The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-16
THE STATE DEBT.

very great error In attacking the State debt
and threatening to move for its overthrow.
The Union Is composed Of q body of esti-
mable gentlemen, but they represent very
small proportion Of the property OF the State
or OF the city, and we believe that they will
| find, In this move, the great body OF the people
of oil classes In the State against them.
| As the debt now stands it is but slightly
In excess of that which existed before the war.
IL represents, we know, considerable amount
of bonds issued In the furtherance Of corrupt
| Jobs. But the bonds which represented the
| most fragrant rascality were under the supple-
| mental funding act subjected to the courts,
and have by those tribunals been annulIetl.
Those bonds which have been funded under
| the funding act itself, and which scaled forty
per cent, represent the present debt, we believe
ought to be paid dollar for dollar. We broadly
assume that the debt, rs it stands. constitutes
a contract between the people Of Louisiana
and the creditors of the State
We were opposed to the funding act amend
atOry Of the constitution. We knew that the
vast debt outstanding against the State was u
mass of fraud and corruption; we believed
that the reign of carpet-baggery would,
| sooner or later, come to an end, and that the
people would then repudiata the whole mass
But large majority of the people were eager
toaccept thecofnpromise offered by the act and
to agree to pay go per cent, II they were re-
lieved Of the remaining 40 per cent. We be-
lieve that bona .fde majority Of the people Of
Louisiana voted for the funding act and that
they voluntarily made themselves parties to
the contract Of debt as 1t now stands. There
Is no better evidence of this than the fact that,
outside Of the Property Holders Union, no
voice has been raised in the State against the
debt. If the people had not accepted the set
Element Of the debt under the funding act, and
thereby obligated themselves to pay it, long
before this they would have been heard In every
parish denouncing and regulating it.
Neither the people al Georgia nor those OF
South Carolina ever entered into any agree
ment or compromise with their carpa-bag
governments, or with the holders of their debt,
TO scale, fund and then recognize before the
world their rotten bonds. Consequently.
when Georgia called her convention, act
ing as free State, she investigated her
debt and repudated that part which
she believed to be fraudulent. Act
ing on the same line, South Carolina has
instituted an investigation of her debt and will
repudiate all her fraudulently issued bonds.
No voice Of just accusation can be raised
against these States. When they regained
their sovereignty they found themselves
loaded with millions upon millions of fraudu-
lent claims created, against the earnest
and appealing protests Of their people for
their ruin, subjugation and humiliation,
and they are now, very properly. pro-
ceeding to repudiate all these claims.
In this they do no wrong to the bondholder,
whoever he may be. The original purchasers
Of these bonds knew they represented the
LIES blood Of a free people; they knew they
we're the creation Of fraud and represented
NIL descriptions Of wrong, prostitution and
villainy in government; they knew when
they bought them they were aiding band of
villains to Cypress free States and hurl civil
zation under the feet Of free negro barbar-
Ism. Thus the people Of Georgia and South
Carolina owed nothing to the original pur-
chasers Of their carpet-bag bonds. Do
they owe more to their present holders
the innocent third parties? Nay. The man.
ner OF the creation of these fraudulent debts Is
80 well known that every capitalist and bond
holder understands 1t, and those who bought
them in the markets are entitled to no
more consideration ut the hands Of the people
of Georgia and South Carolina than were
those who bought at first hand from the
thieves.
Louisiana, by the act Of her own people, oc-
cupies toward the present holders Of her
bonds very different attitude. Previous to
the funding amendment she had been bur-
dened with specific debt OF about $23, 100000,
and contingent debt OF as much more.
Every dollar of this so-called debt, save that
portion Of II which represented the dnte-bellum
debt, was fraudulent. The funding act pro-
posed by Kellogg entirely extinguished the
contingent debt and scaled the specific debt
40 per cent We and some few others, who,
in the parlance Of those days, were fools
enough to believe that Louisiana would pull
through" and could then settle her debt in her
own way, opposed this. But we found few
sympathizers. The mass Of the people were in
favor of voting for the funding amendment.
They had seen their elections reversed and
their Legislatures dispersed at the point Of
the bayonet; they saw many millions OF debt
staring them In the face sustained by the
same bayonets, and they felt that the little
they had left was about to be sold under the
sheriff's hammer. They saw all these things,
and they thought 1t safest to compromise the
debt God knows we do not blame them.
Through all the generations of the world
there have been few peoples 80 sorely pressed
as were those OF Louisiana in 1874; under
less gloomy auspices they might have
reasonably deemed it prudent to &C
cept the propositions Of this act.
That they did vote for and accept it, we are
entirely certain, and having accepted it
they will honorably stand by the bond, dollar
for dollar. Since that acceptance, whenever
the Northern hackers of the carpet-baggers
have charged US with repudiating purposes,
we have pointed to that acceptance. During
the last canvass, when the Republican press
sought to excite the whole moneyed interest
OF the world against US, and to deprive us Of
all human sympathy while they OVERRIDE us
with borua and foot we DrotAStad that We