The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-06-29
Reconciliation.

Repatriation.
1t is very bad state of affairs
when a community, a county or a
Stale deliberately propose TO re-
pudiate any portion of their public
debt voluntarily assumed. For
twenty-five years the country. and
especially the west, had been going
from bad to worse in the matter OF
increasing public debts for interaI
improvements, until partially check
ed by the financial crisis of 1873
and the hard times since. And these
hard times are but the natural re-
suit of the policy of the past. We
piled debt upon debt and finally pay
day came, and that was an event IN
provided for. For some three or
four years past it has been a serious
question III many states and coun-
ties what provision could be made
to meet the enormous debts which
had been created year after year.
Even the interest on these debts, in
many instances, has become a Sc
rious burden; SO much so in fact,
that III some states, and in many To-
calities in others, open Reputation
has been adopted. The New York
Times of June 23d has an article on
this question, in which it takes the
interest of the eastern money loan
ers exclusively in view. 1t cites
cases in Illinois, Missouri and Ar
kansas, where the courts have, on
one technicality and another, de-
cided bonds which had been voted
to railroads, illegal. The Times
thinks there is not much probability
of these repndiating communities
getting credit again in the eastern
money markets. Reputation can
not be sustained by any communi-
ty, and will never be resorted to by
honest men. While we make this
declaration, we would remind the
Times there are two sides to this
matter. In hundreds of instances
bonds have been fraudulently OBJ
tanned by eastern capitalists, and
the communities who voted them
cOolly swindled out of them with
out q due performance of the work
for which the bonds were voted.
We have a personal knowledge of
some instances of this kind. Then,
again. communities have voted
bonds to enterprises, receiving paid
up stock therefor in return. After
obtaining possession of county or
state bonds, the organization to
which they were voted has, with
the boldest rascality and dishonesty,
manipulated the affairs of the COM
pany so as to cheat euch county or
state out of their interest. Lyon
county voted 100000 to the NJ, X.
& Il. railroad. They were voted I'M
der the fairest promises. The "smok-
ing out process was afterwards
adopted, and while the road is to-
day making money, and filling the
pockets of somebody, the stock
taken IN good faith by this county,
is not worth farthing. Yet the
people of this county are paying
their interest promptly. We wish
to say that we attach no blame to
the parties now operating the road
for this condition of things. So far
as we know none of them had any
thing to do with wiping out the
Lyon county interest in the road.
But nevertheless the county was
out of its 100000. It is
just as bad, or worse, for a railroad
company to swindle a county or
state as it is for the betrayed and
swindled people in localities in the
west to repudiate debts. 1t is poor
rule that don't work both ways, and
we are of opinion that the people
of the west average with the east
ern railroad manipulation when it
comes to a question of honesty and
fair dealing. If the people of the
west have learned any tricks by
which they have beaten the caste IN
sharpe, said sharpe must console
himself that he was the tutor in the
first instance. The people of the
west can count their losses by the
tricks of the eastern railroad manip-
ulator and swindler by the million,
and it don't look we'll for the Times
to shed all its tears of sorrow over
one side of this game of swindle
and reputation. We know of no
instance of an attempt at repudia-
ton where the eastern capitalist
and manipulation has dealt squarely
with the people. We cannot excuse
reputation under any circumstan-
ces, but it is well enough for the
Times, and all other eastern sympa-
thizers, to remember that the ras-
cality is not all on one side, and that
the western bonds repudiated or
lost by Compromise" do not cover
the downright stealings filched from
western Golfers by eastern scoun-
drels. There is no place in the world
where g greater number of thieves
to the acre exists than in New York
city. The Times would do a good
work to hunt up the statistics and
find out how many New York ma
bobs are living on the interest on
money stolen from western railroad
enterprises.
Gen. Grants Foreign Tour.
The Chicago Times has found out
what it ali means. 1t says:
This European tour IS a part of
the programme for bringing ont