Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-12-05
Message Of the Governor.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
RICHMOND, Va, December 4, 1861

]
and revolution through which We have passed, and
the destruction of African slavery have IN part un
settled the labor of the Statei yet IN many sections
fair crop has been gathered, which by prudence
and economy, will furnish bread Tor the people until
| another harvest MN;
| The Constitution makes it my duty TO communl,
cate To Won the condition of the Commonwealth ana
TO recommend for your consideration sucn
may deem necessary ana ,e performanee of
/ tbis dnty the first, and one OF the most lhpor-
nt of tbe subjects TO which shall call your ateh-
ton is
THE PUBLIC DEBT.
The amount Of State Bonds registered
and bearing interest at SIX per $780, -, ~
p' oent. Ave ner cent. bonds. 10000 90
s21. 996, S39 IS
Six per cent. Coupon
bonds, .....--!.... Sll lUo,UUO
Five per cent. Coupon
Bonds payable in ,oo-oooo M
London, .......... looo,VOo I-'o'oVVV w
Aorrepate amount, ............ s34,96 1913 SO
Interest outstanding and unpaid July -,
LIST, 1865. Observation-Disclosures. O,Oil,ooi -
Add guaranteed bonds by which
the State is liable, and will have
to pay,..................... S22ooo w
Interest thereon to July lst lo6o, l9I,I2o ~
Making an aggregate upto July LIST, 90
1860, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. S4l,Ool,3lo 81
ASSETS OF THE STATE.
Stocks in the Railroads. sIS,649s43 "a
Seven per cent Bonds loaned TO
Railroads. 3,Oe3. 1888 SO
Add four years interest - sec, 1873 20
so. 3l9 81
OF the above stocks there is expended in railroads,
from which it is not probable that the State will de-
rive any income flor many years at LEAST and winch
Nty,,,N Nf ilull In
assets of the State, 81 359 946 80. 1t is hoped that
in time the residue of these stocks and bonds may
be made available to the Commonwealth.
BANKS.
The State hal invested in the several Banks Oethe
Commonwealth: ,
In the name of the Board of Public
Works. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. l,OO3S5O
In the name of the Literary Fund.-. 1868 070
Maxine an arurepate of sS.7lO, O2O
OF these stocks the State holds, in the name OF the
Literary Fund 500 600 in the Fairmont Bank, which
is supposed to be good, and 1914 900 in the North
western Bank, 500 900 OF which belongs to tile Lie
rary Fund. The last named bank has gone into IL
qudaton, and il cannot be known, until its accounts
are settled what will be realized by the state on tins
investment The residue of the bank stocks held by
the State, was in the Bank of Virginia, the Farmers
Bank of Virginia, the Exchange Bank OF Virginia,
and the Bank of the Valley, all OF which, 1t is be-
ieved is lost to the State. Some OF these banks Will
only be able to pay small per Centum on their cir
cuaton. In addition to these, there are number
of independent banks in the State Some oil the lat
ter were based State stocks, on the same principle
as the present National Bank system. They were
permitted TO issue, in circulation eighty per centum
on the amount of the stock hedby the bank-the re-
naming twenty per cent. required to be Kept IN
specie | am informed that some OF these banks
have preserved part of their assets and but for the
depreciation of the State bonds would be able TO re-
deem all their notes at par. Others OF them invested
larrey in Confederate bonds, and exchanged their
State stocks for Confederate bonds and consequent
" their circulation is of little value. by the terms
of the charters of these State stock banks they were
required to deposit eighty per cent OF Their stock IN
State bonds with the Treasurer OF the commonwealth
as security to their note holders. The treasurer
was authorized to deliver to the bank, at any time,
an amount of stock equal 10 the amount OF notes OF
the bank presented to him for cancellatlon.-
The officers of somes of these banks, since they
have failed to redeem their notes at par,
have presented their notes in considerable
amounts, for cancellation, and demanded OF the
Treasurer an equal amount of the State bonds de-
posted by them The Treasurer refused to- deliver
the bonds held upon the ground that the deposit
was held in trust to the note holders and that
when the bank failed TO redeem its circulation at
par il could not avail itself of that provision of the
law until it went into liquidation, and decided the
mode of disposihg of its bonds and other assets with
n view of placing all the note holders on an equal
footing. / think this decision is obviously right.
