Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-16

4 not my place or purpose here to discus
s for these questions are not under col
t sideration. These probably are judici
. questions But il the people are und'
( obligation to pay said debt the o5ligalio
| rests upon the agricultural, manufacture
5 and commercial according TO the law thi
existed at the time the same was createt
: Because if the debt is CONSTITUTIONAL
created, 1t is a contract, and the la
, that existed at the time the debt was cref
ted enters into and becomes a part of til
, contract. So each class is morally bOun
to pay according 10 the laws and syster
existing at the time the debt was created
otherwise, one class would have right {
shift its part of the burden upon the othc
that it helped to bring upon the whole
thereby indirectly regulating its part b.
shiftings its burdens of taxation upon
different basis from the one existing a
the time the debt was created. Orator
ON this floor, ably and .cloquently repre-
senting the mercantile interest from Mem
phis, Nashville and Knoxville, spurn re
pudiation as degrading and disgracefUl t
brave, noble, and heightened people lif'
that born in the lovely volunteer land o.
| Tennessee. at the next breath thu
winds blow the system of taxation off tn,
shoulders Of the merchants on that of thC
farmer to pay the $40, 600, 900 debt IN
der system of taxation, wholly and to-
| tally different from the one under which
the debt was created. Sirs, under the
| system proposed here, the merchants tax
is to be assessed about $500, 900, and
the farmers increased about $500, 900,
and this is the way the State debt is to be
paid. And reference is made for prece-
dent to Kentucky, Ohio, and / be-
lieve Massachusetts,, and am surprised at
New York, Paris and London, being left
out. Gentlemen have forgotten the coun-
try and age in which they live We are
neither London, Paris, New York, Ohio,
nor Kentucky, They have not emerged
lately from the effects of an impoverishing
and bloody war. Their financial condi-
ton is healthy and sound, and their peo-
pie are naturally great COM
mercial people. The same law
that suits them does not suit
our natural facilities, nor our f.
nancial condition. | would like to know
of these gentlemen if they want to adopt
the Constitution Of England, France,
New York, Massachusetts, Ohio or Ken
lucky for Tennessee in her present con-
dition. If so, let us Sign whichever one
we want and go home. If we had done
this, we could have gone home the first
week. The same law does not suit every
soil, people and climate. Hence we
must adopt our Constitution to our nat
ural resources, necessities, wants and
financial condition and not get in advance
of the age. If the burdens of taxation
are taken off the merchant and placed
upon the farmers so that they will have to
pay the $40, 900, 900 of debt, interest
thereon, and the expenses of the govern
ment, the cry of reputation will sound
from every hill, hollow and field in Ten
nessee, For if the merchant has right
to shift this debt off their shoulders, by
the same course of reasoning the farmer
has. Sir, am not in favor of Tepudja-
ting any part of the debt created by the
legal representatives of the people under
our Constitution, but as to what part has
thus been created lido not now undertake
to say. am also in favor of paying that
portion that we do pay by the same sys-
tenn of taxation that existed at the time it
was created. It is the only just, equita-
BILE and moral mode of paying it. We
are a Convention making an organic law,
to last probably fifty years, to he handed
down TO our descendants, and not subject
to change every two years like Legisla-
tive enactmcnts: then let US cherish the
maxim of our predecessors, that govern
ments long established shOUldnOt be chang
ed for light and trivial causes and not make
changes in the Constitution of 1884, only
where necessity demands the same. These
are all the changes we were sent here to
make. If we make too many changes or |
we VIII load the ship too
heavy and the waters viii swallow her up
IS the waters of the Red Sea did Pharaoh
md his hosts. Now, sirs, the report of
he committee is an innovation upon the
agricultural interest of our State, not dis
2ussed before my people, and presume
the same is the case with the majority of
this Convention. Breakers raise their
noary heads in our front as we drift UPON
the sea of time. Let us guide the ship
wisely, and not let her be wrecked. Sirs,
the liberty and enfranchisement of about
30, 900 of our best white population dwells
within the vessel. Her contents are more
valuable to our people than rubies, dia-
monds, or gold, and if the cargo is lost,
heart is pierced aud her life
blood is spilled upon her own wreck.
How painful the thought My liberty
and my friends liberty goes down with
The vessel, never again to be resUi rected
during the present generation.
| cOnjure the Convention to look well
where they are going to light before they
leap. Too many innovations may cause
the great moving cause and object of the
Convention to he lost, to-Wit: the en-
of the white race, TeOr-
ganizatiOn of the Judiciary and financial
The Financial Committees
report limits thespecia tax upon dry goods
merchants to $500 as a maximum, but has
no minimum. Beyond this, the Legisla-
ture has ne power TO go, but they can say
no special tax at all shall be put upon
these merchants. Then there would be
no tax upon them save an ad valOrem
upon the highest amount they had on
hand at any one period in previous year.
Now there is no maximum as to any priv
lege or special tax save that l have here
tofore mentioned. They can put as high
a privilege tax upon the doctor, lawyer,
druggist, peddler, farmers stallion or jack,
marriage licenses, etc, as they please. All
is at their discretion. So with the income
Of the bond holder; so with the real and
personal property of the farmer, aud all
produce in the hands of the produce mer-
chant and all buyers from the farmer that
raises it. Why is it that the Legislature
is honest enough and competent to fix the
rate of taxation upon everything owned
in the State of Tennessee, and all priv
leges, save that of merchants, l am not
able to tell. | think the rate of taxation
in all ought to be entrusted to that body
and no distinction made, like our fathers
of 1884 had it. Property fluctuates in
value from time to time; the Government
debt is sometimes large and sometimes
small; diseases often sweep away nearly
all living stock; war, famine, and pcsti-
lence sometimes come upon the people
and taxes have to be varied to suit all
these thugs: hence the organic law ought
to leave a great deal of discretion to the
Legislature on this question, for society's
sake. 1t is useless to say the merchants
have not fair showing with the Legs
lature for they live in cities, on the great
thoroughfares, around the State Capitol,
near the tclegraphic offices and have direct
communication with said body all the
time, while the farmers are scattered all
over the fields, hills, and hollows, and