The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-02-21

The Nashville Banner, reseEting
the criticisms of the press IN regard
to the Reputation of it's debts by the
State of Tennessee, takes occasion to
say that Tennessee is only following
in the footsteps of Pennsylvania and
other states. III repudiating this
charge against the lair lame OF our
State, the Philadelphia North -Ameri-
can revives a portion of our almost
forgotten history, that will be both
interesting and instructive to the
younger men Of this generation.
says our able contemporary:
II the Banner claims that Pennsylvania
ever reJudiated its Indebtedness, and thus
furnished a precedent for what Is going on
in Tennessee for several years past, 1t IS
very greatly at fault. This state has pad
lis debts, or provided tor their payment,
dollar for dollar. aud 1t has never summon
ed It's creditors 10 sit down to a banquet IN
order TO rob them under the cover OF a pro-
fuse hospitality.
The case for Pennsylvania can be very
shortly stated. 1t had incurred a consider
able debt for internais while
a great part OF its area was unlmproSed
and yielded a small revenue. When the
sliding-scaie tariff and violent breaches OF
the laws of finance. which marked thep pc
! Rod from 1884 to ls40. had brought on the
collapse under the administration OF Mr..
Van Barren, the stress was so great that the
! State OF Pennsylvania was unable to pay
the interest on its debts, at that time over
forty million dollars. The credit OF the
State was at a low ebb. Large blocks OF its
bonds were held in England, and the failure
TO pay the interest caused much clamor.
The burden of the charge OF reputation
was formulated and laid upon Pennsyiva-
MIA at that time. The State was in q bad
case indeed, but even at the worst its pub
lie men did not attempt TO scale down the
debt to one-half, one-third OF TO anything
less whatever than its face demand. For d
dme the interest was paid under the act
] authorizing the issue OF relief notes, for
whose payment the faith OF the State was
pledged. But this having called forth ad-
verse criticisms from many, Goyernor Por-
ter recommended the passage of a law max
ing the interest or the public debt payable
in gold. such q law was enacted in 1870,
and from that time to this no stain looking
like reputation has ever attached to the
fair fame of Pennsylvania.
Marx. now, that the only ground for the
charge of reputation against Pennsylvania
consisted in its temporary default in pay
ment of interest, and that this default was
the logical outcome OF the policy of the
same political party which has made the
name of Tennessee q stencil in the nostrils
OF honest men. But for the destruction OF
the deiences of industry under the sliding
scale tariff, and the grievous distemper bred
by the arbitrary defiance OF every law oi
finance by Andrew Jackson, there would
have been no occasion for a default in
interest paying by this Commonwealth. II
was William +. Johnston, then a legislator
and a Wing. who introduced the relief act
and saved the credit of Pennsylvania. Nc
man, Democrat or Wing. proposed deliber
ately to repudiate a dollar of the debt, prin'
cipal OF interest. The ~bondholders had tC
wait but they got their pay. II would be tC
the everlasting credit of Tennessee were il
citizens to follow in the footsteps of Penn
sylvania, without missing a single n ever
that of temporary default of interest Oh
their full debt, and then address themselve
10 the work of paying that debt dollar fol
dollar. We regret that Pennsylvania eve
gave cause for criticism by its temporary de
fault. but that it meyer repudiated is plair
20 all who may know, if they choose, tina
our credit is second 10 none anywhere, eth
er in States or nations.