The Abingdon Virginian. [volume] (Abingdon [Va.]) 1849-1883, 1863-08-28
BY THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.
Proclamation.

mary assemblies of the people, the desire has
been expressed that the General Assembly OF
this State should be convened IN extra session.
The condition of the country calls for the exer-
else of the best judgment of the wisest council
lors of the State The large levies of addition
al troops by the enemy for the devastation of
our lands and the subjugation Of our people, re-
quires extraordinary exertion on our part, and
every State in the Confederacy must brace it
self to the impending encounter with fearless
fortitude and untiring energy. The people must
prepare for the magnitude OF the emergency,
and each man must feel that his arm is necessa-
ry to aid in vindicating the justice of our cause
and that. come what may, he is prepared to
meet the foe with a calm defiance that acknow-
lodges no alternative but an unqualified recog-
milton of our independence No people can be
conquered who feel thus and act up to that feel
ing with an abiding confidence in the justice of
Heaven.
concur in the propriety Of converting the
General Assembly for the purpose Of devising
means for the public defence; to enroll an addi-
tional force of militia beyond the conscript age
for local as well as general protection; to pro-
: vide for arming and equipping such additional
force and furnishing the means for rendering
their services available when necessary; to give
confidence to our people IN our ability to repel
orr unscrupulous and worse than savage foe; to
set an example to our Southern sisters by exhi-
biting unshaken confidence IN our Government
and undininisheq ardor in our comMoA cause,
and to invoke their united aid once more in
meeting the emergency MS becomes people en-
gagged in righteous cause--to display not oAiy
endurance under losses and severe reverses, but,
graphing with adversely, to exhibit, at mo-
. ment of anticipated weakness, power from moral
o~n,,rv,tn ovd y,hvS;cal pxertOn.
Besides this important purpose, first and up
permost in every heart, there are other matters
which REQUIRE our most anxious councils The
currency Of the country is in = deranged state.
Something must be done to give confidence to
the people in the stability Of our monetary
concerns. Something must be done to prevent
the depreciation of our circulating medium, and
the enhancement of the price of the necessaries
Of life.
While it is proper for the Government to call
in its excessive issues and to endeayor to fund
il; debt, it is notrnecessary or proper, In my
Judgment, in doing SO to discredit the only mo-
ney that is now in the hands of the people to
meet their every day transactions. The CAPT
talists and broker may collect and fund the
amount of the currency in their hands, but the
Government should not permit the banks and
the corporations of the country to discredit the
by refusing to receive it on deposit and reject
ing it for ordinary dues, and much less should
the States themselves discredt it by prohibiting
its reception in payment of taxes and public
dues Such acts are mischievous in the ex-
IRENE, and will produce panic, frightening the
mass of the people from their propriety, and
tending to shake the Government to its founda-
ton I convoke the Legislature to provide a
remedy for these evils, and especially to repeal
the act prohibiting the reception of Confederate
notes of particular date, in payment OF public
dues. Much rather would punish those who
refuse to receive the currency of the country
with the utmost penalties Of the law
It is also necessary to provide funds for car
rying on the operations OF State institutions; to
provide the means for employing the conyicts in
sthe penitentiary, many of whom are supported
at public expense without returning an equlva-
lent in labor, because no adequate appropria-
tion has been made for furnishing full supply
of materials for their work Other appropria-
tions are required, which it is not necessary to
specify, but which are, nevertheless, essential
to the public service: therefore.
l, JOHN LETCHER, Governor of the Com
monwealth Of Virginia by virtue of authority
vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby re-
s1uire the members Of the General Assembly,
elected in May last to assemble in extra session
mt the Capitol, in the city of Richmond, on Mon
day, the seventh day of September next, at II
O'Clock, NJ.
81 Given under my hand, as Governor,
T. s. and under the Seal of tho Common
H. wealth, at Richmond, this tenth day OF
August, in the year 1868, and in the eighty
eighth year of the Commonwealth.
JOHN LETCHER.
by the Governor:
GRoRGE W. MUNFoRD,
Sec'ry of the Com'th
August 81. 1865