The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-01-10

for ss .l,l0 each, benfing five per cent. IN
teerest. and redeenatl in twelve, eighteen,
and twenty years, and deliver them 70 tae
officers Of that inst tuition from time 10 time
ID proportion to the amounts subscribed
fer bank afpck, the price OF n bich was 10 70
,,e secured 10 the satisfaction OF the directs
ors. The bonds were negotiable by the gu.
dorsetaefit Of the presidents nds cashier OF :
the bank BY an additional net the ao
error was authorized to subscribe in behaif
Of the state for s5,Ooo,ooo Of the stock OF
the bank, and he did SO. In June, 1888, ne
delivered to the bank two thousand nve
hundred bonds amounting to S5,9OO,oou,
payable In Twelve and twenty years from
the 9Th day OF February, 1888, anu bearing
fpe per cent. interest from their date. The
charter required the bank to appoint three
commissioners for the sale Of the bonds,
and imposed this restriction on their atl-
thority That the bonds should not De SOFA
under Meirpar ualue. On the 18th OF Au-
gust, 1888, the commissioners sold all the
bonds 70 Mr.. BrDpLE for the sum OF So, 0O0,-
600, payable in FIVE equal instruments OF one
million each on the LIST day of November,
1888, and on the 1st days Of January,
March, May, and July, 1889, oithout IN
terest. This money was punctually paid to
the bank, which went into. operation, and
before January 1, 1871, lost all its capital"
2 It will be observed that the commission
ers did not conform to their authority in
making the sale Of the bonds. They were
In terms required to sell the bonds for their
par ualue, which is the amount due upon
the bond, interest as well as principal.
They made such a sale as not to receive in
cash an amount equal to the liability OF the
State on the bonds, and therefore they ex-
ceeded their authority. But the Legisla-
ture met in 1889 for the first time after the
sale OF the bonds, when only one fourth OF
the purchase-meney had been paid over to
the bank. The facts were communicated
by the Governor to the Legislature, and
thew resolved "that the sale OF the bonds
was highly advantageous to the State and
the bank, and in accordance with the in
functions Of the charter, rejecting the high
est credit on the commissioners and bring
ing timely aid to an embarrassed commu-
nifty" The next Legislature, which assem-
bled in 1910, appointed a committee on the
affairs OF the bank, but uttered not one
word respecting the sale Of the bonds.
When the Legislature next assembled, in
1871, Governor MCNUTT sent in a mes
sage in which he adverted to the plan
Of .repudiatng the sale Of certain State
bonds on account Of fraud and illegality.
This was the first time that the word repu-
diation was used In the sense in which it is
now so generally employed. MCNUTT has
all the honor Of its introduction, and Mis-
sissippi has all the credit OF its universal
adoption. They injected it into the lam
guage Of finance. Mississippi and repudia-
ton are forever linked together. Not all
the waters Of It's great stream, though it is
fed by the SHOWS of the mountains, can
wash out the indellible blot. She may cry
"Out. damned spot, out! "but it will eter-
nally remain to sting the conscience and to
stain the hand, besides having soiled the
honor, and perhaps wrecked the fortunes Of
that sisterhood of southern States that in
the recent past banded together for the
achievement Of Cuer separate nationality.
( And the Legislature to which the message
Of Governor MCNUTT was sent felt the dis
grace that would attend the reputation Of
their debt. for in January, 1s41, they re-
turned in response the following resolu-
tions:
.sFirst. That the State Of Mississippi is
bound to the holders Of the bonds OF the
State sold on account Of the bank for the
amount of the principal and interest.
"Secondly. That the State Of Mississippi
aoiH pay her bonds and preserve her faith
inviolate.
4" Thirdly. That the insinuation that the
State Of Mississippi would repudiate her
bonds and violate her plighted faith is
a calumny upon the Justice, honor, and dig
nifty Of the State"
But the Constitution of the State Of Mis-
sissippi contained a provision that no law
should be passed to raise money upon the
credit OF the State for the payment or re-
demption OF any loan or debt unless it be
sanctioned by majority OF each house, the
yeas and nays being entered on the journals,
aud be then referred to the next Eegisla-
ture, aftera public notice given in the news
papers for three months before the election
and Governor MCNUTT, on the ground that
the State was not originally bound to pay
the debt, and that the illega; acts Of the
agents had not been ratified by two success
sive Legislatures, after public notice IN the
newspapers, made his appeal to the people
OF the State, and in 1912 majority of the
members of both branches OF the Legisla-
ture were found to be avowed and blatant
And thus .
:. A falcon tow'riug in her pride Of place
Was by housing owl hawkd at aud killed."
The State Of Louisiana loaned its credit
to several banking corporations, the capital
stock Of which was secured by mortgages
on real estate. The bonds issued by this
State amounted to S22,o0O,ooo. They were
all payable in England. New Orleans, its
capital, more then than now the monetary
centre not only Of that State, but of the ad-
joining States-the very Paris Of all that
section-partook quite as much, and proba-
bly, more, than any other city OF the wild
excitement OF the times, and experienced
perhaps more than any other city the re-
sultant depression that followed. The
banks had, in the period OF seeming pros.
perity, discounted an immense amount OF
paper, which, now that disaster had come,
proved to be either worthless or greatly de-
preciated. But in the main they were able