Duke University Libraries Veto message on Conf Pam 12mo #241 DTTDTTEflDl y VETO MESSAGE OF GOV. THOMAS O. MOORE, ON TIIE COTTON BILL, I TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. BATON 11 OH OK : T O M I1YNUM STATE PRINTER. 1861. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/vetomessageoncot01loui Tr VETO MESSAGE. EXSCCTITB OFFICE, Baton Rougo, January 21st, 18G2. To the Honorable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives: I return to the House of Representatives the u Act for the relief of the cotton planters of the State of Louisiana." After a careful examination of its provisions, made with every desire to give effect to the expressed wish of the Legislative Department of the Government, when consistent with the conscientious discharge of my own functions, I find my , ejections to the bill so serious and vital in their character as to compel me no withhold my ap- proval. I shall proceed to state those objections. The 108th article of the Constitution provides that " the State shall not subscribe for the stock of, nor make a loan to, nor pledge its faith for the benefit of any corporation or joint stock company created or established for banking purposes, nor for any other purposes than those described in the 109th article. It is argued that the words I have italicised have reference to corporations or joint stock companies, and are designed to enlarge the circle of their prohibited purposes. I do not so construe it. The article is a manifest prohibition to the State pledging its faith for any purpose except that which is specified in the following article, and as the object to which the faith of the State is proposed to be pledged in this bill, is not pretended to be included in the powers granted by the 109th article, I think it comes within the prohibition previously declared ^^ ^/ft./^ 'y-v /^ Whatever doubt, however, might exist as to the correctness of ^fehis inter- pretation and its application to the present bill, I find in the 111th article of the Constitution an imperative requirement, which this bill fails to meet. It reads ''whenever the Legislature shall contract a debt exceeding in amount the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, unless in case of war to repel in- vasion or suppress insurrection, they shall, in the law creating the debt, pro- vide adequate ways and means for the payment of the current interest, and of the principal when the same shall become due." The bill now under consideration, after prescribing certain formulas for the affidavit of the applicant f<.r relief, the •.. aiul the certificate of attestation, provides that the applicant shall "< cecnte hie ; in favor of tl and with iiirity, when the applicant o* boated in this and equal to the bond and above the mortgagee on hie property, in amount d ben ginned, or one and a quai d, payabl :" and attaehee to thie : ited "th of a re months' bond." [t provides for ;1 the cotton to I d on the bond, and in casei fa refusal by tl of the j'tivil. am f Treasury notes tot! <>ulv of the excess in the value of hie cotton, on t ! ment previously stated over the privile It is upon the presentation of these bonds, with the ant lent ments, that the Auditor of Public A nuts shall I the State Treasurer for the amount of thebon I, tion. The bond itself is to contain a positive stipulation for tl I F its amount to the Sute Trcasu; tton shall be Bold, and pledges the proceeds of [ ic sale of sai.l cotton to i 1 is to be recorded ujrthe book of Judicial Mori such registry operating as a judicial n :' the ap- plicant. If theappllcuit shall fail to appropriate paid) the proceeds of tl I the cotton bo pledged in redemption of his bond, the, Auditor is required to issue a writ of fieri facias, with in- terest from its date, against the property of both principal and surety, " within .eight months after the blockade is raised." which process is to have the "same. force and effect of a fieri facias issued upon a twelve months' bond.*' These are the ''ways and means'' provided by this bill for the redemp- tion and payment of seven millions of Treasury nqteSj all of which be- come due "at the expiration ef one year after the blockade is raised," and which on their face are declared . sured by a "pledge of the ■••>ttou crop of tie- State of l- a, i»!' L861, and the faith of the 81 pledged'' — Sec. 2. I do QOt deem them :: The cotton crop of Louisiana of 1861, < innot be pi either for that or any other purpose. It K longs to individuals in most part — is private propert; be taken for public uses, except under the guarantei b of the Constitution. It is not all within her limits, since a portion of it has already ' It is obviously then beyond the ■ the Stal tton crop of 1861. It is, however, within the power of its owners, and it bee- important to ascertain what portion of that crop is pledged by this bill, and whether that limited pledge is moie than nominal. It is very clear that only that "quantity of cotton" is pledged which is in the hands of the applicant "as owner, administrator, executor, tutor or agent," and it is-, therefore, the proceeds of the sale of such quantity only that is required to be paid into the Treasury in redemption of his bond. iotton in the hands of any owner who does not choose to become an t, can be pretended to be pledged. It the applicant chooses to pell his cotton, he is at perfect HI lo so. It remains in his hands. If he sells, the purchaser obtains a good title. The State cannot proceed either against the cotton or its proceeds. Not only is there no machinery provided by which the simulated privilege of the State can be enforced but in point of facl afld law, b me is created by the act. I do not over- look the provisions of the 17th