724 



TENNESSEE. 



traordinary session, the whole subject was laid 

 on the table, and the members proceeded to 

 the work for which they had been called 

 together. 



The question of organizing a militia to be at 

 the command of the Governor " to suppress in- 

 surrection, and enforce the laws of the State," 

 came up most prominently, and in the House 

 was referred to a military committee, who 

 reported a bill, giving the Governor authority 

 to arm and equip as many regiments as he saw 

 fit. Petitions against the passage of this bill 

 poured in from all quarters, and several mem- 

 bers entered a protest against it, but it passed 

 the House without modification, and went to 

 the Senate, where it met with more determined 

 opposition. After much discussion, the Senate 

 reenacted the law of 1867, establishing a " State 

 guard," as a substitute for the House bill. 

 This the lower House would not concur in, 

 and the original bill was finally agreed upon, 

 with some changes. The law authorizes the 

 Governor to organize, equip, and call into 

 active service a volunteer force, to be known 

 as the " Tennessee State Guards," to be com- 

 posed of " loyal men, who shall take and sub- 

 scribe an oath to support the Constitution of 

 the United States and the constitution of the 

 State of Tennessee." The following are the 

 most important sections of the act : 



SECTION 4. Be it further enacted. That whenever a 

 full representation is made to the Governor from any 

 county or counties by the judge and the attorney-gen- 

 eral of the circuit in which said county is situated, and 

 the Senator and Representatives and ten Union men 

 of good moral character, of said county or counties, 

 that the laws cannot be enforced, and the good citi- 

 zens of that county or counties cannot be protected 

 in their just rights, on account of rebellion or insur- 

 rection, or the opposition of the people to the enforce- 

 ment of law and order, the Governor be, and he is 

 hereby, empowered to declare martial law in any 

 county or counties of the State for the protection and 

 safety of the citizens thereof, and to quarter said 

 troops within any county or counties so declared un- 

 der martial law, in such number as may be necessary 

 for the preservation of peace and the protection of the 

 lives of the citizens thereof; and, furthermore, as it 

 is right and proper that the peaceable and law-abid- 

 ing citizens of the State should not be held responsi- 

 ble or suffer loss for the violent acts of such turbulent 

 communities, it shall be the duty of the Governor to 

 assess and collect a sufficient amount for the full pay- 

 ment of said State guards so employed, out of said 

 county or counties declared under martial law, as 

 provided for in sections 3 and 4 of an act passed 

 February 1, 1868, chapter xxxiii., entitled "An act to 

 amend an act for the protection of sheriffs," etc. 



SEO. 5. Be it further enacted, That upon the applica- 

 tion of the sworn statement of ten or more known 

 unconditional Union men of good moral character, or 

 three justices of the peace of any county in this State, 

 setting forth that the civil laws cannot be enforced, 

 and that the law-abiding citizens cannot be protected 

 in their rights and liberty without the aid of the mili- 

 tary authorities, it shall be the duty of the Governor 

 to furnish such number of troops as may be necessary 

 to enforce the laws, and protect the citizens from 

 violence. 



An act was also passed, having for its object 

 the suppression of the Ku-klux Klan, entitled 

 *' An act to preserve the public peace," which 



provides that any person who shall "unite 

 with, associate with, promote, or encourage 

 any secret organization of persons that shall 

 prowl through the country or towns of this 

 State, by day or by night, disguised or other- 

 wise, for the purpose of disturbing the peace 

 or alarming the peaceable citizens of any por- 

 tion of this State, on conviction of any tribunal 

 of the State, shall be fined not less than five 

 hundred dollars, imprisoned in the penitentiary 

 not less than five years, and shall be rendered 

 infamous." Full directions are given for the 

 apprehension, trial, and punishment of all such 

 persons. It is also made a criminal offence, 

 entailing the same punishment, for any one 

 voluntarily to feed, lodge, entertain, or conceal 

 any person charged with crime under this act. 

 Several acts of encouragement and aid to 

 such organizations are specified and prohibited 

 under heavy penalties. It is further provided 

 that all public officers shall swear that they 

 never belonged to the Ku-klux Klan, or other 

 disguised body of men, and never aided, en- 

 couraged, or countenanced any such organiza- 

 tion. 



As a further measure of security, a commit- 

 tee of three was appointed in accordance with a 

 joint resolution of the two Houses, to proceed 

 to Washington, and lay before the President 

 the condition of affairs in Tennessee, and urge 

 him " to take steps to give protection to the 

 law-abiding citizens of the State." This com- 

 mittee set out at once for the national capital, 

 and presented an address to President John- 

 son, giving account of the operations of the 

 Ku-klux Klan, which it declared, on the al- 

 leged authority of General Forrest, numbered 

 40,000 members in Tennessee alone. The 

 President was, therefore, urged to send a " suf- 

 ficient Federal force to that State to aid the 

 civil authorities, to act with them in suppress- 

 ing these wrongs, and bringing to trial the 

 guilty parties, giving assurance that all the 

 laws will be enforced, crime punished, and pro- 

 tection extended to such officers and citizens 

 as may attempt to execute laws or prosecute 

 further violation." In reply to this address, 

 General Schofield, the Secretary of "War, in- 

 formed the committee that their communica- 

 tions had been referred to General Thomas, 

 and that officer had been directed to report, 

 without delay, " what military force, in addi- 

 tion to that now under his command, will be 

 requisite to enable him to give all needed aid 

 to the civil authorities of Tennessee." Assur- 

 ance was, moreover, given that the power of 

 the United States would be employed " wher- 

 ever, and so far as it may be necessary, to pro- 

 tect the civil government of Tennessee against 

 lawless violence, and enable the government 

 to execute the laws of that State and protect 

 its law-abiding citizens." The committee 

 made their report on the 16th of September. 

 On the same day Governor Brownlow issued 

 a proclamation against the Ku-klux Klan, 

 recounting the action which had been taken 



