Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-06-01

10 the payment Of interest upon the who!e, t1cePt
S6OO, O00 loaned 10 the Danvile Company a"e"'y
shout Il million Of dollars q! unphli" interest up'n
these loans has been provided for by thaes 'ihposen
.ubrr1uent 10 In. contraction Of the debit AMI II WAS
partly due 10 THE 'Ysiem OF loans tha' lhe 'ns' irS'
lnturs had to double the taxes 10 meet 'i"o'''''es
which they had no responsibility ~ GTehnns'
Thus far. | have ro;.cldered the Dill upon lis own
merits. But if it stood upon its inerits an'he' ''ie,e
would be- lit;le danger of is passing tne nouse II
liz understood to be one OF a batch Oh measures
which add bstween two and thres in.,I'ons - ou'
debt, aud which are to stand or iaii !oee'ner' eacm ~ = .
celviug the united strength OF the tienas ., oil n =,
comes first, az the pioneer for itH associates; upon
ITS fate depends the fate of the others. IN thiS V'e"'
the subject rises in importance.
What claim, then, have these other measures 70 our
support Here ] will not attempt 10 sau 10 she c"n
vincing arguments Of gentlemen who nave preceded
me. But how does their union recommend ltseil, H.
slpgly, they are not entitled to our support IL
bill ous$ no, TO pass upon its own merits .nen the
best interests of the State require that y slou'c De
defeated; and. If IL has not, within hstH' suii'c'th'
.,r.nv,h to command the votes Of q majority of the
representatives of the people, then the scheine OF our
Government, does not allow it to become a ia": iet'
combinations like this may ill your Statute DOCKS
with laws, not one of which, standing alone oughtto
have passed, or would have passed. or, II such
{" unions of interests" BIZ sanctioned by precedent,
until they become the settled practice OF Inc virginia
Legislature, then We will have adopted a system OF
legislntioD, not only opposed to the pam purpose Oh
our organic law, but, beyond all conception ra'hous
and demoraliZing.
The legislative combination, now formed, ia. in my
opinion, more tn be dreaded than any which has be-
fore existed in Virginia. There was a similar union
of interests" in 1853. But there is u wide difference
between the condition of things IN 1913 ana looo.-
The taxes were then twenty cents ID ths nuHateu
dollars; they are now twice a. high and upon q hiSher
assessment of property. Then the antuai chares
upon the Treasury on account OF The pubic deot. was
less than a million; now it ia more thhn Two m'i.ioos'
State bonds were then selling at Il premium VI Ten
per cent; and now they are below par. Then we had
prosperous times and money abundant; but now al
unprecedented monetary revulsion. and a suspension
OF specie payment by our banks. There Tas reason,
too, to hope that, by completing some OF the works
embraced in the combination OF 1881. its log rolling
power would, in the future, be eifectually broken.
But tbs appropriations now proposed, will not hnIsh
the works which receive them, but only increase the
strength of the logrollers in succeeding Legislatures.
Even if W were to finish tue roads at present $3.50
ciated with the CoviDgton and Ohio Improvement,
the experience Of the last four years now informs us
how readily new works and new combinations take
the places Of the old. To see what broods are hatch
ing Tor the future. We need but refer to the report OF
the Clerk of this House recently communicated IL
shows that our committee on knsds had up To the
25lh day of January, during the present session. re.
ported bills, making loans or appropriations 10 ~
works of internal. Improvement; and that there loans
and appropriations Excluding the Covlngton ana
Ohio rosd-itself requiring not less than fifteen mil.
lious to complete it, would involve all addition OF
more than thirteen millions TO the debt OF Virginia.
There is reason then 10 fear that this log rolling
monster Of our Legislative Halls may be no less at
hcult OF destruction than the tabled Hydra OF antiqul
ty; and that, whenever we cut oil one ct IFS hundred
heads, we must apply the cautery, or two will come III
its place. Certain il lie. that if we do not arrest The
progress Of a combination, lka this, embracing ths
future, AZ we'll As the present, in its scope aud purpose,
there must, of necessity, be an enormous increase oil
our already enormous debt.
Thus the enquiry is forced upon ua, what ls our
debt-what has been is hiItOry-and under what
circumstances are we Justified in adding to ~
As 10 the present amount of our debt, there ia no
difference between the two reports from the Commit
ties on Finance. We have, not including bonds Tor
81 ,252, COS, held by the Board of the Literary Fund.
