Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-10-31

: on how we should control the sale O
liquors in thirty of the forty-two thou
1 sand square miles of the State. In
a.. stead of fighting Republicans W
: fought each other. This question, hk,
, the State debt and silver, was no ties
of political faith. Democrats and Re
| publicans could and did take eithel
side of it without sacrificing theil
Democracy of Republicanism and leav
ing their party. 1t was no test as tt
whether they were Jeffersonians OF
Hamiltonians; for high tariff or low
tariff, for trusts or against them, fol
force bills or against them. We di
vided on it; the Republicans did not
We lost; they won. We again turned
the State government over to them
bag and baggage. Again the Repub.
lican party failed to make good by do.
ing what they claimed they could dc
for the betterment of conditions.
Their effort is dismal failure. In
addition, they have given US the most
prodigal administration since the Civil
War. Let US take warning.
But, alas! These are not the only
instances of calamity coming to the
country from Democratic divisions.
The greatest of all these divisions is
yet to be told. In 1860 Democracy
divided and ran two candidates for
President, Breckenridge and Douglass;
the American party ran another can
didate from the South, our own dis
tinguished John Bell. On the main
issue then confronting the country
they were all united; they all had SIM
liar views as to the rights and powers
of the General Government of the
State. But petty differences divided
them. There was enough opposition
to the Republican party, had these di-
visions not occurred, to defeat it. But
the Republican party triumphed, Mr..
Lincoln's ticket getting less than a
third of the votes polled, and our great
Civil Wharf.-The tragedy of the age
and the continent-ensued. Nearly
100000 brethren carried on for four
years the most gigantic civil war of
history. No tongue can describe the
suffering it entailed, and there is not
manned soldier or a soldier ceme-
terry in our Southland that does not
bear witness to the misfortune flow
ing from this great division. Let us
profit by these sad experiences and
stand together like brothers in this
and all future political contests.
FUNDING THE STATE DEBT.
Fellow citizens, we have many i'm
portant matters to be considered in
this campaign and by the next Legis-
lature. I want to discuss such of
them as 1 can briefly to-day. We have
a bonded debt of $11,458,000, which
falls due in 1913, and the funding of
it will be one of the first questions
arising for solution during the next
administration, and very important.
Most of it bears only per cent inter-
est. A sinking fund for its payment
was created during my first admins
tration. Payments were made under
this during every administration since
but the present. The amount of
bonds paid under said act is $685.
400. This, with the floating debt paid,
makes a grand total of near $6,000,-
900, third of all we owed. The OPP
GRAFTON of the sinking fund and heavy
payments made should and will en-
able us to fund the balance without
difficulty and aUithout bigh-priced ma
chinery and big saIaried officers.
This debt can be funded like the
were paid between 1899 and
1911 through the Funding Board,
whose members are already drawing |
salaries from the State, and could af-
ford to discharge the additional du-
ties which this would entail for the
State that so highly honored them
without additional compensation. Why
should they not do it? From the de-
feat of funding by friends of this adj
in the Legislature it
seems to me that in certain quarters
fat funding jobs are contemplated,
lucrative funding schemes are being
Matched, and for all Of these the peo-
pie will have to pay dearly if they |
are not careful in the funding law.
This funding and caring for the State
debt should have been provided for
by Mr.. Hooper during this admins
tration. A committee of the Legisla-
ture was appointed for that purpose,
and through investigation was made
at thousands of dollars of cost. A
bill was drafted by it and introduced,
but was killed on second reading by
the followers of Gov. Hooper. Why