Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-03-21

Toremedy tle. omissions OF the.lass few
years in the prompt payment of interest on
the outstanding State debt, the Legislature
decided 10 issue bonds for the payment Of
these elaine. The bonds have been prepared
and advertised by the Governor for sale.
How many Of them have been sold and how
much Of the States indebtedness has been
paid thereby, are matters rightfully belong
ing sothe public, which the people are not
in possession of But IL is presumable that
the funds coming into the treasury Of the
State from this source, and from the ordina-
~ tax collections including the extraordi-
nary taxof two per cent.npon themercantile
interests, has been duly and properly APP
propriated TO the payment Of the States
expenditures and Indebtedness. Besides
these means there are others aecruing
from the Bank of Tennessee which
may be applied to the same purpose, if all
that part of its circulation issued after the
9Th of May, 1861, and the payment of notes
due it made in Confederate currency, are
repudiated. We learned some time since,
from the Memphis papers, that the Treasurer
had visited that city and received from the
collectors there something like two hundred
thousand dollars, and since then he has been
settling with collectors in other portions of
the State, and deriving material assistance
in his efforts to replenish the Treasury.
From these facts it is reasonable to con-
clude that our finances are in healthy con-
dition. If the Penitentiary, for want Of
appropriations, has been running up butch
er's bills &c, we have not heard of any pro-
test Of the per diem checks of Duggan and
his Radical associates We believe, also,
that the public printing has been regularly
| paid for, and the Executive officers, includ-
ing the Governors staff, have met with no
delays in drawing their salaries We feel
authorized, therefore, to state that our State
finances are in wholesome and solvent con-
dition. From the amount Of taxes the peo-
pie have been called upon to pay, and have
paid with all the cheerfulness and alacrity
that circumstances would permit, we are sa-
tisied that such ought to be the case and
If it is not desire prevails TO know the
reason why.
The people Of Tennessee have never repu-
dated any just obligation Of any kind, and
they do not mean TO do 50 in the future.
The bonds authorized by the present Legis-
lature viii be punctuaIly paid, and are worth
just as much as any Others issued by the
State. Whether their proceeds are properly
appropriated or not they bear Tennessees
seal, and she will not repudiate them. There
is nc State in the present or late Union, more
solvent or more willing to pay-and it is a
matter Of establishment that her bonds have
been depressed in TIE financial markets be-
low par. 1t never ought to have been the
case, and it is to be hoped that our obliga-
tons will hereafter receive that considera-
ton that honesty, punctuality and undoubted
solvency should impart to every obligation
involving future payment individual or cor
porate.
In this connection We may state histori-
cal fact which does not admit of contradic-
ton, that no people ever stood higher in
the commercial world than those of Tennes-
see. There have been fewer failures in COM
parison TO the amount Of business transacted.
fewer bankruptcies in proportion to popula-
ton than in any other State in the Union
And the credit Of the merchants of this city
and State is as fair in all parts of the world
where they have business connections, as that
of any other people anywhere.
There should be no sort of discount on
Tennessee credit, either public or private.