Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1850-02-12
ptIBIIc DEBT OF VIRGINIA.
! From the Richmond Examiner.

,si no ti1rougl the Senate lso: for that body is
small ard more easily controlled by log rolling
| rniabfna! ions. Railroad Bills are greganons =
bE;ike NDck Of sheep, if The foremost leap the
a.es am. noes, the hindmost follow in the face OF
dIs5h and destruction. This bill will draw after
it sbe whole train whcll hang atts heels amount
ing in 1sleir appropriations to six or seven mil
li,,;ls OF: dollars. The legislation OF last winter
| VIII be 4cpeated ,tiis, with aggravation Hence
| forwarding rolling is to be omnipotent, aud tie
State mast fold her arms to its legitimateyconsc-
Gaences, of debt, taxation and poverty Utility,
p3asticG bility cost, are no longer to be consider
! rsi tin proyiding means for schemes of tInternat
/ i'm srayefnent. y Let them but bear that tails
/ Inahfc Cnpniersign, and they will throngllalf
tha j1rnfs aud stages of tegslation, free and un-
\ cIlsiIsuG2d Canals are 10 be stretched from
Ir:D.inlale Top TO mountain top; railroads To bur
rtlTfthc earth from valley TO valley. Every
ti;nn cgt be done with lnoney"-is 10 he the Ian
g,,aTe 6tI their projectors. Money, if we have
/ ni,t 1--WE :viII borrow. The amount expended we
I caro- nos for. We may, we hare done with
scceess, shut our eyes TO the truth, and call IL
/ hsIf ~ .ilion when it is thirty times as much
lfthe rs2ple are told they owe fifteen millions, VIC
wTIIsw..a roundly they owe nothing, and in their
Confusion and doubt, secure, whatever further aP.
! UI,,DriacieDs our personal interests or political
! schemes may require" Legislation has degene-
/ rated to n game, in which three blacklcgs COM
/ biae against one honest player to fitch him OF the
! last cemr; and divide the sPos. EX'ortion, thett
,bbery arc become in legislators, respectable by
ir,,unency. Vice has lost its fearful mien, and
! hSco,nc thing boasted OF and eXocd as virtu-
/ u3s. LGg-ToIIng has ceased 10 be odious. We
( new hcsi nothing but lomilies upon its morality,
rscprict% and capital eXPedIenry
| we af3. fairly out mon the resstlcss tide oi
expenditure, and drifting into the jaws oi des-
! r.;ICtiou,' with a crew too infatuated and ruE'ng
mad 10 Iced the danger ahead or oVideagainstIt
SYe shall soon be at the bottom of lie loan
b.y" wien there will he universal haltand re-
,,Lo Uill find bp rspIT
:lc nanss condition who began 10 build and was
mi abe 10 finish Railroads will be seen leading
DOT oE !er towns and cities TO abrupt termlnail0ns
in the ntdst of woods, al The foot ot hills, and IN
the bowels OF haIt-penctrated mountains. Ira-
yF,ars through the State will enjoy the melan-
chrly sight OF embaukments falling down in one
diseCtiu.f, excavations filling up in another-here
a Geek spanned by solitary bridge, which no
beast, wngon or locomotive ever passcd-thcre
an squeImct leading over-wIat has become
hog. bed. Her great rivers will be threaded by
aGCuratny graded and mathematicalIy curved
ca cauals~cmpty broken, and holding no wafer.
( Their: are other and far more serious results ot
tHc:ppi;y we are pursuing. The appropriations
% tie present and past winters will run up the
tlrbI OF Virginia to somctwenty millions sixteen
OF whici! at the least will be owned abroad Great
iuu an i;nual charge upon the treasury Of one
IA lion nt interest. II is in vain TO say that the
vo.ks l,!on which this debt shall have been ex,
rh,iIed, .ill be in operation at the time, relieving
ti5 treasury ut It's nedSy IOdd ne ApPT'lpTId-
lin:s il, their favor will he found utterly made
uuate to:lhcir completion, and they will lie halt
,.xe..Iftcg, unprod uCtive and abandoned One or
Two mas be prosecuted 10 completion at triple
their present estimated coSt-with means raised
hy The utnost stretch of the States credit; but
tie .renia inder will stand unfinished, not like the
rrias ol Italy and Greece, as evidences OF past
ptandcuG and opuenCe, but as proofs O her folly,
her! !impt;tence and her penury.
