Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-09

1 r
matter he would be willing to leave it to
bare majority.
Mr.. Gordon introduced a resolution
refer the matter the Judiciary Committee
with instructions TO report proViso ths
under an act of the Legislature, the e1
cepted counties, by vote of majority
the freehold and personal property ta1
payers thereof, may loan their credit t
railroad companies.
Mr.. Netherland said it had become yer
popular for delegates who were oppose
to a measure to insist that if it wer
adopted the Constitution would be re
| iected. He had heard this so much tina
he had began to think there was not nue.
in it. His proposition was simplyto al
low certain counties to vote a tax by
majority. Now, what was there in tina
to make the people vote down the Con
stitution
The ayes and noes were taken on tn
resolution to refer the matter to the Judi
ciary Committee, and it was defeated b.
the following vote-yeas, 8; noes, 80.
Mr.. Netherlands resolution was now
adopted by the vote of As yeas to q
nays.
RATE OF INTEREST.
Mr., Gardner made the following re
| port:
The Committee on Finance, Interna
Improvements and Corporations have re
considered their report, heretofore made
on the subject of interest, and have in
structed me to ask leave to'withdraw the
previous report on this subject and submit
the following in lieu
''The legal rate of interest in this State
shall be six per centum per annum, and
shall be equal and uniform throughout the
State; but any rate of interest shall be
lawful which may be agreed
upon by the parties and inserted in
written contract, not exceeding ten per
centum per annum.
On motion of Mr.. Gordon the above
was received in lieu of the former report
of the committee.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
On motion of Mr.. Kennedy the unfin-
ished portion of the report of the Com
mittee on the Legislative Department was
taken up.
Mr.. Kennedy Offered the following
amendment to section 81: 'sNor shall
any bank be owned in whole or in part by
the State"
The Convention then took recess.
Afternoon Session.
The Convention met at 2:30P. M, and
proceeded to the consideration of the I'M
finished NORTON of tho renorf of thp Com
mittee on Legislative Department. Mr..
Kennedy offered the following as an indie
pendent section:
'sNo bonds of the State shall be issued
to any railroad company that has failed
to pay and is now in default of paying
the interest upon bonds already issued to
it, or that shall at any time before appli-
cation for such bonds, or in default of
such payment or that has sold or absolute
ly disposed of any bonds insued to it for
less than par"
Mr.. Kennedy said his amendment was
designed to stop the issuance of bonds to
those roads which were delinquent in pay
ing interest and had sold the bonds loaned
them by the State at less than par. In the
charters of all the roads which had re-
ceivcd State aid there was a provision that
those bonds should not be sold below par.
Mr. Williamson desired to know why
the amendment did not come out plainly
and say that no more bonds shall be is
sued to any railroads. This was the eff
feet Of the provision urged by the gentle
man.
Mr. Kennedy said as near as he could
learn there were about $4,000, 900 of
bonds to be issued under previous legisla-
ton. The State might as well give away
all the bonds she has issued to those rail
roads. Many roads were not paying in
terest, but still receiving bonds and selling
them at forty OF forty-five cents on the
dollar.
Mr.. Fcntrcss said he thought this pro-
vision would interfere with the vested
rights of certain roads. If the State had
made bad bargain she ought to live up
to it, if the faith of the State had been
pledged to loan bonds to unfinished rail
roads.
Mr.. Stephens said the proposition was
so wOrded that if a railraad had not yiO-
lated its faith to the State, this section did
not interfere with them in the least.
Mr.. Dibrell thought that the adoption
of any such measure as this would be
practical reputation, and he was strongly
opposed to it.
Mr.. Nicholson said The Convention had
no power to decide judicially whether the
railroads had performed their part of the
contract.
Mr. Jones, of Lincoln, was anxious
that this provision should be incorporated
in the Constitution. Then when a rail-
road should come to the Governor for the
bonds to which it claimed to be entitled,
that officer could require evidence that all
the requirements of the law had been
complied with. He could refuse to issue
the bonds if he considered that there was
any thing illegal in the demand of the
road. The company could sue out man
damus, and thus the matter would be
brought into court and could be sifted to
the bottom.
The matter was referred to the Finance
Committee.
TAXATION.
The Convention now proceeded to the
consideration of section IS Of the Lcgisla
tive report, as follows:
Sec. %. All property, real, personal or
mixed, shall be taxed, except such as may
be held by the State, by counties, cities
or towns, and used for public or corpora
ton purposes, and such as may be held
for purposes purely religious, charitable,
scientific, literary or educational, and ex-
cept 81, 900 worth of personal property in
the hands of each tax payer, and the di-
rect product of the soil in the hands of
the producer.
All property shall be taxed according TO
its value, that value to be asCcrtained in
such manner as the Legislature shall di-
rect, so that the same shall be equal and
uniform throughout the State. No one spe-
Cics of property from which tax may be
collected shall be taxed higher than any
otherspecies of property of the same value.
Capital invested in the buying and sell
ing of merchandise shall be estimated at
the highest value of the stock of mer-
chandse onhand at any one period of the
year preceding its assessment; and mer-
chants shall pay, in addition to an al
U0lOrCnI tax thereupOn, specific tax,
which shall not exceed five hundred dol
lars per annum, to be graduated as the
Legislature shall direct; but peddlers and
privileges may be taxed in such manner
as may from time to time be prescribed
by law.
The Legislature shall have power to
levy special tax upon income derived
from stocks and bonds exempted by the
laws of the United States from taxation,
All male citizens of this State, over the
age of twenty-one years, shall be liable to
poll tax Of not less than one nor more
than five dollars per annum, until such age