a statement as that in his letter
to Governor Chamberlain and reiter-
ed in his message. 1t is still worse
that he should have gone out of his
way for the opportunity to make such
statement public. If hewere address.
ing himself exclusively to a colored
Southern audience we might find an
explanation of his conduct in some Of
the suggestions contained in Senator
Revels' letter. But to make such ar
unfounded statement in such language
to the Senate of the United States
seems like an insult to the intelligence
of the country, as it is certainly dis
grace to the executive.