TKXN KS- -:.!'. 





purpose of rail proponed amendment 



.,- United Stal. 

 the Senatorial branch, 21 members answered to 



names; but in the llmi^e there wa 

 qnort: 'utivcs being pr 



ilii (.f .July the Senate ratified llio 



to (.!' 11 to 6; but tlio 



w as still without a quorum, 'i ho -pcakcr 



was t ; warrants of ar- 



refractory members, and 



the sergeant -{it-arm- authori/.ed to employ such 



assistance as might bo necessary to enforce 



.once and bring the absentees before the 



answer for their disorderly conduct 



:;ipt. Ono of the representatives, 



of July, tendered his resignation to 



.r, and received the following reply: 



ronrrm DKFABTMZST, July 5, 1S68. 

 \f. F. W. j>unnaway; 



As it U evidently the design of your rcsisrnn- 

 ice tin- House below a quorum, ana to 

 up the Legislature, the suine is not accented. 

 W. G. BROWNLOW. 



Mr. Williams, member from Carter County, 

 Bont in a communication, declaring that he 

 could not, and would not, participate in adopt- 

 i amendment until ho had tirst 

 it to hiu constituents, and he, there- 

 -d to attend the sessidn. 

 The Governor applied to the military com- 

 mander of the district tor assistance in bringing 

 the fugitive members back to their duties, when 

 lowing correspondence took place: 



NABUVILLB, Tenn., July 14, 18C8. 

 Lieutenant -Centra! Grant, Washington: 



of the members of the House of Rcprcscnt- 

 T the Tennessee General Assembly conduct 

 Irea in a very refractory mainuT, absent in^ 



themselves to prevent a quorum, thus obstructing 

 bu-mess. 



The Governor cannot manage them with the means 

 at his disposal, and has applied to me for military 

 .^iiall I furnish it? 



GEO. n. THOMAS, 



Major-Guneral Commanding. 

 WASHtKOtow, D. 0., July 17, 1866. 

 General Grant will instruct General Thomas that 

 ts stated in hi* telegram do not warrant the 

 < renco of the military authority. 

 The administration of the laws and the preservation 

 of the pcacu in Na-hville belong properly to the State 

 authorities, and the duty of the United State* forces 

 5s not to interfere in any way in the controversy be- 

 tween the political ntborufof of the State; and 

 I Thomas will strictly abstain from any inter- 

 ference between them. 



It ST ANTON, Secretary of War. 



The sergeant- at-arms of the House succ 

 in arresting and bringing before the bar of the 



two of tlio ab- v-reby making a 

 quorum, when the constitutional amendment 



utto vote, and ratified by 4:1 to 11. On 

 irne day application was made to Judgo 



r, of Nashville, for a writ of habeas 

 Mrput in the coses of Messrs. Williams and 



\ the persons so arrested and detained. 

 Writs were issued ; and Mr. lluydt, the sergeant- 

 at-arms, having refused to obey, an attachment 

 was then issued against him for contempt of 

 court. This writ was placed in the hands of a 



deputy-sheriff and a squad of policemen, who 

 to the capitol, but, finding their en- 

 trance prevented by a white man and negro, 

 armed, avoided a collision, and got into the 

 building through a window, when lluydt was 

 I, and brought before Judge Frazicr, 

 who discharged him on payment of costs. 

 Both Martin and Williams were released on the 

 writs of habeas corpui, no resistance being 

 made thereto by the House, the object of the 

 session having been accomplished by the passage 

 of the amendment. Martin and Williams were, 

 in fact, in the committee-room during the pro- 

 ceedings, and refused to vote. The speaker 

 decided that there was no quorum present, and, 

 therefore, that the ratification had failed. But 

 the House, by a vote of 42 to 11, overruled the 

 decision of the chair, and the amendment was 

 declared to have been adopted; but it was or- 

 dered that the fact of Williams and Martin 

 being present, but refusing to vote, be entered 

 on the journal. 



The Legislature met again in November, and 

 received a message from Governor Brownlow, 

 iu which he said : 



In my message addressed to you in October, 1865, 

 the subject of colored suffrage is discussed in all its 

 bearings. Upon a careful review of that paper, I 

 still approve the sentiments therein expressed, and 

 respectfully refer you to them. An eventful year, 

 however, has passed since it was written ; and, while 

 unforeseen events have happened, contingencies 

 therein contemplated have also occurred. The col- 

 ored race have shown a greater aptitude for learning 

 and intelligence than was expected, and by their 

 good conduct and steadfast loyalty have rapidly won 

 upon the good opinion and respect of the white race; 

 wnile the late rebels, under the encouragement of the 

 President, have shown less disposition to return to 

 true loyalty than was hoped for. These manifesta- 

 tions have occasioned a rapid advancement of the 

 national sentiment in favor of impartial suffrage. 



In the message to which I have alluded, while can- 

 didly admitting that " negro voting cannot suit my 

 natural prejudices of caste," it is yet stated that 

 " there is a class of them I would be willing to see 

 vote at once." The opinion is also expressed, " that 

 negro suffrage is bound to follow as one of the great 

 results of the rebellion ; and that the time would 

 come when it would be proper and rijrht," but that 

 the time had not yet come, the great objection being 

 to "the immediate and indiscriminate enfranchise- 

 ment of the negroes; " but it is directly insisted, in 

 the message to which I refer, that "if rebels are to 

 1 ' red to the rights of the elective franchise, let 

 us no longer deny those political rights to the late 

 slaves, who have been faithful among the faithless." 

 I still adhere to the opinion that "all this great out- 

 cry against a lejrro voting, in any contingency, 

 comes from a lingering sentiment of disloyalty 'in the 

 South." 



In all the States lately in rebellion, except Ten- 

 nessee, the rebels have been fullv " restored to the 

 rights of the elective franchise/' and even in our 

 i<\\ :i Stutc, under a somewhat stringent suflrajio law, 

 u Iar_re number of disloyal persons are unavoidably' 

 all\\e<l to vote. Whether the time when it is 

 "proper and right" to confer the ballot upon the 

 colored man, or whether that time is approaching at 

 which that sacred right shall accrue to him, are 

 Questions demanding your earnest consideration and 

 nnal decision. The admirers and followers of the 

 President cannot, with any show of consistency, 

 oppose the enfranchisement of the negro. In an 



