Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-06-14
TIE DECiS;0N.

A. A. HARDWOOD, Editor.
~ 49,. THE Dh:Ci>;0N.
The result of the election lc}tl last
Tuesday in this city, is Of such u charac-
ter as to enable us to predict with certain
ty th9t not this county alone, but the en-
tire State has rejected the bond holders
proposition by very decided majority.
Just what particular influences have con-
duccd to this decidedly negative express
sion, it is not easy to determine, but VIC
think there is deep seated and very pre-
vailcnt feeling that the law under which
the settlement was to have been made
if made at all, is radically defective, in
this that it did not sufficiently guard The
interests Of the people. In this feeling
We have never participated; with this
view we have no sympathy; and yet we
can readily see how many voters may be
made to suspect the existence OF some
intended fraud. This lea might be de-
rived from the fact that the Board Of
Public Credit" created by the act, were
given very general, not to say extyaordin
airy powers. Some profess to think it a
matter of discretion with the board, wholly,
whether or not to devote the proceeds Of
the 100000 acre land tract to the payment
ofthe interest Or principal, or either Of
the proposed new bonds, and also to en-.
tertain belief that this discretion was
given them for no suitable CT honest pur-
pose. Again: it has been argued that
is the board were not restricted i'll any
way rs to The manner, time, or terms OF
the sale, they might dispose Of the lands
to the great dctrimcnt Of the public inter
csts; and yet again, that insufficient or
iniuuicious sales would render oncrons
taxation inevitable in order to meet the
scMi.annllal interest upon the proposed
new issue as it should become due
These We think constitute the reasons
urged by nine tenths Of the people Of
Mower county who voted mo-
Neither the argument nor the differences
mentioned have any material weight with
us, Tor we think them neither logical nor
:ar, and yet We cannot help admitting
that such criticisms should have been
rendered wholly impossible by /: moro
carefully guarded law for carry ing into
effect the detailed incidents Of the pro
posed settlement. While a large proper
ton of the people were entirely satisfied
to accept the proposition in the form in
which it was presented, there seems to
have been still larger number who sns-
pcctcd that some fraud was lurking in
the scheme, which might be discovered
only when TO late to avoid the evil con-
sequences which 1t might entail. We Go
not think this idea would have become at
all prominent in the canvass here, but for
the fact that very few notorious rcpu-
diatOrs found it necessary fox the accom-
plshnlent Of their purposes, to divert
public attention from their real object
and to fix it upon some collateral qucs-
ton. So far rs we arc informed there is
but one single man in this county who
has openly advocated Reputation, and lie
has really contributed more to the promo
ton Of the bond holders interests than to
the cause which he cspouscd. The cleo
ton which took place last Tuesday has
settled, forever in this county, all contro-
vcrscy as to the obligation Of the State to
pay those bonds. We are sincere in cx-
pressing it as our belief that not ten we'll
informed men can be found here, who
will say publicly that they believe the
State may llonprablY reDul;ato one dol.
lar Of til;.t old boat-indcJtc,lac:s. Many
think that the Inception OF that issue WIS
tailted with fraud, but they recognize in
the concurrent action Of people, lcgisla-
lures, courts and officers Of the State q
consistent and positive recognition Of
the validity Of those bonds, and they hold
that-having taken advantage Of this fact
at all times and under all circumstances,
when such recognition would seem to
inure to her advantage, the State is, by
every consideration CT law, Of morals and
of common sense cstoppcd from denying
their validity, when to acknowledge it
would entail upon her the burden Of pay
ment. Sitting at a great public assiZe,
the people Of this State have decided not
that those bonds are an illegal and an un.
Just claim that should be repudiatcd, but
rather that the manner and details pre-
scribed for the proposed adjustment arc
in their judgment so faulty as to justify
negative vote. Hereafter then the Ques-
ton will not be, "does the State owe the
: sums represented BY those bonds: but in
what manner and upon what terms will
she provide for their liquidation. 1t is now
only question Of time. Questions of OBJ
legation, duty, and moral responsibility
will scarcely be raised in any future can
vass of this subject. The recent discus
sions have cleared the whole transaction
from the entanglements Of falscliood and
sophisky, and enabled the people to see
it in its true light, and from thisalay un-
til its final adjustment there will he a
gradual growth of popular sentiment in
favor of raying the dcLt. Every sin has
its desert. A just rctribution awaits every
evil idocr, and it may be-that Minncso-
IL has not yet paid the full penalty Of VIC.
lated gatlon,-that she must suffer
still more from impaired credit and tinan-
cial s.ringency before she viii! have
neritcd complete immunity from the
consequences of her eighteen years of re.
pudiation; but the time is coming, ond it
is not far in the future, when she will
purge herself Of the contempt which she
is in before the world, and resume her
natural place in the galaxy of honorable
and honorel States. THAT debt will be
paid.
" NOT VERY DISASTROUS
If we do not misinterpret the expression
made at the polls last Tuesday, its effect