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

ssnsury. the shame, and the disgrace Wfic1
hapa cau,e IRON, the faint % public dishoao'rla
swheney,cr and whereyerit has exssted ~
thss country. The author oil this most
tipscly and valuable paper Is IL 3. iHoaAs'
ESQ, sof smithiield, Isle OF WIGHT, MI IT.
sTHoaAs IS d lawyer Of distinction anu
citixen WHO honors himself by his s,uohc
devotion. He does on important service IN
giving 10 the public his admirable paper.
Sl -.------------.-.-------- 8 sS 5
me Reputation of Mississippi Penn
So sylvania, and Other States, IN ls5s
ana 1910.
The generation which In 1889. lsio, ieal'
and 1872. shaped the legislation 81 Mlssls S
ssppi, Louisiana, Indiana, illinois, Michi-
gar, Maryland, aud Pennsylvania estates.
which totally or partially repudiated thelr
debtsg has passed away, and have left be-.
hind them no history OF their acts. NOR
were they anxious that one should be Writ II
ten. Notwithstanding they cloaked their
conduct under the excuses Of open and pal,
nab,e fraud, Of. constitutional violations, OF
the unprecedented pressure OF tn, the times,
ret they each and all felt that they had yio-
lated the living, the indestructible rule OF
right: that they had smirched their Drlgnt
honor; that they had ayailed themselves OF
their own wrong, or OF the wrong OF their
agents. and had inflicted upon others the
losses that they themselves should nave
brayely borne. They felt that, however
plausible and sophistical their pretexts, they
had disgraced themselves and dishonored
their country; and not experimenting that
the future could by any possibility ee-
yelop followers OF their bad example,
they and the country at large were so
l;citous that the memory OF their acts
should pass away, and that the disgrace OF
the States and the shame Of the nation should
be forgotten in the hush OF silence ana IN
the oblivion Of time. SO general and so
sincere was this wish that the facts nave
now to be sought for in the messages OF the
governors OF toe States, in a few scattered
biographies, and in the ephemerat neWspa-
per literature OF the day. And while this last
source OF information is practically mac
cessibie. the others are nearly so; for with
the exception OF S. S. PRENT1ss there were
few men who were brilliant enough to de-
mand or fortunate enough to procure their
biographies to be written, and the messages
of the governors OF the Tepudiating Or de-
Iirauent States lie hid away in the willing
archives OF those States, anxious to eiude
search and hopeful to escape scrutiny. But
notwithstanding the severe difficulties that
stubbornly confront him who would essay
to be the historian OF those times, yet some
one should have the temerity and the enter
prise to undertake the work, for the annals
of those days should be written, not
only as guide to the present, but as
a possible warning to the future; for
what the bad passions OF man bave done
it is fair to presume that the bad passions
OF man will do unless they are enlightened
and restrained by the wisdom that is drawn
from the experience and suffering OF others.
During the discussions o; the Franco-Prus-
sian war in the British Parliament it was
remarked by Lord LYTToN, while prophe-
swing the course OF the nations, that. the
nineteenth century had discovered many
things, but that it had failed to discover
new humanity; that what man had done
man would do--a truism that we see exem-
plifed to-day. And SO to prevent our pos
terity from repeating the odious expert
ments of the past and the culpable ones Of
the present, the history OF the disgraceful
acts OF 1889 and 40 ought to be written so that
succeeding generations may be deferred,
if not BY honor at least by dishonor and
its attendant loss, from following the bad
example Of their predecessors.
The States that went astray in 1889 and 40
were led into error by the subtlety and the
sophistry Of those who pandered to the
prejudices OF the masses, and promised
them immediate relief from their burdens;
and the States that are now treading in their
footsteps arc those that are beguiled by the
plausible expedients Of politicians that seek
TO remove present complaint by the sub
stitution OF a future and a permanent,
grievance. "
The impression is general that some OF
the States mentioned above besides Missis-
sippi repudiated their debts, but it is as erro-
neous as 1t is general. Mississippi is the
only State that openly and publicly dis
avowed its debt. OF the other States some
for. time refused, and others merely neg
lected, to make any provision for their ac-
crned and accruing interest; but this, under
the influence OF the Mississippi discussion,
was spoken OF and regarded as reputation,
and 80 direful was the influence and so per-
nicious was the effect Of their acts-so tar
nisbed was the honor not only OF the States,
but OF the General Government itself that
il could not in 1912 borrow cent in the
whole OF Europe, though its accredited
agent sought it in every monetary centre
mon terms the most liberal and adyan-
tapeous to the lender, and that. TOO, i'll be-
bal, of Government that had only year
or two previously dn 1889 exhibited to the
world the hitherto unknown spectacle
among modern nations Of a country with
ont debt. But Notwithstanding this fact,
marvellous as it was, and unprecedented as
II was acknowledged to be, the agent OF
this country had TO return with mission
in no part fulfilled, and with a confession
that the great Power that sent him abroad
stood In the eyes Of the world disgraced be-
cause one of the sisterhood Of States had re-
undated her debt, and Others were deny
ing their liability, for q portion OF theirs, or
were neglecting to tax themselves sufi-
,y,,<. 81 u,,l \ SCI s,,