The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-02-01
THE SOUTH.
A Proposition to Compromise its Debts.
what a Great boston Merchant rainks

The call which was published in the
| lpO'td Of that date. The firms signing
that call were oil represented, and there
were present besides them many other
OF the leading men In financial circles.
On motion Of Mr.. Frederick Taylor. OF
| William Cullen Bryant was chosen as
chairman.
Mr.. Bryant, on assuming the chair,
said that the purpose for which the
meeting had assembled was eminently
g philanthfopie one. The Southern
States were 80 deeply In debt that only
the assistance Of friendly hands eouid
extrieate them. The effect OF such In
debtedness was to cause loss Of self
respect in the debtor who became in4
different to the consequences, but ii
there was way shown him OF satisfy
Ing his creditor he adopted it with
burden which degraded him. The OBJ
ject Of the present meeting was to help
those who could no longer help them
selves, to inspire the Southern States
with hope by showing them q way out
Of their difficulties.
Mr.. Fred Taylor called attention to q
previous and q similar meeting which |
had been held In behalf of the State of I
North Carolina, the results Of which |
had been Of 80 promising O character t
that 1t had led to the present meeting |
in behalf of all the Southern States. |
whose condition was q reproach to the I
American name, both at home and /
abroad. While some might be willing
to adjust their claims In o spirit OF com
promise, there were others who would |
be satisfied with nothing less than the /
full payment Of the obligation. Mean
while. the debt WAS like @ milestone I
hanging around their necks dragging /
them down. In this emergency the
for committee OF five, to
whom all these matters might be re-
ferred, seemed to be the most equitable
way. out OF the difficulty, both as re-
garded the States and their creditors.
THE RESOLUTIONS.
Col. Henry G.. Stebbins, OF the firm Of
II. G.. Stebbins 10 Son, then offered the
following resolutions:
ResolUed, That. as citizens Of Now York, we
depore the existing state OF hiog gs in the default
Ing States Of the South, nd we desire TO give OK
preston Of our sympathy wi b the people of {
those states In their unhappy condition. We re-
e9gnize the insurmountabls obstacles In the way
Of an honorable discharge by them in full of al
their legal obligations, and we perceive that
some method OF compromise and readjustment mt is
absolutely necessary. Anx ous to promote snch I
y settlement upon equitable terms, we recum-
meHQ tne tHberVentl0u OF u committee OF U15fn-
ttrested arbite1s between the States and their
as Offering method fair and hon-
0rable alike to debtor and to creditor
Resoloed That in the opinion OF this meeting,
the five bank officers named, to wit, Geo. 8. Coe
]. ID. VerInilye, b. ID. Sherman, u. b. Comegys,
and Enoch Pratt, possess the fullest contideDce
md spect OF the country, and are therefore,
inently fitted to discharge such duty, not ouly
from their high personal character and qnaltfca
tions, but also from their long experience In i'm
portaDt business affairs.
Resogued That we most respectfully commend T
this movement to the earnest consideration 0f I
The authority OF. every defaultirg State, and we
cordially invite them to signify to this COMMITTEES
their desire to confer upen this irnportant sub /
eot.
Mr.. George Opdyke and Mr.. John A.
Stewart spoke briefly In favor OF the 1
the latter saying that WIZ
many OF the debts of the Southern /
States were honestly incurred and were t
bona fide obligations, 1t was undenia-
BILE that large amount were question:
able and would hardly stand the test Of /
o vigorous examination such as tt was
to subject them to by this
com mittee.
Mr.. G. +. Winston said that he In
dorsed with great pleasure all that had
been said by the previous speakers, snd
also the resolutions. A proper adjust-I
ment Of these debts would place the T
Southern States on an equality with the
States Of the North, wAose debts were
rapidly disappearing, Vnd capital In
vested in those securiRe would seek
other channels, and wSuld flow to the
South as soon as an adjustment could T
be made Of their present. burdens. He
did not think that any better solution
Of the difficulty could be suggested
than the one proposed, and had every I
in the gentlemen named as
the committee.
The Rev. DIR. Samuel Osgood said that
he had attended the meeting because he I
was interested In it's ethical and patri-
otic side. The plan suggested of sub
hitting the matters ct issue to COM
mittee of five gentlemen having no
personal interest In the matter, aud OF +
the highest character for ability and T
commercial integrity, seemed to him
dignified. There was q financial and
o mercantile, as well as military or q
statesmanlike patriotism, although the
vulgar idea was different. The true idea
Of the merchant was that he was D pub
lie spirited and patriotic man. In the
usual way OF their business they expec-
ted to make fair profit, but there were
other times when they gave time and
money and expected nothing in return
but the welfare Of the country, and The
latter had been eminently the course OF I
the merchants OF New York.
On motion Of Cyrus w. Field, the /
resolutions were unanimously adopted, t
and an additional one was added en-
the committee to increase It's |
number IL it should be found neces- |
sary.
Mr.. Atkinson, q merchant of Boston,
and recently returned from Washing
ton, where he had been In intimate
communication with men from the |
South, said that although Boston men
were only to very limited extent hold
ers of the bonds OF the Southern States,
yet as American merchants they deeply
felt the stain upon the honor OF the
country so long as the debts OF any Of
the States were dishonored, and no sec
tion Of the country as more inter-
ested in the settlement Of the question
4ha. Mem Enuiand rrhinh de.r.nra de Il