Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-04-10
THE STATE DEBT
Can be Forever Disposed OF by the
Adoption OF an Amendment to the
Constitution Providing that
the Settlement Agreed
upon Shall Never be
Disturbed.

EDIToRs APPEAL-In your editorial We'd
nesday morning, under the heading "Wil
the bondholders accept?" you give the very
strongest reasons why they are not likely to
do SO, in your illusions to the speech Of Cen
eral Bradley 7. johnson, in the Virginia leg
isature-that is the probability of a new ad-
justment being demanded before the one
now offered is fairly in operation. This diff
Guilty Is grave one, and must be fairly and
squarely met by the people of Tennessee. If
the people desire or intend to settle and COM
promise their debt, they should do so In good
faith, and make a hnality of it. The bond
holders proposed, as a guarantee OF good
faith, that coupons should be receivable IN
payment of all dues to the State. l opposed
this upon two grounds; namely, that the
State could not surrender herself to the juris-
dietion of the courts IN the matter of collect
ing her revenue; and because, as there are
so many persons who collect revenue and
State dues, 1t would be dangerous to require
or permit them to take coupons, as it would
open wide door for frauds But there is a
simple method of settling this question, and
if the people desire to settle and remove
1T from politics they can do so by adopting
constitutional amendment prOVidf1sg that the
debt, Ohen once scaled and settled, shall neUeT
again be questioned by any legislature or
party. This would be a simple and efhcaeious
guarantee of good faith upon the part OF the
State, and ought to be satisfactory to the
bondhoIder. Our people are free now to
compromise and settle, or to assert their SOW
erelgn right of Republication; whichever their
choice may De, they ought to stand by that
choice in good faith. And while | am one of
the class that thinks that public morals are
and must eDey be the standard by which prI-
vate morals are gagged, and that States, like
individuals, ought 20 pay their debts accord
ing to their ability, still | am NO champion of
the bondholders but IN my humble Judgment
tha n IpnnnSSpn ~ ati n rn-
pudlate their debt, nor to force a settlement
upon their creditors against their will. By
so doing they will lose their proud position
as an honorable people. and gain nothing in
dollars and cents. | deem it one of the
great demands of our leaders of to-day
to teach sthe people honesty and virtue,
thereby putting down communism and re-
storing the patriotism and integrity that
civil war has destroyed. Oar people should
be taught that their only safety is in obedi-
ence to law and due regard for individual
rights; that debts when contracted must be
paid If possible, and that no other question
but the one OF ability should ever be consld-
cred. Oar people are poor, it Is true, and
their ability to pay has been impaired, and
they are the judges as to that ability. Let
them, then, exercise 1T with honor, prudence
and Istice, and the end will soon be
achieved. They ought to know, if they do
not, that Shelby county (and Memphis has,
In the past ten years, paid enough taxes to
have given them good government. and to
have discharged every farthing of their debt,
principal and interest. But it has vanished,
and no relief has come; and yet the men who
have shared this bounty are the first to cry
out against the bondhoider as the peoples
oppressor. l urge them to look nearer home
for the source of their Ills before following
such lead. But | only intended to suggest
In this communication that whatever is done
be done as tnality. the constitutional
amendment is the surest and simplest, if we
are to compromise our debt with the inten-
ton of ever paying principal and interest as
compromised. There is no sacrifice of digni-
ty or principle in this course, and certainly
we ought either to settle or repudiate at
once, and put the question out of the way
forever. At the proper time | may under
take to show that the proposed compromise
can be carried out without any material in
crease of ad valorem taxes. ] will only add,
now, that enough has been exacted from the
people, if it had been properly applied, to
have saved them from this disgraceful delin-
quency. h.