Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-10-06

| same market and at the same price the sane
| blanket to the American people This proves CON
blankets that manufacture; but that dollar thar
| consumer pays gees into my private pOcs ct while
ne aD.iaa ma ia ne tlsss1,, N NJ - @ e.
| azure about the proportion of Observation-Disclosures
| eare looked up the statistics upon this subject
and read the speculatiOns OF the best political
| economists in this land-men who have devoted
their lives inquiries this and kindred qUes-
Iions- have read the tresiises OF both Democrats
believe there Is respectable political economist
in all of this land who places il ct less than three
or four manufactured TO one OF imported thai are
| consumed by the American Poop e. II that be
/ true, what does II cost You 10 put 81 into the
| msnnfscturer5 s. upon the three bIankets
that / sell to blanket that Randls sells.
The result is inevitable that il coss the consumer
81 under that system 10 put 81 INFO the treasury.
You did put $40 90 CD INTO The treasury during
the last fiscal year under that system. Let null
tiply it by four Four times 10000 is So COO
000, and express the belief as confidently as
you more than four ratner man less tnen i s
but put ii at four. You have the net sum OF $50.
100000 drawn from the people OF the United
States Have you stopped TO think as to what
proportion of that immense sum was drawn from
likely below than over il. Tennessee striking of
are 100000 people in the United States:
and that gives the net sum Of SZ7r 10000 drawn
year by year under the tsTIf system now in oPe-
rduOu the ol1itS ilOiL me SolulLlse OF
| the people OF Tennessee alone 1ou don Sknow
exactly how you pay it, because Il Is an indirect
tax. When you bought that blanket and paid s.
| Tor it, you thought perhaps you were getting g
worth of blanket, but in point OF TACT there was
but 81 of blanket and the her dollar was indirect
taxation. To Illustrate, without referring 10 fig
ures, but from memory. take the articles r1nu-
| featured of cotton consumed by every man and
woman in Tennessee AID America There IS not
of them the is not taxed from thirty five to
cles of lion and steel, Of which your hoes and
trace-ehains and every agricultural implement is
made. Not an article of them but is taxed from
thirty-fye to sixty per cent.
If a stranger were TO drop down here suddenly
he would conclude from the ordinary speech OF
the State was the state-debt question. Important
it is, deny that it is the only one When you
measurably above it, the mountain looms above
the earth. What is the State-debt question? 1t
tax yourself to pay the debit You have
to pay taxes to support two governments.
party you will have to pay sl,500,oO0 year for
thirty years to settle. II you settle by the other
all there is of that. There is no other principle
Involved II has been frequently said that Har-
RS is pandering to a false opinion: that because
his senatorial term is about 70 expire, he has
seized upon ths fiftyand four as the most likely
to say that Harris would not pander to any false
oPiaion for any office on earth. Why should 1?
senator, the highest Office within the gift Of The
people OF the State. have held other offices at
dering to false opinions. S1ch charges could
Origin ate only fro m those who would pander to
falAe opinions themselves. We unfortunately
have Safe debt, and hsve had State debt for a
good many long years For many years the bonds
were Levied or eoiiectei or approprated 10 the
payment of the interest on the bonds 1t is a
opinions honestly held.
In 1877 after long years of non action, the Lesis-
latnre sent committee to Kew York TO confer
with the bondholders and hear the best terms up
on which a settlement could Oe had. That COM
mittee met a committee representing given
amount of outstanding bonds. and obtained a
proposition to settle with the people of Tennessee
at sixty cents on the dollar and six per
cent interest. This Is the first proposit o -
that the bondholders ever made 10 the
people OF Tennessee. In view of the shrinkages
of values and OF the many mi fortunes that have |
befalen the people of Tennessee the fact that the
value OF their property had been reduced from
81, 10000 down 10 about half of that amount |
there were equities on the peoples side for
agreed to take sixty cents ON the dollar |
and six per cent interest. l believed at the |
time that the proposition was made in good faith
and the equities TO which have referred CON |
sidercd; and when that proposition was made | |
was glad TO see that they had a proposition |
abating to that extent the demands of the public |
creditors. addressed letter 10 GOV. Porter con
the people upon the tact that such a |
proposition had been made, and that he had con- |
vened toe Legislature for the purpose of consider
ing it, and expressing the earnest hope-which /
was very honestly aud earnestly enter
tained-that the Legislature would ac-
and settle it at sixty and.s but before the ink
ha had time to get dry upon the letter. the bond
ted proposition to the Legislature while vet in
session to settle at fiftyand-six, and within short
tie at fifty-and-four. Now l see friends of mine
have been publishing that letter of mine almost
is a very good letter; Laughter and applaus4.l
but ask t9ose friends and ask the bondholders
ii, after writing tn letter-and did it in good |
faith-and after the bondholder had afterward
stepped forward and said I'm take fifty-andsix,
and within a few days said to the Legislature,
.'I'n take ffty-and-four," when the bondholder
did not expect the Legi.ature to pay him at sixty
and-six when he proposed to settle at fifty and
four, would 1t have been logical for me, because
had written this letter when the bondholder pro-
posed to lake ffty-andfour to stand by the letter
and say no, you must settle at sixty-and-six? I
hink not. But that Legislature became somewhat
each proposition was lower-than the former. They
were BATTERED somewhat by the hope that there
to 90 slow; that inasmuch as they had gotten from
six y-and-six TO fftyand four. it was very well to
wait little. So the Legislature broke up without
doing anything. That was in 1877. In 1878 you
had state convention to nominate candidate
or governor The low and the high.tax man was
here. This question rife at that time, and
Zach party was anxious TO control it.
