New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-02

There has been uiNclcncc OF opihion III
| Louisiana a T. the payment of the January
| {. upons on one Of tho bond issues Of that state
We are not Informed a. t. the merits OF the
question any further than that II was one Of
| those cases which frequently occur among
rcoplc whose sense If personal honor i so arut"
that the slightest reflection upon il is resented
with a double baIclcd gun-Whcrc debt
having been incurred portion Of the con-
munirv think il would he a good thing T. pay
I: while others looking beyond thc mere debt
and credit feature of the transaction and taking
the larger view that the creditor cntcrta!nS
u ,liii,al opini IL which should be dis,ountc-
nancod insist that 10 tax good citizens 10 pa,
that elias. of people is an imposition and an
outrage. They sometimes get yer! hot in the
collar about these things. They did in LouiSi-
ana tho other day That i. two newspaper
,ditor.. whose function it is 10 cnlighten the
community IN the legal rights and moral obi
cations involved when bill i presented for
pavmcnt got hot about it, The Editor OF he
shreveport Progress took the broad view II
we correctly understand the situation, that the
payment of the coupons which had been au-
ihorzcd by the Governor was "a steal OF the
New York bondhodcrS." This seemed TO be
entirely in accord with the healthy public
continent prevailing so largely in the West and
southwest that bondholdcr> as class should
he discouraged and must have caught hold Of
the popular mind
The Ldtpr Of The Baton Rouge Advocate"
which is described as the Administration or
IAN and consequently bound 10 sustain the
action of the Governor, Immediately came TO
the defence in an article in which he went AZ
once to the root of the whole question by pro-
nouncing the Editor If "Thc Shreveport Prog
ross, an ass. How he had succeeded in
cheating the insane asylum cut OF its legitimate
prey for so long 4 time was mystery. The
existence Of such "vcrdancy and a>ininity' in
Shreveport led tho Baton Rouge editor to be-
licyc that "thc visits Of the fool killer IN that
section Of the State arc extremely rare" Into
the gates Of general debate thrown wide open
by these clear and distinct statements which
wcro apparently sincere though trife crude,
tho Shreveport editor plunged with great bold
ness and considerable verbal tux. AZ the
threshold Of it he filings forward an earnest
and manly vindication of himself as an unre-
strained and voluntary ass. " Better he says
i'm language which starts off in Il llmpid stream,
but soon becomes 80 turbd with emotion that
the patient fisher after its mcjning doesn't
know whether 10 expect q sucker or trout
better be an ass, whose unrcstrancd bray
voluntarily discloscs its identity. than the boot
Ticker of the Governor, and for the privilege
Of s,ipping from the States table among the
hired servants and lackcys, is willing to cast
untruthfu assertions upon one who, like the
wolf. prefers freedom, though accompanied by
hunger and want. than sumptuous rcpast
bought by scrvitudc" Nothing could be more
straightforward and manly than this as any
one will see who reads it over a few times
until he understands it.
At this point although the dispatch from
which we gather the details says it was net
anticipated this controversy of words would
result seriously" there seems to have sprung
up, for some accountable reason, unfriend-
ness between the two editors. Up to this time
it docs not appear that anything had occurred
10 mar the harmony. There had been. to be
sure a statement on one side that the pay mcnt
f the coupons was i steal. But that is the
usual feeling about coupons in the West and
Southwest. and the remark can hardly be con
sdered objectionable The language of the
Baton Rouge person in calling the Shreveport
rcrson an ass by circumlocuiion and fool BY
implication is, strictly speaking not parlia-
mcntary, but if there was anything offensive in
1t the Shreveport person condoncd it in that
fine piece OF English prose beginning with
Better be an ass etc. which we have
quoted. However it came about il seems GER
tain that the difference over coupons had led
to i'll feeling. They consequently went ont to
the Texas state line on Tuesday last, and, in
the language Of the dispatch, exchanged
.hots'' without injury to either. There was
single exchange of shots" says the account,
after which there was IN amicablc adjustment
of difficulties. the principals and their friends
shaking hands" All of which is of the great
ct possible interest. Otherwise it would not
have been sent all over the country by wire.
1t is true that the original question. whether
the coupons ought to be paid. mas not been