The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-10-17
THE FOREFATHERs ON DEBT LIMIT.

THE FoREFATHERs ON DEBT LIMIT.
The people of North Dakota are proposing to
make certain changes in their constitution with
respect to the debt limits they nave been led
to impose upon themselves. They propose to
amend the state constitution so that they can
issue state bonds up to ten million dollars for
investment in industries intended to yield a
profit, the interest on the bonds to be paid out
OF the profits of the industry, and the principal
of the bonds to be secured by the physical pro-
p~erties-lands, buildings, machinery, ETC.
used in the industries.
They propose further that the state may is
sue or guarantee bonds in further amounts
without specific limit WHEN THESE BONDS
ARE SECURED BY FIRST MORTGAGE ON
REAL ESTATE NOT EXCEEDING ONE
so USED AS SECURITY. This means simply
that the state would be enabled to purchase and
refund mortgages on farm lands in North Da-
kota to the full extent Of it's ability to sell bonds
at a favorable rate, based on these mortgages.
No greater amount of bonds could be issued or
sold than the amount Of good mortgages on
hand to secure them.
Understand that, after the constitution is
amended to make these things possible, none
of them can be done without the consent of the
people of the state. After the amendments
now before the people are passed 1000 voters
anywhere in the state can hold up any act of
the legislature until the people have passed on
it; or, in the case of an emergency act, can
cause such an act to be nullified by the peoples
vote.
But there are other states in the union far
less conservative than North Dakota, states
where they have real "sky's the limit provis-
ions in their constitution.
The foes of popular rule in North Dakota af-
feet to have great respect for "the wisdom Of
the forefathers." Do they mean American
"forefathers" If so, they should be interest
ed in the precedent set generations ago in
Massachusetts,, in Connecticut and in New
Hampshire and in other New England states.
These might be said to show real representative
American "forefather" opinion on the subject
of constitution making.
What is the debt limit in the constitutions of
the state of Massachusetts,? There is none; nor
is here any constitutional limit on taxing power.
'The sky's the limit" in the bay state.
What about New Hampshire? No limitation
on Indebtedness or taxing power. The sky's
the limit.
Connecticut? There is no debt limit, nor any
limitation on taxing power. The sky's the
limit.
Vermont, another wild and woody western
state, has the same provisions. So has Missi-
sippi. So has Tennessee. !
Are these precedents worth citing? To the
humble admirer Of American democracy and
traditions it would seem so.
Understand that these states have not the
same safeguards for approval of the people as
North Dakota is putting into her constitution.
Yet we have not heard that any of these states
have been forced into bankruptcy or that "mon-
ey has been driven out of the state" -
New York and Illinois are fairly prosperous
states in a financial way. In New York bonded
debts may be created in unlimited amount when
provided by legislative acts for specific purpose
and approved by vote of the people, but provis-
ion must be made for amortizing all such debts
in fifty years. Illinois has a similar provision.
In North Dakota specific purposes are being
provided in the amendment to the constitution
and the people of the state are given the power,
on petition of a small minority, to express their
approval or their ~disapproval.
Is this Revolutionary" Hardly. It is only
progressive" when viewed in the light Of the
present foolish Stacking of the people by
themselves. We haven't even caught up to the
hard-headed founders of the republic yet.
Here is a question to ask your banker or the
local school teacher: What is the debt limit of
the United States constitution?
And here is another one:
What means would congress have taken to-
finance the war if we had had provisions in the
federal constitution similar to thase in the
L. L. Stair evidently stepped on Mats toes
in his address at the Nonpartisan league meet
ing in this city Saturday night. The Advocate
man goes after L.. l.. about as hard as he can
and from his write-up it is pretty easy to SEQ
that the Advocates "cub reporter brought
something back from the meeting which had a
"kick" to it. 81.