St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1879-07-19
THE STATE DEBT.
A VOICE FROM THE PEOPLE.
Coringtor, La. July IS, 1879.
EDITOR ST.. TAMMANY FARMER:

the city, to which place I had been
for a short time, I found upon my
table copy of your valuable paper.
containing a speech delivered by
Hon. JAS. NJ. Thompson, the dele
gate from this parish, before the
Constitutional Convention, upon
the subject Of the State debt. His
arguments and deductions are, in
my opinion, unanswerable; and his
peroration will compare favorably
with any ever delivered by the Sage
Of Ashland.
| was present upon the floor Of
the House when Hon. 7. j. Semmes,
the ablest defender of the minority
report, delivered his speech. He
drew, it appeared to me, upon a
vivid imagination. in portraying
in most classic style the increasing
prosperity Of his beloved State. He
took from the census of 1870 the
basis Of his argument, showing the
gra tual increase in productions
from 1850 up to tue present time,
but failed to show us the difference
in the amount of taxation bearing
upon those productions, and the
cost Of producing the same in ante
bellum and post-bellum times.
This MIR. Thompson has SO very
ably and SO plainly done that it can
not fail to be comprehended by the
simplest citizen of the land.
Hon. Don Caffrey, of st. Mary, to
whom MIR. Thompson alluded when
speaking of the Confederate SOL
der, anu who is considered one of
the most eloquent men in that body,
said: The uebt is either legal or
illegal; if legal, the State should
pay it; if illegal, the courts of the
country should pass upon its
legality" The converse of this, in
my opinion, should be. LfMe debt
IS legal, can the State pay he Ii llle-
gal, sitould she pay 1t? I contend
that the State is hopelessly and ir-
retrievably bankrupt, and that, like
any citizen within her limits, must
ask from her creditors q reduction
of debt which, whether legal or
illegal, she is at present unable to
pay. Nations, like individuals"
says Mr.. Thompson, must either
go into bankruptcy, or compromise
III some way with their creditors"
This IS truth, and is certainly un-
answerable. Has it ever occurred
to those emn-nt gentlemen who
seem to have the fair fame and
honor Of the State OF heart, the
existing between private
aud pubic credit? If it has not,
let NE ask them how many failures
and compromises with creditors has
occurred among prominent business
houses Ill the city of New Orleans,
WITHIN the past ten years, and par
ticularly since 1876? How many
have paid even to the extent of rs
cents on tie dollar? This question
l put to a gentleman from New Or
leans day or two since, when
speaking Of the public debt, and he
could only cite the case of one man,
or firm, among hundreds, aye, even
thousands Of failures, and that was
the case of man we'll known to al
most every business man in this sec
ton OF the country. who is fair
Of that class of men so beau
tifuly characterized III Shakspeare's
drama of ''Snyiock," who, when
called upon by friend, seemed to
be very much worried. He asked
him what was the matter, and he
said he was very much worried be-
cause he could not pay five cents on
the dollar" His former partner is
now and has been for some time
past engaged in specializing in State
securities, and feels no doubt very
much interested in tue fair fame and
honor Of his beloved State. Ii these
failures and compromises with your
creditors mas not affected your prl-
sate credit, 70 which you do not