The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1871-06-03
.thstrnct Of the Decision OF the Supre;n,
COnrt in tho Nixon Case.

| the decision of the Suprcr,e Court of
tn" state. in the ease OF ofSal0mon & Simp-
son, nssignccs of Nixon. ce,'si,S the Au-
ditor of LouiSiala
Po' Ln7eii,'g, {. J.-The question
presented il the conStitutionality or un-
| ieonStitutionality of the act of the Gene
! raj Assembly. passed lst March, 1871,
and numbered b. The solution OF this
question depends on two facts, viz:
First. Did the debt Ot the state OK
; coed Twenty-Five millions of dollars, at
the date of the act OF the Lcgislatlir"
aforesaid, and
secondly. Did said act create II debt.
l. The evidence in the record leaves
no doubt that the dcbt OF the state cX-
cceslcd twenty-five millions of dollars
on or before the LIST of March, 1871.
=. 1t appears from the recitals in the
act No. 81, that the State had settled
| with }. q. Nixon in full, for the work
done by him "a public printer, and that
his necessities compelled him to soil at
Il discount, his warrants received in the
settlement. If, instead of the state, it
had been II private Individual, who had
contracted with Nixon, and who had
given his note in settlement, could
! Nixon have enforced his claim for losses
! in consequence of the sale of the note:
| Certainly not. After the settlement
aforesaid and the sale OF warrants, the
State did not owe Nixon, but the holder
of the warrants. Therefore the act No.
32, if valid, necessarily created Il debt.
! But it is contende.l by tho rclatorS
that the appropriation does not create Il
debt, "hccause the money is presumed
to be in the treasury This raises the
very serious question, whether or not
the Legislature can make appropriations
unless there be money to meet the war
rants authorized thereby, either nctu
ally in the treasury or provided for by
the revenue bill.
The power of appropriation is the
right to apply to public purposes money
in tho treasury. Art. l0i of the Con-
stitution declares:
No money ~!tsU he ol,wn2' FROM hAt ttT"-
$u,:Y bW IN 2,arsmu'cr Of specific uppyo-
pri0tiOnS ne0(r hy I0w.
An appropriation is an authorization
to- til" Auditor to check upon tn" Trcn-
sury for moneys there deposited. IT.,
therefore, the revenues bc Inadequate
to meet the interest of the public debt
and the current expenses OF the neces-
sary State ngcncics to preserve the gov
rrnmcnt, an appropriation {whcrchy
! the liabilities of the State arh increased
lpl any cIAeI (puIk')Nt ttliiIl tl't Ntitl'I'
and maintenance OF the machinery O.
) government, is IL debt within the utCIn
, ing of the constitutional nM,"nnmru
Which declares that prior to- ist lanua
ry, 1890 the debt of the state shall no
lie SO Increased It's tttXccra tWpnt t-iiEt
millions OF dollars.
Judgment of the lower court al
2 tir!ned.
q EX-GovrrnOr Henry \. Wise h;.:
published Il long and eloquent tribute
To- the memory Of The lat" EN-SrnatDl
, James NJ. Mason, of Nirginin, in whirh
ne says: at was not in the cCurS" o
nature, or in the reason of things, that
he could remain with us longer. Tho
disasters to the Conicdcracy and tho
South, the wounds to his pride, tho
aching agony of seeing All his hopes 81
liberty and Sclf-gOvcrnnrnt and Stat,
! rights blasted, and the l"sccrntiUn q
sacred things, amt the devastation anu
decentralization he witnessed on coming
home, were too much t"ni-on on tho
nerves Of an aged man of d"!ictt" S"n-i
, hiltic- and proud Sclst. of i!n,tor. .Af
ter t0iling fUr u settlement near hi
fathers old home nt tlarn,nnnt, nrH
Alexandria, and fixing for Il quiet re
tirpn'tnt, his system collapsed, and ii'
fell under paralysis. Ills last moment:
, were without pain, and h' died nS h,
lived, composed and firm"
"irt no man b" dccrivcd,' -ays Ben
> Butler, of the Democratic party sinai
come into power in 1872 by n majnrit
, strong enough to maintain itself, just 50
surely, by force, by fraud or evasion
:. nil benefits of these constitutional guar
antccs will be taken away from th
colorcd man" Nothing is further from
the truth except the man himself, VIII
stanls behind this language; yet -houl,
IT by any contingency happen that tn
constitutional amendments so perisl
: nshy force, fraud or cvasion,' they wi
only repeat the manner %! their hirt
in the manner of their death.
II Tho CENSUS of the cOiOrcd pppui:ItiC
= Of the United States, which f"ot5 4
" 1857 900, shows II gain over that
y 1850, of nearly nine and Il half per cen
This result is contrary to general ant
~ cipation, and demonstrates that ii
+ supposed mortality Of the last de"a,
= was not so excessive, but that it is Owe
~ balanced by tEr. extraordinary fr"ili
~ dity Of the race. As the condition
~ affairs improves, and the Labor 'ntr
u. c5ts hcconu better settled, the ftI"r'';t'
~ Of the next ten years viii hnuhti''-H !
u at n rate still greater.
to
no The Prince of Wales l. r"irrt"l |
a. have lost her beauty and FRESHNESS
"a which ut the tim" of her narrinC" wCI
fe 80 much admired; still il couth ht' sec
v that her charms were more those Of ~