Year: 1878



 FISHBACK ON FINANCES.

 Last Wednesday, by invitation of some of the prominent citizens of Pope county, Col. w. w. Fishback, of Sebastian county, addressed the people of our county on the subject of our State Finances. There was q very large crowd of people in town, but owing to the commotion caused by the balloon ascension it was very hard to get their attention. A very respectable number however assem- bled at the new building of Messrs. Harkey & Bro., and at about 3 o'clock Col. Fishback was introduc- ed by Col. c. E. Tobey, and in q speech of about three quarters of an hour gave Q clear showing of the present financial condition of the State.

 He said that the State was said to be nominally in debt about SIS, ,0O0,- 600. There was, however, no one, he believed, who contended that there was this much valid, just in debtedness, which ought to be paid in full. The assertion that Arkan- sas owed this immense debt was q great obstacle in the way of her pros perity and advancement, and immi- grafton was shy of us on this ac- count. It is therefore an important question how to get clear of this inn mense burden. He is not candi- date for your suffrages and could therefore not be accused of coming here to make himself popular in this county. Was here merely to dis charge duty in giving the people light on . subject which they were greatly interested in. There was some fourteen or fifteen millions of our debt which was said to be fraud ulent and without any merit as . binding obligation upon the State. This was composed of three classes of bonds, the Railroad, the Levee and the Holford Bonds. The R. R. bonds had been killed by the Stu preme Court-about $S,0OO, 900, and it would not be necessary to say much about them.

 The Levee bonds, about a, ,000, GOO, were so we'll known to be fraudulent that nobody, at the time they were issued, wanted them, and they were worthless But in 1871 the State Legislature was asked to make them receivable for swamp lands. They did SO. And how was it done. He said it was grave assertion to make, but it appeared very much like they had been bribed through, He would read testimony to sustain thls view. Read testimony of va rious persons taken by the House Special Committee appointed under a resolution of the House, to show that large sums of money was paid to get the bill passed.

 The Holford Bonds, he presumed, all had heard of. What are they? Answered elaborately, giving thelr history, showing how they had been hypothecated contrary to law and how the great iniquity of refunding them had been accomplished, read ing again from the report of the House Special Committee.

 Now the question is what shall we do with all these bonds. The Ga zette Tn 1S69-70 had said it would show the people that they ought to repudiate them. Why not do the same thing nowp Why was it fought of? Thore is no such thing, he said, as innocent holders of these bonds. The idea was absurd.

 He cautioned the tax-paying peo- pie against new schemes like the Adams Redfeld sealing scheme. The bondholders would send their lobby ists down upon every legislature to put some plan through for recogniz- ing these fraudulent bonds. The idea was to now put it beyond the power of any legislature by consti- tutional amendment. That was his plan. He was going to fight it out on that line and he wanted the peo- pie of Pope to send man to the Legislature who would stand by li..