Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-06-22
TIE CITY DIET AGAIN.

a twO.l5Id view. We desire TO re-en-
force our suggestion OF Sunday touching
the bonds and coupons, and to say few
words su answer 10 the letter Of City
Attorney Hanson. Whatever this gen.
ueman may be rs sIsvyer, one thing
is certain, he is not letter-writer; he is
not a success in public letter-writing.
Re may have, and, doubtless has seen,
a day when he could kuock Of, IN a
aonchqlaHt sort OF way, an efusion TO q
susceptible Mary Ann, and hss, per-
hays, left his pot-hOOks and hangers in
the keeping Of s too credulous maiden
who believed as he protested. Passing
out Of this crysalis state he has,
too, perhaps, taken wings and
pcedsed 10 q maddensd and mad
Geulng dUlcines; but the great gulf that
separates that stage OF feeling from the
sober, solid fact OF figures he has never
passed. He still generalizss, repeats
and insists as il in the early stages OF
puppy love" he was as much bent on
convincing himself as the object Of
his amour. L is nothing to Mr.. Han
son that the city comptroller has his
books before him, and vOuches for the
statement he has copied, and which the
APPEAL published on Sunday. He in
sis.s that out Of The tsngle and mesh
Of law with which his brain is in
terwoven lie can draw at will
facts and figures in regard TO
q debt which in his first
letter he admitted had been the puzzle
Of succ5 5ssive administrations in Mem
phis. The talented young gentleman,
who, by general consent OF the general
council, has had charge OF the city
books, aud whose word or integrity has
never, TO our knowledge, been disputed,
who la51rs under the argus eye Of a
finance committee whose ability in
finances and account books has never
been called in question, and who is ex-
pected, too, to answer promptly the al
most daily calls Of that committee, COM
posed Of competent merchsnts-this
gentleman may ssseverste and swear,
but still Mr.. Hanson holds TO his
own opinion, even going so far as
10 charge that the figures Of Mr.. New
some's statement are made to lie. Well,
let us see Il they lie. Let Us see if the
figures we publish to-day and those Of
Sunday vary. We compare them as
they sp7ear in another column, and we
compare the numbered paragraphs OF
Mr. Hanson's rambling letter with the
the comptroller. And what is
the result? Why Mr.. Hanson is
pu, TO shame. De is not left a straw's
weight to rest upon, and must confess
that in finances he is like that character
which Dickens painted 20 unmistakably,
vino could not remember any sum Of
less value than a pound-and don't care
q damn for anything less than hundreds
OF thousands or millions. Hanson ac-
tually reveIs in millions, and talks as
giibiy OF thousands as If he had been in
the United States or Confederate treasu-
Ties during the war, when steam presses
were kept busy grinding out currency.
But Mr. Hanson is not only loose in
his small change, but loose in his state
ments. He forgets himself as when he
i1timates lie upon the part of broth
e--oflicsr who can have no purpose in
c1ncsalment, prevaricstion OF decep-
ton, and when he couples the APPEAL
with the mayor and Mr.. Newsome as if
hs had found a THO in league against
him, determined and sworn to oppose
his slip shod financial diatribes, his dis
linted, yet pertinaciOus commun-
i'ations. Now, for the mayor, Mr..
Nswsonle and Mr.. Hanson, as gentle
men, we have the respect they have
earned and deserve, but for their purpo-
ses in connection with the city, save
and except SIS those purposes may affect
the interests OF this community, the
APPEAL cares not the toss up Of one of
the siz-snd-a-half millions Mr.. Hanson |
insists the city owes; in fact we don't |
care 8 "cOffer-dsm" about their political |
future, combinations or dreams, and |
we insist upon the city attorney |
treating Of the APPEAL as q journal |
aetuated by but one motive, and that |
the good, the safety and the welfare Of
Memphis. He may be candidate for
mayor for all we know. We don't |
know and we don't care. So with Mr..
Newsome and Mr.. League. In matters |
of that sort we center our hopes in |
the Democratic party. We care
nothing about men, have no rings |
OF cliques &c serve, and have regard only |
for the people whom We have always |
served with singleness of purpose. |
it is that We repeat, in spite Of |
NEr. Hsuson's assertions to the contrary, |
that the city should contest every bond |
illegally issued and refuse to pay prin- |
cipal aud interest OF them until forced |
by tie courts; and therefore it is
that we demand, in the name |
OF the people who have been remOrse-
Iessly plundered by rings in the psst
that the city shall insist upon paying /
what she received for her bonds, and |
not one cent more, and interest on that /
amount, and not one cent more. If the
supreme court has decided in favor of T.
J.. Brown being allowed only fifty |
cents on the dollar for the bonds he
sold at that price, why not also
the city. We have the list before US,
published last July, and we find that /
the city can save hundreds Of thousands
by pursuing this latter course. Why
should she not do il? The supreme
court has furnished her precedent and
example. Let her follow 1t. II Mr..
Hanson hiss scTuples about taking the
cases, there are other lawyers, gen
uemen Who, II they have
not his ability, have at
least enough to help Mem
phis in this emergency. We urge this
step upon the council. To go on as We
are now, conselting TO maHdauluses
without demurrer and so Increasing our
woe, is to move rapidly on the down
ward road, TO 60 apsce toward that
bourne wheace there is no return. We .
cs7uot Tepudiste, AMI ought not,
usv would net, IL we could. .