, 1875-10-25

sl1cll tfshonor. II tho State OF AtHbaMh bs
iaitt9ess to her honnr now, bitterly VIII sh"
net bn rrpentrt1 licrsattsr. Thes" tx not
hamlet In tho civilized world whcre thcro In
mar who hos ane dollar to lent, who has
not in hia memory TIM na,no Of Stisaiaairri. /
tho State which repntfiatcd her "good 'falth,"
md refused trpny ber creditors. Tho State |
Of Alaba1,n will learu at heavy cost III time
,lattar lnu grieyous tho 1oatl Of debt, nor
how niqtitons the 1nenns by which that
debt VII. contracted, the cheapest, az well
NJ The only honorable, way out Of tho trouble
1T 10 pny tho debt.
Illinois natl 4AlabanAa were admitted to she
Union ot nearly tho snme time, and Illinois
t,es 4 fnancini history which it wonla be
profitable for Alabnlna 10 study. Forty
years ago, this ssatc, through its Legislature,
embarked in the business Of selling bonds,
an,, in ,fue co,,rao Of time had an innmrnss
,lett, some Of whict Wan ,nose or less tainted
with fraud; the population was small, nlueli
less than that Of Alabaula, md tho 3tate wHH
without roads, Thomoney WIS all expended,
aud there waa not n Mile of railway to sfoW
forit. Taxation to pay tho interest was enor-
NOUS upon the tlon comparatively acastret'
population. Weak Legislatures abandoned all
iovies Of tNxes on account OF the doht, ind
thore were then In Illinois. ~ there aru now
in Alabama, weak mon and s1cmagogies pro-
posing to repndiato good faith, to scale the
debt. and to "Bit as n sovereign above nll
courts" and tell tho public creditor he must
accep. q pittance or 60 without anything.
TIE ua&ao of Illinois was enrolled among
those which paid no interest on their debt.
Credit died out. The stigma rested on the
whole people. No man in Illinois gould buy
goods on credit anywhere. Immigrants, with
their wagons, and teams. and i've stock,
drove clear across the State, refusing to live
in the State Upon which tho blight Of rapud-
alton had fnllen. Many Of our own people
| moved nway, aud there was that moat horri-
bio Of NIL stagnation, when no min conld sell
anything lie had. and whom credit had been
! wholly extinguished What did Illinois pro-
! poBo to do under these circumstances? Her
AMf-mi!lion Of people, rejecting the appeals
| Of tepudiators aud denagoguas, cailed Con-
vcutiou, ind in the new Constitution
| placed au irrepoalable tax, which was to
bo collected annnally, and ita proceeds
| applied to the paymont of tho interest md
principal Of the debt. All the unpaid inter-
ost was funded in now bonds every form Of
unbalanced indebtedness was taken up nnd
| funded. Tbs credit Of the State was racov-
orot. The bonds wera soon above par; In
diyiddM credit rosa with THAI Of tho State !;
immigration flowed in md remained; capital
sought investment a,nong people who paid
thcir debts tho State, which, i" sitting as d
sovereign above courts" held fast to her
| good faith and credit, grow in nil tho Gle.
ments Of prosperity, and Der people novor
o1rerioslccd d regret nor "a Inconvenience
from the imposition Of tax which long sinoo
haY spougel ont tho once formidable debt,
with all it's accumulated unpaid interest.
Honesty was found to DO thu bost policy
Had tho Convention OF Alabama placed in
her Constitution provision for M irrcpoa1a.
bio tax to pay tho whole stato debt, hor peo
pie would never hnrs felt the tax, and thei,
credit would have attairyd distinction II
strong contrast with that Of Stats which 70
putliatos debt because it resta on 'good faitl
only" md which, sitting as sovereign bc
yond tie reach Of cou1tH, cou,pels crcdtor'
to uccept n shilling on tln dollar or go with
out anything. The twenty millions may b.
saved, but at what o sasridce! Tho credito
who loana money on bond and mortgage take
the risk Of tho sulicioucy Of the security
but the man who loan8 money on the "goo'
faith and honor OF q sovereign" receive
better treatment in MEXICO and Spain than |
offered by the new Constitution of Alaoama