Year: 1869

I
considerations and qualifications of a can
didate to represent the people of Tennessee
in the State Convention, called to meet at
Nashville on the first Monday in january
next. permit the writer, through your col
umns, to make few friendly suggestions. IF
the people Of our County, who are as intelli-
geat and conservative as will be found in
any part of the State, can only be brought
/ to reflect seriously upon the Importance Of
/ this Convention, there will be no fear that {.
suitable and acceptable man viii be selected.
! We are so frequently called upon to elect
men to Office, and the system Of rotation in
Office affords such opportunities to correct
the errors of officials, that they are very apt
to forget how important to the future inter-
ests of the State the action Of such a Con
vention may becom3 IF the Legislature
| commits an error in making laws, its sue
! cessor may alter or amend them before their
evil influence becomes engralted upon the
people, but a Sovereign Convention as this
which is about to assemble will have it in
their power to tx system or theory Of laws
upon Us which 1t viii be difficult to change
or correct They viii have in their hands
the fundamental and organic law of the
State, which governs Legislatures and
/ Courts. Such a sacred instrument in its ad-
justments for protecting the rights and pro


viding remedies for the evils that atiiict
people, is more complicated than the
wheels and secret springs of a delicate
watch, and none but a master workman
should be permitted to touch or handle its
machinery. This Convention, we must re


member, does not Iegislate FOR q year only,
but for an age, and not only the present
! generation, but Losterity viii be affected by
its actions 1t viii become their duty to
understand and appreciate not only the re


qurenents and relations Of the people of
to-day but they must look with wisdom to
the past, and understanding the peculiar sit
uation Of the present, view with great sagac
ity the demands that may be required by
posteri5y, of our State government These
requirements can only be fulfilled by men
Of the first ability in our midst 1t is ad-
mtted by all that there is great need for GER
tain changes in our Constitution, to meet the
new state of things which have been
brought upon us. 1t seems that F." the times
arc sadly out Of joint" The ravages Of the
late war and the great changes that have
been entailed by it upon our people are to 0
palpabIe for comment the fact is SO how
ever. and the cry for reform IS loud and i'm


peritive. The relations of the citizens to
tie government and toward each other ay,
more than this, the relations of the State to
the Federal Government in It's complicated
workings, have undergone through subtle
and almost imperceptible influence, such a
variety of changes, that we seem like so
many tempest-tost ships that have lost their
compass aud chart and know not which way
they are tending in this fog Of confusion.


1t almost amounts at times to a doubt
whether we have properly constituted gov
Fernment or If we have, we can scarcely de-


fine It's nature and object. Some imagine


that this gradual transmission from old tC
new principles Of government portends Ec


harm, but this is " blindIy hugging the de


lusive phaEtoms of hope No great change


in the form and theory Of government car


be made by fraudalently foisting upon the


people new dogmas, for old established prin


eiples without .oing violence to the best in


terests of the people, the more dangerous


because it is insidious. We should remem


Der - eternal vigilance is the price of liber


ty,'| and every change in the operations O


government must be watched with the mos


Jealous eye The past few years has de


veIoped a tendency toward centralization oil


power in the few to the exclusion Of the


many, which is surprising to contemplate
' and fearful to ponder.


} The anciant principles of State sovereign
ty so long cherished by our people as tn,


safe guard of their liberty, has been wresteC


from them by the usurpations of power, anC


now we behold the alarming spectacle Of ,


hydra-headed oligarcby calling itself


Congress, Prosuming to dictate to you how
i you shall form and shape your State govern
: ment AS IN the case of Mississippi, an,
L F-irginia-that poor old Mother Of states
Z The swing of the pendulum seems to b.
u forcing US into the very abyss of ruin, as
/ government of sovereign and Independent
. States, such as our forefathers bequeathet
= US, and it is high time for the people in th
= majesty Of their power to rise up and re
L buke these usurpers, and thus, if possible
= check this wave of destruction that threat
u ems to engulf them And now when th
; solemn deliberations Of that body who sha


indeed represent the sovereignty of Tennes
in see in convention, this viii be auspiciou
le occasion to call back lthe minds Of our pee