The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-03-06

81, l92, 900 unpaid and outstanding,
and of this amount it is probable
not more than 100000 at farthest
is for war interest. the whole
amount of Brownlow bonds now
outstanding, about which there can
be any controversy, will not, then,
exceed $4,000, whilst our entire
debt is S20,000,000 principal, and
100000 interest. in round mum
bers. Ii we reject the Brownlow
bonds, given for interest, and also
the bonds given for interest under
the act OF 1873, we will be com
PEELED to count interest upon al
our bonds since 1865, for we have
only made three seml-annual pay
ments of interest since 1869, max
ing in all about 81 100000, and Gov
Marks says it will be found that W,
have paid but very little legitimat,
interest since the war. live ad op
this policy we will have a debt very
] little less than We now have. 1t We
unsettle matters, we gain very little
if anything, By pursuing this course
1t appears from an examination o.
The Comptroller report that only 8
very small portion of. our present
outstanding debt was contracted
during the administration of Gov.
Brownlow, but it is the result of the
bonds ISSUED before the war and the
interest on them, which has accu.
mulaied since the close of the war
and if we go on tor many years as
we are how going the debt will be
much greater than it now is. | am
satisfied that / have estimated the
Brownlow debt fully as great as it
is, and / have Included all the bonds
issued to railroad and turnpike
companies, those issued for war in
terest, and all issued to renew ante
war bonds. The bonds issued un.
der the act of 1873 were not issued
to fund war interest, but were is
sued to fund ante-war bonds, which
had become due, and the interest
which had accumulated since 1868.
This subject will be discussed in an
other place. The Brownlow bonds
are the ones so fiercely assailed,
and it has now been shown that the
attack on them is a mere pretext to
cover other designs.
No man knows better than Gov.
Marks, he having been eight years
Chancellor, that even when legis-
lation Is procured by bribery and
corruption, that although the guilt
parties could and should be pun
ished and rendered infamous, yet
the legislation is not rendered nu
gatory thereby, when third parties
arc concerned. He also must know
that when bonds properly signed
and attested are sold at less than
their face value they, in the hands
of third parties, are neither invali
dated in whole nor In part. Au-
thorities IN abundance, even from
our own courts, can be cited to sus.
tain this position. There is nc
proof that the Brownlow bonds
were obtained through bribery and
fraud. Many of the men who pro
cured their issuance, and to whom
they were delivered, are as much
above fraud and corruption as Gov.
Marks or any of his advisers. Not
to mention others, l will give the
names of j. w. Sloss, NJ. Burns, f.
NJ. White, Thos. Martin and John
S. Clay brooke. These men and
many others who received Brown
low bonds are far above the attacks
of Gov. Marks. l had nothing to
do with their getting bonds, but 1
know the men, and take pleasure in
defending them. If Gov. Marks
really believes that any bond is
fraudulent or is subject to an equit-
able set-off, why does he not ad
wise opening the courts and testing
these questions? Surely he is not
afraid to trust the judiciary. II
courts are competent to try lndi
vidual rights of property involving
thousands or tens of thousands OF
dollars, and also to determine per-
sonal rights TO the extent of liberty
and even life itself, surely they are
competent to determine the ques
ton whether bonds are fraudulent
or not, especially when the amount
involved does not exceed, as in this
case, four dollars per head of the
entire population. The people have
sense enough to know that these
questions of fraud can only be prop
erly investigated by an impartial
tribunal, such as a court of able,
pure and learned men. If it be said
courts may be corrupted, may it not
be and has it not been said that leg
islatures are and have been corrupt
ed, and is it not now daily said that
whole States are controlled and
corrupted by the money power?
Who then can be trusted2 Does
all the virtue then reside in the
hearts of men who are unwilling to
pay debt of which they are now
receiving and will continue to re-
ceive the benefits? You might as
well leave the question of fraud be-
tween individuals, to the vote of
civil district, or of a county, as to
leave the question of fraud in the
issuance Of a bond to the vote of
the people en- naGSSe, or even TO the
vote OF a legislature, which only
represents one side. 1t is as if a
man should claim the right to be a
Judge and decide his own case.
1t is true, the people may have
the power to decide these questions
in their own favor; so has the jury
a legal right to acquit man against
all law and all testimony in VOLTA
ton of their oath, but does this
make it right or just2 Hon. Henry
Cooper, a Senator in the State Leg
islature in 1869, protested against
the act of goth of January, 1870.
but he did not put it upon the
ground that the bonds were fraudu
lent and void
Away, then, with all such fiimsy
pretexts as that the Brownlow
bonds were fraudulent, and there
fore, we viii not pay the bonds adj
mitted to be good and valid. If a
man pays a forged note, this does
not excuse him from paying a note
admitted to be genuine.
If these bonds were fraudulent
and void why did not the COnstitu
t;o1al Convention which met in