Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-04-17

: my friend from Sumner, wher
2 is the single, solitary bond upol
(which he has been able to pu
| his finger and say this bond wa
4 fraudulently issued? This charg
/ is sweeping. No man can tel
: how far it reaches. In all thes,
, 100000 of bonds, surel7
: some one, two or three might b
: exhibited which were issued eli
| ther through ignorance or fraud
: The Senator from Sumner stated
, that some railroads had obtained
/ $4,000 per mile. / am author
: lied to state that he was misleC
! by the party who gave him in
: formation.
) They also state that in 1869
, 20 we were threatened to bt
; threwn back under the heel of
| the Federal Government; that
we were under duress. The facts
of the case are these: We elect
ed Gov. John G. Brown, and
they raised the cry in Washing
ton that the rebels were in pow
er in Tennessee, and the Presi-
1 dent was about to put Brown
tout, but found if he did it would
only retain Senter, which would
be ''love's labor lost" and he
didn't do it.
The Senators have referred to
Georgia and Alabama as justifi-
cation of scaling bonds. In
Georgia, most palpable frauds
were committed in 1869, and in
1871 over $2,O00,000 of these
bonds were, in the opinion of the
Legislature, nn.aulals....ent, and, as
soon as they got their hands up
on them, they repudiated them.
In Alabama, without waiting for
these fraudulent bonds to obtain
wide circulation they denounced
them as fraudulent. Why did
not you, in 1872 and 1874, do
likewise?
AS to the Judiciary report sub
mitted by Hon. Ed. Cooper in
the Legislature Of 1870, he re-
ferred to the record Of Mr.. Cooper
in the journals Of that session,
and also to a bill introduced by
Mr.. Cooper and passed, indicat-
ing his sentiments on the subject
of the questioned bonds. If you
have rights, go to the courts,and
there every honest man will stand
by you, and if they declare the
bonds illegal, your sky is clear
and your escutcheon untarnish-
ed. AS to the endorsement by
johnson of the bonds of the
Memphis & Little Rock railroad,
and repudiated by Governors
Brown and Porter, Gov. John
sons signature was on these
bonds only as endorser. The
State was only secondarily liable.
The terms on which the bonds had
been issued had not been compli-
ed with, and therefore were void.
Referring to the ''vicious policy"
condemned by the majority re-
port, which had wound its tolls
all about the people, he MAIN
ed that as a question of law,
what the people do through their
agents they do themselves. He
had been a close observer Of
events IN this State for years,
and when not a resident of it,
within fifteen miles of its bor-
ders. The people have been the
Iprime movers in all this policy
which the gentleman pronounces
vicious. Way back in 1884 they
clamored for these improvements.
In 1852, when people were divi-
ded into Wings and Democrats,
both parties had to ayow them
selves in favor of international
Improvements, and the men who
came to these halls and voted
against these measures were not
returned. He could name the
men-men of prominence and in
tegrity who did not advocate
these internal improvements, and
had to stay at home in consc-
quence. He had heard johnson
and Polk expatiating so elo-
quently on the glories and gran
deur to result from these inter
nal improvements that the hon
est citizen would feel that he was
ready to lay down his last dollar
to the cause. The State was
land-locked, except in its west
ern border-a dungeon, as it
were-until the magician touch
ed with his wand the hidden and
inexhaustible resources of East
Tennessee and unloosened them.
The great mountain barrier be-
tween the East and West was to
be broken through. 1t was to es-
cape the burdens and expense in
cident to their limited transporta-
ton facilities that they were so
eager at that time for internal i'm
provements.
Now my friend from Bedford
has told us how rapidly our re-
sources are wasting away, how
our taxable property has diInin-
ished in value, and it is so. In
1860, just before the war, our