The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1871-12-06

tu0J ooiuiy Ptoo".S> =
to repudiate all debts contracted sub
quent to the adoption Of our new
State Constitution.
As, by this course of action on tn
part Of mon protesting to have tn
honor and credit of the State pecu
Iiarly at heart, the purchasing valu'
of the bonds was seriously diminish
ed, thereby requiring an increased
amount in bonds to raise a givol
amount in money, it follows that they
and not this administration, are no
responsible for any undue increase il
our bonded debt, upon the just lega
principle that every man is account
oble for the natural consequences o
his own acts. Added to these causes
for the decline in the value OF oul
securities was the manifest want O.
confidence among capitalists in tht
management of our finances by oul
Financial Agent in New York.
In proof that this scheme to dis
credit the Government of the State
has it's origin in political causes,
cite the following extracts from the
Charleston Daily News, widely cir
culated journal, published at tho com
merciaI centre of the State. The
first of these extracts, taken from
the issue Of that paper Of date Of
July 16, 1868, but ton days after the
new State Government went into op'
Grafton, makes it evident that the
determination to depreciate our secu,
rites was formed almost simultaneous.
|lv with the advent of tho present ad-
ministration,. and before it could have
rendered itself, BY any act Of its own,
obnoxious to the charges of corrup-
tion or improvidence: -. -
a.BAYoNET' BoNDs.-It would,
doubtless, be very comfortable thing
if the debt of the State could be paid,
or the interest funded, until the peo-
pie, under a Legitimate government,
are able to meet their public obliga-
tions. But this cannot. be done by
tho motley Legislature now in session
in Columbia; nor can they, by the
issue of 'bayonet' bonds, provide, as
proposed, for the deficit in the annu-
al revenue Of the State.
"rhe Legislature will, of course,
bleed freely every property-holder in
South Carolina, and, as long as they
usurp the machinery Of tho law, may
compel the payment of taxation.
Negro Legislators, negro Sheriffs and
negro Constables may distrain, and
there the scheme of financial white
washing will como to premature
end. .....
"Beyond this they cannot go.
What capitalist would touch 'bayo-
net bonds issued by our bogus Leg
islatnrc Would New York or Bos-
ton touch these bonds, issued by au-
thority of a horde Of negroes, and in
face of the protust Of the white poo
die of the State? Would not our
Northern brethren prefer to wait un-
til after November. .
"The State debt of South Carolina
tho debt now existing-will be
paid to tho last cent, whatever the
General Assembly may do; but no
'bay0nct' bond, for whatever reason
issued, will ever be recognized by the
white people of State" . ".aa
Referring to the Act Of the Gener-
al Assembly providing for the pay.
ment of tho interest on our State
bonds in specie, the same paper says,
unper date of December l, 1862:
Eve can pay our debt as it stands.
The question is, whether ono year
more of Radical rule will not 80 large.
ly swell the total that the people will,
at the first opportunity, shuttle off the
weight Of care, and rcpudiate every
dollar Of debt contracted after war.
X x Had the Governor advis
ed that the war debt be paid-a debt
contracted for the advancement Of a
cause in which our people embarked
fortune, life and lhonor-an attentive
car and willing heart would have met
the proposal, and the whole subject
would have been considered with
kindly and generous cure. X X
Every merchant or fnancier does see,
or will see, that the whole scheme is
a job and a swindle. Beyond this
there is the certainty that the law Of
specie payments will assuredly DO re-
Ipealed as soon as property-holders
and honest men have d majority in
the councils of the State. This ma.
Ijority we shall have in less than q
year" -. j..
The cry of reputation thus raised
by large portion Of the press, and
continued, wieh a shameless pertinac
| |ity, in the interest Of small and ma
lignant political organization, has
done much to produce tho, recent de.
probation of,our securities, coming
as it did, at time when the money
markets wero rendered peculiarly
sensitive and stringent by various
causes. ~ : N& = . 5,
The debt statement made at. the
meeting of the Taxpayers Conven
tion, in May last, and that furnished
by me to the Congressional Commit
tee, in September, were correct, to the
best of my knowledge, at those dates
My information as to the sale Of
bonds was then necessarily limited tc
the amount reported by the Financial
Agent and Treasurer.
S2,2O0,OOO of the amount of con
version bonds, issued as above stated
were signed by me for the express
purpose Of withdrawing from the
market and cancellipg an. equa'
amount of those issued and bypothe
Gated under the Acts, for relief Of the
Treasury, the payment Of the interest