The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-10-22

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. adequate constitutional provision for the pay.
mcnt of tho principal when due, the taccrii;;p
interest aud Ahc interest III urrear therefore, y
Su"aors,l,is j.. tlo on,,ro debt wan ,,,aa.
ed exeehk costain bonls and scrip Known
| us tho Macnliscr apd Stebbins bouds and
SCRIP canal. b6nds, aud other evidences Of
Indebtedness of tho Illinois aud Michigan
canal. New internal improvement scrip was
issued for the old debt, equal i'll amount aud
benrlng like interest aud payable at tho same
time os the bond or scrip surrendered.
! Ihe "Mncalister and Stcbbins bonds and
scrip" amounted To SJi3,3i5.4i. They caino
into the possession Of said firm s Tie agents
OF the Stntc. The State received. for snid
amount $26l ,bGa.s3, or about % 64-lOO cents,
wtcrcns they weTo entitled to receive accord
ing to agreement about 40 cents on the
dollar Tue firm refused to pay tile bnlance
and the Legislature in February, lS49, in
structca tho Governor to compromise the
nntter by Offering to fund tho amount
actually advanced upon the bonds with DER
cent. interest, from tho dalo OF the advance TO
the tinic of funding; nnd Notwithstanding
those bonds had passed into tho hands Of
innocent holders, the State refused to rccov-
nizo any further liability uvon them. exccpt TO
tho amount of 70 ccnts OH tho dollur
with per cent. interest This arrangement
| "ns acquiesced i'll by many Of the l,oldcry
aud nost of tho bonds hive been funded at
| said rntc
i Tho constitutional convention of lS4S
submitted 10 tho people tile following amend.
| mont which was ratified by lurye minority
| Of votcs:
"rhcrc shall he annually assessed and COL
| lected, in tho snme manner rs other State
revcnuo inay be assessed and collected, tox
.ol two mills upon each dollars worth of
ia, n.t,1
taxes, to bo applied as follows. to wit: Tho
fund 80 created shall he kept separate, und
ann''aliy on tho first Of January, be appor-
tlohed ana paid over pro rata, upon all such
State indebtedness other than tho canal and
school Indebtedness, as may for that purpose
bc presented by Tho holders OF tho same, tn
ne entered ns credits upon and to that extent
III extinguislimcnt Of sal Indebtedness"
The first tax under this provision was col.
iected in ls43-5D; the credit of tile Stato
immediately revived, aud III 1859 tho State
entered upon an era al prosperity uuprrce-
1cntcd i'll tho history of any olllcr Slnio OF the
Uniou.
This feature nf the constitution operated
''cneiic'nlly to tho lax payers in manner
entirely unforeseen. AS tho Stnte grew in
wealth tho two mills tax. the collection of
which was imperative began to rcnlizo n
larger sum than tho State could annually apply
to tile cxtinguisliment Of tho debt. as tile
iiotdcrs refused TO surrender SO valuable n
sectt = until compelled to do so by its ma.
turity. II became necessary therefore, in
or'ier'to avoid The collection of nm amount of
money under this tax in excess OF what could
be actually applied yearly to The oxtinguisl,.
mont of tho debt to reduce the valuation of
property az low us possible. The State audi.
tor, i'll his report lor 1860, estimated tile taxa.
Ilo property of the Stale To be assessed Mt
twenty-five per cent. or oilc-(ourlh OF its actual
valuc.
Tho last levy undor this provision of The
constitution Of leiS was made in 1870. Tho
moneys now OH hand, together with the rev.
cnue from the Illinois Central Railroad, will he
| more than sufficient to cancel the entire
! Indebtedness Mt mnturty, which amounted on
the 3lst day OF December, 1872, to Sa.O6O.-
I5O.63. -
Tho foregoing illustrations are sufficient to
show tho manner in which several of the
States got inin debt the lnc,,ns they used to
extrIcate themselves, and will, what success.
The losson they teach is too l,uiu 10 require
Having looked at That picture, lot us OK.
amino tliis
Tie State OF Minnesota. in 1859, authorized
tho issue oil S5, 900 900 of bonds ii hid of cor.
th'li railroad enterprises. The roads ware uot
ou'lt, but The bonds were disposed Of The
State refused 10 recognize the validity of tho
dcbt or provide for The payment of interest or
principal. They. hive been practically re-
plldiated Tor fourteen years.
The bondholcrs have lna,lo repeated efforts
TO effect compromises, but each and oyery
ellprt has been unsuccessful
The present tre,s,Irer however, states TINT
he desires the matter to bo settled and is en-.
4'ilrinS ns t" the bGst method Of adjustment.
From tho report OF ;hc committee on li.,-
ancc OF the constitutional convention OF 1868,
OF the 'Sh"h W .irka"Sos, it appcurs thut suid
State had 0Htu"iiy rcpu.aLcd her debt lor
th,rty years: In reply D the question
What il tho present valuo of our State
bonds" tho committee reported "1'hat tho
bonds of the Stnlc Of Arkansas are moi
quoted i'll the inurket OF any city OF the ciri.
fize1 r0o,h. This in attributable to tho fact
That III Il period OF nenrIy Mufy years, the
State authorities have not provided for the
payment OF interest on her bonds \ system of
h'iancierltg known only To thieves und rubbcrs
without conscience prevailed To such an extent
that their operations now cost the State the
neat little sum Of 50, Oh GOi.lG Not coutent
with impoverishing tho State; desolstiny the
country, and causing mourning mt every hearth.
stone, wo lind these sclf-same men nrrayed
III hostility to the present reconstruction
measures, hoping thereby To hide from tho
public gaze and investigation, the plumber
aud tlictts of thirty years
For years the levy of the State tax was light
the people thought the government was well
anu economically managed by letting tile
bonds rum for years without paying any ,-
tcrcst, and not seeing any appropriations
for the payment OF interest on those bonds
in the disbursement Of tho public funds,
It is net strange that they forgot tho ntebt-
cdncss Of prir generation"
IL is proper to add that tho State authorities
referred TO, who were responsible for that
lIl.inIIIrnl IN I'M, hu.,1 L.