Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-05-04
THE STATE TRRASURY-A DAM
AGING STATEMENT

-of the Circuit Court of Knox county,
is a Radical of the straightest sect
known to East Tennessee. So
much by way of introduction to
the following communication from
him which we find in the Knoxville
Press and Herald:
More than year past, / said through
your columns that the bottom was out of
the State Treasury. Matters are now in
far worse condition, as relates to our
finances, than at that time. The last
money received by me, on account of
term. 1868. When | ask for what is
Justly due the citizens of this county for
services which the laws of our State
compel them to render, am met with the
answer: The. State Treasury is empty |"
What is to be dore2 Sheriffs, jailors,
clerks, et al can not live on air Nor is
it reasonable or just that they spend
their time and money, with but small
hope of reward Men are forced to quit
their work shops, their stores, and their
farms, and give their attendance at court
as witnesses, and yet when their cases
are decided, well-nigh q year has
elapsed, and not one cent have
they received Shall we repudi-
ate the State deb II How are we
to live2 Is there an unnecessary drain
on our State Treasury If so, for what
purpose? Will We have more money
under the existing state of affairs in the
future than the past2 These are ques-
tons that should be taken home and
pondered over by all lovers Of prosper
Gus and solvent State Soon men will
again be selected by the voice of the peo-
| pie to make our laws for the next two
years. Let men of sober, sound wisdom,
be put in office-not fanatics, avenging
some imaginary wrong, or willing to see
| their State bankrupt and almost, if not,
entirely ruined, to carry out some selfish
end. Our taxes are extremely burthen-
some now Where is our money gone ?
A hungry man, with family in same
condition, and with but little hope of re-
lief, cares more for subsistence than
/ party, and will be likely to cast his vote
for the man who he thinks will, through
his wise and Just legislation, be first to
| relieve our State and county from bank
ruptcy. WILL. X. MCBATH.
We call attention to the fact that
this statement is made by a Radical
Office holder, who halls from that
portion of the State where Demo
Gratis are not permitted to get Of
fee. 1t is a damaging statement.
Mai. McBath asserts without quail; =
fication that d" matters are in a far
worse condition, as relates to our
finances" than they were a year
ago. What is the cause of this ?
Is there not Encouragement some
where? "Our taxes are extremely
burdensome now" says Maj. Nc
Bath. The taxpayers know
all about this. Tho tax
| gatherer has wrung from them
more money since the recon
struction of the State by the Radi-
Gals, only four years ago, than was
collected from the people in the
shape of taxes in the ten years pre-
ceding the war. Why have the
taxes been thus piled up year after
year? Simply because such men
as Mai. McBath submitted to if they
did not encourage the outrage. The
| great body of the tax payers-two-
thirds Of the white men of the
State being disfranchised have
had no voice in the election OF
neither the men who imposed these
taxes nor of those who made their
imposition necessary. Il Maj.
McBath and men like him who
have sustained the Radical leaders
through all their usurpations, had
put men of sober, sound wisdom
in office, or had demanded that the
right of suffrage be conferred upon
the disfranchised Taxpayers, the
Illuminating confession that +" the
State treasury is empty" would not
have to be made every time the
clerk of court or a county super
intendent of common schools APP
plies for few hundred dollars. Had
the men who pay tie taxes a
voice in the selection Of members
of the Legislature, the people OF
Tennessee would not be tax-ridden
as they are and have been. Not
withstanding more taxes have been
collected during the last four years,
" hen the people were grooming UNI
der the impoverishments of the
war, than was collected in the ten