The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-02-02
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.

remains to be done. They have repealed that
portion of the third article of the Constitution
which imposed disabilities upon large and
merritorious class of our citizens. They have
made the crimes of burglary and horsestealing
punishable with death, or confinement in the
Penitentiary for a period not less than FIVE
years. They have passed bill in relation to
the marriages Of colored persons, providing
for their registry and declaring that where
colored persons have heretofore cohabited
together, whether the rites of marriage have
been celebrated or not, they shall be deemed
husband and wife, and subject to the. duties
and obligations of that relation They have
passed stringent laws providing for the pun
ishment of rape, abduction and unlawful mar
riage. They have provided that for all crimi-
nal offences committed by colored persons,
tho punishment shall be the same as in the
case of white persons, and that in all crjmi-
nal prosecutions against colored persons, they
shall be entitled to trial by Jury, They have
declared that hereafter the evidence of colored
persons shall be heard in ali legal Investigations
at law, or in equity, and to have such weight
and credence as the Jury, Judge or Justice
may think proper to attach to it, provided,
that when the parties to the proceedings are
all whites, the evidence of no colored person
shall be received to provefacts occurring prior
to the LIST day of January 1868.
These, we repeat, are important measures,
but their Constituents expect much more at
their hands. The Stay Law has not yet been
passed and they will fail to come up to the
exigencies of the times and the requirements
Of the hour, if they adjourn without providing
wholesome and salutary restraint upon those
remorseless creditors who, sfylock like, insist,
upon payment because it is so Nominated in
the bond" and who are determined to "put
money in their purse though their unfortu-
nate but honest debtors may be thereby re-
duced to bankruptcy and ruin. A general
Stay Law is absolutely necessary, as a mea-
sure of repose and to enable the people to re-
euperate their shattered fortunes and to recov-
er from the severe and overwhelming losses
which they sustained during the war. And
again, it must be obvious to all rejecting,
practical men, that Virginia can never be re-
stored to the proud position to which she is
entitled, until some measure is devised which
will invite labor and capital to her borders.
Many of the most fertile and productive farms
in the State are now lying idle and uncultiva-
ted, and are likely to remain SO, for the want of
laborers. Experience thus far has abundaut-
.ly shown that the Freedmen, as class, can
not be relied upon and the Bill now pending
in Congress, to enlarge the powers of the
"Freedmens Bureau" is not calculated to
stimulate them to enter int contracts and
work for a living.
Everybody at all acquainted with their
habits and character knows that they will not
be disposed to work, when they are assured,
in advance, that in the event of their failure
to do so, they are to be adopted as the wards
of the Government" and food, clothing, medi-
cal attendance, and transportation are to be
furnished free of cost, Judging the future by
the past, it is fair to conclude that no reliable
system of labor will be organized until some
comprehensive plan is devised for the intro
duction Of immigrants, and in view of the
paramount Importance of the question, it is to
be hoped that the Legislature will adj
dress themselves to it without any unnecessary
delay. The farmers not only need labor, but
they need money to enable them to procure
the necessary teams and agricultural imple-
ments. They cannot hope to borrow money
at per cent. per annum, when it readily
commands in the market from three to five
per cent a month. The Northern capitalists
will not send money to Virginia for invest
ment at per cent, when he can send it to
other States where the legal rate of interest is
as high as eight, ten, and twelve per cent. 1t
may be said that the farmer cannot afford to
pay more than per cent. per annum for the
use OF money, the rate now prescribed by law.
That may be true, but it is we'll known that
other classes do pay higher rate of interest
than per cent, whether hey can afford to
do so or not, and that the prohibtory statute
are dead letter. The time has come when
we must surrender our preconceved notions
in regard to usury laws and take practical
view Of the situation as we find it, The rules
of political economy as taught in the schools
must be made to conform to circumstances as
they arise. If we would obtain money from
abroad, we must offer inducements to those
who have it and who are seeking investments.
W. +rue+ +bot tbe .aUiSlatura will NOT odourn
until this subject is disposed of in a practical
business-like manner