outh must feel, however, that its most
striking characteristic is hopefulness. The dull apathy of a generation ago
is rapidly disappearing, and the South lifts up its eyes toward the
future.

THE REPUDIATION OF STATE DEBTS

The debt of Mississippi was small and that of Texas was not excessive,
and neither made any attempt to repudiate the obligations. The
$4,000,000 issued in Florida for state aid to railroads was large for
the small population and the scanty resources of that State, but this
issue was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Florida. The
Reconstruction debt of Alabama was large, about $20,000,000, besides
accrued interest which the State could not pay. In 1873, the carpetbag
government attempted to fund these bonds at twenty-five cents on the
dollar. The Funding Act of 1876 repudiated $4,700,000 outright, reduced
the bonds loaned to one railroad from $5,300,000 to $1,000,000, gave
land in payment of $2,000,000 more, scaled other bonds one-half, and
funded still others at par excluding interest. About $13,000,000 in all
was repudiated and the State was left with a debt of less than
$10,000,000[1].

[Footnote 1: W.A. Scott, _The Repudiation of State Debts_, p. 63, but
see also W.L. Fleming, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama_, p. 580
ff.]

During 1868 and 1869 bond issues to the amount of nearly $28,000,000
were authorized in North Carolina, but not all of this amount was
issued. From the $13,313,000 which was outstanding at the end of the
carpetbag regime, the State had received little or no benefit. Interest
was not paid upon this sum or upon the previous issues, and the total
debt increased rapidly. Unsuccessful attempts to compromise with the
creditors were made in 1874 and 1875, but not until 1879 was the matter
settled. The Reconstruction bonds were repudiated outright, and the
legitimate debt of the State was funded at from fifteen to forty cents
on the dollar. No provision was made for the unpaid interest. This
compromise did not include the pre-war bonds issued to aid the North
Carolina Railroad. This corporation was a going concern, and as the
result of a suit the stock had been sequestrated. A compromise with the
holders of these bonds was made at eighty per cent of par and interest.
As a result of this wholesale repudiation the debt of the State was so
reduced that it could be carried. In all over $22,000,000 besides other
millions of accrued interest were repudiated