The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-07-09

zation of the fact that 1t was
in the possession Of its own people
once more, 1t was astonshed TO hho Ing
it's overwhelming burden OF new lnoepte"
ness had increased in thrice the pTopoI'lo
of the decrease Of it's ability to pay. IRE
sporisible. corrupt and despotic c1'lclals
had gotten hold Of the ledger OF us cre"le
and had stamped debt-debt -deot-oh every
page. No people under the sun ever lacsu
such task. The lack Of limitation On ZIG
credit of the state which had peeh s@iei'
guarded and protected by the conservatism
and the honor of the people, had been
taken advantage of by q horde of cormorahs
dervishes who, ii they had been perhi''eu
to continue their mad carousal, would nave
placed a greater debt on the southern
states than could have been met py tne
combined nations of Europe. Yet such were
the instruments chosen, amid such sur
roundngs, to absolve the ---hern states,
by virtue of the fourteenth conSttutloiit,i
amendment, from certain portions OF theH
bonded indebtedness. Thus directed by the
government to reorganize the fundamental
law of the southern states, they paid more
attention to the details Of making robbery
easy than to the special work of repudla-
ton assigned to them.
On regaining possession Of their capitals,
and resuming the administration OF affairs,
the people of the respective southern states
addressed themselves at once with heCom-
ing energy to the work of restoration ara
rehabilitation, and to the more important
| task of establishing laws and regulations
| to meet the requirements of the new order
| Of things. This great task they soon per-
| formed and so wisely did they execute II
that the credit established by the southern
states on the new basis. and under the
| new era of their progress, was 1T once put
on a firm foundation. which mas been
| strengthened year after year by the never
| falling test of experience. 1t will not do
for Mr. Hume to point to ancient evidences
| of diShonored and unauthorized debts Wnlch
! are being hawked about the stock market
| of New York, at a few cents on The dollar,
| to establish his charge that the credit OF
| the southern states has been seriously I'M
| paired by such reputation. The only
| demonstration Of the correctness or his
proposition would be the failure of the
| southern states to negotiate loans on their
credit. under reasonable terms, during a
comparatively recent period. Instead OF
! this being true, the record of daily stock
market quotations shows that the ohllga-
| tions of the southern states since they
have fully gained possession Of themselves
and have adjusted their laws to meet the
new conditions growing out OF the war,
float side by side, and under essentially
tbe same forms with those of the states
Of every other part Of our common coun-
try.
Since il has been demonstrated, therefore,
that the credit of the states or the Soulh
is not now at the low ehb MI hume ar
CUES it to be, and since it is clearly demon
strated that their credit compares f"Fof"
blv with the states of other sections which
have no record Of reputation, and since
these two propositions form the premise OF
Mr. Hume's dole4u conclusion or the olrccI
result of past Reputation, It follows, mat
being wrong in his premises, his conclusion
is equally erroneous. Nor is 1t demonstrated
that this conclusion is wrong, on the pFn~
cip!e that his premise is incorrect, for the
actual evidence Of statistics and OF imam
cal records, corrohorated by the daily le-
tails of the unprecedented deVelopncht OF
the resources OF the southern states, p4
the influx of outside capital proves hot
his premise and his conclusions to be false
And yet notwithstanding the tact that
the affairs OF the south have become tEor~
ouGhiy adjusted to prevailing conditlohs.
and that the credit of every southern STATE
is thoroughly established, would not DC
understood as taking the position that tne%
should even refuse to pay single COL
lar which can be shown to have been useo
honestly for public purposes, ara Tor "hici
the state got value received, even though
such q loan did not conform strictly to the
technical requirements of the law. IT Il
can be satisfactorily demonstrated that
among the repudiatad bonds OF the south
ern states there is any part or them WnIch
represents money obtained Tor the st2tf,
and used by the state which haS not yet
been paid then the settlement OF such
should and will be. made in due time. ].
was necessary to apply a heroic remedy Il
save the south by cutting from it the sores
OF the reconstruction t1eVery. If in ap
plying the remedy injustice was done, IL
the necessity for immediate and incislFe
action correction will no doubt be mad
when conservative sentiment is convince
that correction is due.
CT.APT~ F{ONTif
Editorial room, Constitution, Atlanta, Ca.