The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-12-14
LOUISIANA TN THE FEDERAL COURT


Tho prayer Of tho bill was that tho Stat
Auditor and State Treasurer should be en-
Joined md restrained from Transforming u
the expenses of tho State government o
Louisiana any moneys which may havo beer
collected or which may b. collected for thf
purpose Of paying tho interest or meeting th'
principal Of tho State c0nsola issued lud0l
the funding act OF 1874 In other words. I,
restrain the operation Or the debit ordinance
and to enforce the alleged contract requiring
the levy Of 5's mills interest tax and The
payment Of Z uer cent interest on Lhe consos
| Mr. peckhRm or Now York. made m able
| presentation IN behalf nf his clients, IN which
| ho advanced nil Of the modern arguments
mud authorities IN rnvor If tho jurisdiction o
the Federal courts to enforce the obligation
| Or Il cont raet. but the stross laid by tho hon
orabln counselor upon tho claim that the Az
/ litor and Treasurer Rre to be regarded MS thu
ouatndinna Of irnat for Tho benefit of TIL
bpndholders seemed to- imply doubts In his
own mind ns "a tha strength Of the case on itt
merits ms u suit to fotcn tho State to com.
pllance with tha net ~ 1874.
/ Nnyrrthelops il must hn admitted That Mr.
Peckham made m nbIo and exhaustive arau-
| mont, which opened M all the EreAt questions
touching The jurisdiction and powers Of the
! Federal judiciary In It's rotations to State
| autonomy.
Attorney General Ogden followed Mr. Peck
| ham. In behalf Of tho State. IN mn eloquent
md comprehensive resume Or Tho trun ptin-
| ciplrg ,ipon which or Federal nnd State gov
orumcnts are founded. quoting lberafly from
Marshall Hamilton and u host " recognized
authorities to show Tint the Stato cannot be
| dragged hrfnr0 tho Federal courts. Hild that
| ahsoIutc Independence In the management Of
hot flscn affairs Il easontlnl to tho prnsorva-
linn of her attributes of aovrregntr, MIR
Oudru also reviewed the authorities cited by
Mr. PEEK hhn. and pointed ont tho differences
hetwrei1 those rasoa nuG tho ono before tho
court with much ability.
Assistant Attorney Iannrai ltgan traveraed
tho hil of compIainanls and established cou-
nlnaivrly TINT this suit III ono aImod directly
against tho State. lIN showed that It origin
nlly embraced thc Governor. Auditor and
rrenaurnr TINT the title Of the suit ~ against
the Stnta, to enforce Il contract To which II
was claimed that tho State III parity, tim.
tho suit IL against the Auditor and Treasurer
~ executive officers of tho Stat" government.
and he maintained that tho suit WA directly
against the State. otherwise there was no
ground Of action, ~ these persons had
no function to perform except "a constitu-
uonal officers of tho State government After
showing that tho present officers had not
fnled or refused To perform amy function ~
uuirrd OF thom by law. that the officers un-
dor the now constitution were n different set
~ officials iuriinaly. md also TINT thsre
was no cause OF action by reason Of tho fact
that no moEays whatever had como Into the
treasury applicable 10 tho payment OF the
interest falling duo January 1, Mr.. Egnn
fled n brief setting forth the law and author
tiles upon which he reposed his arguments.
and Attorney General Ogden will do tho
same.
Thus opens the first chapter IN the history
of litigation which will, we apprehend,
provo al frustless "a 1t ~ unwIsc Ruthless
because a judgment In hand could only BE-
used as n leverage 70 secure CONCESSIONS At
tho hands Of tho people Of tho State more
favorable to the bondhoier; unwiso, be-
cntlae In our opinion, thesn bondholders have
mistaken tho action Of tho people OF louis
lana IN tho adoption ~ the debit ordinance,
and overy interest of tho bondholder and tho
State IL to be promoted by the prompt aceep-
tance Of the tender now mnde by tho State.
It Ia folly to denounce tho ordinance as the
result Of an "ebulItion OF passion swarplng
over u State" aa tho learncd counsel ycster
day did IN referring to IL, but such express
sions, we admit, grow out OF tho misropro-
sensations which have been so freely In
dugcd Iii Ivy part Of tho press ut homo and
abroad.
Tho odum of population II sought to be
fixed upon the people Of Louisiana by the
very parties who, III 1874. deliberately GRO
ducsd" thirty-tivo millions Of debt to fifteen
millions without The consent Of the bond
holder, simply, a. thon ollialally asserted, be-
cause Ito continue tho present them rate,
twenty-une and Il half mills taxation, will
prove tlnwise and u burden unier which tho
Industries Of the State will decline"
How different has been the course OF tho
tax paying people OF louisiana When they
came into possession or m impoverished State
they hravely took M tho heavy burden
which had been laid upon them without their
two years they struggled to pay its exac-
tons which finally amounted to the sum OF
$s2o,0o0 90 per year
just here It Is fair to noto that. owing to tho
fact That the bonds had not been funded. the
interest payments by tho Kellogg govern
ment of 1874 rs rs wero much less than the
required In 1877 - under the Mich
oils government. The amount required for
the two years 1874 and 1875 was only 1928, 900.
1t was only when tho people realized the
fact that with all their efforts the State had
defaulted upon her interest, and that the
people could not sustain 50 great burden,
that the debt discussion was opened, which
has resulted In n declaration Of inability and
a tender to pay all that the representatives Of
the people in convention assembled believed
the Taxpayers could pay until prosperity
should be restored
The sIuestion of population was fairly
placed before tho people OF the State in the