Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1841-12-14
STATE DEBTS AND pm,
HONESTY OoLlC
The integrity and bonor =

secure the ascendency of instioa' Ouons %
der ARE about to encounter = ald o,
Most Of the States have cont,'o rdesl
some of them very heavy oe deH,
of them wisely and advanto ,o oue'''ia as
ers rashly and perniciouslv. So oasgi d.
have suffered in the great revnI,: o. hen
ruined by bad management. ~, ~ Or zen
expended them in works of I o.Iefs daps
provement injudiciousy plan n,eInaI In.
maturely undertaken; some T ba Or PA
great portion through the ir ra'o lost
case the payment of interest !. 10 ellie
some, that ofPrincipal still more 81 oo, The
al, the times are out Of JOINT sOS -, Wit.
position of new taxes most nD suu ine In.
1.-THE People. popular With
! In this crisis,up starts the n,os;
constituencies demagogue with saeaai
cea for the perplexing disease ,u y Pana.
ming the part of the counselor IN \ assn.
of the first Tempter, proclaim s sPIH
People! you did not incur these a.. Good
were incurred years ago By men 49,.
80 be your representatives but v j,a'aAg
mot truly authorized so 10 PLEDGE ~ ~. wee
the obligation is somehow irr e. 3o.--''
you never received any valid CON- ra,l-o'
'tion--or the debt is owned by f ;.s'a'
stock jobbers, aristocrats. and noI'
whom il is not wrong to cheat Ps b.
ATE your debt-leave it unpaid-ElaPs.s.f
creditors get their principal and me-.
where they CAM"
The great danger is that the Peorl.
the less reficting and less scrupulo9q -.
ton of them, seeing men of ability - Il.
were never caught pocket picking G,,r -,
advocating Reputation, viii moi sioo To-.
vestlgate the matter, but jump at thee
clusion that there must be some e7on-l.
for evading the debt, or respectable 6az
ed men would not publish their shame r.
appearing openly as the advocates Of s,@
a course-and so they viii glide, within
examination, into the downward cnrer
We fear the pretext SO set up that the Si..
Bonds were not issued according 10 as
has blinded portion of the electors &
Mississippi, broken in fortune and haras,
ed by debt, and that these added 10 ii
desperate, the reckless and the unprin,
ped, have given temporary tTlumsh &
Reputation.
But it is impossible that this phrenzys5s
continue. As with tie New Coun; IL
quily in Kentucky, those who counteaaD,
or yield TO ii will infallibly be subjected
dishonor al home as well as to the scoBf
the wide world. Ii is Just possible ID.
Reputation may secure a momentary q,
tendency in one or two States; but in 81
end 1t Will be secuted with horror; und n
are confident that every dollar Of the STA,
Debt, even of Mississippi, viii eventual
be paid. And we are also confident III.
not one State, where the Debt was sails
factorily contracted, will ever couHtenanc
Reputation.
Under existing circumstances, that Dol
ton Of the American presss WHICH is lend
ing an active or tacit support TO the caus
of Reputation is striking a deadly blow
the cause of Self Government throuqbor
the world. 1t is playing, blindly or wilfa
ly the game Oft the partisans of the ban s!
ed Bour5ons in France, who are contin,
ally bribing and stimulating the the Jacol
ms of that country to acts of violence.
a means of futhering their own ends. "
believe the case Is not materially difersn
with the Herald OF this city. which, in ed
dition to the impulse deprived from #
manifest connexion with stock iobbngo
erations requiring fall of State Stocks {
ensure their success, appears to be ANNA
ted by an intense hatred of oar Coun,f
and her Republican institutions, and a
ever restless anxiety to subscrve the c2us
of Despotism in Europe by holding Q.
People and institutions up TO ridicuIe an
adherence. Accordingly, in its laadin
article Of yeste day it is gravely essere
and reiterated that Maryland, Pennsylvs
MIA, Illinois, Michigan and other Siatt
viii follow the lead of Mississippi, and Il
pudiate their State Debts, and that On
Hundred to one hundred and cfig lIii7lElga
viii be thus swindled from their creditor
by the deliberate action of States of d
American On ion! That paper closes il
atrocions libel on the country and its iast
tutions as follows:
The destruction of the credit systei
will be followed by the financial purifei
ton of the whole country, and IN Tie el
zoe may be gamers By transactions whc
all honest men must condemn, when looi
ing at them disconnected from ulterit
considerations.
This is not simply the Language of q
dacious villainly, but of bitter aristocrac
and anti Americanism. Let the friend
of Republican Freedom beware Of the v
per whose sting is so deadly.-Tri5Hds.