Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-02-12
Richmond Correspondence.
EXCHANGE HOTEL, RICHMOND,


t sHaaY3439 ta 50 February, 1867. ! Z
.e Editors of Spectator. :s-ss1 ~ .'.eda a:fi
- Since the date Of my last letter,
candidates, or rather nominees, for Governor.
have increased to an almost indefinite extent.
/ cannot keep up with them, and will not at
tempt to give you their names. As was once
said with reference to the Presidency of the
United States, mo man is safe, and every pat
rotic citizen who is conscious of desire to serve
| the Commonwealth, is nervously expecting to
be called out. If anybody don't want to be
nominated, he had better take to the bushes -
Some disinterested and selfsacrifcing gentle
men hereabouts, talk of trying to get rid of 9TH
er candidates by putting Gen. Lee onthe track,
| without consulting him, aud whether he will or
| no. But this scheme does not receive much fa-
vor, being regarded by most persons as impoi
tic, and unjust to General Lee. One or more
of the city papers, insist that we must have
original secessionists, and thoroughgoing fight
ing men, for all the State officers, merely to
show the Yankees that we are still spunky-
Strange to say, these same papers declared with
equal vehemeence, little more than year ago,
that we should elect to Congress only original
Union men who could take the test oath.
The members OF the Legislature generally,
seem to be working with an honest effort to ad-
vance the interest of the State, as far as they
can 1t is pity, however, that members from
| the rural districts will not consent to be led
by the Richmond press. They would thereby
escape much abuse. The last session is said to
have been the first for at least forty years, when
every bill Or proposition brought before the
House Of Delegates was disposed Of when the
hour Of adjournment arrived. This almost un-
precedented achievement was due to the new
Rules, devised and rigidly enforced by Speaker
Baldwin.
| The great railing scheme lately legalized by
act Of the Legislature has already gone into op-
GRAFTON. The association has an office on Main
Street, with flag flying, and sundry flaming
posters inviting passers-by to drop in and take
a chance for the benefit Of Southern widows
and orphans. Everybody Of any right feeling
must approve Of the object in view, and the
| gentlemen having the enterprise in hand. COM
nand the public confidence; but | take the lib
| erty of saying that no such bill should have
been passed by the Legislature. Lotteries, raf
fles and gambling of every sort and description,
| are essentially wrong and injurious. Good ends
| can never justify bad means, and fear that, in
! this case, more widows and orphans will be in
| jured than will be benefited. [ understand
| that the bill received little more than the Con-
stitutional majority necessary to pass it.
Widows and orphans receive much sympathy
| nova days from certain class of aspirants for
popular favor and patronage. Lecturers and
showmen solicit the public to hear and see their
performances, all for the sake Of suffering hui
manity Walking down Main street a few days
ago, l was attracted by large placard on
| railroad car. The word Orphans was very
conspicuous, but on closer inspection [ found an
| invitation to the theatre
| Propositions and plans for common-school ed
ucatlon are very numerous this winter. They
| are all more or less expensive, but everything
good costs something, and presume the friends
OF primary, free school. universal education will
not object to tax amounting to from one hun
dred and twenty thousand dollars to one million,
a year, for this purpose, in addition to other
| taxes. eitH
| A bill has been reported to the House of Del
| egates providing for the payment of interest on
| the public debt, which is probably the most i'm
portant measure of the session. 1t contemplates
the calling IN OF all the outstanding bonds of
the State. and the issuing of new bonds redeem
| able In thirty years from January l, 1868, upon
which interest is to be paid at the rate of three
percent for the first four years, four per cent.
! for the next four years, and so on up to nine
per cent during the last four years. This is
| substantially the plan recommended by the Au-
ditor. The bill also provides for the sale, or
exchange for State bonds of all stocks, &C.,
held by the Commonwealth in works of inter
nal improvement. Various schemes are on foot
for transferring to the railroad companies the
States interest therein, upon condition that
they complete other connecting works within a
| limited time, and pay a certain bonus to the
State forever afterwards These schemes con-
fict, of course, with the one just mentioned,
and it is a question which promises the greater
advantage Many persons think that our first
object should be to diminish the public debt
directly, as proposed by the former plan; while
others argue that the same object will be ulti-
mately accomplished more benefcially by the
completion of our great railroad lines. Nobody
has any hope of an amicable adjustment of &C
counts with West Virginia, and suit in the
Supreme Court of the United States is conf
IDENTITY anticipated as the only mode of settle
ment Messrs Stuart and Janney two of the
Commissioners appointed by this State to con-
| fer with Commissioners from West Virginia,
have recently been here, but the latter did not
report themselves
been killed off for this session. The House of
Delegates clearly indicated, by a test vote on
the subject, few days ago, that they would
pass no bill of the sort having the retrospective
feature in it, and the advocates Of the measure
desire no other But you receive daily reports
bv Legislative proceedings, and [ need not al
lude to them further | will only mention that
scheme lately proposed, to sell out the Ma
nassas Railroad to the Orange and Alexandria
Railroad Company, ezcites apprehension In the
minds of some Valley members. lest it may
prevent the construction OF railroad further
up the Valley than Harl1sonburg.
[ learn that the authorities of West Virginia
have been making inquiries Of Governor Pier
point in regard to one Martin Lotts-as to
whether he was held in the Jail of Augusta
county. and would be surrendered to them on
requisition Has Martin committed any crime
in West Virginia, or is it a scheme to deliver
''persecuted Union man. from limbo?
The Exchange continues to be thronged with