Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/67

* REPUDIATION. ture of public luoucvs auil bruiijrlit about a large increase of the debt. With the revival of old conditions aud the return to power of the classes ■which nominally ruled the States, the inaliility to pay resulting from the impoverished condition of the covnrtry was combined with a reluctance to pay debts which in their opinion had been forced upon the States by outsiders. In this category they placed the accrued interest upon ante- bellum debts as well as much of the debt which liad its birth in the so-called rceunstruction era. It is impossible to follow the history in all its details. With pretexts of fraud, jobbing, and corruption in the issue of bonds, or on the sinjple plea of poverty, one Southern State after another annulled its obligations out- right or so scaled them in refunding opera- tions as to destroy a large part of their face value. The aggregate debts of the States along tile coast from Virginia to Louisiana, with Arkansas and Tennessee, are computed to have reached, each State taken at its liishest point, $236,000,000, while in 1880, after the pol- ic}' of repudiation had been adopted, they amount- ed to $108,000,000. The Southern States were joined bv one Northern State, ilinnesota, which in 18S0, after 22 years of agitation, denunciation, and negotiation, finally agreed to compromise the pay- ment of certain railroad bonds (guaranteed by her as far back as 1858) at 50 cents on the dollar, and accrued interest, the plea being that the railroads had failed to comply with the con- ditions of the issue. The inevitable result of repudiation has been that foreign capitalists have learned to discriminate between the values of different State securities; and while the bonds of the non-repudiating States, including those Southern States which have not followed the example of their neighbors, command a premium, the l)onds of the various repudiating States tlue- tuate at from 10 to 50 per cent, of their face value. Repudiation has not been confined to Stated. Buring the five years immediately following the panic of 1873. numerous cities, towns, and coun- ties, even within those States whose corporate credit remained unimpaired, finding it impossible to meet their obligations, sought to evade them by repudiation. By appeal to the United States courts, however, their creditors could command an impartial judicial determin.ation of the ques- tion. This is impossible in the case of States, as the 11th amendment of the Constitution, adopted in 1794, expressly provides that though individuals may be sued by States. States ci.nnot be sued by individuals. Under this amendment, and the decisions which have grown out of it, no power can legally coerce a State to keep its pledges. There is therefore no power in the United States Government to prevent a recur- rence of the humiliating spectacle of repudiation. The States only can provide remedies for it. The substantial increase of wealth in all sections of the country affords a guarantee for the future. Another and ])erhaps more efficient safe.guard against its recurrence is to be found in the innumerable restrictions upon the debt-making power of the States which have found their way into recent State Constitutions. Consult Scott. The Repudiation of State Deits (New York. 1893). REQtTESTS, Court of. An ancient English court having minor chancery jurisdiction, and 51 REQUISITIONS. presided over by the l^ord I'rivy Seal, it was inferior to the Court of Chancery, ll was abol- ished by Stat. 10 and 17 Car. l.| e. 10. Certain inferior courts for the colleetiun of small claims were formerly called courts of rciiuesis, or courts of conscience. They have all been abolished by statute, or have bct'onie obsolete. Sec CuiliT. REQUIEM, r.-.'kwi-em (Lat., rest). In the Roman Catholic Church, the mass for the deail ; so called from the first word of the introit. I{ei|uiein masses were composed by many of the oUler masters, such as I'alestrina, Vittoria, . erio, Colotuia. The most famous works of this kind in modern times are those of Jlozart ( 17111 I : two of Chcrubini, C minor (1793), IJ minor ( I.S3tj) ; Berlioz (1837); erdi (1873). One of the greatest ihoral works ever written bears also the title requiem, although it is written to tier- man words selected from the Bible. This is the great Ein (leutschrx Jiei/uicm by Brahms, written on the deatli of his mother (1868). REQUISITIONS (Lat. requisitio, from re- qitirere, to search for, require, from re-, back again, anew -}- qwwrerc, to seek). Articles of daily consumption and use levied by an in- vading army from the inhabitants of occupied territory. They must be distinguished from contrihutions, with which the term is often con- fused, the latter being properly confined to money impositions above the oriHnary revenue which legitimately belongs to the invader; and from ■fines, which are i)ayment exacted from a district by way of pimisbment for 'some offense commit- ted against the enemy outside the regular mili- tary operations. The adoption by civilized nations of modern rules of warfare prohibiting pillage does not giuirantee security of property to an invailcd dis- trict. The experiences of the past century have authorized three methods of obtaining sup|)ort for an invading army from an occupied district. ( 1 ) It may purchase provisions and like articles required for consumption; (2) it may levy them at prices fixed by the commander; (3) it may force the inhabitants to furnish them without p.avment and on refusal send out detachments to collect them. Thus the produce of the farmer, the goods of the merchant, and the stock of the trader mav be confiscated. I!y the Brussels Jlili- tary Code (1874), Arts. 40," 42. rules are laid down governing the making of requisitions. It is customary for the modern army to have a vast commissary train, and requisitions are relied upon only to supplement this supply. The com- mander of the army maj' le'y such articles as clothing and boots, to prepare which time is re- quired, while corps commanders may requisi- tiim food and foilder for imm<'diate use. The collections should be made thnnigh the local authorities, if these continue, by demand in writ- ing, and receipt should be given as evidence of the compliance and as a voucher in ca.se the Government should subsequently recoip the in- habitants. The discretion of the invader must be employed to apportion these demands to the resources of the district. Conhihufions, on the other hand, should be imposed only "on the order and repsonsibility of the general-in-chief, or of the supreme civil aiithority, established by the enemy in the occupied territory" (Bru.ssels Code. S. 41 ). In levying contributions assessment should be made on' the lines of civil taxation.