The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-18

the szaiy 81 me case, and it will affect mi,
nr IA not the entire people, oil
merchants who have Riyan .i,1a aafarte., u Z,
t thelr business, and who have heretofore me
snen engagements promptly viii find thai,
IaeuI unimpaired and their business min
I'M u lhelr business Is not connected witt
- sIaIe RI me State credit, but I'd the con
Iarv with business men, WHO fara nh Il
AlI NV with whom they are dealing.
sae.ho tilo taxes low and you invite CAPITAL
j ~ nuu Increase the reward Of industry, and il
liz, ~ ploporHon that taxes are reduced will tht
pLospeflJg of the country be Increased. ThiS
appears ~ my mind to be logical concl,l
sion, and 1T is not drawn from q feryor Of sen
s sll TENT or strained imagination. It ID cas-,
1oa Gentlemen to cay that the adoption Of the
state but eRoff n T days ehRt fgo a tbs
s,ah pe true. Why, sir, do not believe that
such result would follow the Reputation b
me entire debt outright, and without regard
" T Ehe v, aa l o1 any part Of it.
5orlty report say that 1t ID Reputation III
ts4 e. favor Of Reputation. and IL believed
Inat The adoption OF this report was Ienlldia.
s.on would oppose 1t, not because think it
!, Moa allve Away capital but because think
greaG source OF zeal on the other side-the
honor OF the State. II the report q your com
Inlttee be true, and do not doubt it, the only
| part o. The debt which honor can require Of
mended to bepaid.
y cannot appeal to the sympathy Of my tel
low delegates by calling Louisiana nv
t thoIneT. Georgia, is my native State, and
ne EHere q, passed the first three years OF my
We. since that time have lived In Louisi-
an ana ana, gir, know no other State was
educated In her schools, my wife and children
were born upon her soil, the bones Of my rel
h hoi repose IN her bosom, and no gentleman
mere 2 or elsewhere, would guard the honor Of
Louisiana more closely than would do But
sir. have said, and / repeat 1T. this illegal
usDG Goes not, 1t cannot represent the honor
q Ioulsiana, and q sad day, indeed, will it be
Ior lne children OF Louisiana when they can
polHL 20 Ibis aggregation Of illegality and
OF our State"
DELEGATE PINcHBACK
next addressed the Convention. He said he
mad not Intended to have said anything upon
NE subject but the powerful and eloquent
argument OF the gentleman from st. Mary
(Mr. Catfrey) moved him to utterance. His
glowing description OF the pristine honor Of
Louisiana, when il the maIts Of the world
her pllghted faith stood bit the head Of the
list OF obligations that would never be dis
garded; and his ardent appeal to the Conven.
ton not to tarnish with the foul blot of rep,1
diatlon the fair name Of our great common
wealth, made u incumbent upon him (the
speaker) to say to the gentlemen Of this Con
vention, and to the country through It. that
he and the race with which he was identified.
were as deeply Interested In preserving the
character and integrity Of the State as any
other class OF citizens Within her borders, and
that he at least and he believed every one Of
his colleagues, stand ready and willing to
interpose their votes against any measure
calculated E, to place upon The State the stigma
Of dishonesty.
01rSs n l. i
leagues that ii they had made mistakes and
In some instances became venal and corrupt
during years Of misgOvernment, 1t was the |
Of the peculiar school Of politics IN |
which they were, educated, and not from III
he nt,I BAD nature Ia Or natural cupidity
at what had been done, but marvelled that ii |
was no worse. Listening to the debates on |
This hoor one would suppose that misgovern-
ment and bad men 10 office were Of the past |
was this SO? II the rule adopted BY some
gentlemen In the Convention to accept ale
CATIONS and insinuations as evidence
obtained such he NJ. feared was far
rom being the case. II mere accusations Of |
raud and corruption Is all that is necessary
% convict, then the present government Of |
he stats , was born Of fraud, Graded n cor
lemen Of the Convention prepared b 10 accept
nv such conclusions He thought not; and /
till they are Irresistible II the hypothesis OF
he general debate upon this question were
rue.
elimination and recrimination could not
the past nor effect any good for the
utrre. III it was the policy Of the Convention
10 rid the State of debt by reputation, let II
,oldIy and manfully wipe It all out. ItwouId
,harge Of pusiIlanimity might be escaped,
INA the Convention might hope to command
aspect BY the audacity OF Its proceeding. II
our youth was to be taught the modern way
ampla. Seriously, 1t would be best TO teach
hem the time-honored maxim that honesty
4 the best policy" iii the affairs OF State aS
we'll as with individuals.
Should the Convention adopt the majority
.eport OF the committee he feared it would
1ot only fail to accomplish Its ostensible Oh
ect. but impair the credit Of the State and
,he community, and establish q precedent
hat would render future government IN Lou
siana deIusion and snare. But while he
hat he was prepared to vote with the minor
~ of the committee. Though anxious to
preserve the public credit, he was unwilling
% give the States creditors the "pound OF
,elief. The colored people, no less than their
white neighbors, we're Interested IL this mat
er. as may be readily seen by q little study
II the statistics presented to the Convention
~ the gentleman from Orleans Mf. Semmes)
n his powerful argument In support OF the
Jews Of the minority Of the committee.
Those figures showed q total value Of crops
" $50 900, and 1t was safe to say that four
ifths Of this was produced by colored labor.
t was produced upon q system Of credit with
'ut which their industry would would have been
md starvation. No portion of the communf-
" was, therefore, more interested II the pre-.
ervation OF the public credit. Their assessed
axable property was about $2sO000o0, but
his amount was mere bagatelle compared
With the value OF their labor.
He desired to correct q misapprehens
,nder which the gentleman from East Felici-
ma (Mr.. Stone) was laboring, relative to
property Ia slaves. That gentleman had as.
erted that the abolition Of slavery resulted
4 d loss Of $s00, 100000. He was greatly mis-
aiken. That property had net been destroyed
anteI in freemen now It was worth Eve times
3 much to the State, or in round numbers
1, 500 900, 600. The only change that had taken
lace was that q few masters had been
hanged to nearly 100000 free people, who
we're not an insignificant element III the pros
erity OF the State Their value as producers
- a Ino,, cbarup. ruhiIn a oOnSI1m pra thew