Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-04-28
ALEXANDRIA GAZETTE AND VIRGINIA ADVERTISER.
The Proposed Dismemberment of Virginia

A bill has been introduced into Congress Tor
theirepeal of the "act to retroccde the county
/ of Alexandra to the State Of Virginia. )" Why
not abolish the whole State at once They
have as much right in law or equity to do one
as the other The same pretexts which arc
set forth in the preamble Of the bill as ustifi-
cation Of the measure, would apply with equal
or greater force to the annexation Of the whole
State to the District Of Columbia These rea-
sons are that the rebellion has demonstrated
the wisdom of preserving the.ten miles square
under the exclusive control of. Congress, both
for civil and military purposes and orthe de-
fence of the capital. II this be true, would 1t
not still more conduce to the security Of the
capital, for Congress to exercise exclusive con-
trolo the whole State. s
What ideas may be entertained by these
Jacobins of what constitutes law we can't con
ceire. If Congress can by simple enactment
dismember State, we hope for the sake of
decency they will add at least one more to the
three-score and ten amendments already offered
to the Constitution; aud repea! from that III
strument the existing provisions On the subject
of State dismembernlent. We would respect
fuly inquire in what particular the county OF
Alexandria differs from the county OF Fairfax,
or any other county in the State. True, II at
one time constituted part OF the district, but
By the act Of retrocessi6n, all title on the Part
Of the United States was conveyed 10 Virginia.
If Congress has the power to repeal this act,
then Virginia can certainly exercise the same
privilege and repeal the act by hitch the land
was originally cedcd to the United States
We believe in law>t oldest deed which
can be produced is considered as establishing
the title to any lands which may be in dispute,
and we can see no reason why the same plnci-
pleshall not be applied here The territory
certainly belonged to Virginia long before it did
to the United States, indeed long prior. to the
existence CT any such government. Virginia,
therefore, has the oldest title, and has the last
conveyance in her favor also; we can. therefore
conceive of no title by which Congress can pre-
tend to claim the territory, except the eight OF
! the strongest. NE remember having hcart IN
| childhood OF what was known amongst Juveniles
as 'an Indian gift, this appellauoa being
used to designate q transaction not uEcOmnoD
amongst children OF very tender a@e, vino ire
quently from sudden impulse, Will give t.
another any article they possess, but claim the
privilege at, any time OF taking it back. " The
experience OF half a, dozen years At most, never
:
| and it remains Tor the Radical Congress to fur
nsh the only parallel to it in the history Of the
world The true cause OF this outrageous at
tempt to appropriate the property OF Virginia,
| is to be found in the provision OF the bill
which declares, that all civil Offices in the city
! OF Alexandria arc declared vacant, the vacan-
cies to be filed ~ new appointment Or ELECTIONS
10 the District of Columbia. This tells the
whole story, ard satisfactorily accounts Tor the
milk in the cocoanut. "--Lyachbmy 4Ncscs.
WHAT TIE South HAS osT--Mathcw J..
Maury, who, at the commencement OF the re-
| be!lion, was in charge Of the National Ohscrva,
tory in Washington, has written three column
letter to the London Morning Herald, in which
he gives the following estimate Of the losses Of
the South, caused by the war:
II estimate the amount Of the pecunlary
losses incurred by the people Of the Southern
| Contederacy. in their late attempt at lndercn-
dence to be not less than $1,000, 600 GOO seven
| thousand millions OF dollars, viz:
BY emanclpatlon...... ,'S,NUU UJ
Expenses GU,UtU,Ctp
| Destruction Of private property..... l.0GU.Cl&lND
! Additional taxation imposed BY
| the victor for payment Of Fcde-
\ 90
NUN, equal to six per cent inter-
est liTyJ,ENLVpI
Toa ,GN. GOO Goo
| This loss fails upon less than eight millions
Of whites, who have, moreover, IN addition, to
contribute largely towards the support OF the
four millions Of blacks who have been sudden
y turned loose among them, and who, for the
present at least. arc Incapable OF caring ior
| themselves. ..
This 81, 900, 000, 600 Of money was The accu-
mulated wealth of centuries; it constituted
nearly the whole Industrial plant and capital Of
the South. g."
=. WHIsKEY AND NEWSPAPERS IN exchange
paper. in discussing the relative merits and
estimated value Of these two articles. says; \
glass of whiskey IS manufactured from perhaps
a dozen grains Of corn, the value OF which Is
too SMALL to be estimated. a glass OF this
mixture sells for dime, and il a good brand,
is considered well worth the money. 1t Is
drank in q minute or two. 1t fires the brain,
sharners the appetite, deranges and Weakcns
the physical system. On the same sideboard
on which the Geleterious beverage is served
lies newspaper. 1t is covered with hall a
million of types-it briggs intelligence from the
! fouT quarters u tue S'oot. AIC bc""P'n l
costs less than the glass Of grog-the juice Of a
few grains of corn-:but it is no less strange
than true that there is a large number OF PEG.
PIE who t'Iink corn juice cheap and newspapers
dear.
DIFFICULTIES N KENTUCKY Judge Bal
! lard, Of the Z. S. District Court at louisville,
Kentucky, issued an order en- Thursday last
for the arrest Of Gen. j. G. Davis. tie new
military commandant Of Kentucky, Tor inter
tering with the course OF public justice in dls,,
nbeying writ Of habeas corpus 10 the case Of
| Henderson General Davis resisted the eSccl;-
ton Of the order, which is made returnab;e in
May Attachments were also issued against
General George H. Thomas, r. 81. johnson,
and General y. D. Whipple, Provost Mar
! shall of Tennessee, rcturnabe at the next regu-
| lar term Separate attachments nave been