Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-05-13
WHEN will the bondholder make !

period will he say to the State whose
obligations he holds. pay me moiety,
large or small, and I will coneede the
remainder" Wewould ask the bond
scaler as a business man, as one en-
dowed with the common sense per-
tanning to the settlement OF business
transactions between debtor and cred
itor, whether any concession Is likely
to be made to public debtor, con-
fessedly able to pay?
The question carries with it its own
answer. No proposition can be ex-
pected from the bondholder until after
the State has repudiated. The infamy
must first be accomplished, and after
that-the delugei Some good" men
may believe that the State creditor
will surrender portion of what is
nominated in the bond, but tits diff
cult to understand why any wise"
man should so believe. To US it is in
credible that any man of business
sense and experience can entertain
such an idea, if he will but give to it
momentary reflection.
1t is easy to perceive what the bond
scaler is driving at. Knowing that no
concession is likely to be made by the
bondholder, until after the disgrace of
Reputation has fallen upon the State,
he declares that unless concession is
made the State will repudiate. Let
us accept dishonor, and then negotiate !
We must disgrace the State to free it
from debt The woman, to be freed
from a brutal husband, must first
commit nameless crime First, i'm
purity, and theE the divorce
Better, in social life, to endure any
and all forms of misery, even death it
self, than TO seek relief through infa-
my. Better, in public life, to stagger
under burdens only short of the intol-
cradle, than to seek relief through the
paths that conduct to dishonor.
But what can we say of those who
would bring shame and everlasting
contempt upon our old historic State,
when her burden of debt is lighter
than what most of her sister States
bear, without murmur of repudia-
ton?
1T is an i'll bird that fouls its own
nest" pitiful manikin that would
consciously and wantonly besmirch
the cradle of his race, his State, and
country, emulating Copronymus, who
polluted the font in which he was bap-
tized.
Do these men fancy that the voters
are all fools, when they tell them that
the State is under no obligation to re-
turn the money, which she borrowed to
build our railroads and turnpikes?
Do those who advocate the scaling of
bonds, who deride the honest effort of
a legislature to provide for the pay
ment of the interest on the State debt,
expect to pass themselves off before |
the people as State credit men? A |
man may call himself Democrat all |
day long, State credit man until he
is hoarse, but if he refuses to provide
for the redemption of the solemn
pledges of the State, he is neither of
these, but simply a repudiator. the
pariah of all parties, that make any
distinction between the right and the
wrong. We turn with unutterable
loathing, from the political tricksters,
the smart dodgers, the manufacturers
of "fapdoodle" (Which means the soup
upon which fools are fed), who care
for nothing, who believe in nothing,
but so many dollars day or year for
official service, in the State they labor
to disgrace.
To these communistic agitators who
are bold enough and shameless enough
to announce themselves as ready for a
clean steal of the whole State debt,
we have neither remonstrance nor ar
gument. Such men voluntarily place
themselves without the pale of moral
law, civic conscience, and public de-
cency, and their opinions on State OBJ
have all the force of the
Cyprian's on questions of personal
purity. and no more Like a memo
rable individual, once numbered with
the Apostles, they have gone to their
own place, the place of dead mems
bones. There, the shadows of the
Commune may squeak and gibber to
their kindred shades, unchallenged
and unmolested. They are harmless as
other ghosts it is to the class that
won't repudiate and 1oon't pay, that
won't tax, and aoiU pay, who discredit
the State, and are State credit men,
that we address ourselves. Is it too
much, to ask them to be little clearer
on these questions? Are they verdant
enough to expect propositions from
the bondholder before reputation, in
whole or in part2 Do they expect to
scare him into concession? Suppose
be don't scare worth cent?" What
then? Republication? Rise, and ex- ,,
plain.