The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-19
State Securities.

-. State Securi ties.
The manifestations Of tho temper o. '.''
legislators In the capitol have causes "
cline In State credit. Should 'he n''ai as''va
10 ~ niece will, whit has been ae'elot""'
the tumble-down in tho public cream VIII oe
great. ..,o. os ,re said
sos,e,,,,v. how far Virginians can afford 10
.,,o,r The credit Of the Commonwealth 70 De
;n,aircd. We arc too poor to bear any ma
terial discredit OF our State bonds. IL Is 70
orr interest that the honor and credit Of Viz
e.;nia should be unsupported. We desire
public and private credit to be good. II Is
necessary that it should be so, that immi-
grants and capitalists may be invited to invest
4 and to locate within our borders. we can
not EXPECT our lands to be sought after, we
cannot expect our commerce to flourish,
under an indefinite postponement OF the
public obligations. Such a blow as tha'
upon public credit undoubtedly must taint 10
a degree the private credit of the people
The inference always is that people VINO
are not scrupulous about the public honor
are not themselves to be too readily confded
in.
So that we cannot permit the honor OF the
State to be tainted without suffering from
some degree Of stalcncss in the private rcpu-
tation of the community. Now, how can we
endure such consequence as that? There
never was q time when we were SO poorly
able to bear 1t.
Had Virginia Immediately after tho war
deliberately passed an act reducing the pubic
debt, setting forth in the preamble the causes
that forced her to That step-hcr loss Of pro-
perry by the war her loss OF territory her loss
Of wealth In all forms; and, worse than oil, her
loss of so many thousands Of her gallant sons-
and provided for the immediate payment OF
interest upon what she undertook in that net
to pay, the whole world would have s's-
tained her. But this she did not do. Her
representatives in grave deliberation decided
10 nav all that she owed, and funded the in
terest which had accrued during the war.
Subsequently another Legislature ordered the
funding of the debt in bonds with coupons
attached, and declared their readiness to pay
four per cent. interest upon the debt on Tie
lat january, 1872. We now, with these mea-
sures before us, arc Six years removed from
the war. We have closed the door against
any compromise greater than the assumption
of the debt at four per cent. rs our part OF
the interest until we settle with West Viz
GINA. To pause now in our policy and at
tempt something new will deprive lis of the
faith and respect of the world and place Viz
pinia amongst the least reliable Of communi-
ties.
The questions for our legislators are there
fore of the most solemn and vital nature.
There should be no waste Of time, no trlillng
with these considerations.
We warn gentlemen against putting too
much faith in the murmurs from the coun-
try. The anti-taX agitation is as old as the
hills At every increase of taxes i'll past
days down to this time, from six cents Oh
the hundred dollars on up to fifty, the whole
State has been shaken to its foundation.
What would a man cay now were he told
that when tho tax was raised from six cents
to ten many of those who voted for the
increase were defeated by the anti-taX pco-
pies candidates, who swept many counties,
and got seats in the Legislature to move re-
solutions Of inquiry, and subSidc on four dol
lars day for session which they were al
ways glad to soc prolonged by any votes but
their own. This class of public men arc
everlasting-they never have died out, and
never will quit the earth.
Wo have not yet come to the conclusion
that anybody in the Legislature who pos
ses.es intelligence and standing in The coun-
try Will avow himself in favor Of repudia-
ton. But let gentlemen consider how far
they imperil the credit and prosperity of
their State by the passage OF measures which
have au awful squirting towards rrpudia-
ton