Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-01-15
OUR B0NDm0LDRns.

choose to make. Far from 1t. w hat
.ver they may give upof what ID nom
mated In the bond, the State can CRATE
July and honorably accept; has with
our chief Executive, we rept;at, that
The State cannot invite them to such
IN entertainment. In view Of the late
panic and protracted
drouth. following upon the general i'm
poverishment of war. the present po-
sition of the State with regard TO its
creditors Is entitled to the charitable
of all right minded men,
for it is more than probable that but
for the panic and drouth Tennessee
would be honoring her obligations to-
day. She had just got into line to meet
her creditors when these caIamities fell
upon her. There are always some that
will not, until forced, fall into ranks,
and who never fail to avail themselves
of any opportunity that may arise 10
produce disorder and fight. Welcome
to them is any pretext to cover their
retreat. 1t is in vain that the more
courageous endeayor to breast the storm
until the danger blows over. The
danger is exaggerated into terrible pro-
portions until at last the Waterloo cry
of sauUe Qui peut arises, and the line
dissolves into thin air. Panics and
drouths are accidents, exceptional; not
rules of commercial and material, life.
They pass away and are forgotten. Leg
islation ON them is generally worse
than useless. As thus: the legisla-
ture, as a relief measure, issued State
warrants as q substitute for currency,
receivable for taxes. Well, who has got
the warrants? The people? Nolyou
can find them at the counters of the
banker and broker. and they will sell
them to you for consideration. And
the people have to be taxed to pay of
these warrants at par. 1t was bill
not for the benefit Of the people, but
to add to the profits of bankers and
brokers, the usual results of all such
special legislation. But "twas ever
thus"
We had the bondholders under con-
sideration, but have unintentionally
wandered from that man of many cpl,
thets. He has no friends and when
ever one desires to run muck, he
is always on hand to be pitched into.
He is always connected with Shylock
1t is believed that the spirit of that
ancient Hebrew still presides over his
class, and just now Portia is sought
for to bring him to grief. The bond
holder is exacting, rapacious and al
ways 'bloated." In short, very i'm
proper, unpopular and unwholesome
mani But who made our bondhold.
err? Row was he brought into exist.
cnce? The State wanted money, issued
her promises to pay, and he advanced
the money upon her promises. AnC
so it turns out that we, the people
through our chosen representatives
made our bondholder. Now who i:
most to blame, if blame there be, il
this transaction? The State or the
bondholder the tempter or the temp
ted ? the old snake or Eve? IF it was
bad policy in the State to borrow, the
bondholder is not responsible for that
But it may be said that the people were
misrepresented in the legislature. Pos
sibly; but the bondholder didn't elect
the legislature. The bonds now held
against the State were issued before
the war, and not by Brownlow legisla.
lures. 1t is we, the people, that are
responsible for our own debts. But il
is charged that the bondholder bought
our bonds below their par value
Whose fault was that? We, the PEG.
pie, again. The State, through its ac.
ton and non-action, deprecated it;
own paper. 1t is said that the bond
holder must take what he gave for the
bonds, and not what the State agreed
to pay. How are we to ascertain the
price paid. Imagine a sovereign State
pursuing a bond from the original pur.
chaser, should he ever be found, tc
Smith; from Smith to Jones, and from
Jones to Robinson! The conclusion
of the whole matter is that the State
by certain parties, is expected to de-
preciate her own securities and ther
buy them up
In some quarters we have been re-
minded, with triumphant air, thai
the State cannot be sued. True, bu
why? Simply because it was Away;
heretofore supposed that State, in it:
business transactions, would furnish
an example of honesty and fair deal
ing to every citizen. The very positio,
Of State, as sovereign, cOmpels hon
esty. Nob3esse obHge. You give an
other your note for a thousand dol
lars; afterward you transfer your prop.
erty so that the arm of the law cannot
reach you, and then you cody inform
your bloated bondholder that if he
will take five hundred dollars for your
bond, .he can get that, or nothing
What name do you give to that trans
action? Rascality! And yet there
are men who would treat the State
credit, who paid par for his bonds, il
the same way.
1t is difficult TO realize the extent Of
the decentralization caused by war
Time was, when there was no need foI
reminding citizens that there could
exist no government without taxation
and that without government life and
property were at the mercy of the
strongest-without government, sup
ported by taxation, incendiarism, muir
der, theft, anarchy, political chaos; all
the horrors Of the French Commune
would be upon us. State government
being suspended during the war, there
were no taxes to pay to the State foI
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