The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1880-08-26
THE PUBLIC BEET.
John z. 6easley's Speech at
Winchester, July Eth.

Nin', 'llNcf, NVI. Nlaltcf, Dr. IaYnc
and Cupt Brown as my opponents,
received 61l votes. And in 1878, with
Capt. Oliver Mr.. Blackwell and Mr.,
Harlow 4, my opponents, | received
1929 yotea-a majority Of lOl over all
my opponents combined, This wa, in
decd Il GLORIOUS victory, and those who
honoIcd me with their support in that
contest will ever be gratefully and kind .
is remembered.
The public debt question has been the
cadlag j'.uc in every canvass that !
have lg,,, and it is still the most i'm
portaut question before the people Of
Tennessee.
Early in the spring Of 1871 | began
the discussion Of this question by taking
position i'll the public press that the
people were under no legal or moral OBJ
/ legation 10 pay the principal or interest
Of bonds issued under the internal i'm
provcmcni laws Of the State, and that
all the bonds outstanding were issued in
violation Of the constitution. These
I propositions were received with con
tempt and treated with ridicuIe BY the
leading newspapers of the State, b"t
nevertheless the fight went on, and in
the month Of July, 1874, | received II
letter from Hon George W. Jones, Of
Lincoln county which afforded me Il
great deal Of pleasure. In this letter,
speaking Of the internal improvement
bonds, which constitute nearly Che
whole Of what is called the public debt,
this distinguished gentleman said;
" 1t is an illegal and unconstitutional
debt. The bonds we're never binding
upon the people. All monarchy Is
abolished in this country except King
Corporation, and al entails are abol-
i.hcd except the entail from generation
to generation, in perpetual succcssion,
Of public debts. The people, who it is
held owe the State bonds, can truly
plead the utter want Of consideration.
y, a consideration Of some sort On
other" say Blackstone in his Common
tarics on the laws Of England, is SO
absolutely necessary 10 the forming Of Il
contract that II nUdum paciUm, or agree
menl 30 do or pay anything un one sid,
without any compensation on the other
Is totally void in law, and a man canno
be compelled to perform it For exam
pie, one man promises to give another
five hundred dollars. Here there il
nothing contracted for OF given ON one
) side and therefore there is nothing bind
| ing on tho other
But strngc to say, after declaring
that the internal improvement bond,
We're without consideration, that they
were never binding upon the people,
and that they We're Illegal and unconsti
ttioua!, the lIon Geo. W. Jones ha-
recently written letter to the Nash
. vile lmcIican iur the purpose Of urging
the people to tax themselves to pay
these identical bonds Strange conduct
indeed
But permit me to call your attention
!: to the sayings of another distinguished
gentleman refer to cX-Prcsidcnt An
drew johnson. This extraordinary mar
made a speech at Mur!recsboro ON the
1th day Of October 1874, and in thi,
) speech, speaking Of the bonds out,iund
ing, Mr.. johnson said {" lie considered
= their issuance unconstitutional and that
fraud had been practiccd in the sale oi
them. He did not think that five hun
drcd thousand dollars in Tennessee
bonds bad been sold legally, and he con.
Sdcrcd the purchase of them vllatcd by
the knowledge, al the time the bonds
: were bought, that they were sold lie
gall Y"
These wclc remarkable propositions to
appear in tie political address OF an en-
incnt public man AZ early as the month
Of October 1874. But there were other
, things in that speech which are worthy
of notice.
AT the present time" said Mr. John
son, "whcn II man advocates the priu.
ciplcs Of his iclIow-mcn he is designated
a repudialor But thank God, since my
advent into public life have had the
courage to advocate the principles Of
my .lcllow-mcn, always trying to amclo-
rate their condition, Notwithstanding the
fact that have been called II rcpudiator
for SO doing. ! AN in favor" he con
tinued, 8" Of one kind Of reputation, as
MIR. Jefferson proposed; bet a public
debt run nineteen years, and Il not paid
in that time let the statute Of Limitation
wipe it out
This idea Of Mr.. ,IcHcrs,n's was ex-
pressed in letter to Mr.. Madison in
September 1887, the very month and
year that the present Constitution of the
United States was adopted by National
Convention in the city of Philadelphia.
In this letter Mr.. Jefferson referred to
the fact which is proven by the Stats
ties of Europe, that of all those who are
twenty-One years of age at any one mo-
mcnt Of time II majority will be dead in
about nineteen years. A new majority.
L new generation then takes their places.
And nasmuch as the earth belongs to
The living and not to the dead, said Mr.. i
Jefferson and inasmuch as one genera &
ion has no right to bind another, it a
would be wise and just to say in our {
Constitutions that public debt which II
'emans unpaid after the lapse of nine e
zen years from its creation shall be for u
ever barred and cancelled. g
Cancellation Of debts is no new thing ri
n the history Of the world. Six hun d
ired years before the birth of Christ c,
nmous law-glver Of Athens cancelled all III
he lcllts In the cnnniru nnL un rnnl {,