Nashville Union And American

In the last issue of the Nashville Bulletin, under the heading, "SHOT Because He Subscribed for The Bulletin," there appeared the following letter:
CUMBERLAND CITY, Houston County, Tenn., April 19, 1875.—W. R. Cobb, Esq.—Dear Sir: I must say to you that I was shot on the 27th of March by five men who waylaid me, and put twenty-five buckshot in me as I passed, and I would like for you to publish it, so that the people may know what sort of a place this is. They shot me solely because I was taking the Bulletin. They will ask the news when they see the paper. I have just got so that I can travel.
Whenever my time is up do not stop the paper I will forward the amount soon.
I remain yours,
A SUBSCRIBER.
P. S.—Do not fail to publish.
The publication of that letter in the Bulletin was accompanied with an editorial from which we extract the following:
"We have taken much pains to state that we did not believe a single political outrage had occurred in Tennessee since last summer. We said it because we believed it, and because we wished it to be true. It afforded us real pleasure to say so, because we have the good of the State at heart, and know that every political outrage that occurs tends to seriously damage her reputation abroad. We are just in receipt, however, of a communication from a subscriber, at Cumberland City, (we publish his letter elsewhere), in which he states that he was waylaid and shot for no other cause than that he was a reader of the Bulletin. This letter has internal evidence of truth, and the outrage deserves the condemnation of good men all over the State."
If the accusation made had been true, then there would have been an outrage which would have deserved and certainly have received the condemnation of good men all over the State. Not only this, it would have deserved and certainly would have received, if left to the State authorities, the severest punishment which the violated law could inflict. But the accusation was not true. Instead of the letter having internal evidence of truth, it has the clearest evidence of being untrue. None but a man both wicked and ignorant could have made such a charge as is contained in that letter. With "the good of the State at heart, and knowing that every political outrage that occurs tends to seriously damage her reputation abroad," it seems that the Bulletin would have taken some steps to inform itself about the matter before publishing such a letter, one so well calculated to injure Tennessee and her people in those States from which we are all endeavoring to induce emigration. The following letters explain themselves.
Mr. Stacker is a life-long citizen of the community in which he resides, well and favorably known in this city, and in no sense a politician:
NASHVILLE, TENN., April 22, 1875.—Geo. Stacker, Esq., Cumberland City, Tenn., Dear Sir: I have sent you by this mail a copy of the Nashville Bulletin of this date, in which you will find a communication from "a subscriber," stating that "I was shot on the 27th of March by five men who waylaid me and put twenty-five buck shot in me as I passed," and he further adds, "They shot me solely because I was taking the Bulletin." Please inquire into this matter and let me know the facts of the case. You can ascertain from the Postmaster, who are the subscribers to the Bulletin at Cumberland City, in order to enable you to make the proper inquiry.
Knowing the good people of your vicinity as I do, having spent a number of years amongst them, I can not believe such a statement without further information.
Hoping to hear from you soon, I am truly your friend,
CLAY ROBERTS.
CUMBERLAND CITY, TENN., April 23, 1875.—Mr. Clay Roberts, Att'y—Dear sir: Yours of the 22d inst. at hand; contents noted. I, as well as our people here am under many obligations to you for bringing to our attention the letter published in the Bulletin and the editorial comments thereon. The "Subscriber" who wrote that letter (there is but one at this office), is, as you may guess, a negro of the most trifling and worthless description imaginable. As to the fact of his being shot, there is no doubt; as to the when and where, we have only his word for it; but instead of its being buck-shot, a gentleman—Mr. W. B. Dunbar, of this place—picked a shot out of his hand and found it to be a No. 4 squirrel shot. He was out three days from the time he was shot. As to the cause of the shooting no one knows. As to its being because he is a subscriber to the Bulletin, there are but very few here know that there is such a paper. It is generally supposed he was shot by some of his own color on account of some difficulty with them, as there are none of them have any confidence in him on account of his idle, loafing, and thievish habits, as he has not been known to do a day's work for months past, and his family would be on the point of starvation were it not for his wife's mother. Some of his own color say they believe that he was shot trying to break into some person's smoke-house. On the very night he was shot, Mr. S. B. Williams shot at some one running away from his smoke-house. This negro calls himself H. H. Hutchinson, and has for some time back been trying to get a pension on account of his having been in the army, but has not yet succeeded in his efforts, having even written to Gen. Grant himself about it; and I think from his maneuvers, that he aspires to be a leader among the blacks, and is trying to excite sympathy among the Radicals on account of his having been shot; hence, he is trying to make it appear that the shooting was on account of his politics.
I will write you another letter in a few days, and get a number of our best citizens to sign it and send it to you, and will ask of you the favor to try and get the Bulletin folks to publish it in their paper, (as I think they will if they are fair men) in justice to us people living about here. I am sure there is no spot in the United States where the negro enjoys more completely the rights given him by God and man.
Please excuse this long and discursive letter, but I could not well give you a history of this "Subscriber" and the case in a shorter space. Yours truly,
GEO. STACKER.