Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-02-25
WHOLE NO. 2,411.

WIZ
: tlement could be effected, tha
would be just and equitable to al
concerned, and it was only after tht
legislature had met and passed th'
1908 act that, in our great desire tx
see some settlement made thai
would remove question that haC
almost destroyed the Democra til
, party in Tennessee, we yielded q
reluctant acquieScence to the bill
Notwithstanding its Objectionable
features.
We believe now, as then. that g
settlement at 50-4 will be just, and
that the bond-hoIdsrs will accept it.
We moreover believe that with the
experience of the past two years be-
fore them, the two wings of the
Democratic party can harmopiZe
upon n 50-4 basis of settlement.
The mission of the party in the
State is to see the debt settled that
the honor of the State is redeemed ;
that her languishing industries are
revived her credit and good name
restored and a question removed
that is destroying the vital interests
of the people. We have an abiding
| faith in an ultimate fair aud Just
disposition of the debt, though the
indications do not always inspire
the best hopes.
Knoxville Tribune.
We deny that the reputation
sentiment has gained ground. The
people are honest at heart and are
only insisting on fair compromise,
and we believe the decision of the
Supreme Court will have very little
effect in changing the sentiments of
the people. We do not regard the
decision of the Supreme Court as a
victory for reputation. 1t does not
mean that it is unconstitutional to
pay our debts, but the method is
wrong. The decision has not sha-
ken our faith and we cherish as
highly as before the hoGor and cred
it of Tennessee. The Tribune is now
| as it always has been in favor of the
most equitable compromise that can
be made with the creditors of the
State.
Fayetteville Observer.
What will reputation papers do
now? Their party appealed the
100 to the Supreme Court, and
their papers insisted, when it was
thought that the adjudication would
be against them, that the decision
would not be binding that the
"people" were the source of all pow
er, and that if the decision was not
as "we" desire, they would not ac-
cept it. They caused the case to be
carried to the highest court in the
State, and then to threaten as they
did that in certain contingencies
they would not abide the decision,
is qualification that is discreditable
even in these degenerate times.
Brownsville Democrat.
The defeat of the 1908 before the
Supreme Court should not be re-
garded as the triumph of repudi-
alton in Tennessee. On the contra
ry, it offers an opening for a fair,
permanent and lasting settlement
of the State debt. Let every true
Democrat who loves his party and
the grand old commonwealth that
gave him birth, come to the front
and pledge himself anew to stand
by a fair and honorable adjustment
of the State debt. Reputation is
everlasting dishonor.
Murfreesboro News.
We have an abiding faith in the
people of Tennessee which has re-
manned unshaken amidst the dam
gers and the decentralization of the
past few years. We believe, to-day,
that the conservative masses, dis
gusted with a contest which has
been kept up for sinister purposes,
will refuse to be led away from a
Just settlement by the demagogues
who are already shaping their poll
cies with view to political prefer
ment.
St. Louis Republican.
The judicial overthrow of the
debt settlement in Tennessee is
most unfortunate, since it reopens
a perplexing and exciting question
and plunges the State into a second
and more violent disorder than the
one which afflicted it a year ago.
The Legislature of Tennessee, after
several attempts, attended by
fierce popular struggle, finally
passed a bill adjusting the large debt
of the State 1924, 200, ,000) on a basis
of 1908; that is, the bonds were to
be recognized at their par value, but
fhn iY1f which ha6 hnntp nor
cent. was reduced to per cent.
This settlement was triumph for
the debt-paying party, and was
very distasteful to their opponents,
who sought to eXtort from the cred
itors better terms. The act of settle
ment was brought up before the
courts, and lower court granted
an injunction forbidding the fund
ing of the old bonds in new ones,
and now the Supreme court of the
State has sustained this action and
declared the act unconstitutional
and void on the ground that the
Legislature had no authority for
making the coupons of the new
bonds receivable for taxes. This is
the only defeat in the act; in all
other respects it is unObjection-
able.
The court of five Judges stood
three to two in favor of the decision,
the two dissenting Judges, one of
whom is the Chief Justice, giving
emphatic opinions against it; and
this weakness impairs its moral
force and insures a violent discus
sion of the subject by the people;
for, the debt-payers will reasonably
argue that the unconstitutionality
of the settlement could not be very
clear when two members of the
court failed to concur in the decis-
ion.
The overthrow of the settlement
leaves Tennessee in much the same
position that Virginia was In year
ago, and one of the interesting
questions connected with the APP
preaching contest is whether the
Administration will take part in il
and repeat the Malone experiment
in the State. If it should, this
would add a new bitterness to a
struggle that will surely be fierce
and rancorous enough without it.
For the present there is but one
question before the people of Ten
nessee-that of paying or repudia-
ting their debt. They care for moth
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