Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-27

. sun sud laboliously.
STATE CREDIT.
The recent movement in the price o
Tennessee bonds in the New York mar
ket seems to some Of our people some
what strange. They do not see why
there should be any change in the value
OF our bonds. To slch we have only L
say that there has been no change IL
the real value of Tennessee securities
The price Of bonds or stocks in Wal
street by no means indicates their value
The price or market value Of a bond
may be much higher or lower to-day
than it was yesterday, without any
change whatever in the condition Of the
maker or payer Of the bond The sup
posed or reputed sale Of bonds is by nc
means real. The purchase or sale
Of millions Of bonds is reported
without one ever having changed
hands. 1t is in New York q regular
gambling operation. 1t is q bet that a
bond viii be higher or lower at q certain
time. One party, the bulls, 90 to work
Immediately to toss the bond up in the
market. The other party, the bears, 90
u work 70 pull it down. No money is
put up except what is called the margin.
This Is q sum sufficient TO cover any rea-
sUuable difference between the actual
price Of the bond ard what il may be.
When the day for settlement comes, the
bond does not change hands. Ii ninety
nine cases out Of hundred neither par
~ has ever owned nor expected to own
g bond All the money that is paid
over is the difference between what the
.lle rket value Of the bend is at the time
specified, and what the bet was that it
would be.
10 is very well known that the price Of
Tennessee bonds HIS been for q long
while far below their real value. The
holders Of these bonds know this, hence
vi not part with them. L person who
wcuted 70 buy these bonds would find
tLlt be could not get them at the quoted
price. He might get a bet that they
VT Ild be higher or lower at a certain
time or within a certain time. The in
dec -edness Of Tennessee has been so
greatly reduced within the last two
years, the disposition to meet our inter-
est promptly, snd the discrimination
hereafter to pay IS We 60, have been so
ia Fersaily and unanimously manifest
ed 10y our people and our Legislators, that
ta- holders Of our bonds viii not part with
them at anything like their present
usrket price. A combination of cir
Cuustanees growing 'lut of incidents Of
tie war, and partially produced by the
oa'ravagant and corrupt legislation in
the State from 1866 t. 1870, Justly sunk
ol- credit, by very largely increasing
QUE Indebtedness and by our failure to |
pzg the accruing interest upon If. But
eXt-avagant and corrupt legislation has 1
c=ased. Our indebteGn ness has been less /
eL,d One-half, and the time has come !
H an nrrr nrnIa fol hot
est and duty demand that our liabilities I
shall be met as they fall due. So far as 1
0Si- Information exteIlds, there was not /
OF mot member elected to the Legisla-
tu-a, but not even a candidate for Office at /
the asst election who did not take decided |
ground for an improvement Of our State
credit by preparing to Jay the interest on
oSf bonds as il falls dine. The holders
Of our State bonds know these facts.
Heace their unwillingness to sell. Stock
g. nblers may run the price up or down
~ the market, but when YOU 90 TO get
the bond you will find it is not to be had.
There is no State in the Union more
able or more willing to pay than TenDes-
see. HencefOrth she Ii determined that
be- credit shall stand unimpeaehed in
the markets Of the world, and that her
enterprise, her industry and her integri-
y shall stand forth cOnspicuously, invit-
inc the capital and energy Of the good
citizens Of other States and other coun-
tries.
The above, which we copy from the
Nashville onion and american, is a true
AMI a fair statement Of the condition Of
our State credit, and the disposition Of {
our people TO lift Tennessee to as high a 1
20 ition in the financial world as that I
occupied by Missouri and other States }
no more favored in population and re- q
sCCcees. Looking at The bare fact Of I
our ability to do justice by our creditors, Il
there is no reason why tennessee bonds
should not be quoted to-day at ninety c
four TO nlnety-six cents. Indeed, since [
the war it could not have been other I
wise had it not been for the '
rap aeity and greed of our Radical q
masters, who issued bonds as long =
as hey could be sold at any price, IN {
Der pretense of railroad improvements,
Ia s have never had any existence in
.act. These bonds, or most Of them,
have been recalled, with others issued '
X our best railroads, most Of these hay- e
uC returned what was loaned to them Z
IF State credit. This, In great part, d
lue to Gov. Brown who has ever been a
for his desire to uphold the c
state credit, has had the effect to re- 8
luce our State debt by nearly one p
lar which, Of itself, should have ad- q
'agced the price Of our bonds to tie q
is.Ires given above, and would, had q
re been anything ike legitimate OF n
peeulstive demand for them. But there t
5 neither. The railroads are not buy "
NJ, and spectators are not likely O.
o be satisfied with anything "
boat Of an act OF the Legislature deelar- Il
Ig in plsin terms the determination Of K
be- State to pay interest in cash at an b
sJly day. Mere rumor to that effect has pl
cen made use of in the transfer Of few "a
oads, and within the past few weeks we e.
ave had all sorts Of quotations, up as a.
ign as eighty-two. Ifupon rumOr they vi
D 30 high, what viii the figures be when b
law is passed declaring 3 day when IN in
rest payment is TO be nssumed? We II
little short of par, which is Ia
.eir real value in the estimation Of every nS
an who knows anything about our a.
S 8upces and the desire Of our people to &c
" what they owe. If our city credit is
ere anywhere near that Of the State, as
z should feel not only happy, but san in
inc, Is to q future which looks all the tn
ore gloomy because Johnson is to Of
We the management Of our finances th
/ another year Bat even With the tb
toward condition Of Memphis fnsn- BIO
;, it is 8 satisfaction to know that in.
ose Of the State are in {. good condi- en-
e, and that TennesseesnBc can now go kn
road, and feel that the State is in no We
.peet inferior to that Of the most IA ne
red IN the Union ia respect Of credit. do
rHE whole Senatorial vote Of the "a
Kansas Legislature is enc hundred SCI
3 eight On the first ballot Bowen pc
D have about thirty-threts the Demo IN
tic ard Brindle vote is thirty-two, oe'
rsey has twenty-five ind Hadley "
hteen votes. Among all these, Nc no
maid has, PERHAPS, more friends than Ia
y one man, and not an enemy has of'