The Labor enquirer., 1884-04-19

was never SO vulnerable as at this day.
The dynamite musket will seal the
fate of mammon forever on this planet.
E. F. BoYD.
224 West Sixteenth street, New York.
The southern Debts-An Omitted Claim.
Editor Labor Enquirer.
LEADvILLE, April 14.-In again resum-
ing this topic of the southern debts, it
may be that I am firing the patience of
yourself and readers, but you and they
can rest assured of this, that if this gov
ernment is going to be run as ithas been
since the advent of the mongrel republl-
can party to, power. in the interest OF
English and other foreign influence, the
time is not far distant, nor does itrequire
much of prophet to tell that those
debts shall be paid, and the toiling mil
lions Of this country made to bear the
additional burthen.a Do not 1 pray you
lay the unctlon to your souls that the
capitalists of Britain, France ard Hol-
land are asleep in this matter. Would
to God that the working millions in this
country were as wide awake in endeavor-
ing to Illustrate their plans as they arei in
endeavoring to saddle them on the
United States. ,'s I'll PEI. ~
Mr.. Robertson, the writer of the
pamphlet under review, says in his last
article: Whatever view may be taken
of the legal or equitable claims of the
confederate :bondholders, there is legit-
innate claim against the United States and
the individual states of the south that
has been omitted to be presented.
When the war broke out between the
north and the south the trade between
Europe and the southern states in cot
ton, sugar, tobacco, etc., on the one hand,
and in European goods on the other, was
one of very great dimensions and there
was in the south very large amount of
trade debts and of mortgages on prop
erty owing to Europeans besides con-
siderable quantity of property owned by
Europeans which they were compelled
to sell. A great part of these obligations
when realized were remitted to Europe
in the form of dollar bonds, that being
the only available means of remittance
from the confederate states. The holders
of these bonds have always been in hopes
that the time would come when they
would be paid and when, therefore, they
would receive the value to which they
were entitled. They knew that the
southern states we're poor, that these
state bonds were for the time in default,
and they thought that when the state
debts were rearranged the dollar bonds
would also be provided for. That is the
attitude of many bondholders to dav. \
That debt, it cannot be doubted,
is a legal and valid claim against the
United States, no less, than against the
southern states, and if the evidences of
the debt are under the compulslon of
war, and of no choice of those to whom
| it is due, in their hands IN the form of
dollar bonds, there is no equitable
ground on which payment of this debt
can be refused. 1t must be particularly
observed that although the bonds held
| by those TO whom these debts from the
south were due, are confederate bonds,
yet those who hold them, as represent
ing southern private debts or remit
tances. can rightfully claim that these
bonds so remitted are simply evidences
of private legal debts that remain un-
paid, and as such they can legitlmately
demand payment. Now, it is
neither forbidden by the constitution of
the United States, nor by the constitu-
tions Of the southern states, nor by con-
siderations of public policy, to pay such
lawful debts as these to which we have
referred as remaining unpaid. Not only
are those debts unpaid, but the Euro
peans, to whom the evidences of the
amount of those debts were remitted in
confederate bonds, had to make large
sacrifices in consequence of the diminu-
tion of all values resulting from the war,
and had to be content with but portion
of the amount that they should have re-
ceived if no hostilities had occurred
The amount to be paid in settlement of
those debts, therefore, is a perfectly
legitimate question for arbitration be-
tween the governments of Great Britain,
France and Holland on the one hand,
as these are the countries chiefly inter-
ested, and the United States on the
other"
Now. my friends, how do you like the
drift of their argument? The south has
entirely disappeared from view, and the
United States comes to the fore on the
one hand, as against Britain, France
and Holland on the other. But he says
further: "And though the private debts
owing to Europeans were debts of south
ern citizens, yet the claim for repayment
is one which is so clearly valid in inter-
national law, that the United States can
not refuse to examine and pay them.
X The states of the south cannot
raise money in Europe for the construc-
ton of railways or for other important
antarnrises aYnant OF aYnrhita Mt rotoa