Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1871-07-15
cosT OF A CONVENTION.
Judge Ferguson's Estimate. Figures
that Don't Lie.

upon Is tle ltlleDSe COST OF q SuuFNAs4viA' -
is persistently alleged that i; viii cost hun
dreds Of thousands Of dollars, by men who
ought aad 10 know better Now in order to
arrive at a right conclusion as to the cost Of a
Convention let us appeal to the figures, and
figures, it is said, won't lie, and they woa't
when fairly dealt with.
The Convention is to be composed Of seven
ty-eigbt members, and their pay is IS per day,
and the costs Of the Convention per day inclu-
ding its officers will be as follows:
rs members at So each per day..............S2S40O
Secretary at $40 per daY................... lOOO
I Assistant Secretary at sc per day., 600
Sergeant alarms at s. per day............. 800
DO0rkecpcr at s. per day.................... 3OO
Pages at s. per day, eaeh................... 400
Janitor at - per 500
r,,.l Nor dav...........................s 265. 90
Saw the session lasts As DAYS, the same as the
legislature, at S36j per day, the cost Of members
and officers viii yZ1
Room rent, fuel and igtts................. l,OOO
Printing and stationery. 5,OUO
OVAL si7,925
But suppose the convention TO sit co days, the
nav of les members and officers viii be...Sl 300
Room rent fscl lights, printing and sta
t0nery o'VVV
Total .s2l, 900
Then suppose we ada $500 for contingencies,
and we have the whole cost Of go days session Oh
the 900
And it is useless TO talk about the Conven-
ton sitting more than co days, and my Opiu-
ion is that it will not sit more than As days
The sort Of Constitution to be adopted is as
well understood to-day as 1t will be when COM
pleted. and it will not take long to put it in
shane. Ard I am not without evidence Of the
correctness Of my estimate of the costs Of the
Convention. have taken the trouble Of ex-
aiming the several appropriation bills passed
by the Legislature since the organization Of the
State, TO see what it has cost to run the Le-
gislature. That body as you arc aware, is
composed Of rs members, the same as the Con-
yention, but it is more expensive for the reo-
son that it is composed Of two branches, and
has double set Of officers, while the Conycn-
ton is single body with but one set Of officers
And then the printing for a session Of the Le-
eiSlature is necessarily five times as much as it
can be for The Convention, and my estimate Of
s., 900 for this item is very extravagant one.
Bat 10 efacts:
The first session Of the legislature under our
Constitution was in actual session over one hun
dred DAYS. and the appropriation they made for
their expenses including pay Of officers. printing,
stationery, and rent of Lindsey Institute was
'''''-''' ''''' S37, 500
For the session offset, for IS days the APP
preparation, including pay Of officers,
printing; stationery, rent OF Lindsey In
stitute and repairs to same was..........Sl5 800
For session OF 1868, for 80 days the appro-
pration, not including the rent OF Llnds-
lev Institute, wv
For 1896 a. DAYS ............. %, 900
For 1867, IS $4,000
For 1865 regular session, - DAYS, and spe-
cial session 70 make the code, l02 days, IN
AN IN S1uVVu
For 1850 As $4,000
For lS7O. As 10000
Thus in eight years we have had in all, in
clu6mg the year 1870, Mise sessions Of the
legislature. The whole number Of days
occupied at these nine sessions was o65,
and the whole costs. SZIuVOV
Take the seven sessions Of As days each,
and the average cost i,V'l
Take the whole nine sessions, including the
tNN 4luA "HN'f Ai-N At- 81 So wv ' ~
With these figures before me, appeal to
YOU If / am not warranted in my assertion that
the whole cost Of the Convention will not OK
coed twenty-five thousand dollars, and we can
hold it as VIC did the extra session Of the le-
gislaturs in 1867. without increasing the taxes
one siYglc cent. But suppose We 10 have to
increase the taxes to pay the costs Of the Con
ventiou. let us see what it viii amount to.
The tsza5ge property in 1870 amounted to the SUN
81, U.s. ,Vlt.Vu
Two cents on each 500 value of this pro
pcrty viii produce. z1,uu'.tu
Three ccuts viii produce. 3s,0lllO
A sum more than sufficient, after payingal
the costs Of tho collection, to pay the expenses
Of a session Of sixty days. SO that man
worth 500 viii pay, say three cents, taxes for
this Convention If he is worth $500, six
cents; $500, fifteen cents; $1,000, thirty
cents; $4,000, $3.50, and if he is worth
$4,000 he viii pay IS additional taxes.
Now, after all this, will any one be frightened
ont of the support Of a Convention by this silly
aU1 false hue and cry Of its immense cost?