Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-03-04
srKeNe COMMON SENSE.

such q Scramble.-Le6dnOn Herald.
STRONG COMMON SENSE.
Applied 90 the State Debt Question
by Maj. William
/ sykes.
We reproduce with pleasure, from
the Columbia Independent an arti-
Gle which gives some characteristic
views of Maj. VIM. J. Sykes on the
condition of the State and the du-
ties of the people as to the debt
question:
In conversation with Major w.
j. Sykes, Monday, we asked him
what was TO be done in our State
now? He replied: "You ask me
what is now to be done? That is
the all-important question. The
1908 settlement has been declared
by the Supreme court of Tennessee
unconstitutional, and set aside. No
settlement can be made which con-
tains the coupOn-receivable feature
or any other form of security
Every Legislature must levy the
! tax to pay the interest upon the
debt and to provide sinking fund
to redeem the principal. Can
settlement be made upon these
terms which will be of any value?
l think it can. Ii such settlement
should be made as would be accept
able to large majority of the peo-
! pie of the State / believe it would
stand and be carried out in good
faith even without any security on
the face of the bill. Suppose we re-
| fuse to make any settlement because
we cannot give security, then repu
diatiOn is inevitable, because it is
decided by our highest court that
this cannot be given. To let this
question remain unsettled is to ruin
our State, not only in character but
commercially and in all her mate
rial interests. 1t is useless to shut
our eyes to the stern fact that capi-
tai never seeks investment in a re-
pudiation State, no matter haw low
| the taxes are. Men of business and
of capital would rather pay the tax
| es necessary to preserve the credit
of the State than to suffer the pecu-
| mary evils of Reputation. All the
| GDlhlCD
pay much higher taxes than we do
and yet capital has been avoiding
Tennessee and going there. Virgin
ia and Tennessee have both permit
ted their financial reputation to be
injured, if not destroyed, and al
though they have more mineral |
wealth than almost any States, not |
only Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, but |
even Alabama and Georgia, have |
increased more in manufacturing |
cotton and iron than they have done |
within the last ten years. Capital !
passed by Tennessee, that had ten |
cent State tax, and went to Alaba-
ma that had sixty cent State tax.
Tennessee with ten cent State tax |
increased much less in every partic-
ular than Missouri with forty cent |
State tax. Experience shows that |
laying aside all considerations of |
justice, right and honor of the State,
it is the interest of the people of
Tennessee to settle their State debt /
upon some permanent basis, and
she can never expect much prosper
ity until she does so. The bond
holders at one time proposed to set
tie the debt at COG, at another time
at 500, and some of them, repre-
senting several millions Of dollars,
at another time, at 50-4. The debt
is much larger now than it was
then, and might not a proposition
be made out of these various propo-
sitions which would be acceptable
to the people and satisfactory to the
bondhOlders, say 60-3, 4, 5, or 50-4,
5, 6. the principal of the debt to be
paid in twenty years, and a small
sinking fund raised every year to
accomplish this result.
This is no time for elimination
and recrimination. Denunciation
and abuse of each other will do no
good, but much harm. Every Ten
nessean is deeply interested in this
question, and considering it we |
should rise above party and above
personal considerations, except in
so far as they are affected by the
general good.
The 1908 settlement was substan-
TALLY and practically 500 settle
ment, though not generally so con-
sidered, and there is really very lit
tie difference to the bondholders be-
tween the 50-4-5-6 settlement, pay
able in twenty years, and the 1908
settlement, payable in ninety-nine
years. The owners of Tennessee
bonds can better afford to lose their
bonds than the people of Tennessee
can afford to refuse to make fair
settlement, for they will only lose
at one time, but our loss will con-
tinue from generation to generation.
Whether we were in favor of acqui-
escing in the 1908 settlement or not,
that question is not now before US
and cannot any longer be made
bone of contention. We must be
practical and do the very best we
can.
This is eminently a practical
question and should be dealt with
as any other business matter.
Although we may owe the whole
debt, / am satisfied it will not be
paid in full, because the people do
not believe we owe all Of it and be-
cause they do not feel able to pay it
in full. To take from the people
81 $40, 900 per annum as interest on
the public debt is what they will
never agree to. Again, many of the
creditors of the State have on for
mer occasions offered TO take go and
80 per cent. of the debt, and they
cannot now expect the people vol
UNFAIRLY to pay them more than
they have heretofore offered to take.
The creditors will not of themselves
make any other proposition, that is,
nothing like all of them will do so.
A few. spectators in bonds may
make propositions, but ] have no
idea that the genuine holders OF
bonds, who bought them for an in
vestment, will do so unless APP
preached officially. If we desire to
consult with our creditors we must
appoint commissioners to confer
with them. and lay before them our