The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-12-17

saucuontu congress,
to the terms Of that consultation 10 greater amount
Of tax revenue shah ct any time be levied than
may be required for the necessary expenses Of GO
vernmento He begged the umpire 10 reco'iect
that before the union It Was admitted that those
bonds were established as claims which the Terri.
tory OF Florida bound to satisfy, and at that
time the bondhoders had right to be paid BY the Ter
rtory the whole OF this debt. They also before the
union would have had appeal to the Congress OF the
United states, not requiring payment from them as
debt due by them but seeking their iutervs non with
the Territory in furtherance Of the procedure by which
the United States had in the first instance considered
this loan and approved Of It. That being the position Of
the bondhoders before the union, they would what
effect this constitution had upon them The effect was
TO raralyze Florida and render the repayment Of the
debt by it impossible the United States knowing all the
facts and the rights Of the creditors On every prnci
pie therefore OF justice and fair dealing the creditors
had right go to e ngress and say, You have spoiled
security and rendered impossible the recovery of
this debt ard seek yeu compensat on for the
Injury you huve wrought upon usn The par. Of the
constitution which iDjuriousy affected the bondholders
that to which he had called attention aud from the
moment Florida became State OF the Union II
entirely impossible for Florida TO discharge the debt
which she had contracted with them The United
power to refuse to admit Florida into the Union
except upon terms that would have provided for pay
ment Of this debt, or left Florida at liberty accord.
Of the bondholders But the United States tied up her
hands and prevented her paying this debt, AMI the
creditors had therefore right to demand from the
United States and from Congress Compensation for the
loss they had susaned by the constitution she had given
t. Florida He begged to call attention TO memorial
that presented by the creditors TO Congress point
ing out the indebtedness of the Territory and obrPve
that while the bondhoiers were endeavoring to
the good Offices of the Congress to get settlement for
them, the Territory was applying to Congress for diff
ferent purpose. In the very year in which the
lnent Of their debit the Territory complaining
Congress Of the charter that had been granted this
bank and OF the sum OF money that had been obtained
under it, and Of the mode in which tho faith of the Ter
rory had become pledged and asking Congress to take
steps to have the charter annued and to authorize the
Territory to repudate the loan 1t would he found that
when the Territory had presented memorial the sub
ject OF the bank the Congress directed that
statement should be made relative to the bonds
issued and everything that had been done on issuing
them, and nothing could be considered more accurate
or more in detail than the information which
Congress took care to have paced before It,
Therefore, when Congress considering the const-
futon for Florida they had before them the petition CT
they had the statistics relative TO the whole subject
laid before them He found also that the Territory
not cor tent With memoraalzng the Congress- on the
finally settled in the year 1872 the Territorial egs
lature passed resolutions which might be shortly de-
scribed by saying they were tons of population
1t affirmed that the Governor md Council were
vested with authority to pledge the faith of the Terri
tory to make 1t responsible for any debt That
was transmitted In the regular course Of business 10
Congress- received by them in 1872 and laid upon their
table, and therefore II evident that Congress had
the whole subject pointedly brought before it. There
was article which it said rendered ii
for the United States to receive Florida into the Union
without exercising any control to the terms which
it admitted It was said that as soon as It was con-
sstent with the principles of the federal consti-
tuition, it should be admitted to all the rights,
privileges and immuntes enjoyed by citizens Of the
United States But did that entitle them to intro
duce into the constitution provision that ii should
not be taxed except for the Unnecessary expenses OF the
goveanment? At the time Florida admitted there
not State Of the Union that had such term in.
troduced into it's constitution and he believed there
now only other State that had such provision in
serted 1t was said there nothing in the constitu-
ton to prevent the State of Florida from paying the
debt which 1t had contracted a Territory and that
there nothing to prevent the bondholders from
sorting that right but he submitted that 1t was not to
be inferred that the term necessary expenses of gov
debts and If they admitted that the necessary OK.
penses Of government included the repayment of
debts, they "leave door open" tor making charges
which, If directly made, would not be permitted He
begged to call attention to proceedings that had taken
year 1s46 It would be found from the journals Of the
Legislative Assembly that the question agitated
there in December 1s45 and that the 18th Of that
memorial of the bondholders seeking for payment
had been presented, which referred to a COM
bill was introduced providing for the s''p payment
OF the bonds; but that bill rejected and a reso-
luton passed. THAT the State had right under
its constitution, to levy taxes for this purpose to
touch the question: Therefore the represe natives of
the state-who, II anything were to be done by the
State were the persons to decide what to be done
said that their hands tied by the constitution they
had obtained that this not necessary OF
he government and that they could not render
such they alleged, stiff Congress had got no
power to pay them to that Congress had not the
Congress had the power by the citation to pay all
debts and Il this be debt Congress had the power to
The commission sitting there by virtue OF conven
ton between Great Britain and the United States, and
the high contracting parties to il had engaged that
ry claim which In justice and equity the commission
should declare to be good should be made good lie
able to show analogous case which the Congress
had provided for the repayment of debt due by three
cities in Columbia and IL claim OF this kind put
aside by any ingenious device the purposes Of the
yer ton would not be answered.
Tho A. r,;t. Al o.
eminent, opposed the claim Of the bonolders but be-
fore going into the question he begged TO refer to letter
he had received in reference to observation made by
him former day. In that letter the writer
planned that he had made statement that the claims Of
the bondhoders had not been presented to the govern
ment Of the United States by the British government
and that the British government had refused TO present
them. That he admitted was too strong term to use
but though the documents would show that the British
government had recommended the case to the good
Offices of the United States that not presentation
of the claim to the United States government. How
ever he did not think that his argument would be At all
affected by that circumstance. He had shown a
former OCCASION that the Congress Of the United States
could only contract debts by law treaty. that certain
terms should be Observed aud that Of those forms
had been observed in their supposed approval Of the
Of Florida or in the admission y, Of Florida into the Union
States as moral obligation; but II was difficult for him
to put il in tangible FORM because it had OF the
features Of moral obligation which courts Of equity
had been in the nabt of considering II said that
this equitable claim, but he had shown that the
Supreme Court had jurisdiction all arising in
law and equity under the constitution Of the United
States and ii this claim in equity arising under
the constitution Of the States that court would have
jurisdiction. but il admitted there was no such
remedy and hence il could not be equitable claim
any legal Since the discussion the prevou,
OCCASION the prospectus that had been put had
fallen into his hands and 1t showed clearly what the
persons who had taken this loan understood It showed
that they hao investigated the matter and there was no
appearance Of any moral obligation being supposed
exist st ttat time, any legal obligation The whole
Of the prospectus went to show that the takers Of the
bonds looked 10 the Territory alone and to the other
curties that had been given to them and to tho credit
and character of the State when il should become
State. The rst security the capital OF the bank,
equal in amount to the bonds the second security
the sinking fund, which would effect its object in four
teen years the third the property Of the stock
holders and the fourth the faith and credit Of the Ter
rtory and State Of Florida This explicit decla.
ration pedgng the faith Of the Territory and OF the State
when il should become as tate; and II stated In Mar
tins Reports, in the Of navigation company In
New Orleans and the law had been doubted that
q Territory might make a contract that would bind 1t
when IL should become State. II ever there fair
and full indication of what the nature Of the security
to be, it given in this Tie United States
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