The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1844-02-03

! Oh seil-goVerninent, ana al the Same llme
breathing an ardent desire that the state
would always maintain invioah'" her
public faith and pnhlis Ao.or
Yes,, pass vi, and the "a, ors in those
scene, passed ava. and many Wild anu
lmpolittc Ihemes engaged the nablic at
| tention. and our cor .uluted authorities
Involved the slate in heavy debts OF many
millions for The compishment of vast
works of internal improvement, some OF
which being unfinished are uuerly unpro-
duclve and the payment of the interes.
on the money borrowed fer said works,
falls on the state which has no means of
raising it but by direct taxation, and from
the hardness and want of efficiency in the
execution of the collections under the
tax law the credit Of the state has suffered
This consideration is humiiatng to every
true Marylander, who, Notwithstanding
the unpleasantness of taxation, feels his
national pride wounded when he reflects
that his native state has failed to meet her
engagements, and TO sustain her public
faith and honor.
1t is really melancholy TO see those who
profess to be honest republicans, magni-
flying the difficulties Of paying the State
debt, s. spreading before an honest people
the most discouraging statements what
motive can actuale such pc rsons i. is hard
to imagine
The debt is heavy enough in all con-
science, but it is no. Sl7000,OO0. The
debt on which the people of the State have
to pay interest is about $lO,000,000
which requires the annual sum of abou,
| S6O0,0O0. Under the present tax law
| Of it were efficiently executed The sum
of about $45O,000 or $5O0,600 would be
annually raised-Let the Legislature a,
once pass law to raise the requisite
sum and provide efficient and energetic
means for carrying it promptly into execu
ton; let the interest on the debt be prom
pity paid and the honor of the state re-
deemed. know the taxes are oppressive
4 feel them probably as severely as any
one) but we have made the contract and
every sense Of justice and honor equirss
that we should meet 1t. If has been said
by some lha, the bonds were sold much
below par and that we are only Justly
bound for the amount paid for the bonds
1t is true that a large amount of state
stock was sold below par, and large a
mount of it was also sold above par, but
whether it was sold above or below par,
we are justly bound for the amount ex-
pressed on the face of the bonds, and any
attempt TO evade payment is alike unjust
and dishonorable. What the people of
this County complain most of, is not that
they have 10 pay tax, but that they pay
their quota of TAX, and that several other
counties do not; in consequence of which
the interest of the debt is not paid, nor the
sum raised contemplated by the tax law
This is serious cause of complaint
There Is no system OF government more
despicabe than that which cannot execute
its own laws. 1t is all farct TO elect
legislature and governor, if they have no,
power to enforce their enac.menls. There
is no use in trihing OH tn. subject. We
are sadly in debt, and the longer we ne
glecl to pay the interest, the worse it will
be. Let the legislature make provision to
meet the interest promptly by laying he
requisite tax, and enforcing its collection.
Our case is not the most hopeless
The state has now very respectable sink
ing fundiof over Sl,300,00O, this fund will
sink The whole debt before the time pre-
scrbed by law for the redemption of the
stocks, and we may yet receive som ething
from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to
tighten the burden. The Washington
Branch of the Ohio Road the last year,
besides paying the interest on its stock,
paid into the state treasury over S43,000.
have serious doubts of the propriety
of the state sacrificing her public works,
particularly the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
Road and the Branch to Washington, in
asmuch as they promptly pay their inter-
est and afford a handsome revenue besides
to the state doubt whether the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal if finished to Cum
berland would pay the interest on the
whole sum expended in its execution but
have no doubt that it would more than
pay the interes, on the sum which that
work would bring if now put in the
market. About these things there may be
differences Of opinion but there is one
third about which there should be no diff
ference Of opinion, that is, The faith and
honor IF The state ought TO be preserved.
NJ.