The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-10-15
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ALABAMA AND THE CRISIS.

The wisoan o. the anti aid policy Of Ala~ma Is
how apparent than ever. Times Of monesafy
toubes like the present exhibit IL Ia the strongest and
most favorable light Now. when the credit Of those
States which in &n unyrtun@e hour disrea~rdcd old
fashioned principles and un~isely entzngied themselves
with railroads. has deprecisssd 10 "A alarming extent
Aab~ma is not affected a all Even if the financial panic
Was twice distressing she would stl not be Affected
Instead Of going deeper debt for railroad purposes
otherwise she bias been outstanding her for the
coming storm her m4~ses be inscgied into
State aid To private railroad shcmes however plausible
the arguments the considerations Like the
burnt child breads the re their bitter experience
stAieAid banking not host upon them Willing that
Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia might aspire 30 the
title of Empire Railroad States by the Of State credit
they preferred to avoid the risks concomitxnt 30 that pol
Icy, and make the slow but advances in population
prosperity, and wealth by standing by the old land
marks
We proud Of the credit Of Alabama at this time
Her bonds have been par for some time, and, If we
not wrongly informed in the market for sale
al all While those Of Virginia have gone down TO TO-
at the mark previous to this monetary
panic The repeated rebukes 70 the aidygogues have in
sred those who hold them with aeonhdenoe which these
times OF trouble cannot impair Far otherwise il the
huge scheme proposed few years ago had been adopted
the hssfy nson dsrs endorsement Of railroad bonds
With that immense increase Of debt, doubt whether
bonds would sell for ffy in the dollar
for seventy cents the St&te-aid schemes Of last session
Of the Legislature hsd mot faedshernes seeking loan
of the surplus from the treasury, and all Of the North
Carolina and Virginia bonds. The will remember
those who sought to involve the State and those to
whom they are now indebted for the sound credit
of Alabama in Europe and this country How we
were taken 10 task last spring for a statement
about the probable loss Of the from the $500 0o0
Of the bonds OF North Carolina and Virginia With near
ly 5000 600 to pay the FIRST of january ensuing we
doubted whether the sale Of those stocks would produce
enough 10 meet payment And those stocks, too
had been expressly reserved for that purpose Who
viii question the correctness of opinion Our fears
viii doubtless be realized by the very depreciation to
which looked with the lights then before US Fortu
nstely trustee and commissioner sold the past
spring $l00, DOC of the North Carolina bonds at par
that loss that much of the stock prevented Now
suppose the balance of the North Carolina and all the
Virginia stock is sold at present rates. the total loss
viii be in the neghborhood OF tpo hundred 19asand
daHas- That would be what Alabama would pay
for State aid In those whose credit has been
sadly impaired by State aid railroads Better all
the United States stocks which exchanged for
those of Virginia and North Carolina had been retained
We trust however that times may change and fezs
may not be realized would not be understood as
rejoicing at the unfortunate depreciation There
guments enough against State aid without the fur
nished by the matter in this paragraph.
Let it be the first and prime of the next legislature
to maintain the credit of the State by avoiding all legis
laon that would impair it, rebuking all schemes
tangle the State with rroai is in any shape FORM and
by making ample provision for bonds maturity
let provide for the worst emergency in the premises