Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-05

cent. more than they did in themost
prosperous year theretofOre. Instead
of their people leaving their homes
and running away to avoid taxes,
it is officially stated ON the thirty
fourth page of this report that the
census of 1870 shows that Memphis
has a population of 40, 226, and that
it had at the date of the report (Jan.
/, 1885, fully 60,000, and including
the immediate suburbs not less than
o., 900.
Mr.. Haywood-Tha is simply a
city advertisement.
Mr.. Hill-That statement is cor
rect. am member of the Mem
phis Chamber of Commerce, and it
was partly under my supervision
that that report was published.
Mr.. Smith, must be permitted
to say to the gentleman from Shelby
that | notice in this book the names
of ID. L. Porter, ID. p. MADDEN and
others, who are officers of the Cham
Der of Commerce. They went from
my county to Memphis, and, of
course, counld not make an untrue
statement; and, what is more, every
one of them, venture to say, is in
favor of accepting this compromise.
On the forty-seventh page of this re-
port | find the following statement:
The main adjunct ofourwealth and trade
! the railway system of Memphis justly COM
mands large share OF attention. While
/ excellent progress has been made in the
/ past, important results are yet to be accom-
| plished before the people of Memphis can
safely relax their efforts in the direction of
| railroad building. 1t is true, we have the
| Memphis & Charleston, Mississippi & Ten
nessee. Memphis & louisville and Memphis
| d Little Rock roads completed, the Mem
/ ph1s & Paducah finished a distance of thirty
miles, and the Narrow Gauge to Raleigh,
| our ancient county seat-all furnishing us
| with quick and ready communication in ali
! directions.
The main adjunct of their wealth
is their railway system, and they
have those very roads, on account Of
which very large portion of our
bonded Indebtedness was created.
The State issued its bonds to a very
large amount to these very roads,
which now constitute "themain adj
junct of the wealth. of Memphis,
and these bonds on the very debt
created to build these roads you are
now unwilling to pay at fifty cents
on the dollar, with coupons similar
to those on your own city's cOmpro-
mise bonds. 1t is said that men in
/ the North own these bonds and that
| the Northern army devastated our
country, and that is a reason why
we need not be particular about pay
! ing them. Suppose that Northern
men do own the bonds, don't we in
| Ton Cx4y,, fho IV.noSJcO n,,o.bf
we not to either pay the bonds or
surrender the roads they built, be-
cause the "main adjunct" of your
wealth is derived from our railroad
| system.
But the gentleman (Mr. Peters,
reads an act passed by the Legisla-
ture of 1876 giving to the counties of
Stewart, Montgomery, Houston,
! Cheatham and others authority by
their County Courts to issue as much
as $4,000 of bonds to relieve the suf-
fering of the people in consequence
of failure in their crops the year
before. He cites this act, suppose,
to show the distress of the people
and to prove that they are unable to
pay taxes with which to meet the
interest on any compromise bonds
which might be issued to complete
a settlement. He seems to lay espec-
ial stress upon the fact that the act
applied TO Montgomery county.
suppose that this is done because
that county has never waYered in
its adherence to the often announced
determination by it to stand by the
credit and honor of the State. So
far as that county is concerned will
say that it never asked or desired
the act referred to apply to it. BY
its Quarterly Court, at the first ses-
sion after its passage, it rejected it
and disclaimed any knowledge of
its provisions until published, and
declined to have anything to do
with it, and never issued a bond I'M
der the act. / cOncede, Mr.. Chair
man, that my county has no flaming
report issued in book form by the
merchants and business men of my
town, demonstrating its wealth.
Rather do agree that my county
is not very rich but | will say that
if Montgomery county had issued |
bonds under the authority of that I
act it lC0uld hare paid Heni-not at |
fifty cents on the dollar, but it would /
have paid them in full, principle !
and interest. Montgomery county 1
believes that when it owes debt il I
is in honor bound to pay that debt
and it does it. Sir, the late civil /
war destroyed as much property of |
the people of my county as in any /
other county of equal wealth. 1t |
did its work of destruction as thor /
oughly there as anywhere in the
State. Before the war Montgomery |
county subscribed stock to and for /
the purpose of building the Mem
phiS, GAINESVILLE d Louisville Rail- 1
road to the amount of S250,00 and /
the town of GAINESVILLE subscribed /
to the same road 100000, and each
issued its bonds to that company at
thirty years, with coupons attached
bearing six per cent. interest, which
were sold on the markets of the
country. During the war of course
no interest was paid, because no
revenue could be collected; but as
soon as the war ended Montgomery
county and the town of GAINESVILLE
invited the holders of their bonds to
come forward and receive bonds for
the interest which had accrued on
their bonds during the war. The
creditors came and the town and
county funded the interest which
had accumulated during the war,
and at once commenced the payment
of interest on all of it's bonds. Mont
gomery pays interest prompt
ly on all of its bonds, and if any man
holds a coupon or other demand
against it, all he has to do is to pre-
sent it and he will receive the money
without delay. Sir, / refer to this
fact with pride and pleasure, because
l am proud of my county and the
character it sustains and has always
borne for honest, fair dealing with
it, creditors both county and State.
IL has never asked to pay its debt at
fifty cents, nor for any sum less than
par. 1t never will. Again l say if
it had issued bonds under the act of
1875, however poor the people might
have been, ii aCO,tld haze paid them.
The people of my county believe in
paying not only their public but also
their private debts. A community
which pays its pirate debts is apt
to be willing to pay the public debt.
Mark Twain quantity but philOsoph-
cally said that the way to train up
4 child i'm the yVaV he should on iG tn