The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-13

Of IL, and every subseouept month Ras been
Iulslul ~ devices for breaking faith with tho
General Washburno does not propose this;
yet ms proposition will give aid and comfort
to those who do. His assertion that money
ought not to be borrowed as II was borrowed
by our Government during the war, Will be
paraded by them TO oountenanoe II not to
justify their demand that an important element
Of the bargain shall be repudiated by the
The Government is at perfect liberty to
make new loans, subject to National, State
and local taxation, and to pay off its various
existing loans as they fall due in the proceeds
| of its new taxable loans. But il Is simple
| fatuity to suppose that this liability to taxa
tion win not be understood and considered bv
! the lender. In other words: it is absurd to
| fancy that If he is to be required to pay taxes
! on his bonds, he will not make his bids or
bis purchases at corresponding rates. Should
the taxes amount to one per cent, for instance
ne VIII pay no more for six per cent. bond
tnan he would for one of FIVE per cent that
should be wholly exempt from taxation. Thus
subjecting the bonds to taxation would be
simply adding twenty-five millions Of dollars
per annuln to the interest of our national
debt, for the chance of getting twenty millions
OF 1t returned to our various general and local
treasures by taxation. What is the net profit
of that operation
Need another word be said to expose the
utter baselessness of the assumption that
bondholders are a favored class Do you not
see that they do pay taxes-cannot help il
The loans are offered to all; the exemption (or
non-exemption) from taxation is an element
OF their price; and he who buys a non-taxable
bond pays his taxes as truly as Others He
pays in accepting lower rate of interest than
he would do if his bonds were subject to taxa
tion. To tax his bonds is simply to take
money out of one pocket in order to put it
into another, paying several commissions and
taking several risks during the process. There
is not single penny to be made by or saved
to the taxpayers by doing what General Wash
burne suggests, but the contrary; and we trust
the people, the Treasury, and Congress will
ponder well before giving any countenance to
his project.
Let us say explicitly that we hold no
dollar of Government bonds, and expect to
hold none. When lending to the Government
was an imperative duty we invested all we
could in those bonds; but since peace re-
turned all those have been sold, and the pro-
.ceeds put to other uses. We will not be even
plausibly charged with regard to our perso-
nal interest in advocating a scrupulous fidelity
to the nations most sacred engagements, made
when she hung between life and death.
Tennessee Not a Model OF Reconstructed
From the Times.
Some of our contemporaries have extolled
Tennessee as pattern to be admired and imi-
tated by the people of States engaged in the
work of reconstruction. elf the States now
excluded" it is said, twill follow Tennessee
in disfranchising Rebels, and make their re-
spective Brownlows the administrators of their
affairs and their representatives in Congress,
there need be no misgiving as to the prompt
,of4l h.,
Now, we can conceive of no greater Gala
nifty than the multiplication of Tennessees as
members of the American Union. OF the
whole South, Tennessee is beyond doubt the
part in which the least has been done towards
genuine reconstruction. 1t is nominally loyal,
of course. 1t is represented in Congress.
1t is not included in the region over which
the provisions of the military government
acts extend. And yet what is its condition?
Essentially volcanic. Loyal strength is the
result not of loyal votes, but of Rebel disfran-
chisement. Brownlow's authority is cOntin-
gent upon the application of the crushing pro-
cess to the majority of the people. He is
as absolute in his sphere as any of the mill
tary commanders in theirs, and infinitely |
more unscrupulous. He makes laws to suit !
his purposes. He interprets laws according |
to the dictates of his convenience. He tightens
the disfranchising screw as often as he finds !
1t necessary, and employs the bayonet when |
no less pungent weapon will carry his point. |
The result is that the State he governs ap-
proaches nearer and nearer to anarchy. No |
where on the continent, save in hapless
Mexico, is life or property less secure, or
liberty more transparent mockery. con-
dition OF civil war really exists all the time
smothered it may be, but liable at any moment
to burst forth under the excitement of some
sudden difficulty.
No other state of things is possible so long
I.. A.
allowed to prevail. For period, perhaps, it
had its uses. While the Rebellion lasted, any
less rigorous rule might have failed to keep in
check the hostile elements with which the
Border States abounded; but there is no
pretext for perpetuatng in peace the iron
handed administration which was indispen-
sable amidst the turmoil of war. The country |
requires the allegiance of all its citizens, but
this is possible only when the powers that be
cease to heap penalties upon whole classes, and
to persecute as outlaws all who refuse to pro-
nounce their party Shibboleth. Brownlow |
proceeds on the notion that it is necessary,
day after day, to pile Goals of fire upon the |
heads OF the great majority of the people,
simply because they decry his acts and seek to |
thwart his ambition. A statesman similarly |
situated would acknowledge mutual recon
oiliation as the stepping-stone to reconstruc-
tion he would see that the loyalty of State
can have no efficient guarantee except the
attachment of the people; and he would avoid
the fatal blunder of supposing that the eleva- |
tlon OF his nominees to power is a test of the
htness of the people for the possession of the