Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-04-10

dom'to enact, and which you nave acqu'eoCeU.
in and are today sustaining. You are sustain
ing the letter Of that law only, and you nave
permitted its spirit to be evaded. 1his oi'' "
which | refer, proposes to invest It VIII new.
ness Of life, and to so energlzc us profis'oNn
that it shall he no longer a dcad 'llne, "eari,'s
merely the form Of authority, without inc
power to affect that which il was intended to
accomplish.
You have by law expressly declared that no
new contract shall be made on any work OF IN
ternal Improvement, until a sale Of State bonds
can be made or negotiated at par.
You made a promise to the ear, but you
have broken it to the hope of this Common
wealth by crippling her credit and destroying
her resources. =,
In 1859, the State debt was increased
81, SGG, 600. This debt was created by the
sale Of State bonds, sold at par e. at a time
when it was notorious to all the world that the
bonds could be purchased at any day IN Rich
mond and New York from 90 to 20 cents IN the
dollar. How was this done? The sentinel which
you established to guard and protect the cred't
of the State was avoided and your treasury mas
been flched; the spirit Of your laws were VIOLA
ted, and the pocket Of the State picked IN inns
one wear, of more than $4,000, as can be
seen, if you will refer 10 the report OF the coAh-
missioncrs of the Sinking Fund.
Here the Speaker called the gentleman 10
order, announcing that his time, under the re-
solution, had been exhausted.
For the Enquirer.
Southern COMMERCIAL independence,
Messrs. Editors:-ln q late number oil the
Semi.wcekly Enquirer" occurs an article from
the ''Pieduont Region" which merits more
attention than it has yet received. Its object Is
TO promote Southern Commercial Independence
by voluntary concerted action on the part Of
Southern merchants. 10 effect this, the writer
proposes a general Convention Of the merchants
Of the South, who, by agreement among them-
selves, shall select some port Or ports into
which foreign goods for Southern consumption
shall, bv preconcerted arrangement, be import
ed direct. That to these points the members
OF the Association would resort for thor sup
plies 10 be obtained through agencies establish
ed lortIlc purpose in the chief foreign marts.
Whether there is patriotic feeling enough
among the class, to which the appeal is specially
made to accomplish the object Of the writer,
remains to be seen. His object is certainly q
patriotic and q noble one. 1t is undeniablc also,
that there is a deep rooted and very general
desire on the part Of the masses to encourage
in their purchases, domestic manufactures, and
goods directly imported from abroad. Whether
this feeling is general enough, or sufficiently
intense, to sustain the action proposed by
"ppdmont," time must determine. That some
action in this direction is necessary, is acknow-
lodged by all. Tho Legislature has proved, by
its failure to provide some means to accom-
plish the object, that it lacks either the nerve or
wisdom required by the crisis. In the absence
of legal enactment, voluntary agreement only
remains to us. There seems to be no middle
ground between some such action and absolute
submission. 1t may be that the plan proposed
by "Piedmont' may be potential to accomplish
our independence of NeD England in the same
way that similar ~rotuntGry action Of American
merchants, u 1870, inaugurated our indepen-
dencc OF Old England. Campbell, in his His
tory of Virginia, chapter Is, page 5GS, says:
In the year ITO, all duties on articles i'm
ported INTO America having been repealed,
save that on tea, the american merchants re-
jiustl 10 import that article from England. y
Are our Southern merchants or our Southern
people less patriotic than the people Of that
day -,
Again, on gage 574 the historian says: The
same day being fixed for the discontinualicc Of
the use Of tea, the ladies before that day, sealed
up their stock with Il determination not to use
it until the duty should be repealed And OH
pare Coz Measures were adopted 10y the
Convention to promote the raising OF liaX,
wool, cotton and hemp, and to encourage 10
mestic manufacturers Of gunpowder, salt, iron
and steel, and the members agreed to make use
| of homemade fabrics, and recommended the
practice to the people," These measures, com
menced in ITO, continued until the breaking
out Of hostilities in l775. Our ancestors, with
not q 1.-THE Of the outrage and wrong IRON Old
| England which we have tamely borne from
New England, for six long years before the Re-
v~ollltiun, denied themselves most oil the com
| forts Of life in those days. Are re 50 &c.
generate that we cannot deny ourselves
! the few elcgancies and lrxn"!cs for which
we are dependent upon our Northern lots &:
| Or is our patriotism SO cheap that all can oe
bought with the small per centage OF addition
al cost temporarily a~ccruins upon direct I'M
portations upon the plan proposed by Pied
mont. ~ If either is so, it is but decent That
we should hold our peace and make up our
minds humbly and thankfully to accept any
little trifing indulgence it plcases our North
crn oppreSsors to grant us. As Ireland has
always been to England, so will, in that event,
the South speedily become to the North. Then
shall we become their "hewers of wood and
drawers Of water" and we shall deserve our
fate. This winters session has proved VIC have
nothing to expect from our Legislature. Let
us now try voluntary associated effort
| trust some ADLER pen will take up this sub
iect, and Piedmont Region" be cheercd in his
noble purpose by L stronger voice than that
now fcebly echoed from the shores of the
CHESAPEAKE.
Letter from New York.
| (Corrcspondcnce Of tho Richmond Eh4uirer.)