The law as it now exists, gives the Executive very
little power over the banks to compel lqudatiOn.-
Last summer three commissioners were appointed,
and the officers of the several banks were requested
to report their condition to this commission Some
of them furnished reports, Others failed to report ana
some of the reports furnished were vague and nm
satisfactory. There has been much complaint by
note holders of the unsatisfactory nature of thesere
ports, and of the manner in which the banks have
conducted their business, since it became known
that they must 20 into liquidation. The acton OF
the Executive could not be complete in anything he
could do towards forcing them into liquidation;
therefore it was deemed prudent to take no action
in the case but to leave the matter to the Leglsla-
ture in which full power over the subject resides
Nv opinion is that all these banks should be re-
quired to go into liquidation Immediately ana That
law should by passed for that purpose, IN order to
secure the greatest benefit to those interested. am
satisfied that the longer this law is postponed the
less will the Aote holder receive.
OTHER ASSETS.
The State has invested several millions of dollars
in stock in the James River and kanawha Canal
ComDany and holds n large amount OF stock IN
turnpke roads and bridges but there is no hope that
any of these investments be relied on as sources
of revenue for many years to come, II ever. she
has also, some tobacco warehouses ana the armoTy
grounds in this city with which valuable water
power is connected. recommend that the armOry
grounds be sold, or leased.
LITERARY FUND.
From a report of H. W. Thomas, Esq, it appears
that on the first day of April, 1861, the Literary
Fund amounted to s2,3i47l4 ST. OF this sum,
Col 70 was invested in bank stocks Us ABOVE
stated, 81 O37 567 80 in the Internal improvement
Fund Sg6g5O in the old James River Company,
. 900 was loaned to Washington College, s4OO to
the city of Richmond and S454,923 Al was used
durnr the late rebellion for military purposes by the
Confederate State authorities. The residue was III
vested in the "old military SIX per cent deDt' Dahk
MI. sim INT Tho Dip RIM mi n
Western Banks will be partially realized as above
stated Washington College is not in a condition to
nav the 81 900 loaned to IT. the SlOO loaned TO tue
city of Richmond is supposed to be avallaOiei from
| the residue in old james River Company, bank
stocks &c. it is believed nothing will ever be re-
allied.
For anv practical purposes, it may be said, we have
no LONGER literary fund; it can only be relnstdted
by direct tax upon the people.
PAYMENT OF THE STATE DEBT AND TAXA TON.
The holders of Virginia State bonds are pressing
for the pavment of the interest due. On the first day
| NJ January next the interest due these bonds
will amount TO above six millions OF dollars. Va
rious pans have been suggested for funding this in
terest and the issue Of bonds for the same hearing
different rates of interest," those wh) hol no bonds,
for the most part propose that the bonds issued TO
nov this interest shall not themselves bear interest,
whilst others including the bond holders, ms u on
| different amounts of interest from one TO six per
cent, The English bond holders propose that the
State shall fund the interest uue lnel Issue bonus
for the same. and commence the payment of inter
ost on the whole debt on the first day OF January
| 1867.
careful consideration. Tie debt, with its interest,
mnst he paid at the same time we must look II the
ability of the people to pay. At present, we must
ralv mainly upon the tax on licenses, and upon land
! for raising the means TO supply the wants of the
Treasury. The war has consumed large amount OF
the live stock in the State. We can expect little
from tax on incomes; large portion o! our pub
lie debt il held by our citizens, and no tax can
he raised from that source until the holder receive
the interest due on it. The banks, with their divi
bends, are gone, and some eight millions of their
circulation, having at present only nominal value,
is for the most part in the hands of our own people
LARGE norton of the income yielding wealth Of the
State was invested in Confederate bonds, or other
issues all of which are valueess Slavery being abol
shed. no tax can be derived from that source.
Suppose West Virginia shall pay her full share &C.
cordng to the taxation of 1850 the residue is to be
paid bv Virginia. This leaves the assessment on
each taxpayer the same in proportion TO the whole.
The tax then was 40 cents. upon the one hundred
dollars of assessed value. large amount of i'm
provements on real estate destroyed during the
war this will reduce the value of real estate, in the
aggregate from lis present assessment so that il will
reoure tax on real estate OF ut lie St 60 cts the