New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-01-07

Total tax Cor all purposes .old). ...........2lk
Mills.
Eess interest ia So
| Few sc Ao0I tax. ..............
| heW general d2nd taz-... ......
| New levee op construction auc repair tax trecom.
! Nended 30 be reduced one MILL ........."3
! Tefa! tax for Ill purposes tnew,........i4ti
The law. as 1t now stands. allows
! tie various parishes to assess a tax
| tor parish purposes equal to 100 per
| cent of State ta1. srd no more. Most
| of the parishes assess up to the limit
OF the State tai; hence reduction of seven
mills State tax will be equal to total re-
| ductton OF fourteen mills taxation. parish
and State.
! EEcoMEESDA:IOS9 or ,'HE new DEBT.
| The new debt thus proposed to be ere
4.ed will be certain in amount. OF IN
| doubted legality, and within the will ana
ability OF the people to pay. whereas
much Of the old debt is believed to be- of
uncertain legality and more uncertain
equity, entaiiipg a rate of taxation which
is ruiuous to our prospects of prosperity.
The new consolidated bonds, being guar.
anfeed in the constitution, and held against
PEG oIe able and willing to pay interest
and principal, will be worth much more
intrlnsically than the old indebtedness for
which they will be EXCHANGES
Cur bonds do not now average more than
fifty cents on the dollar. The purchaser OF
our SIX pc. cent bonds at this time really re.
ceiyts twelve per cent on his investment.
OF this twelve Ger cent. six per cent repre-.
sents his actual outlay, and ak per cent is
the assurance he receives on his Investment
or The premium We pay on our discredit.
| To relieve the State and TO cause our
creditors as little loss as possible, is the
problem before us. If it be said, This is
repudiation.' we reply, that however much
We may desire to continue to pay the inter-
est on our present bonded debt, we can not
do SO. We propose to do all iii our power
We have tie inclination to pay in full, but
We lack the ability. Our creditors can hold
their bonds if they choose, but we believe
We are offering them far better security.
We have debt Of twenty-tour mil
lions. worth say twelve millions. Ii this
debt be appreciated t" par, the holder re-
alizee an advance of fifty per cent. Under
this scheme our new consOls should go
to par or nearly SO. If we continue our
efforts to pay the whole interest We shall
tail. and our bonds will go even lower in
value. but if we can bring our debt within
our ability to pay we can greatly appreciate
il, aud thus not only benefit ourselves, but
our creditors by preventing the latter from
continuing to lose until We are ultimately
forced into virtual reputation.
RATE AND METHOD OF FUNDING.
I. !. suggested by the New Orleans
Chamber OF Commerce and by many
private individuals that the debt might
and shout! be funded at lower
rate than sixty cents on the dollar
say at fifty cents or even forty. But the
Justice as well az the strength of our case
lies in the fact that we propose to paw our
creditors all We can, and ask of them q
f,II n r1nj ,a,If fhshf hos a.,
see no difference between forcing them to
take less than we can pay and absolute re-
pudiatiUn. Ii the only considera ton is
what we may force them to take, We could
as justly propose to them to fund at
twenty five or ten cents on the dollar. A
careful calculation, which is as accurate as
a mere estimate can be, shows that we can
pay interest and principal at the rate of
sixty cents on the dollar, and live and pros
per under the rate of taxation necessary to
pay that amount; and since we can do it, |
think there IS no question that we should
do it.
lam convinced from consultation with all
classes Of creditors, that perfect uniformity
in the new consolidated bonds is matter
of great importance. The unfunded debt
bears no interest at all, the funded debt |
bears interest al various rates. In a scheme
which proposes to obliterate the whole |
mass of debt and substitute new one, it |
will be utterly impossible to discriminate in |
favor OF the various shades of merit which |
either exist or are alleged to exist IN favor !
of one class OF claims over another. Eatur- |
ally the holders of each class think the par
ticular indebtedness they hold is equitably |
entitled to some sort of priority, and these |
have been strongly urged |
upon me by each interest with a view to |
obtain a pr. ference for their claims. But it |
seems clear to me that we shall come |
nearer exact justice to all parties by max |
ing the consolidated bonds uniform in the |
rate of interest as well as in all other |
respects, that il, making them all bear in
terest at seven per cent per annum.
So far as | have been able to ascer-
tain no one considerable bondholder |
has refused, after due consideration, to
regard this proposition in. a friendly |
spirit. l. seems to be the opinion of all |
business men that such a settlement would
involve no dishonor to the State and would
be a positive advantage to the bond
holder IN this, that one bond worth par and
that can be readily hypothecated is better
for capitalist to hold than two bonds
worth fifty cents on the dollar, which can
not be readily sold or used.
DOUBTFUL BOND.
Assuming that our whole debt Is valid,
and that it can be funded at sixty cents !