Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-07-09
THE ANTI.FUNDER's PANICs.
From the Humbold journal.


The anti-funding element In Tennessee
assume to be the champions of the people
in all matters of finance. They put on an
extraordinarily bold front; they ridicule and
| denounce those who support payment by
funding, and joyously proclaim, in prophet
ic words, oft repested, the political Death
do III of The fuuders.-( Wonder # these
self constitutes, later lay Prophets are Of
any kin to The old style Fortune tellers, or
the new tangled SplritualistsD Evidently
our anti friends are out Of logic. They
have signally failed, one and all, to reach the
reason and common sense of the country,
and are making desperate efforts to get up
"a big scarce" among the honest people of
the State that desire to maintain their bon
esty by an honest payment of honest debts;
,ut the antics are constitutionally panickg
themselves and stand but a poor chance to
frighten anybody else. They first made a
desperate effort to arouse public sympathy
with the cry iterated, and reiterated, all
over the land, from Memphis by way of
Jackson to Cleveland, that the opponents
of funding were not allowed to discuss the
measure befo e the Legislature; that thew
were gagged by call of the previous ques
ton; that the ring, backed by powerful
lobby Ct bOnd-holders, all bloated,
were afraid to let them be
heard, etc., but this first effort proved
q failure. The whole history of the discus
sion was against the statements so vsunt-
iugly made. The facts is, the measure was
debated for days and nights, pro aud con.
Messrs. Cummings, Head, sMulvihill, Jane
son, Moore and others spoke against it.
Messrs. Tate, Lindsey, Elder, Mcfarland
and Houk spoke in favor of it. The de-
bate was kept up from Thursday until Sat-
urday al one o'clock, the usual adieur
ment hour Oh that day. Others on both
sides had expected to speak, but the pre-
vious question was called and sustained,
and very properly too enough had teen
said-the short time that interviewed before
the time fixed by the Constitution for ad-
journment, an the pressure of other i'm
portaDt busins IS demanded the call made.
The people seem to believe there is rath-
er too much gas expended in Legislatures
any way: but these anti-funders are mad
because all the unfinished public business
was not suspended to give them an oppor-
tunity to spout gas Gd Nbitaun against fund
ing.
But they appealed again for sympathy,
because, forsooth, the Legislature refused
to let them spread long speech, misnsmed
by them, Protest, on the Journals at the
expense of the State. The paper offered
by them and called Protest, was lengthy
speech and contained imputations upon
and advice to the majority of the House,
and for that reason alone WAS refused
place in the Journals. Who can say that
was not right? feverY Legislator has right
to spread on the Journals, at a cost of hun
dreds of dollars, no. only his reasons for
voting no, but also lengthy argument con-
tanning insinuations against those who op-
pose him, and extracts from authorities and
lorg letters to and from others, as did the
paper offered By the anti-funders, woe be
unto Tennessee financislly-funding will
become chronic.
But again they say that the funding poll
cy necessitstes the payment Of millions of
interest in terty years and still leaves the
debt unpaid. This is considered a clincher
and q great shout is raised and carried all
along down the line-Kerr, Cummings, the
Ardlnlche, the Wing and Tribune, the
Ripley Netcs, etc, are terribly frightened
about it. Their children and c!lildren's
children, TO the t. ird and fourth generation,
are TO be burdened by heavy tsx TO pay
our liabilities and the interest thereon.
Pause here one moment, friends, let us
ask, wouldn't this debt of ours accumulate
interest any way, whether funded or not?
1t has been doing it for four Yesrs past, and
we know of nothing that will stop it ex-
cep; payment. Is MT the debt drawing in
teresL year after year? Will uera funding
make the debt larger or increase the inter-
es? The public debt does draw interest
and will do so from year TO year whether
funded or unfunded, and will necessitate
The payment OF millions within forty years.
If you fund, you must pay these millions,
if you don't fund you must pay the same
amount. The real aud only difference be-
tween the fund'r and anti-funder is, that
the former wants to and Will stop the ac-
emulation Of interest by prompt payment
semi-a nnuslly, while the latter seems to
desire to 1T the inteCes: and debt grow up
to unmansgesble propo tions.
Their policy Of non OctiOn,if pursued end
it certainly ought 20 be il good one),
would fix upon our children, forty years
hence, q debt of $T2 100000 estimating
our present debt at $2i, 000,000), and an
load Of disgrace besides-dis-
graced, in that they eve money and refuse
to pay it. To refuse or shrink payment OF
just debts, when payment is possible, marks
the highest degree Of dishonesty, and will
and ought to brand any individual or State
with ineffacea5le dishonor. Deliver our
great Commonwealth from such a policy
and such q doom. When g man owes
Dick, Tom and Harry, big and little &C
counts, due and unpaid, is it not eminently
proper and real Indication of bona fide
honesty, if he can't pay them, to go to bis
cred tors and tell them so, and execute his
notes, besring interest at the lawful rate,
in settlement of his accounts? That's the
old style of doing business-that's the way
our fathers nsed to manage in days of yore,
and thst's the funding policy of the last
egisature-nothing more, nothing less,