Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-01-21
TO THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN
VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA.
The Present EVIL Times on while h we
have HRllen--The Traitors who are
Leading rs SteRIthIIy into DISuniOu
What IL viii cost each Man, WO-
man and Child OF uB--Are we ready
form Negro COnfedeEReys
: 10 lie editor of,hs BanAWhs IVA Republican,
suppose NC are to have a Convention
in this State. What, allow me to ask, ID
that Convention 10 do? Is it to take Vir-
ginin out Of the Union, and unite her des-
TIMES with those Of 4 Southern Confe1er-
ncy? Some among us wOuli have it even
! so, and tn I, too, without allowing the
: people the opportunity, or privilege of
+ expressing either their appreciation or dis
appreciation of such n movement. Have
{ we not fallen on evil times, when the free
f! people OF Virginia, yes of Western Virginia,
are to be transferred by their would be
| masters, the politicians, like sheep and
! hogs for the slaughter! Why sir! there
, is not a negro sold. or bred on ,yonr streets,
that is not Illowod the privilege Of choos-
/ ing his master. and arc we, Mt the Instance
of few hot heads, to be degraded below
the level OF slave?
To what nre we conling2 To w;,at arc
ne TO be hurried in this Southern CrHiel-
eraCy? Let rs look for moment Mt one
item alone. The smallest estimate have
yet seen of the expenses of Southern
Confederacy, IN tina OF jpeaes, is SEA. 00O,-
COO u year. The totnl population of ali
the territory to be included in that Con-
federacy, according to the census of 1850,
is 9,67i.656. This includes I'LL classes,
white, black, male, female, free, slave,
pauperS, blind, deaf, dumb, insane. This
/ amount, divided by the population, will, to
begin with, give Virginia, as her share OF
the taxes Of the new Confederncy, Ss,sI4,-
29s, her population being, according to the
census of 1850, l,43I ,65I. Now, sic, di-
vide this share of the expenses that falls
to Virginia by the number Of her pop.
ulation, and ii gives You tax of six
dollars and twenty cents tS6,2O) n head
for every human being in her limits
Now add to this the estimated disburse
incnts for the States expenses for the pres
CBt year, as stated ny Gov. I.etcher in his
recent Message, 50 939,5I2, and we have
an aggregate taIatiOu Of the people of the
State amounting to Sl2,753,slO. This di-
vided by the population of the State, gives
u tax per head for each aud every inha6i-
tant Of the State of few cents less than
50. But let US look little further iut1
the matter. BY the census of 1850, Kama
Wha County as she then stood, had a pop
nlatiou o: 1883. Now multiply this by
o, the amount Of tax on each person, aud
you have stho tax of KnuNwha County,
which will be Sl3s,lT7. This is but a very
little over the amount, as in the cGlcula-
ton have omitted fractions.
WEI such taxes rs these, what is to be
come of US? How are the people to
pay them? They cannot! 1t is utterly
impossible for them TO do so. With trade
and commerce FRUSTRATED, every farm,
horse, COW, pig, all the property OfIhe cit
izens, would be brought to the anction
block, to pay the thKes, and the whole
would he swept away Mt one blow, and our
whole people left completely bankrupt
But, sir, the end is not yet. In forming n
new CoufederaCy, we are to take on our
selves our pOrpurtiOnate share of the ma
tional debt. How much that would be, no
one can tell. Then, too, aid our present
State debt, amounting, as Gov. Letchcr
tells US, TO more than. 1913 300, 900; add all
these items together, and You have one dish
Of the feast prepared by South Corolinn
| and the disunionists, and of which you are
invited to partnks. This be it remember
cd is the estimnne in the time ofpeaCe But
with the civil war in which we must neces-
sarily be engaged, no one can pretend TO
estimate the tax per head that will he laid
on US, Then, too, if that tax be laid nc
cOrding TO the provisions of the State Con-
stitution, by which the slaves are scarcely
taxed one-fOurth of their value, the amount
given above will bo increased on every
white person about one hird, bringing our
tax per head to about Sl2
| In view OF this whole matter, l appeal
to my fellow-citizens Of this county, and
of nj! Western Virginia, to vote for no man
! for the Convention, who does not pledge
himself to maintain Virginia in the Union
! And secondly, to vote for no man who
does not pledge himself to submit the ac-
ton of the Convention to the people OF the
State, for their adoption or rejection.
A TAX PAYER.