Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-23
An Honest FuIfiIIment of Her
Obligations Tennessee's
Best Policy.
Speech of Hon. James L. Orr,
of Marshall, in the House,
March IL, 1875.

q.
this floor who Fsted for wat is known as
the Sounding Law I now ask the indul-
gence of this HoHse that may be heard on
this measure. Whatever may be the de-
cision Of this General Assembly, what
ever the State Of Tennessee may say on
this vitd subject, /, for one, am ready TO
meet the issue, fairly, honestly, squaTely,
and stand or fall face full 10. the front, con-
scious Of having done nothing more than
what was absolutely Necessary under the
circumstances. But l am met on this floor
by the remark that l am the only ''fundeT7
here. and that am here only by "the skin
Of nv teeth" / know not, neither do 7
care, what gentlemen may mean by this re-
mark. l only know that l am here by
authority Of law and the votes of my people
TO attend 70 their interests aud the general
welfare Of the State. further know that
thTee-fOurthS Of that people are a unit on
. this question, and / would be yecreant 10
nv trust were l 20 sit here silent while
this act is sought to be repealed, and one
more long stride taken in the direction
of ruin and reputation. am told
un this floor, and it has been cried from the
h0use-tops ali over this State that this act
is al ''in:quity." An iniquity. Is it an in
iquity 70 meet an honest creditor, face 10
face, and tell him: "Sir, We cannot pay
YOU the debt which We justly owe and
which is now due you, but If you viii wait
with US We promise 10 pay al day IN tie
future all we owe with interest semi-an-
.nually." If this is a great crime, then was
HEe Funding law OF 1913 a crime against
the laws Of God and man. If this be a
great crime, then how many Ct us are
guilty Ofthis Ofi5nse? l claim that this is
The common rule Of a business life, prac-
tioed throughout the civilized world.
Wages Is the price Of lzb0r. Interest is the
price Of money. Money used and benefits
enjoyed from that use, whether by
State or individual, must be paid
for Jg contract, OF civil government must
perish. There can be no question as TO
plain truths of fair dealing and justice.
Even the Representative from Wilson
mr.. Head), the champion light
weight advocate of low taxes on this
floor. and the UncomprOmising opponent
Of this bill two years ago, voted for the
funding Of one million Of accrued interest
on the school fund, and the people Of this
State are now paying, Semi-annually, inter-
est on that Interest, and they will continue
70 nav that interest FOREVER-nOt for a
specific time, as under this bill, but you
are to continue paying annually sixty
thousand q wear FOREVER! Call you this
a-mding? Call yOu this an iHigWty' IS
this one million school fund interest in any
sense more lust than the interest on our
mast due debt? Where is the difference?
Who will draw the line Of discrimination
between our creditors? II is all right Tor
7ha Representatives of Wilson (AIr. Head)
and Rutherford CAlr. JamisOn) TO fund
one million interest on the school debt,
nv rf- n on
floor to vote for funding five millions il
terest accrued on a debt equally as honest,
equally as lust. / charge you not, gentle
men, with ''iniquity,' 1 charge you not with
crime in casting this vote. You knew your
people could not pay it then, you knew 1t
was lust and ought to be paid-yoU
did the next best thing, and renewed it,
INIT why then GenOunce the funding Of the
remaining amount Of unpaid interest, which
is eou,llE as honorable and just? Why
s.snd IN n. e letter in one instance and
T-ioI,+a II in the next? If one is Just the
clI,pr must be Just, and if funding IS wrong,
,-,1, are WRONG. L have heretofore spoken
of fine constitutional side Of this question.
7 REGARD A contract I.uder the State and Ma
f;nTI3I CONSTITUTION rs sacred, and cannot
he violated by any manner Of means. ms
debt and every dollar Of interest in the
form Of A Common comes under the head OF
a contract between the State and her credl-
tors. Not only can l not vote 10 clahSe
that contract. but cannot even sanction
measure that ippGjrS it. In the case OF
Furman. Green * Co. rs. 2. /. Michel,
CLERK Davidson county, the Supreme Court
of Tennessee uses this decisive and en-
% phatic language: S,-.,
1--WE regard it as well settled that ctate
can no more impair the obligations Of Us
own contract by legislation than it can i'm
pair the obligations Of contracts be,
tween individuals, AID that all
leyiglatjoa, the effect of which is tc
ilnpair the obligation Of a contract, Is
unconstitutional and rOjd.H
Thus spoke the Supreme Court Of Ten
ncssee on a vital constitutional question
Can gentlemen on this floor refuse The
means Of carving out these contracts with
out iuDG;riHg them? Can you reconcile
IL with your sworn duty in this the darl
hour of your noble State 10 stamp out ths
To- only hope Of saving her honor and credlg'
You have SOlemuly, in open court ana Il
rhe face q civilization, promised TO pay llt
Ferest on your bonded debt, and VIII yol
NOW declare by vCyIr votes that you 1-il
g,of REGARD your contract Can yOG thus
inDsIT. ave destroy, the agreement? i
this what we call reputation! trea
God! ur,cn what evil times have we fallen
we nav well despair Of our future whel
e,rl, oreai issues are so lightly regarded
Sey what we will, if you take from STAT
ora man his reput8iion for honesty an
fair dealing. there is but little left to 3
proud Of. Hamilton in works, III Vol
saws, speaking on questions exactly slll.i-
20 these under consideration:
The people are particularly inlereSte
in maintaining in their greatest purity an
ono, .7v tine principles Of credit; they cams
too str1, city adhere TO ali the relaZations
those ma, ms which favor the rights
creditors. No temporary advantage q
compensate for The evils Of a diiiereI
course Of conduct. Credit is an elltti
thing. Every part Oft has the incest syn
Dathy with every other par! wound OF
limb and the whole Tree shTjnBs ana q
GAYS. Credit. public and private, IS OF 7
greatest consequence to every country. !
this it might be emphatically called the i
MIGRATING principle. If the maintenan'