Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-05-14
OUR FUNDED DEBF.s
Shall Tennessee Go Back on the
Pledges Made to Her
Creditors? .

ehiiih l. suOulu nave approved the
funding bill upon its passage as premature,
in view Of a possibility that the State might
very soon be embarrassed by the new issue
of the Bank Of Tennessee, as she had for
several years past been embarrassed lay the
old. l am of opinion now since it was
enacted into law by the peoples representa-
tiyes-acting in full view of the entire
situation, and u~ninfiuenced by corrupt mo
tives $50 far as we know that we should
hasten very slowly to Ego back upon" their
action. II was not in any sense a party
measure-no more than a road, fence, or
dog law-and received the support of some
members of all parties. The question,
though mooted In the preceding canvass,
was not deemed Of moment sufficient to
draw forth at the bare suggestion one 1.-THE
OF the eloquent invectiye that has been so
mercilessly hurled at its unfortunate advo-
Gates since. In fact, unless memory is at
fault, the State failed to get the benefit
then of the disinterested advice of Mr..
johnson or Mr.. Etheridge Or Mr.. Colyar,
upon the subject. No protests were enter
ed against, nor anathemas hurled at the
bare possibility OF strong Probability of
such a n "infamy," but their eloquent voices
were dumb. An imaginary ring seemed to
engross them solely, and to it they gave
the thoughts of their waking and the fan
cies of their dreaming moments. They
come now, after the Legislature and the
Governor have In good faith (and if bad
faith be charged, the public and
their own self-respect demand the
production of the e~vidence,) adopt
ed the funding policy; and with free
tongue, ~stigmatlEe a measure upon which
they had been conveniently silent or non-
committal as Oppressive" obnoxious
and even ~"infamous." They come, asking
the people 70 refuse to consummate the I'M
Outstanding Of Government with its credit
ors, not indeed with manly directness, but
by refusing to provide the means necessary
to its execution, and in that way 'lighten
the heavy hand of taxation" My answer,
as that of only one of the humblest of the
people, shall be brief and to the following
effect: Excuse me if l scrutinize a little
4! closely the Wanted boon that you bring.
There may be, even in this age, "gift-bear-
ing Greeks" What you call relief may be
no relief; for If when you remove one yeu
put on a heavier burden, you but aggravate
the distress that arouses all the sympathies
of your generous and manly natures.
Your name is winning, and your ap-
proach has been by the avenue that leads
most directly to the frail human heart.
My little estate is assessed at 5000. and
you come with a ''twenty cent" proposition,
that insures to me the postponement of the
annual payment of SO to another genera
ton or sOme other indefinite psriud-by
which l may transfer the burden to the
shoulders Of my children or my grand
children. Here is a struggle between my
reused cupidity and my love for my pos
terity. My. cupidity survives, and your
proposition must meet with favor, unless
my better judgment convinces me that my
interest Il had almost sid my honorA lies
in the opposite direction. l shall not here,
gentlemen assume that you are contFolledby
any other than motives Of the most exalted
patriotism-give me credit then for equal
security and honesty of purpose, while l
present to you the result of what thought
1 have been able TO give the subject from
the partial standpoint upon which you place
me.
understand the obligations Of the State
in bonds, and coupons amounting to near
S24,OOO,OO0, were held a little while back
in different portions of the country-though
chiefly, no doubt, in the city of New York.
These bonds had been issued blythe officers
upon whom our law devplved that duty.
Some Of them were Issued before the wal,
and concerning their validity, l
presume there is no question. 9th
ers were issued after the war, but
under the provisions and requirements Of
laws that had been previously enacted in
the interest of our railroad system. Others
still were issued by virtue of acts passed
after the war at the instance Of our people
in many instances to enable them to re-
yive railroad enterprises that had gone
down during the war-While others we're
issued no doubt under laws fraudulently
raanarA fn Fhn fpNzrnuf "a nnv- nn4a--r.,1.-
My recollection is that, however objectiona-
BILE may have beenthe method resorted to of
re~-esteblishing our State government after
the war-and however obnoxious the per
sons who assumed and exercised its func-
tions-we yielded the obedience of good
and ~law-abiding citizens. Our lawyers
practiced their profession before Brown
lows judges and iuries, and our causes
invoking the highest interests of society
were cOnclusively ~adiudicated by them. /
understand that the first Democratic Legis-
lature that met i'm the State-in 1S69-en-
tered into a long, tedious, and expensive
investigation of the manner in which the
State debt had accrued; and the result of
IFS laborS was a resolution to contest about
a million of bonds that had been issued to
the Tennessee and Pacific and Mineral
Home Railroads. As to the balance, there
was no pfetense that the State was not, &C
cording to well settled law, bound for their
payment-the provision of our law requir-
ing that they should he sold at par, having
no effect, if violated, upon the States
liability for the entire bond. The
Legislature, however, in view of the
fact that the United States Supreme
Court had cast suddenly upon the State
Treasury the enormous burden of the old
issue of the Bank of Tennessee, deemed
the policy of p~oStpOning the payment of in
terest, pending the removal of that burden,
absolutely imperative. Feeling that bur
den no longer upon us, and experimenting,
L suppose, no danger of an unfavoraDle
result Of the States contest upon the new
issue, the last Legislature thought proper
to say to the State creditors: 'COme up and
waive any right you may have to interest
upon your part to past due coupons, and
allow us forty years to pay you, n We
will give you a new obligation for principal
and interest, and hereafter pay year inter
est promptly" These terms were accepted,
and as a citizen | am now asked to refuse
to carry them out by either not paying the
interest at all, or by a higgling offer to pay