St. Landry democrat., 1884-03-15
No. One Relative
to the State Debt.
Ascension Denocrat.

4 Ascension democrat.
The ordinance reducing the interest
on the State debt was entirely the work
Of Democratic members of the COnsti-
tutional Convention. 1t was matured
and adopted in Democratic caucus, and
then passed in convention and now we
have proposed amendment to increase
the interest on the State debt, an
amendment, which if ratified by the
votes of the people, will add to the
taxes of the people one per cent for if
teen years on the State debt, making
$4,000 per year or 100000 in fifteen
years, which the bondholders would not
be entitled to receive as it now stands.
The question of the State debt was
thoroughly discussed by the people in
1879, and prior thereto. 1t engaged the
attention of the Constitutional Conven-
ton for several weeks, was thoroughly
Investigated and discussed by the mem
bers of that Convention, and it is not
probable that any body of men ever did
or ever will so thoroughly understand
the condition Of the State debt, and the
relation of the State to it's creditors.
The investigation was long, and pains
taking by men, who were thoroughly
qualified for tile work, and who honest
ly labored to do justice to the people OF
the State as well as it's creditors
The Press of the State discussed the
subject and kept it before the
people until the election was
held for the ratification of the Constitu-
ton, and the people then doubtless I'M
derstood the question better than they
do now. And we're better prepared to
vote intelligently on the question than
they will be in April, as they have for
gotten much of the information they
then had.
The investigation of the State debt
by the Constitutional convention
proved that large part of the debt
was fraudulent-more than half of it
and that those who had manipulated
the fraudulent debt had destroyed the
evidences by which the fraud could be
traced to particular bonds. 1t was thus
found to be impossible to strike out of
existence the particular bonds which
represented the fraudulent debt not
withstanding the glazing frauds that
were committed in the creation of the
debt. This being the case many mem
bers of the Constitutional convention
were in favor of scaling the principal
of the debt and reducing it to sum,
which would be certainly not less than
the honest debt, and yet would strike
out portion of the debt almost equal
to the fraudulent portion.
The members of the Convention fin
ally agreed to pay all the principal of
the debt about $4,000 OO-but in
consideration of the fraud in the debt,
and the inability of the State to pay the
interest on the entire debt at the rate
which it then bore, they adopted the
present debt ordinance, which reduced
the interest to two per cent for FIVE
years from the 1st Of January, 1880;
three per cent for fifteen years and
four per cent thereafter.
The bondholders cannot cause the
people to pay more than this, as they
have tried to do through the Federal
Courts. And now We are asked to vote
them in this proposed amendment one
million eight hundred thousand dollars
more than the Constitution gives them,
and six hundred thousand dollars more
than their representatives in the Con-
Convention said they would
be willing to accept asa final settlement.
Shall we do this
This amendment, If adopted, will
certainly add one million eight hun
dred thousand to the burden the people
now have to bear, and each man, who
pays taxes will have to contribute his
share to make up this amount. Reason
and justice demand that the amend |
ment be voted against in April next.
All we have to say to the questions of
the Thibodaux Sentinel is, If an ap-
pointiVe police jury cannot protect the
taxpayers in the Republican parishes,