The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-05-24
INTEREST ON THE STATE DBBTs

SiN"o W tVSJ uuu tspPaOs>ssdVt.YG " VA lux
the purpose Of paying Che lnttsrst 90 the
State debt before It is nseertained what
portion OF IL is valid and what fraudulent.
They propose to ieave tbs settlement Of
this question to commission of Ave, TO
be hereafter provided for, whose act re-
cogniEing or rejecting any bond shall be
final. This is very Objectionable plan,
for no five men should be entrusted
with so mucL power. The people sent
their Sealtors and Representatives to
Columbia 30 look after such matters as
these, and we do not expect them to dele
gate such power 10 three men absolutely.
The commission should be raised as Gov
erncr Hampton suggested In bis message,
giving them power TO investigate tho
subject Of our indebtedness and report TO
the next meeting Of the General Assem-.
bly,. Not one dollar Of intereat should
bo paid On the bonded debt OF the State
until such course has been pursued.
To say that this would be repudiation or
dishonorable TO the State Is sheer non
sense. For the State to appoint this
commission, and pledge payment to tho
honest portion of the debt, would be
acceptable TO every honest bond-holder,
and we should not care for the clamor of
tho speculators who have knowingly
dealt in the fraudulent portion Of this
debt. We have as high regard for the
honor and credit Of South Carolina as
any man, and would not for one instant
approve any scheme 10 bring about re.
pudiation or the semblance Of It; but the
talk about repudiation is entirely without
foundation in the present discussion.
The question is do we owe the present
debtf II the General Assembly Is will
ing to acknowledge 1t as valid and bind
ing, then they should arrange to pay it
promptly, but unless they nre willing to
say to their constituents that the whole
! debt 10 valid and needs no examination,
they should carry out the Governors
suggestion and inve,tigate it carefully
before paying any part oft. Because q
man wishes TO find out what are the valid
claims against him is no evidence of de-
sire to shirk their payment. 1t is the
same with State. We have to admin.
lister upon the actings and doings of tho
Republican party in South Carolina, and
we should get In all the claims aud scruti.
niEe them carefully before we commit
ourselves TO their payment
The talk about locking the wheels OF
government by tho taxes being paid In
coupons is equally as visionary. In che
first place, the bonds are in the hands OF
O few men, and most Of them pay no
taxes in South Carolina. Hence, the
amount that would be rendered by actual
bondholdors would be very small. To
put these coupons into the hands Of tho
masses for the payment of taxes, they
would have to be sold for less than their
face vslue. and The people Of onr State
would derive the benefit from them, oven
II it were practical to use them. Thus q
coupon for ten dollars would probably be
sold for eight dollars, and the purchases
would obtain the benefit of the discount
thus saving the discount, whatever it is,
TO tho Taxpayers, and not rushing the
whole amount out of the State into the
pockets Of a few bond.holders. If tie
treasury Is in danger Of flooding from
coupons, we prefer that some of ous
people should derive at least o portion oil
the benefit. But we have no fears Of any
aacl.i result. Tas people who voluntarily
paid their taxes 10 support the Hampton
government would not trouble the treasu.
~ With coupons. aa 4tff . 'ii st"et'
Another point which 10 Left out Of CON
aideratien iy the advocates of this appro.
psiatson Is the fact that the holders OF
these bonds cannot que the State Their
only nodo Of procedure Is by placing she
coupons in the hands Of individuals, and
these individuals must lit.igate the re-
ception OF ihecs coupons for themselves.
IL o. Mandenius is Issued BY the Circuit
Court to compel treasurer to receive
| the coupons, for taxes, an appeal may be
taken TO the 9aprems Court, and thus
prevent q decision until after the inyesti-
Cation. Another point about the. danger
ef litigation, is chat the people will not
generally engage Ia the couEse necessary
TO flood the treasury with coupons, for d
man vino pays twenty or thirty dollars
tax cannot afford to buy thess .eoapons,
and then employ Ee,arssl to litigate their
reception for Eiss taxaA liifi '.2a
Again, Ye do not understand how IL is
that the advocates ofpaying the interest
can find any dihagence between cou.
pons and the bills OF the bank of the
State. Both are receivable for taxes,
and yet they profess TO DO unable to e.
arossnd the coupons, but do actually re-
fuse 70 provide for the bank bills, which
are as just q debt and are more generally
distributed among our psoplo than che
coupons. We maintain that as MISTER
of law, OF policy and Of equity. there
should be no discrimination between
these two classes OF debt. Neither OF
them should be recognized until they arc
fully Investigated and acted upon by tho
Legislature. ia4
Te srSSS tho interest on the debt is TO
validato it irrevocably. Every lawyer
knows that the payment of interest on an
ansiquated :sshs will revive it; or the
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