The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-06-26
REPUDIATION.
The Union and Planters BanI
Bonds Of Mississippi.



Your note of the goth ult-. asking me
state THE facts in regard to the old repud
aJed debt OF Mississippi, so far as | reco
lcct, WAS received a few days ago. Par1C
me. but think when you use the term n
pudiaied debt" you misappiy terms
sIeak Of repudiated claims" A debt
one thing a claim Is altogether anothC
thing; one is valid, the other may or ma
not be 50. as circumstances direct.
l am not mistaken In supposinR thi
when you speak of the ''old repuGiate
debt Of Mississippi, you mean the bonC
usually designated as Planters Bank an
Union Bank bonds.
Right mere allow me to say, there neYe
existed any such bonds. The bonds,
bonds they were, were the bonds OF til
State and were called Planters Bank an
Union Bank bonds, by way of description
And out Of this has grown Il great deal {
misapprehensIOn many we'll meanIn
people surprising we were called Upon, d
account 81 some sort OF complication, T.
pay the bonds Of old exploded banks. | re
peat, il they were bonds at all, they were
one and all, the bonds of the State.
You want the facts | send you II vol
ume 'ntaining. among many other things
my addresses, messages, etc, to the Legis
laLure on the subject of these bonds. (Set
pages 81 49, SO, 81, n to 50, 50, 93) Yot
will perceive that, while | an earnes
opponent of the Union Bank bonds, SC
C uled, was equally as earnest an advocate
Tor the payment OF the bonds issued on ac-
count of the Planters Bank. With this ref
erence, | suppose, 1t would be safe to stop
But il seems To me 1t may be more satisfac-
tory to you and your readers To have a con-
uensed statement of facts.
Before | proceed to make that statement,
allow me to say that the facts. as set forth
In my references, have never been called
in question, even in times of the very high
est party excitement, except AS to an unim-
porJant calculation of interest on the Plant
ers Bank bonds.
And now to the facts. and first as to the
Planters Bank. This Bank WAS chartered
under the constitution of 1917 which con
tanned no prohibition against pIedgin0 the
faith of the State. The Legislature. there
fore, in 1880. chartered the Bank and he
came a stockholder to the amount of $500
900, with reserved right to increase the
States subscription to two millions OF dol
lars.
The State was, by the terms of tho char
ter, To pay her subscription for stock in
bonds. which were to be sold on terms NOT
now necessary to relate. They were sold.
and the State became stakeholder in the
Bank To the amount of her subscription
tO-wit: 100000. The Bank prosnared-
declared large dividends, which the State
received. In 1882 convention was called
to revise the constitution of 1917. or rather
to make new constitution. That conyen.
tion inser ted in the constitution of that
=
the States faith, except on conditions.
What these conditions were we shall see
when we come to consider the Union Bank.
To these conditions was appended "A proyi-
so. to-wit: (see sec. D. art. z, C Institution of
1922 That nothing in this 9th section and
7Jh article shall be SO construed as To Dre-
vent the Legislature from negotiating a
further loan of one million and a half Of
dollars, and vesting the same In the stock
reserved To the State 10y the charter of the
ntt4T Kan nf lao Sfata
Under this right, thus reserved, the Leg
lslaturt Gid subsequently,, to-wit: in lS33
negotiate a further loan of one million and
half OF dollars" and invested the money
In the stock Of the Bank, thus increasing
the States stock in said Bank to two mill
lions OF dollars. On this stock she Continued
for several years TO receive large dividends.
In 1889 the Bank failed, and after July of
that year wholly failed to meet the Interest
on the bonds of the State, AS by the terms
OF her charter she had obliged herself TO do.
In 1871 the question of "repudiation'' was
first raised, as to the Union Bank bonds aS
they were called, and as to them alone AT
later date, to-wit: in 1913, IA feeble AT
tempt was made To include the bonds known |
in common paTlance as Planters Bank but
which We're, in every sense. the bonds of |
the State. In that year | was the Demo
cratic anti-bond candidate for GOvprnor
My Wing competitor, Geo. R. CLAYTON. and
my Democratic bond paying competitor.
a la.Y .sneaHI
that these bonds had To be paid, The ont
and out repudiators, with GOV. McNutt ar |
their head, developed very little strenvth |
and made uo attempt at "A second orpaniza
ton 80 that, to all appearances, the nponIe |
were well nigh IA unit in favor of bavintr |
the bonds. / was a candidate for rp.slano |
ton in 1915, aud was second time chosor
Governor, with only nominal opposition
and in 1917 was, without opposition. elect
ed 70 Congress, 1t being all the while known |
steadtast advocate Tor the payment of the
Planters Bank bonds, even by narration,
"Well," you will ask, ''ir Won and every |
body else wanted To pay the bonds, why was
it not doneE = I'll tell you. The politicians !
wanted nerve. There was money Ir the |
Treasury; taxation was not heavy. and the
people were willing to take the resnonsihiI- |
lty. just a; that time the politicians he !
thought themselves OF Sinking duty. and |
so they referred the whole thing to lie nao- |
pie. 1t WAS done in this wise la ISL n |
think the question WAS submitted. under
an act OF the Legislature, to each voter
Are you willing to submit to direct tsWo
tion to pay the Planters Bank Bonds ?;
This was ''sly-devilish sly" In half a
life time, or more, the population, by emiA
grafton, immigration, deaths, and hnue
coming OF age, had undergone almost an
entire change, SO that when the Question |
was submitted without discussion. and
without eX pianation, it was the most natu-
PfnA
voter to say, No. l am not willing to sub
mt TO taxation TO pay the Bonds OF an Old
exploded Bank" Whereas, if he had bean
asked, Are you willing to submit to direct
taxation TO pay the BoAds of the State ?"
have been very different '
Inc vote was, by law, taken Uird VOcs 7
voted early at my box, GaIIatin hoDinO hT |
my example, to influence others in favor ~
i IIN lax. - lev. rev minutes alter, an old
trlend-a man of more than
ordinary NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. his baIlot
UT was general election) aud the return
ing officer commenced 10 ask the sterao-
typed question:
Are you willing to:submit to direct tax
mo, by -, am not"
He did not wait TO hear the whole onas.
ton. The pocket nerve was sensitive ard
he did not feel like submitting To .-3irecr
taxation" for any purpose, And yet hall
matter to him, he went back and asked 70
change his vote. Thus the tax was Vo,erI
down by very heavy majority.
When you have read thus far, and EXAM
med, as hope you will. the references 70
my addresses and messages, already refer
RED TO, you will be ready to ask, You are
still In favor of paying these bonds ?'' ~No
no." Why not?" Simply h.
cause will not consent to tax an alreadv
hopelessly bankrupt people to fill the Golfers
- - N~@ASASSc SCI Va SHc~0A0SOASI Whose COR
norant appetites for plumber can never be l.
satisfied. When Congress pays the French
claims, the Alabama claims, the cotton tax.
&c, and quits talking about its inability to
10 justice to real claimants, It win be time
enough tor US to discuss the question as to
whether we viii pay debt which admit
70 be just when the only beneficiaries are
SET OF spectators, and unfeeling harpies.
say now: 1t the money can be paid back
% those VINO loaned 1t, l am willing to be
.44eq 70 pay 1t; or even to those who
bought the Bonds for secOnd, third or
fourth hands, am willing to pay back