Year: 1878

a EinSinS Article by the Esev. Or.
| Brown.


! from the Central PRESBYTERIAN, 23d.l $751;
sHALE WE REPUDIATE?


When the cry Of reputation is raised in
State we pass from the domain Of politics
| into that Of morals. and it is the duty OF
the religious press not to remain passive
spectator Of such transaction as that which
left its indelible brand upon the name oi
Mississippi forty years ago. We are glad
that the Religious Herald has spoken, and
we all ought to speak, at least those who
stand within the pale Of the Church
pledged TO "owe no man anything" and
/ who by conspicuous profession have rc-
nounccd in every form "the hidden things
OF dishonesty"


Society rests on the confidence that men
repose IN one another, and that community
where men speak the truth and are scrupu-
| lous in the observance OF their promises is
a community where men feel secure, and
where the trmest and most stable govern
nent will be established. 1t is on the cha
racter of the people that after all govern
ment must rest, and when the fountain OF
good morals is once poisoned the decay OF
| the State has commenced. Shall the State
| set the example to the people Of violation
OF contracts? Shall the State put the
citizen in Jail for taking bis neigh
boris goods, or turn him over to the
sheriff for not meeting his notes, and
then abrogate at her own unrcstrained plea
sure the contracts which she had made
Who does not know that the State OF Vir-
ginia is poor? Whose heart does not bleed
at the-not poverty, but destituion which
prevails among those who fifteen years ago
drove their carriages and never felt tie
want OF money? Our fields were wasted
| By war; our labor was disorganized by the
emancipation Of our slaves; we have had
bad crops for a series OF years-droughts
and floods-and the State debt has been
| growing in the mean time. 1t is n heavy
| load to carry-a very heavy load. The
most agreeable way to get rid Of it would
| be to throw the burden down and refuse to
carry it any further. Is that the Christian
qcaY OF meeting q duty! The Christian
carries crosses beayier than that, and he
is not allowed to- throw them down
or only at the peril Of the loss OF his crown.
Are Christian men and women looking at
this thing as Christian men and women
Do they realize the fearful responsibility
Of q deliberate refusal to pay an honest
debt? There are aspects OF this question
which deeply affect the reputation OF the
Christian Church. for there are some who
stand high in it who are leading IN this cru
SADIE against the payment CT the State debt.


We do not impugn their motives; we only
feel that they have not measured the slgnl-
tjcance or the effect OF what they are doing.
With such relations OF thiS.subicct as are
properly and only political the Church has
nothing to do. Disputed facts must be left
for those to whom they belong; but with
conceded facts and the moral obligations
connected with them the Christian Church
and all who have the opportunity to speak
on its behalf are to the last degree concerned


We say then that there is but one dis
charge from an honest dcbt-a receipt in
full; unless there is an absolute Inability to
nav it, OF which we shall have more to say
at another time. Any otlfer idea OF course
Of action is delusion and snare, and no
amount Of sophistry can ever truly appease
an enlightened conscience until exactly that,
and not cent less, is returned which was
originally received. II | borrow Sl00 in
poldit is my business to return 500 in gold
$40 will never discharge that debt. But
suppose can't pay it 1t is great mis-.
fortune; heavy load to carry down to the
grave. You ought not to have contracted {
! debt which it turns out you cannot pay
Why did you 60 in debt? Why do You moi
rather initiate George Muller, who carries
out literally the Injunction ''to owe no man
anything?" Moreover, is it quite certain
that you cannot pay?


But did not Virginia get full consldera
ton for her debt? Does she not hold muct
of the property now? How did she contrac1
| it? Did she not build University, and s
canal, and many railroads? Does she moi
enioy these now? 1t was not war debt
One third has been knocked off for Wes
Virginia, which had only one fourth OF tht
population, and no University, nor canal
nor railroads.


| Are YOU not collecting State tax OF some
$500, 900 per annum for schools? School:
for which we thank God; but are we tt
have all the luXuries Of the season and ther
say we can't pay our debts?


Now this S500,000 for the schools wa
spent on private schools before the war. A
present we raise the sum by taxation; bu
it came out OF our pockets all the same be
fore. Really, therefore, we are not paying
to the State tax Of fifty cents in the SlO0
it is only forty cents; for the schoo-taX i
merely the same money which we formerl!
paid for the private schools; 1t was just o.
much tax then as it is now.


Now is it not an outrage to declare tha
we cannot pay more than forty cents in tn
SlUU III tne way Va u piopS4ty t9A a IiS''
who has real estate valued at $4,000 pay
$40 per annum on it, and says that So


would ruin him; and therefore he right
the ship by throwing some OF his obliga
tionS overheard.


This may do for Wall street-or in thos


circles where men compromise by payini
twenty cents in the dollar, and then han!
up their lace curtains and spread their vel
vet carpets again, but it will be no plea il


the chancery OF Heaven. :.


COLLISION IN THE MERsEY.-LOndon,.I Jar
uary 23.-The American ship Barring Brc


theirs, Captain Thondike, from Norfolk 10


Liverpool, came in collision with the Span


ish steamship Pouce in the Mersey off LiI


erpool to-day. The steamship sunk am


two or the crew were drowned. The Is:
. ring Brothers is much injured and is maxim