TENNESSEE. 



743 



jrond the roach of legal coercion in the fulfillment of 

 lU obligation, is for that very reason under stronger 

 Imii.U to maintain its eivilit inviolate. Nor huvo 

 they been unmindful of the honorable character nnd 

 unblemished eredit whidi the great State of Tennes- 

 see has always enjoyed in the markets of the world, 

 of her reputation for the possession of large re- 

 sources, nor of the humiliation she must consequent- 

 ly endure by any compromise whatever of her legal 

 obligations. All these considerations have been 

 duly weighed, and they have induced this commit- 

 tee to carefully inquire whether it was not expedient 

 for them to recommend, instead of so large a reduc- 

 timi of the principal of the debt, a concession for a 

 few years in the rate of interest, as proposed in a 

 plan submitted to the Governor by holders of a large 

 amount of bonds, in the belief, which is generally en- 

 tertained among the creditors, that a gradual recov- 

 ery of wealth would accrue to the State, and enable 

 her at an early day to resume payment in full. This 

 mode of adjustment would be obviously more grati- 

 fying to State pride, and would also afford greater 

 present relief, and it would certainly be more ac- 

 ceptable to the majority of bondholders. 



But, after attentively considering the statements 

 of your delegation respecting the sad results of the 

 war, the social derangement and general impover- 

 ishment it has entailed, and the wide-spread disor- 

 ganization existing in all the industries of the people 

 throughout the State, we have been constrained to 

 the decision that a summary reduction of the debt, 

 even to the large extent indicated, is the "best course 

 for all parties concerned, and that, unless the Legis- 

 lature shall now see its way clear for a settlement 

 more favorable to the bondholders, it is both its duty 

 and its policy to adopt the award which this commit- 

 tee most respectfully and conscientiously tender to 

 them and to their creditors, as the result of their 

 best judgment. 



The new bonds proposed were to bear six 

 per cent, interest from July 1, 1877, payable 

 seini-annually in New York, the principal to 



STATE SEAL OF TENNESSEE. 



be payable in thirty years, and the interest- 

 coupons to be receivable for State taxes. The 

 board also recommended the establishment of 

 a sinking-fund. 



The assessed value of taxable property in 

 the State is $268,002,485 a decrease of $20,- 

 425,835 in two years. The State tax of 1876 

 was four mills on the dollar. The balance- 

 sheet of the State Treasury on January 1, 1877, 

 presented the following figures : 



Balance In State Treasury, December 20, 1874, $8*8,704 OB 

 ICii-eiptB into the Treasury from December 80, 

 1874, to December 20, Is76 4,526,422 W 



Total $4,N,12781 



Amount of dlbbureemenU from December 20, 

 1874, to December 20, 1876. 4,718,785 12 



Treasury balance, December 20, 1676 1189,888 19 



Receipts from December 20, 1876, to January 

 M*" 28,48888 



$162,766 09 



Disbursements from December 20, 1876, to 

 January 1, 1877 129,701 91 



Balance in the Treasury, January 1, 1877. . $8,064 11 



The retiring Treasurer, Mr. Morrow, made 

 the following statement of the receipts and 

 disbursements during his administration of 

 more than six years : 



Received from June 1, 1970, to October 1, 



1871 $1,984,027 96 



Received from October 1, 1871, to January 1, 

 1878 2,420,091 17 



Received from January 1, 1878, to December 

 20,1874 8,618,70862 



Received from December 20, 1874, to Decem- 

 ber 20, 1 876 4,526,422 76 



Received from December 20, 1676, to January 

 1,1877 



Total $12,572,079 28 



Disbursements from June 1, 



1870, to October 1. 1871 .... $1,971,101 68 



Disbursements from October 

 1, 1871, to January 1, 1678. . 2,482,858 00 



Disbursements from January 

 1 . 1 878, to Decem ber 20, 1 874, 8,290,1 58 41 



Disbursements from Decem- 

 ber 20, 1874, to Dec. 20, 1876, 4,715,795 12 



Disbursements from Dec 20, 

 1876, to January 1, 1877. . . . 129,701 91 $12,589,615 18 



Balance in the Treasury. January 1, 1877, $88,064 11 



The estimated " amount necessary to be 

 raised for the purpose of carrying on the State 

 government for two years," ending December, 

 1878, as submitted to the Governor by the 

 Controller, Treasurer, and Secretary of State, 

 is $1,032,532 for current expenses, and $301,- 

 500 for interest on the school-fund, amounting 

 together to $1,384,032. 



On the 8th of May the Railroad Commis- 

 sioners of the State sold the Tennessee Pacific 

 Railroad at public auction, to meet an unpaid 

 balance due the State, amounting to $150,000, 

 with interest from July 1, 1870. It was pur- 

 chased by the company, and the sum of $178,- 

 000 in bonds of the State has been paid, leav- 

 ing $3,500 in bonds and $10,650 in cash unpaid. 

 The Knoxville & Charleston Railroad was sold 

 by the commissioners for $75,000, one-half 

 having been paid in bonds of the State. The 

 Mississippi Central Railroad, having failed to 

 pay interest on bonds loaned to it by the State, 

 was placed in the hands of a receiver on the 

 25th of February, and has since been operated 

 by him on behalf of the State. During the 

 year it was kept in repair, the running ex- 

 penses were paid, and $60,000 was paid into 

 the Treasury of the State on account of taxes 

 and interest. 



The State Normal School has been located 

 at Nashville, the trustees of the University of 

 Nashville giving the use of its buildings. The 