Section, which denounces the felonious alienation with a criminal penally. The enforcement of that pro- >H by punishment of the felonious act does not advance a step to- ls the requirements of the Constitution, that adequate ways and means" shall be provided for the payment of the note. The punishment of the criminal a institute a part of the machinery tor the enforce- ment of a civil obligation. What is that machinery? \ By the 14th Section, the Auditor is authorized to i-st J a ft. fa., within eight months after thei>lockade is raised against the property of the de- faulting obliger and his surety. But can the Legislature, or the State officer acting under its mandate, seize the property of any onefortfefa? It may for taxes, for they are, in the nature of a contribution, exacted by Government for its purposes, but it belongs to the Judiciary to determine whether or not the debt exists. The Legislature cannot exercise judicial sanctions. That department can make laws and repeal th-in, but in doing BOj it cannot take from a citizen the rights he may have acquired under a particular law, nor can it assume the duties and powers of the judicial department and decree or adjudge how 7 the laws shall be administered in relation to a particular right. It can say for what breaches of its enact- ments, or for what omissions of duties imposed, fines and forfeitures shall be incurred ; but it has no right to try a case on an allegation of a breach of what the law requires, or of the non-performance of an obligation or contract, and to decide the case in favor of the State or against it, and then execute its own dee In the discussion of the adequacy of the ways and means provided by the bill for the t of the debt it creates, it is necessary to proceed further. The whole of tt»e seven millions becomes due at the expiration of one year after the blockade is raised. The proceeds of the bonds are the sole security for the redemption of these notes. Payment is not to be exacts 1 nntil within eight months after that event. The Auditor is permitted to grant the longest delay to the debtor, and but four months will remain to make the property of the debtor and his surety available for G L If litigation ensues and the shield of injunctions, -tponc, as it will assuredly be, the time of payment will : the maturity of the Treasury notes. If this le, the "ways and means' 1 arc not "adequate. 11 of the applicant will, in many oases, be encumbered with of the State. It is exposed at public sale under ■ bring enough to satisfy the older mortgs thing will be made to the Treasury by the Issuance of the li. ra By the 15th section, the Sheriff is directed te the writ as iii ease of twelve mouths' bonds. The property will then be exposed for cash, and under a recent act of this Legislature lor its full appraisement, made as of April, 1861. If these requisites are with, by that acl the property is restored to the defendant, Sheriff (the State) must pay the costs. will not follow in every case, but if the prompt and putic- tuel payment of these bonds is the only ways and means provided for the . reasury notes, those ways and means cannot be adequate if they follow yi any case. . pi - ribing the form uf the bond, stipulates the period of maturity aftjme time when the " cotton shall be sold," and the 1-4 th rovidea for issuing a. fieri facial " in cast- the applicants shall not appr I pay, or cause to be paid, the proceeds of the sale of said in into the State Treasury." What becomes of this obligation if the by fire or the dangers of the river? There is no obligation to insure, and if insured, no obligation to transfer the policy. Is it said i not whether the cotton be burned, or whether a Bale is ever made, so only that the bond is paid ? But if the e.ottou be not sold, then the] cannot b< paid in, and the contingency then does not occur upon which alone the Auditor can issue his writ, for he can only the applicant shall not pay the proceed* of the sale of said r. into the Treasury. Where, then, is the remedy when the applicant his C ttOD nor pays his bond ? As a conclusive test of the adequacy of the ways and means which the titution requires to be provided, it is proper for each individual to in- quin ro himsell proposing to lend money, (for this bill does but provide a loan J wonld the security proposed in this bill be regarded as sufficient if the cottoo planter applied to him for ■ loan \ I do not think • one answer to such an inquiry. There is another objection, not necessary to be elaborated, having refer- to the prohibition contained in the Provisional Constitution of the , which is ai this time in force. That Constitution pro- hibit- any State from emitting bills of credit, and the power assumed in this bill most ol< arly comes within that prohibitive clause. If it be denied that this Constitution is in operation, it is only necessary to say (although this is an issue foreign to the present legitimate inquiry) that both gov- ernments cannot be understood to exist at the same time. The new gov- crnment does not commence until the old government expires. If the per- manent Constitution had been our supreme law since its ratification by five States, the legislation of the Provisional Congress since that time would be of no effect, since by that Constitution the legislative power is vested in two Houses. It is analagous to the succession of the Constitution of the United States to the Articles of Confederation, the operation of which was in conformity to the views I have expressed. There arc other features in this bill which I do not approve, but I have confined my objections to those wherein there is a failure to comply with constitutional requirements. THOS. 0. MOORE. v. ?\'- J Hollinger Corp. pH8.5