Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-09-27
SERIOUS SUBJECTS
Brought Out in Startling Promi-
nence
BY the Facile Pen of "Louis''-Al Letter
that No Doubt Will be Gladly (P)
Readily Buck.
CLARKsvILLE, Sept. 26.

Dear B,tck:
have not received your answer to
my last letter, but am looking for 1t
in every mail. Ishave lots .of news
to tell you.
Jack Baker, chairman OF the Re
publican State committee, I'll. L. w.
Cheatham, a prominent Republican
of Robertson county, and negro by
the name OF Napier, of Nashville,
were here Friday. Scott was also
here. We had a conference with
Baker, Chea.ham and Napier. They
agreed with our folks to support Dick
for the Legislature, Slaughter for the
Senate, and our candidate for fioater,
if we would vote for Harrison and
the Republican electors. They were
right in for the trade and our folks
took them up. Ycu see, Buck, Scott
had just made a Simon pure Jetfer-
sonian Democratic speech, and the
most of our folks felt like trading with
the Republicans, for the good of the
country and the party. We leaders
made the arrangements. OF course all
our folks haven't heard it yet, and we
don't want them to learn the partic-
ulars until we have had time to work
on their prejudices little longer,
and get them so completely under
the influence of that passion that
they won't realize the kind of med
icine we are administering until they
have swallowed.the dose. We are
not going to try to hold them by the
nose and make them swallow it; we
are going to slip up on the blind side
of them, "cuss" the lawyers and the
town folks like they were the cause
of all the trouble, and after the cleo
tion they can get along the best way
they can. 1t won't do, Buck, to let
our folks know how we are trading
them off for a few offices. / am
afraid 1t will get out, for the Repub-
licans held their convention Satur-'
day to nominate candidate for the
Legislature, but'they did not do 1t,
they are going to support Dick.
Some of our folks are already on to
the trick, or rather suspect it, for /
heard two or three of them talking
the other day-Saturday-and one
said: 1.-THE Republican party may
be able to trade the negroes off, but
the day will never come when will
be traded. can't be sold
in any such way. / went into this
thing in good faith--I was honest
about it. I thought Buck ought to
have been nominated, but I'll be
hanged if I can be sold and traded
around here by Buck, Mcdowell,
John and Dick, and l will not sub
NIT to it any longer. You may
count me out.' Another one said:
"It is absolutely outrageous that they
should undertake such game. The
idea of me helping to turn this State
over to the Republicans! No! never.
/ remember when the war was over
and my father and colder brothers
came home. The old home was
wreck. 1t wasn't a fine one before
the war, but it was ours One of the
boys is lying in some unknown, un-
marked grave in old Virginia. They
came back to 60 to work and make
good citizens of the Union. Our
country was filled with Republican
carpetbaggers from the North. No
insult was too great for them to offer,
and we had to submit. My father
and my brothers were disfranchised-
l was not old enough to vote. The
negroes, without education or prop
erty, voted while our white folks
were denied that right. ! remember
Gov. Brownlow and his gang. j
know how they issued bonds amount
ing to nearly twenty millions OF dol
lars, and gave them to favorites. ]
know how we had to work to pay
high taxes, and remember all the
trouble that immense State debt gave
our people. Our party divided once
about it and Alvin Hawkins was
elected, and he spent hundred thou
sand dollars more than any Demo.
cratic Governor. / remember how
he tried to fasten on us the 1908 bill,
and how narrowly we escaped being
bound in chains forever by reason OF
this debt remember how the
tariff has been raised and how pau
pers and millionaires have multi.
piled In this country; j remember
how they stole the presidency in
1876, and how they have given away
to railroads and Others millions of
acres of land. / know how they are
squandering our money every year
by giving it to soldiers and their
families in the North, until last year
1t reached one hundred and
forty millions; / have wit
messed strikes for higher wages in
this country. and have heard the wall
of distress while others were feasting
on the profits of our poor peoples
wages. / have witnessed fhe de-