Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-08-15

delivered an address which occupied nearly
two hours.
WepreSent briefly the salient points of
Gen. Jackson's address:
Since 1856 TO first of January, 1873, the
State has been defrauded Of taxes actually
collected by the tax collectors and clerks to
the amount of 81, $50, 542; add to this the
school fund which the rebel authorities sa-
credly preserved through the war, and turn
ed over at its close to the BrownlOw dynas-
ty, and which, TO the amount of over half
million of dollars has been most shame
fully and coTruptly stolen and squandered,
presents the enormous aggregate Of :, OOO,-
900 and upvards-ma way with, a; the
expense Of the taxpayer in the past felc
years. The defalcatiOns for 1872 alone,
amount 10 S957,276 II. The result
for 1873 is not ascertaiDed. The
defalcaiions as 10 county revenues
throughout the State during the same
period, from 1859 to 1873, are on a scale
corresponding in magnitude TO the losses
Of the State. The remedy for this condition
of things is, that the people should take
more active interest in nominating and
electing honest men, and the laws should
be so amended as TO impose more severe,
more certain and speedy punishment upon
defaulters of public money. He advocated
a Constitutional Convention, and pointed
out wherein cur laws for the assessment
and collection of taxes should be remOd-
eled. lie advocated having a railroad COM
missioner, whose duty it shall be to look
into violations of charters on the part of
railroads; also, law requiring railroads 10
keep posted at all stations and depOts
the schedule of their freight and passenger
rates, and TO fence in their tracks, and TO
paw full value for all stock killed Oh
their roads. Not only do the roads leading
out of the State discriminate against our
towns aud cities in their tariff of rates, but
our own roads are engaged in the same in
furious discrimination in favor Of other
people. Corn raised in the neighbOrhOOd
Of Jacksonville and shipped directly from
there is charged Is cents per 100 pounds 10
Nashville, and 81 cents per 100 pounds
from Nashville to Atlanta, making total
of Al cents per 100 pounds from Johnson
vile to Atlanta, showing difference Of 20
cents per 100 pounds in favor Of foreign
corn over that raised upon our own soil.
From Nashville to Montgomery, Ala,
over the Louisville, Nashville and Great
Southern Railroad the charge is 80 cents per
40 pounds. From JOhnsOnTille to Mont
gomery go miles further Off The charge on
foreign corn is q cents per 100 pounds.
The Illinois farmer can get his corn deliv-
cred at Montgomery for 80 cents per 100
pounds, while Tennessee corn from john
sonville to same point is charged - per
100 pounds.
But there are other subjects in the line of
reform to which reference should be made.
The jury system of the State, especially in
the trial of civil suits needs remodeling.
The counties are now subjected TO a heavy
expense, to pay jurors (and in the larger
cities paying professional jurors) in civil
cases. To illustrate, l have drawn from
the county Of Davidson the cost Of some Of
the courts for 1873:
In Circuit Court, for Jurors alone......S5,672 %
In Criminal Court, principally for iu-
In Law Court, principally FOR Jurors. 2,4OS 20
The law should be so amended as TO try
all cases Of petit larceny of from one to
fifty dollars before magistrates, and upon
conviction they should be sent to the work
house provided by each county, to work
out their fines. Criminal prosecutions for
October, November and December, OF 1871
and for 1872, cost the State the sum Of
S249, 59e.50, while the counties have been
propOltIonately buriened. He favored the
appointment of judges, as was formerly the
case, by the Governor, and confirmed by the
Legislature in the Senate. Much OF the
expense NOW attending State and county
affairs can be saved by dispensing with use
less and supeIfuous Offices. The office Of
Trustee costs the State and counties but
little short of S250GOO. We have surplus
also of tax collectors, especially about the
cities. He favored the equalization OF
salaries. Many Of the Offices under the
county and State yield, by means Of the
perquisites too, salaries that are out Of all
proportion TO those paid the very highest
and most responsible positions in the State.
Our Governor is paid salary OF S},OOO,
while the county, circuit, chancery and
criminal clerks, in many instances receive
by means Of perquisites, salaries varying
from $1,000 TO $4,000 per annum.
The aSsemblage then dispersed for re-
freshment. Spread under the trees were
cloths, covered with such substsntials and
deIicacies as only the well-to-dO farmers
wife knows how To provide. It was gen
uine, Old-fashioned basket dinner, and,
after all had eaten as much as they desired,
sufficient to feed al least five hundred per-
sons remained.
Dinner over, Col. killebrew was intro
duced and spoke, in substance, as follows;
lie congratulated the farmers that they are
low fOf the first time in the history Of the
world, in a condition 10 make theiI in
fluence felt in the commercial and political
world. During the first five yeas this rev.
olutlOn has been progressing, until il has
spread into nearly every civil district Of the
land, and is uprOOting old
prejudices, unmasking old errors,
enforcing what is just and correct
ing what is evil. He passed inTeSiew the
many calamities that have fallen upon the
State during the past ten years, and showed
that relief can come most surely from
labor and Development. He pointed out
the immense natural resources OF the
State, and said that our industries should
be adjusted 10 all classes of our citizens.
We have too many idlers, too many men
seeking to live by their wits rather than by
their work.
DEVELOPMENT and skilled labor are our
greatest needs. These can only come from
the influx of capital, and to get capital we
must preserve our individual faith as well
as the plighted faith Of the State. Many
people ascribe our depressed condition to
Stale taxes. We pay the general govern
ment ten times as much money as we pay
our State. We pay five times as much for
the whisky We drink, seven times as much
as profits to the Northern manufacturer,
and five times as much for the luxury
of keeping dogs. The State tax is
a mere bagatelle. Remit it all, and the re-
lief would scarcely be perceptible. The
State debt amounts to only one-nineteenth
of our real and personal property, or $50
for every Thousand we own, while Ye haze
forty years to pay larger portion Of it.
RepudiatiOu would be moral death aud f.