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 CHAPTER VII

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE RADICAL GOVERNMENT

The joint resolution of July 24, 1866, completed, so far as Congress was concerned, the restoration of civil government in Tennessee. Her Senators and Representatives were admitted to their seats, and the State, to all intents and purposes, was restored to the same position it had occupied prior to the attempted withdrawal in 1861.

The political basis of the restored government was, as we have pointed out, the loyal people of the State. They consisted mainly of four elements, namely, the inhabitants of the small towns and the upland farms of East Tennessee, and poor whites, or "white trash," as they were commonly called, scattered throughout the State, a few "old-line" Whigs in West and Middle Tennessee, and lastly the negro and the carpetbagger. This ruling minority was, therefore, neither an aristocracy of wealth, intelligence, nor social position. It could not be expected that the management of public affairs by such hands would be just and conservative. From the beginning it showed a tendency toward reckless expenditures and an entire disregard of property rights. Mr. Brownlow, in his first message to the Legislature, advised a general increase in the salaries of State officials. This advice came at a time when the finances were at a low ebb, and the whole industrial and agricultural interests of the community were thoroughly demoralized. Nevertheless, the Legislature was only too ready to carry these suggestions of Governor Brownlow into execution. They passed a bill increasing the salaries of the supreme judges from $2000 to