Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-12

a have to-day, and I think that /
2 would be but just and right to pa
j me my interest, and III not the IN
= terest then the principal, and /
! neither, then certainly Won ou0h
q to pay US rent for our horse.
{ The argument, bolstercd by such
: facts, was to me unaHswerable. ano
/ could but concede is force and
truth. That gentleman at the same
: time said 81 can name 0tffenl In thls
I city who bought bonds at alout The
} same time, and the same figures
and they are stu the property d
{ themselves or families
: And while ] believe that II this
} is just debt that the bonds OF one
man should be paid as soon as those
of another, still there are cases, by
reason of the peculiar facts sur
: rounding them, that appeal In
trumpet tones to our sense Of right
and justice. .
Take for instance the case of the
noble Peabody, the great philan-
thropist and friend to education.
and especially desirous Of assisting
the South in building up her school
system and In educating her child
ren, I'm investing his great fortune
in securities that he Thought would
most certainly pay the interest, with
! which he expected to carry out his
great and noble purposes bought
S4SO,0 OF the bonds OF Tennessee,
and set them apart as a sacred fund.
Since his death there has been paid
to the State of Tennessee by his
trustees, for educational purposes,
$500, 900, nearly half the sum invest
ed. We gladly receive our share of
these munificent gifts, nor do we
spurn the liberal hand that annual
ly bestows them, but absolutely cIy
for more. Fourteen hundred dol
lars was contributed from this fund
TO one single school i'm my town
for this scholastic year alone. Shall
we receive these rich legacies for
our children, and deny the living
and the dead their just claims? II
Others are 80 generous to us, we can
afford certainly to be Just To them.
But l might supply cases Of this
character, but fOrbear, for Il Is not
to your sympathy that | would APP
peal, but il is your sense Of Justice
that / would awaken and arouse.
And with this much in regard to
the justness and validity Of the debt,
i shall direct myself to the other
proposition, as to whether Tennessee
has the ability to pay after the debt
Is reduced to $Il ,6O0,00
According to the census Of 1860 the
true value of the property in the
State was in round numbers 1884,
600, 900, while the taxable property
was estimated at only $2T3, 900,
while the census of 1870 shows the
true value of the property i'm the
State To have been $498, 900 600, and
the taxable property Of the same
year was only $252, 900, 900, about
one half. Thus we have by the Off
cial figures, not made for this Oeca-
sion, and not the invention Of my
brain, but gathered from the official
records, State and Federal--the CO.
gent and forcible refutatiOn of our
claim to poverty, by reason Of the
losses sustained by the war, the un-
questioned and unquestiOnable fact
that five years after the war we were
richer by $4,O00,000 than we were
the year before the war began aud
i'm 1870 the rate Of taxation
was higher than i'm 1860, the amount
of taxable property was $2l 100000
less, so as the rate of taxation IN
creased the amount Of taxable prop
erty diminished.
That wesustained losses, and heavy
losses, during the war, principally
in slaves, cannot be denied, but that
those losses were rapidly regained
in the prosperous year succeeding
the war, cannot be denied so that
our claim TO a credit for war losses
cannot be by reason of our poverty
Dccasioned by the war, but by reason
)f the losses themselves. For In
1861, when the war began, the real
md personal property and sldres
we're assessed for taxation at $3l7,-
)0O, 900, whereas I'm 1873, the highest
since the war, the per-
;onal property and the very same
real property was assessed at $685.
lOO, 900, only $9,O00,OOO less and an
he SIdUes gone, and one thousand
lollars of personal property exempt
N the hands of every taxpayer In
he State.
1t is true that the assessment for
he present year shows the taxable
to be only $236, 900,
which Is a considerable falling OFF
rom 1873, but the reasons are plain
md obvious the land i'm the State A.
at less per acre than II has
)een any year since the war, and
ess than il was for several years
DriOr to the war, save one, and then
he eremarkableand terrible financial
'risis through which we have passed
ince 1873, restraining the Invest
nent Of capital, destroying conf
lence, causing thescarcity Of money,
md shrinkage in values, tells the
est.
But with all this, are we In so pitt
able a condition that we are forced
O plead our poverty 10 avoid an
honorable debt? Have not the peO-
lie Of Tennessee the manhood To
rave with manly resistance this
torn of financial distress, trusting
hat the end Is nigh, and the prom
Sc of a brighter day will soon be re-
lized ? Are people acting thus In
heir private matters, and are they
Olding their hands and saying, we
re poor, and we will not try tO pay?
lot so, and to say il is would be
lander upon an honest gnd indus
rious people. But i'm the midst Of
hese hard times they are practicing
commendable economy, contract
lg but few debts, and struggling
ard TO meet those contracted, and
he same spirit displayed In regard
D this State debt would enable Us
D bridge over the present trouble,
nd land us in more prosperous
ines.
If every man would only pay In
he day of his prosperity, and then
lst such debts as it is most cOnven-
ent for him to pay, and refuse To
ay simply because il Is not cOnven-
1nt for him TO pay, and because
ome bear heavily upon him, which
e feels sensibly, then this world
'ould soon become a band Of repu-
iators, and but comparatively few
ebts would ever be paid. The OBJ
cation upon every citizen Of this
tate To pay his portion of this pro-
osed compromise Is as great as Il Is
} pay any individual debt that he
iay owe. II il Is dishonest to repu-
late your private debts because Il
oes not stit you 10 pay when you
o.,n fho oIfItftf 20 nav II IL tugf "a