The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-03-06
OUR PUBLIC DEBT.
A Vindication Of the People Of Ten
nessee and of the Democratic
Party Of the State.
The,Message of Gov. Marks Reviewed

The,Message of Gov. Marks Reviewed.
The following complete review of
/ Gov. Marks recent message, written
by Democrat" Is clipped from
the American:
AS citizen of Tennessee and as
a member of the democratic party
it is my purpose to review the re
cent very remarkable message of
Gov. A. S. Marks, and whilst /
speak with the utmost freedom |
will do so without any bitterness. l
will know no man, but will plainly
deliver the truth according to my
ability. VINO l am is a matter OF
no consequence. The only ques
ton is, are the facts l state true.
and is my reasoning correct? am
bound, as faithful witness, TO
speak "the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, accord
Ing to the best of my information
and belief"
| Whilst l have ever had the high
est regard for Gov. Marks as a maj,
as soldier and as a Chancellor, l
cannot permit my kind feelings for
him to warp my judgment or to
blind me to the faults OF what | con
ceive to be his very dangerous mes
sage. 1t is here, perhaps, proper
for me to say that have no inter
est in bonds of any kind, nor in the
stock of any of the railroad compa-
MES, against which suits have been
brought by the bondholders. My
interests are Only those Of a citizen
of the State and a member of the
democrtic party. 1t is said that
! Gov. Marks message contains the
same doctrines as did the platform
of principles adopted at the conven-
| tion which nominated him, and as
were contained in his Franklin
speech. Is this true? Was any
thing said in either of them about
repudiatjng absolutely the war in
terest bonds2 Was anything said
about paying the ante-war bonds
and refusing to pay the postwar
bonds? Did he even intimate in
either the platform, which it is said |
ne wrote, or in the Franklin speech,
that we must postpone settlement
of the bonds issued to railroad com
panies before the war, the validity |
of which he even now admits, until |
lawsuits could be decided between |
the holders of these bonds aud the
railroad companies of the State?
This is the most important and the
most startling portion of this mes
sage, and yet no man can find that
ne ever intimated such g thing IN
that canvass. Does not any and
every man know that if such a
proposition had been made eUen in
that convention which nominated
him, it would have been rejected al
most unanimously? Neither Col.
Colyar nor Col. Savage, who were
supposed to represent what was
called the ''low tax" wing of the
democratic party, nor any of their
friends, so far as L know, ever made
such wild suggestion. We either
owed the bonds or did not owe
them. We had received payment
from the railroad companies either
legally or illegally. In either event
there was no necessity for postpon-
ing settlement until law suits |
could be instituted and settled. If |
we were legally bound to pay |
the bonds issued before the war,
why should we delay payment or
settlement until the indefinite pc
Rod Of the termination of the law |
suits, involving millions of dollars?
If we did not intend to pay them,
why not openly and manfully say /
SO at once? If we received the |
bonds from the railroad companies
legally and in good faith, then the
railroad companies are released and
we are bound to pay the holders OF
the bonds issued to these railroad
companies, which are admitted even
by Gov. Marks to be valid. But if
we received from these railroad
companies fraudulent bonds, with a
view TO defraud the holders of the
original bonds issued to them: or
in other words, if the State of Ten
nessee entered into a collision with
the railroad companies, and did
this for a series of years, through
her Executive, Legislative and Ju
dicial departments, then, however
this might affect the LEGAL questions
involved, it makes it infinitely more
important that the stare should pro-
tect the men who were the holders
of her good and valid bonds. l
must say that although / might not
have been, a3d, as a matter of fact,
was not in favor of the legislation
of 1869-70, which has remained
upon the statute book ever since,
yet | do not believe there was any
purpose on the part of railroad COM
panies, or of the State authorities,
to defraud the bona tide creditors of
the State, or to deprive them of
their legal or equitable rights.
THE BRowNLow BONDS.
Much is said in the message of
Gov Marks in regard to the lille
gality and fraudulent character of
the bonds issued by Gov Brown
low. Without at present discussing
the justice of these charges, let us
see what is the amount OF those
bonds now outstanding, and what
portion of our public debt they con
stitute. 1t will be found that there
would he about as much sense in
discussing the alien and sedition
laws, enacted during the admins
tration of the elder Adams, as in
discussing the fraudulent character
of bonds long since returned into
the State Treasury and cancelled
under the sanction of Democratic J
officials and by the operation of
laws passed and sustained by Dem
ocratic Legislatures, enforced by
Democratic State officers, and de
clared constitutional by Democratic
Judges.
The boads about which a doubt
has been raised are railroad bonds
issued since tie sOar and now unpaid
and outstanding, $2,9S7, 900; bonds
issued under act of 1866, to fund
debt, which are still outstanding,
90, 223,O0O; bonds funded under act
of 1868, still outstanding, sos, 900.