The weekly echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1868-1876, 1871-03-16
no Check Abuse OF the puBTfB
Credit.

40 WOuA0 NC YEA udtQs saws
the Picagune, "if, instead Of lin;t.
ing the debt and Strengthening tba
credit Of the State, the amendment
should only have the effect of throw.
ing shadow Of doubt upon all its
obligations, new and old together
Our advice to creditorsof the State
is that they do not pay too much
attentonto speculativerumors, nor
be too ready to believe that any
formal debt Of the State viii be lelt
permanently unsettled" This Il
said with reference to the blockade
encountered in the Auditors Office
by claims, arising under recent leg.
isIation, for State warrants or State
bonds. The amendatory provision
OF the State constitution that The
State debt shall not be so increased
as to- exceed twenty-five millions Of
dollars, was in force when the late
session Of the General Assembly
commenced. Long beforetheclose
of the session, the prescribed limit
was passed. This is not question.
cd. The trouble with the account
ing officer Of the State is to deter.
mine precisely when the margin for
an increase Of the State debtWas OK.
hausted, and precisely what claims
are to be rejected as coming under
the category Of unconstitutional
excess, He is iustifedin assuming
that such claims as denote recog-
nized current expenses Of the State
are cash liabilities with which the
constitutional prohibition above
recited has nothing to do, and in
assuminglthat this prohibition does
vitiate all other claims, if they fall
outside Of the twenty-five millions
boundary OF the State debt, even
though they should be expressly
sanctioned by special acts of the
Legislature. 1t will not do to say
Tint the Auditor has no business
to look beyond the letter Of such
legislation that he is in Office not
to Judge the statuary law, but 10
administer it as he finds it. If lie
is sworn to- obey this law, he is
sworn to obey the constitution a.
the supreme law, and he must rem
der this last obedience according
to his own construction of consti.
tutional requirement until overru.
led BY judicial authority, Take
the opposite theory, and see to
what it would commit him. The
Legislature has overstepped The
constitutional maximum of tho
Stale debt to the extent Of at least
fifteen millions. With this fact
staring him ii Che face, is the An.
ditor to grant every application,
under special acts of the Legisla-
ture, for warrants OF bonds in ex-
cess OF twenty-five millions, and
therefore under the constitution
null and void? IL he does SO, hs
knowingly makes himself accessory
to fraud upon innocent third par
ties who may come into bona fde
possession OF the pretended evis
dences of State indebtedness. The
constitution, conscience, Justice
reason, sound policy alike forbid
such completely. They all demand
that the inordinate and unwarran.
table Legislative drafts upon the
States credit should be publicly
dishonored at the earliest moment
50 that, il possible, no innocent
third party should become o victim
Of fraudulent imposition.
Creditors of the State are advis.
| ed by our contemporary. above
quoted, not ITO be too ready to be-
lieve that any formal debt Of tho
State viii be left permanently I'M
settled" What is meant by "t0r-
NAL debt we do not know. But
Of this we are perfectly satisfied,
that no debt, whether ia formal or
Sn4nruaai ,s,,ip, s,s,-.l.k ~ ~ GOOD