An outstanding funded debt of S2I,273,SSO a contin'
gent liability of 4,li3. 500 for unpaid subscriptions
to works of internal Improvement, and Of $3,SgS, 30h
for bonds which the State has guaranteed. vi the
guaranteed bonds, s., 760.000 may be regarded as not
q contingent, but Il certain liability, rs the common
wealth has heretofore been compelled to pay the III
terest on this sum, and there seems to be little pros,
pect that the companies, primarily liable for it, will
be able, 10 future, TO pay either the interest or Inc
principal. Add this amount to the outstanding fund
cd debt, and you have an ascertained debt OF more
than thirty millions, besides the deb; TO the Literary
Fund and a large contingent liability. According 10
h table of the debts OF the different States, which j
find in the American Almanac for 1855, this is a larger
debt, in proportion 10 wealth and popuIailon, than that
of any other State in the Union, and absolutely the
largeet of all the State debts, excepting only that OF
Pennsylvania, which amounts TO forty millions. ist
this large debt of Pennsylvania, which has, in the
past, borne so heavily upon her credit, il, in proper
ton to white population, but Ittle more than hait az
large as our own, which constitutes, even under the
recent high assessment OF our lands, one.iweIith part
of the vaIue of all the real estate in tbs Common
wealth. OF such a debt az this, gentlemen have sro'
ken lightly 10 this debate. though il creates an annu.
nj charge upon our revenue. amounting to tile en"r
NOUS sum of 2.2O7 ,J99, aud exceeding by about
$500. 0GD the entire proceeds "t the tax "n ho.i lands
and negroes under the new assessment anu 'hs dou
BLEED rates of Taxation.
But it ia the history of this debt which is even more
startling than its amount.
Let I'd go back only thirty years, and look into our
basement story. What says the Auditor in lS2o.
when taxation was but eight cents in the hundred
douars, without embracing, as it now does, every sort
of personal property and credits-bOnds and divi.
dends, interest and profits. even salaries aud incomes!
He reports to the Legislature that 'the stste of the
finances is highly prosperous" that the revenue
during the preceding fiscal year. had proved suiiiGlent
TO meet not only the ordinary charge upon the Urea
sury, but "various expenditures not connected with
the uaual operations of the governments" and that at
the end Of tbs current year, there will be such a eur
plus in the Treasury that 'whstever extraordinary eX.
penditure they may think proper to authorize will re.
uuire no additional burthens either in the shape of
loans or taxation" Five years afterwards, in 1888.
such was the excess of revenue over expenditure,
that the Auditor and Treasurer advised a reduction
of the taxes, low as they were! Then the ordinary
annual disbursements of the government for all pur
poses, amounted to little more than S4OO,OOO. Then,
happily, our Treasury did not feel the weight OF a
public debt. Each year bore its own burden, and no
more.
But, in 1888, ten years later, let IA look again into
the public offices. Wa find, now, an outstanding
funded dsbt OF 1859 l6 81; and now, to provide
for its interest, the Auditor aud Finance Committee
ecommen an increase OF taxation. But, says Inc
Auditor. The simple addition OF tTo cents L" the
land tex and Ave cents upon q slave, would WIN
and economy, accumulate a large aink'
ing fund in the course Of a few years. Nor WA II
surprising that the Auditor should think 20. For,
twenty years ago, our outstanding debt was, as yet,
but little more than the annual charge upon the pre-
sent debt 0e the State; and The moderate cum OF
S437 .72Y 81, covered the whole of the estimated
sunr.l .xnepses of the government. The taxes were
increased by the Legislature Of 1888, in accordance
with tbs Auditors recommendations. But, unhappily,
they did not produce the anticipated shaking fund.
Our debt had begun gr0r. In lSll, instead oil
having a sinking fund to pay 1t, the Legislature
WAS compelled to raise tho tases emu further, from
ten to twelve and u half cents, upon lands, and from
thirty to forty cents upon slaves.
nls43, the outstanding debt tbesides what was
due to State Institutions was about FIX mi'ii"ns' our
financed .ere embarrassed, our credit impaired. 1t
was now neceasary to provide for q floating as well a.
for a funded debt. The taxes were Increased to Ill
teen cents upon lands and forty.six cents upon slaves;
large additions were made To the list OF taxable cub
iects; and now, for the first time, the o!ait imposed n
tar upon its own honda, IA we'll az upon other moneys.
credits and peraonal property never taxed before.
For four years after this tax bill the debt sfood
still. Aud, in 1886, Ne dnd that the taxes nave been
reduced; that they were thirty per cent less thnn in
1913, upon the old IA well as the new subjects ct tax
alton.
But our debt, despite this check, had not yet done
growing. 1t took u fresh start in 1917. !s increase
in 1886 was only about nine thousand doi!nrs; but IN
lS47 it mounted up TO more than half a million; II was
siSS,4 Gj 81 in 1918; s72S,2 l6 81 10 1912, and in 1850
it was 81 ISL, 1896 -.
When the Reform Convention met in lie fall OF
1850, large liabilities had been incurred; 10 ADDITION 10
:hese, the actual debt Of Virginia, beyond tho control
of the Legislature, had reached the sum OF nine mil
lions. Its recsnt rapid increase had awakened the
mosi lively approximations in the puo'lc mind Inc
rssts, by which this increase wss believed to have
been effected, wac generally denounced and seemed
to be repuGunnt to the judgment and feelings OF the
people. The popular voice called upon the Couven.
lion to protect the Treasury. No one doubted that