Up to this late hour the office of registration has not been re-opened in this county. Of what are the people of Hardeman county guilty that they should be more cruelly dealt with than all others? What law have they disregarded? Why does the Governor of this State clench his official hand so tightly about our necks? Has he cause for so doing? If so, that cause has never been made known, and surely it is his office to tell us wherein we have erred.

Aside from this, we have been told by those who ought to know, that the office would be opened in a short time, but this is only hearsay. Justice and our rights under the franchise law itself, demand that the office of registration should be opened at once. The Governor has no right to tell the true Union men of this county that they small not vote, neither has he the right, under the law, to withhold his appointing power.

The law under which he is acting only gives him the power to order a new registration in case of fraud. Granted that fraud has been practiced in this county, the office has been closed for weeks, and the Governor has already overstepped the bounds of duty, for he should have recommissioned his former appointee or chosen some other person for the position weeks ago. Our people do not expect favors at the hands of those now in power, but they are entitled to their rights under the laws. The present Governor gains no strength by inflicting hardships upon the people without cause.

The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.), 18 May 1867, Page 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.