liz 1888 the assessed value of all property, real
anb personal, in the State OF New York, was
s5JO 65& ,52I in ls45 it was $6O5, ,546. .095-
sijniyinH her gains as community in ten years
to lave teen S74 ,992, ,57l, or S7.499257 each
wear or one and fourtenths per cent. per annnm
uccII hcg whole capital. See New York State
Keaistct for lSI6.l Few political communities
Tfepj5y higher prosperity than New York, and yet
il requires the whole wealth of that State to pro-
dncai AN annual income of seven and hal! mil
lions OF dollars lfshe were required TO pay from
bt,r taxes one million per annum, as Virginia has
in comfortable prospect, not less than one.seventh
of her total capital would be occupied in its pro-
duction. All branches OF her industry taken TO-
reiher dear neat income OF only one and iour-
tenths per cent. annually. The Legislature OF
VirJinia:shuuId take heed of this fact. Compar-
ins:Ihe Two States, and considering the immense
iueFeasc of capital which the city of New York
alone produces Tor that State, it would be exirava-
rant TO say that the combined industry and capt
taI of Virginia., after deducting all expenses OF
living. reduces a nett annual income Of more
iha j, one per cent Her most successful branch
es df business produce, perhaps, an annual aver.
ageiof six per cent. in the course of ten years =
Mahv o! them in that length of time, wind up
without any gain, and very many in loss and bank.
rupjcy. Others produce annual profits, ranging
ffo,h zero TO six per cent, and few in some in.
sta.Eces, nvertop the latter rate. But taking all
lOgeIlei, the whole industry and capital OF Nlr'
gina does not produce an annual income OF more
tah one per cent. upon the total aggregate OF her
property. To pay. therefore, the annual million
Of Interest which the new appropriations made
aud! making are creating for the future, no less
tlra6 one hundred millions of her capital will be
subjected to contribution. 1t is fact which her
legislators do not believe or heed, but which she
wiifsooi learn by experience, and teeL-that, for
ercru huadrcd thotSqnd dollars Of interest aosch they
are Sddd{ng upon heTtrcdsury, they mortgage len
ntiQt9ns afiRe property IF their constituents,
The proposition. can be overwhelmingly sus.
tanned by facts and statistics, and would be, il
etefy sensible mans reflection did not teach its
truthi Il does not follow that, because the law
4 fses interest at six per cent. the capital OF men
ard iof States invariably pays that amount. 1.-THE
proIsrtyof Virginia had actually produced that
income since its original settlement we should 10 ee
ableto construct railroads between all the villa
4 ges in tho Commonwealth and scale every noun
4 with canals. II the property of our ances-
tors in the Mayfower had beenworth $4,000,
and had increased at the rate of three per cent
half yearly compounded, we should IN TINS year
of $50 have been worth upwards OF 1900, ,0OO,-
o0o!za sum sufficient to bridge the ocean. So il
tbey!hat contracted a debt for $4,000, payable
hail seasy, had continued 10 meet It's interest re-
.guiafiy, and the money thus expended had been
worth this rate OF six per cent the aggregate
cost.of her outlay SO far would have been the i'm
mense sim already given. The fact exhibits
4 how Serious matter it is 10 owe a six per cent
i de5t. hs no species of private bptin can bear
j it ios any length Of time, SO no State can long
wiIbstand its undermining, exhapsting, inces-
per cent will in quarter of century, unless she
resoftto spudiatf6n in preservation, PROSTATE
1.-The host spulent State. England pays but three
Il pet dent; upon her debt, and what is the resnlt
Il Let one d: her ablest writer's declare ~
qfI,axas upon every article which enters into
tb3s tlout., or covers the back, or is placed under