Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-03-15
WHOLE NO. 2,2GO.

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: to secure power TO themselves and perpet
D ate IL.
3 In almost every instance these men wi
: so-caliei Republican ofliciaie in power
the State. MY people have been told
r. these schcIners, when men were placed upc
: the ticket who were notorlously corrupt an
4 | dishonest, that they must vote for then
that the salvation OF the party dependt
| upon 1t; that the man who scratched
ticket was nor Republican. This is onl
: one of the many means these anprincipie
, demagOgueS have devised 10 perpetuate IN
intellectual bondage OF my people. To dl
ieat this policy At the late election, me
irrespective OF race, color or party afiiliatioI
united and voted together against me
known to be Incompetent and dishonest.
! cannot recognize, nor do the masses OF m
, people who read recognize, the majo ity {
the officials who have been in power for tn
past two years as Republicans. We do nc
believe that hepublicanfsm means corrup
tion, theft and embezzleinent. These thre
cftenSes have been prevalent among a grea
portion of our ofiice-holders: TO them mus
be attributed the defeat of The Republican
party in the state, If defeat there was; bu
/, with all the lights before me, look upon
as an uprising of the people, the whole peo
pie, TO crush out corrupt rings and mel
HR. REvELs.
To his Excellency Z. s. Grant, President
of the United States.
This corrupt nest of Republican
officials, so ably described by ex-
Senator Revels, was broken up and
all the corrupt State officers driven
out by impeachment when the DEM
Ocratic Legislature met. 1t was
charged that we impeached them,
not for crime, but simply because
they were Republicans. To show
the falsity of this charge Estate that
the Secretary of State, the Auditor
of Public Accounts and heSuperin-
tendent of the Lunatic Asylum /;
representing as they did the three
branches of Republicans-negrO,
carpet-bagger and scalawag. were
honest and competent officers and
were not disturbed.
The State from Governor down
was then thoroughly reorganized
and we went into the canvass of
1876 under Democratic rule. This
brings us to the election 1875, in the
Sixth District of Mississippi, (Which
in the refined vulgarity of Repub-
liean leader has been recently stig-
matized as ''the whip-lash district, ~
when / was elected over John II.
Lynch. This election has been de-
nounced by the Republican press as
the most fragrant instance Of fraud
and intimidation in the South.
have not felt called on to notice
these slanderous charges when made
by irresponsible parties, but dis
tinguished candidate for the Presi-
dency from Maine, who vainly
hopes to seduce the negro votes
from Gen. Grant to himself in the
next Presidential Convention, in a
speech recently delivered has seen
fit to point at me by name, to char
acterize my election as an impossi-
bility, and to select my district as a
remarkable instance of the suppress
sion of negro suffrage. He said, 81
am asked to believe miracles that
in night--in the twinkling Of an
eye-more quickly than Saul was
converted on his road to Damascus,
vast bodies of colored voters were
turned right over from the Republi-
can into the Democratic fold' and
at the same time he paid a hand
some compliment to my competitor,
Mr.. Lynch. He was exceedingly
unfortunate in his statement of
facts. If he had informed himself
as he should he would have found |
that the conversion of the negroes |
in this district has been gradual and |
and that the good work |
still goes on as the negroes become |
taxpayers and advance in political |
knowledge. In 1872 Grant carried |
the district by a very large majority, |
but about that time the split in the |
party began. Warren had been the |
banner county of the party i'm that |
district, and show first the change |
in it: In 1872 Warren county gave |
Grant 3,425 majority; In 1873, in
the Ames and Alcorn split, 1t gave |
Ames only 239 majority. In 1874 /
the Democrats made grand rally |
and carried the city of Vicksburgh,
the county seat of Warren county, |
by 400 majority. In 1875 the DEM |
Ocrats elected their State ticket, two |
Senators and three members of the /
Legislature, and the Republicans
two cOlOred members. In 1876 we |
carried the county by 1920 major
ity. In 1877 the whole Democratic
ticket carried 1t by large majority. /
In 1878, owing, as / believe, to the /
appropriation obtained TO save the |
harbor Of Vicksburgh lost only ten
votes in the whole county.
The history of the district is almost
the same. The counties which
compose the district-it was not /
until Is76-in 1872 gave
Grant 5000 majority; in 1873 gave
Ames over AlcOrn 1860 majority;
in 1875 gave Buchanan (Pepublioan)
over Hemingway (democrat) for
state Treasurer, {, ,53S majority.
This was the condition of affairs,
I constantly increasing democrat
strength, when l became a candi-
late. was elected in 1876 by 1900
but beaten in four coun-
lies. / was reelected in 1873 and
carried every county Of the district
out one,
If there Is anything instantaneous
Dr. miraculous in this conversion of
he district, / am unable to see il.
The gentleman was certainly unfor-
.unate in his Saul and Damascus
It is to be hoped he
nay be more fortunate In his CONS
and that Lynch may be
'olid for Blaine in the next republic
,an convention for President. But,
Mr.. Chairman, there was another
not many years since,
which reminds me somewhat of
saul on his road to Damascus.
There was once a committee inves-
igating a certain charge of fraud
md corruption, and there was g
certain witness bearing letters of
TFeat value to the cause of truth,
when a modern Saul, "breathing
nut threatenings" against the inves-
igators, fell upon the witness and
lid despoil him Of his letters; and
Is he went on his way, considering
low he might still further suppress
he truth and parsecute the inVesti-
yators thereof, he fell suddenly by
he wayside under the finger OF
God. And whea heawOke 1t is said
hat he was exceeding penitent, and
lid beg the Investigators to cease,
md that he became 40 thoroughly
to the cause of investiga-
Ion that he now seeks to change his
tile from leader of "The Mulligan
Guards" to the great American In
restigatOr. have no hope of con-
1incing him nor those who have
the casej but for the
of those who are unprejudieed
md open to conviction, will state