The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1878-12-25
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE STA TIE

Nashville American.

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE STAT,
DEBT.
Nashville American.
Every consideration of interest, a
well as of honor, moves the Legislator
at its approaching session to arrange fo
the settlement of the State debt. Cal
it sentiment, call it Mysteries, what yol
| will, there is no solid prosperity in stor
for this people as long as their solemn
obligations remain unfulf1lled, and NJ
| effort is made to fulfill them even il
the remote future Wilmington ~. O
Sun.
Why is this complaint of debt in
Virginia, North Carolina and Ten
nessee? Certainly none of these
States have hurt themselves serious
ly paying their debts. The stump
orator-that magnificent product of
these latter days-still tells the peo.
pie of Tennessee that they are bur-
deued, tax.ridden, oppressed. griev-
ously weighted down, and the peo.
pie still cry aloud that they are bur-
dened by this debt. 1t must be so.
We happened to hear politician
say to a crowd of admirers around
concerning a gentleman who had
mildly intimated that an obligation
had something slightly obligatory
about it, Gentlemen, they don't
know how the people are oppressed
by this debt, nor how they cry aloud
for relief" The crowd yielded in
slant assent. What was it that was
bearing down upon them at that mo.
ment? 1t was not the payment of
the debt, nor the liquidation of any
portion of the interest upon it. The
ten cents Of taxation upon the hun
dred dollars is not the burden com.
planned of. They were right, how
ever. The debt is a burden, and
until it is settled it will remain a
burden. A material burden can be
removed-visibly carted off-dis-
posed of. An obligation will not be
disposed of in that way. 1t is in
tangible, subsistiug. 1t is there un-
til it is loosed by performance. Vio-
lation of it will not dispose of it. 1t
still hangs in broken fragments
about the necks, and all the heavier
for dangling there broken. To
break an engagement is no relief
from the obligation nor the burden.
The individual who violates an obli-
cation is compelled to wear the bur-
den, and it lasts him a lifetime.
Communities have no exemption.
For all the declarations of the stump
orator, the debt still hangs like
fatal incubus, recognized burden,
but it grows no lighter for his decIa-
ration. and he proposes no measure
by which it will bear less heavily. It
cramps the State, rests upon the
people and the State as a dark shad-
ow,
Who will deliver US from the body
Of this death? To whom have the
people turned for deliverance? Let
them canGidly answer after calm re-
flection. Have they consulted the
men who deal most successfully in
business, who seek the best means
Of deliverance from private burdens,
who deal most squarely and houest-
ly with great questions to those in
politics, or recognized as public adj
who are the ablest and most
or to the shallow,
time-serying people, the self-seekers |
who feed upon public evils, magnify
public perils and find their oppor-
tunity in clamoring Of distress, while
they never concoct measures of re-
lief or suggest or apply remedies?
This ia certainly a matter for calm
1t is a matter for |
the people to consider and calmly to |
consult their own consciousness as
to whether it is or not. Ii the will |
ing ear has been turned to those who |
seek only agitation and temporary
personal success in painting griev-
ances without devising remedies,
how long are they to deal with this |
question as an airy matter for windy |
contest on the stump and in legisla-
tive halls? IL this class have been |
dealing with the subject for the past
i've years is it not time they were
and applying de6nitive
measures of relief? The burde n |
still impends. Although it inllcts
no pecnniary penalty, through inter
est paid or taxes collected, 1t is still
recognized as a burden. If they
have brought no relief, :s it not, per-
laps, time that. they were advised
that this is subject to be dealt with
by the statesmen who can take far
glance at the future, by an enlight-
ened people who recognize that no
burden can be removed without some
exertion and some hardshlps. Is it
not, perhaps, time for straightfor-
ward manly people to inquire for
themselves concerning this matter
and to cease reliance upon those
whose sole object is personal ad-
This is popular government. The
people have the matter in their own
hands. Ii they choose to rely upon
The worst class Of politicians, none
can say nay. LII they choose TO drag
this question along into the future.
an ever impending burden, IL will