Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-07-04

Isceoos ooo MAINTAIN soeer party 0fHons-
sasios without spot o. blsmish.
lowa 0saas Doeds.--To ~ Public.
A. . public meeting Of the citizens Of
the city Of Davenport, held on the eve
ming Of July lst., 1851, the undersi2ned
Eess apeoiated. . committee to prepare !
proper snewer TO the article OF the New
York Erdd % NE lows stses Bosds.
Il i rot to be concealed thst II Va With
eqsal surprise and regret that the peo-
PIE Of tho State noticed that this in6usn.
t'aI AID widely circulated sheet had,
doubtless through misapprehension, sin
gled out lows from her sistsr States a.
being the only one whose people are
destitute Of public faith, and whose
bonds are unworthy Of credit. The ar
ticle, without being designed to have
that effect by the editors, whatever may
have been the design of those who com. |
municated the information, is of char.
acter calculated uujustIy and seriously
10 cripple the State in it, sffn--
fspd itself, and to 20 >..s to de-
the Gener.' -snder prompt aid to
=. Government.
Ihe first objection which the Herald
urges against these bonds, is, that they
are unc0nssif,4t;nnally issusd. Tho art'-
clio in question, after speaking OF the
desirable investments" offered by sew
eral States, including Ohio and Illinois,
states its legal objections to the bonds As
follows:
| We must, however, make an excep-
ton to the general rule 10 the case Of
the proposed loan of the State OF Iowa.
That State is now in the market for a
war loan. In order to borrow, without
violating the State Constitution, the
State authorities are obliged to act on
the fiction that the State is in danger Of
Invasion"
! This necessitates reference to the
wise and salutary provisions of the State
Constitution on the subject of State H.
debtedness.
Section l of article of the Constitu-
ton prohibits the credit of the State be-
ing Sin any manner 9iven or loaned to
or in aid of any individual association Of
; corporation" and also iuhibits the State
from "assuming the debts or liabilitiea
Of any individual, association or corpor
alton unless incurred in t,nae of ac0r, fol
: the benefit of the State" We quote
J this provision for two purposes: frs, be
. cause it perpetually assures the people
of this State against any hazard of thu
. formation, by the state, Of any 'entan
Cling alliances" with railroad companie
: or any other pecuniary or speculative as
sociations and secondly, because j
tends to show that in times Of war there
3 is no restriction upon the power of tn
State Government to contract debts TO
war purposes.
: Section Q of the same article provide
Q that the aggregate amount Of the deb,
, nSve, 6xueod tire sum ), vz3u,vvv.
Section 3 relates to the auditing ant
funding Of certain losses to the schoo
: fund. Then follows section 4 unde
which the bonds in question were issued
= This section is as follows:
I'm addition to the above Unite,
power to contract debts, the State ma,
contract debts to repel inrasion, sup
: press insurrecti0n and defend the Stat
< ~ a0dr; but the money arising from tn
!. debts so contracted, shall be applied t
q the purpose for which it was raised, O
. TO repay such debts, and to no othe
purpose whatever"
Section provides that "ercept til
7 debts hereinbefore specified, no debt shal
r be hereafter contracted by, or on behal
of, the State, unless submitted to vot,
Of the people at general election" &c
Thus it will be seen that debts con
tracted under Section 4 are expressl,
> accepted from those ,ohich need to b.
D submitted to vote Of the people.
. an invasion be menaced, or an insurrec
ton occur, or the State be involved il
= war, 1t would be serious imputation 9
{ the want Of common sense on the par
: OF the trainers of the Constitution to SUP
9 pose that it was intended by them tha
!. the State should be without means I,
meet the exigency until after a vote o
the people was had at general cleo
: ton, which is holden but once q yea,
) DO not understand the Herald to obiec
: to the bonds on the ground that IT,,
Act authorizing their issue ought t,
have been submitted to vote Of tn
people at the next October cleo
: ton, but on the ground solely tina
, no such EFFICIENCY had occurred as is con
0 templated by section 4 Of the Constitu
tion above quoted; or, as the HERALD
expresses it, the bonds were issued 90,
the fiction that the State was 10 DANCE
of INVASION"
} Now, who is to determine whether i
is necessary to put the State in postur,
Of defense. by purchasing arms, powde,
and the munitions Of ware Who is te
determine whether there is danger Of an
invasions Whether in order nceessari
y to repel it, the militia ought to be
called out, put into camp, drilled and
disciplined : Evidently not the Courts
not the Executive, but the General Az
sembly, and it alone, and when II dc.
cides the question, as it has decided it in
, this instance, there is no tribunal
or power to revise or review it.
It will not seriously be contended that
TIM ,a~oA:~~ $500 n.