Senator Bailey and myself were invited to ad-
1ress the Convention. l called on first l
aid to that convention of the Democracy, with
said TO the high-tax man and to the low
AK man: You need not latter yourself, you need
iorm exactly as you would have It. 1t is matter
about which there is an honest difference of opin-
ION. We have been brother Democrats; you have
got to find halfway house; you have got to COM
promise this question; here are a thousand other
questions and thousand other interests and prin-
:iples which depend for their success upon the
unity, the harmony and the preservation of the
Democratic party. Here is this question OF the
of the tariff, by which you are losing
3 GOO 600 ear; mere are all these questions IN res
)sct to class legislation and Capitalization; here
ire all these questions upon which the rights of |
he citizens depend, and which in turn depend for |
heir success upon the harmony, the preseryat on
his question of the State debt of Tennessee. Set
led on the Bate platform, the oebt would, to-
either with the necessary expenses for operating |
he State government amount 10 81 800 900 yesr |
or thirty years, at the end of which time it would
nyfi bad N aft he
russell aud Hawkins platforms, the debt and ex-
'enses of running the government would amount
about 81 900 600 year for thirty years. when the
ebt would be extinguished; SO that the entire
mount invoved in this controversy is $500
dvised that COnYention that they must
md common compromise ground; you cannot
he power of the ouiy political organization OF
his country which j. so important to the PIE
earest rights of the citizens and so important a.
veil absolutely necessary, to the Preservation
he 'I view took in ISIS. NY Colleague, Senator
,aiey, word for word, or rather idea, and recon-
nd sugses ton, followed in the line; telling
he State credit man. "You can get the pl 'tform
You cannot get the pl Iform just as YOU want II.
t is a question that yeu are compe led TO
half Nay house. You must stand together and
reserve your power in order that you may be sue
ions so viftally important to the whole people of
'enDessee. Judge Bailey and made precisely
he recommendations then. Indeed the only =
Inference between our speeches was that Bailey
rgued to the same conclusion very much more
PEACEFULLY, fully and clearly, and forciby than 1
Ias able to do; but our Recommendations were
recisey the same. lApplause,l Immediately sfter
he Legislature met under the Marks administra-
on, bin was passed upon the iiftyand-four
rop0sition, submitting the question TO the popu-
vote of the people of Tennessee in the election
( 1879: the question being; Shall we accept the =
TopOsiton Of the bondhOlders at hfty-and-fourG
Judge Bailey and myself and my pres mt colleague,
IAN that know of in all Tennessee, stood
ogether and urged the people OF Tennessee
? accept the fiity-and1 four proposition and end
'as not dishonorable then to favor settlement at
fly -and-four. We labored hard: but after all that
ccepted No further action was taken until 1850
hen the Convention assembled again, and again
here; again the low-tax man and the State-credit |
ian were there; again this conflict Of opinion,
i srad 10 t 1nnyentioi and tS eess ynn
annOt afford to split upon this question; your q
uty is to find halfway house and compromise
Important question, in order that you may
reserve the power, Of the party
platform was adopted prop sing to settle on the
est terms that could be obtained from the cred |
ors. 1t was adopted in the light OF the history
past transactions; in the light of the fact that
ut last year the b0ndholder msde 3 proposition |
settle at fifty and four; tlat this Pas submitted
roposition to settle at hfty-andfour. There had 1
cen no voice from the bOndholder; the PROPOSE
on was still outstanding: no dissent; no 18th
rawal. In the light of that proposition the plat
Irfn adopted to settle on the best terms that
an be obtained by negotiation: That platform
as construed by the candidate that TOOK ms posi-
on upon IL. How was 1t construed by all State
-edit men who argued upon that question: That |
lstform was not very satisfactory 70 our low-taE
lends. large PROPORTION Of them-almost half
the ConTeutiOn-Withorew TO the steiehouse
nd adopted platform that proposed to pay the
tate-debt proper at hundred cents on the dol p.
II. and proposed TO pay nothing OF the railroad
onds until the lawsuits were ueteIlnined. ana