The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-09-11
ABOUT EEPIDI.iIiOS,
Absurd and Dangerous Doctrine Preached
by the Republicans.
From the Philadelphia Ledger, JindD

Absurd and Dangerous Doctrine Preached
by the Kepubiichn,.
From the Philadelphia ledger, DiudD
All the rcadcrs Of the PuJiic Le1gCr will
bear us ont IN he assertion that it has ever
and steadily bore evidence against every spe-
Cies of reputation Is dishonest IN prime pie
and mpoltic IN practice. TIE simple rals
ing of the question with view To lis discus
sion is bad, and 50 far as II commands ere
dcnCc, discrcditablc to the government To
the extent that partisan speeches and political
newspapers encourage the idea that opposing
parties are In favor Of reputation of any pub
lie obligation do they weaken their own cause
and disparage the credit Of the entire country
There Is no party of reputation in this whole
country, nor can any sHch principle As repu.
dlaIOn find party favor. 1t is, therefore, rs
weak as it is false and wicked to propagate
such ideas The government, in whose ,Oevcr
hands 1t may fall, would never dare to make
Reputation u feature IN its administration.
That of itself would sink 1t, however perfect
otherwise. The New York WOrh has u sen
slblc and logically reasoned article on this sub
jcCt, from which we extract an idea or two for
The consideration Of the general reader, and
with no view OF awakening party zeal 1t says
Gen. Arthur, in his letter OF acceptance, re-
lerrcd to the Reputation of the state debt by
some of the Southern states, and drew the in
ference that the democratic party If success
trl, would refuse to make provision Tor the
payment OF the United States bonds. The
point Is not Il new one, and in former cam
paigns similar assaults have been made upon
the public credit; but there has never been so
determined an effort as now to excite the fears
of business men. 1t might naturally occur to
them, one might think, that little would be
UuiDpI nv that the which
hers "A clear ma jorlty Of the white voters Of the
United States is hupclcssly dishonest, or that
the mere making of such accusations is in il
self the heaviest of blows against the public
credit; but, in defiance of every consideration
Of prudence, rs well as in utter disregard OF the
facts the organs and speakers of the republi-
can party will 20 on TIL next November try
ing to frlghten their readers and hearers INTO
believing that the business interests of the
country will be imperlled by II change of ad.
ministratlon. The fact that we have had a
democratic congress for the last four years and
that democratic house of representatives gave
up its prerOgativc rs defined by the republi
cans themselves, and consented to the appoint
ment of the electoral commission and honestly
accepted its dishonest decision in order to pro.
tect and preserve these very business interests
must of course go for nothing, and because
certain of the Southern states have scaled or
repudiated their debts we are told that all of
the public Indebtedness will be thrown over
The bonds issued by North Carolina, Florida
or Alabama, for instance, IN aid of railroads,
were to very large extent simply stolen, and
those who bought them ought to have known
the character of the men who were for the mo-
ment usurping the authority of those states
But if it were true that the conduct of certain
Southern states, in refusing to honor drafts
made upon them, was wholly without excuse,
it would not to be safe to reason from that fact
alone, or else ii must be equally sound to draw
conclusions from the reputation by such re-
publican states rs Minnesota, or the Granger
Legislation of Wisconsin and Illinois, which
Messrs. Evarts and Stoughton so eloquently
and Intellectually denounced in their argu-
ments before the supreme court. And, tor that
matter, a still more pertinent and recent illus
tration Is given by Massachusetts in its deal.
ing with the owners OF the lloosac tunnel. The
facts of the case are beyond dispute In 1862
the legislature proposed to the Troy and Green
field Railroad company, the owners OF the line
of road that a state commission should com
plete the tunnel, and IN consideration of the
surrender of the railroad AS far rs then con-
structcd, partly in the state of Vermont, the
state of Massachusetts agreed to finish the tun-
mel, taking a mortgage as security for the
certain number of years to redeem. At The
time 1t was believed by all concerned that a
right of action existed against the state in all
cases of mortgage, rs such a system had been
in force for many years. Two or three years
ago, the tunnel having been opened, the Off
GERS of the company proposed to exercise its
right of redemption, but the state treasurer de-
clined to settle the account. The company
then prepared to tender the amount admitted
to be due, and, failing to come TO an agreement
even rs to the principles upon which the ac
count should be adjusted, filed n bill in equity
as authorized by the statute in all cases where
the state was MORTGAGE of real estate. To
this bill the attorney general demurred, on the
ground that the statute did not apply to a rail
road and the state could not be sued without
express authority. The case was argued, Judge
IIoar being one of the counsel, and, after care
full consideration, was decided against the
company upon the ground taken by the attor
ney- general. ChIeiJustice Gray is very &C
complished and learned lawyer, and il is to be
presumed that his opinion was sound, although
the former attorney general of the state had al
ways given the opinion that the legislature
could not give relief, for the reason that the
statute did give the court jurisdiction. BE this
as II may, the company then presented a me-
mortal to the Legislature, in which they point