TICE REPUDIATING STATES OF AMERICA.
Birmingham, 24th July 1852. Sue—I take the liberty of submitting to you a query, which, now that the Derby settling is well nigh over, you may perhaps have leisure to answer. Venturing, the other day, to assert that the State of Pennsylvania ranked amongst the repudiators, I was roundly contradicted ; and the present price of the "Pennsylvania Bonds " was referred to in proof of my error. My oppo- nent offered a bet on the subject,—a common form of logic in the Midland provinces, which, as I had less inclination to win his money than he had to win mine, I did not choose to take. I never held any of the Bonds in ques- tion, and my attention had not been particularly given to the fact, but! had seen it made on many occasions the subject of newspaper remark ; and I had a very distinct impression of a singularly severe and admirably reasoned letter of the late Sydney Smith in which the act of repudiation was de- nounced. Have I been deceived all this time ? Was Peter Plymley, who seems to have had such excellent reasons for being convinced, also deceived ? The Pennsylvanians, I have hitherto understood, issued certain bonds or de- bentures, or something of that sort, to make certain canals or roads or rail- ways, I forget which ; and, the profits of the State speculation not sufficing to pay the interest, its Legislature deliberately refused to impose the taxes necessary for that purpose. Have the repudiators repented of their ways, and is the present price of the Bonds the consequence ? or were Bonds, so called at present, issued for some other consideration ? The people of Mis- sissippi had, I believe, some sleeveless excuse for their conduct ; but I have hitherto believed that the Quakers of the city of brotherly love did what they did out of pure love of the doing—pressed by no necessity, and seeking excuse in no form of argument Will you, Sir, who know so many things, and so accurately, set me right if I am wrong, or corroborate my faith if I am not? I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, R. K. D. [Pennsylvania never repudiated any of her obligations. She contracted a debt of 40,000,000 dollars, chiefly for public works; and during the financial disasters of 1842, while many of those works were still unfinished, she sus- pended. On no occasion, however, did she attempt to deny her liability ; and in 1845 she resumed payment, and issued Bonds for the dividends which had fallen into arrear. These new Bonds were to bear 6 per cent interest, and she subsequently behaved badly by reducing the rate to 4 per cent; but with this exception' which was comparatively unimportant as far as regards the sum affected, the only ground of reproach against her is such as would attach to an individual who had suddenly, been brought to a stand from a career of improvidence, in which he had been assisted by the eager- ness of lenders, and who after two or three years' delay, during which he had exhibited a rather discreditable tenderness in avoiding sacrifices, bad paid everybody in full. The Repudiating States of America are Mississippi, Michigan, Florida, and Arkansas; and it is to be regretted that, after the way in which she has recovered herself, Pennsylvania should be assailed with the charge, since the effect of it is not only to divert attention from the real delinquents, but also to deprive them of one inducement to a more honest course, by extinguishing the belief that justice would then be done to them. • When Sydney Smith designated the people of Penns) lvania as repudiators, reports were rife of many dishonest speeches and propositions which were uttered and brought forward by individuals in the State Legisla- ture; but none of the propositions were ever adopted, and the State therefore is not to be held responsible for them.—En.]
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