The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-29
From tho Lynchburg Virgiuan.
The Einanea Question.

No" UIidI l!lC !ilrAiibsiS Vi Gilc LCSS
are enjoying their usual holiday recreation
with their constituents, we trust that they
will take pains to ascertain their views on the
subject Of The payment of interest OH the
State debt. And those constituents also
should put themselves to some trouble to
learn what their representatives really mean
by instituting measures thnt to the public
mind indicate purpose to repudia,c. They
should know what plan IS proposed i'll lieu
Of the funding bill Of the last session to sus-
tain the now sinking credit Of the Statc-if
that he the object Of the General Assembly.
II the people arc opposed to reputation in
any Shape or form, they should not fail to
impress their views upon those to whom the
great interests OF Virginia Ire now COM
nittcd.
1t is due to one Of our delegates with
whom we have convcrsel, and who voted
for all of the measures which we have cor-
demned, to say that he scouts the idea that
the Legislature WIS influenced in its proceed
inSs by any desire or purpose to repudiate
the States obligations, their only object
being, he says, to arrest for the present. the
operations of the funding bill, with the view
Of ascertaning il something better cannot be
devised. This lEly be 4 relief to some vino
are jealous Of TIC public credit aud the good
name Of Virginia, though it may not i'll their
eyes fully rondone the offence that has been
committed, whereby our credit has run
down sorpiGly. For ourselves we may say
and uuinlluenccd 10y motives of sclt-inter-
eSt--that we do not appeciate the force Of
all the objections that have been raised
against the funding bill of the last session,
although we know that it has been unpopu-
lar in many sections, and obnoxious to many
Of our people, especially that feature which
compounds interest And yet, we think that
there has been great deal Of unreasonlng
cl,nor on that subject. Tho creditors were
undoubtedly entitled to their interest, which
is all that the State can be expected to ply for
a generation to come; and since we had failed
to pay up the accruing interest regularly,
which would have been an Understanding
fund in the hands of the bondholdcrs, if they
had received it ; what less can we do than TO
compound principal aud interest i'll q new
bond and endeavor to pay the interest on
two-thirds OF the debt Jour fair proportion)
regularly hereafter. No one can deny
that it would have been much better
for the bondholders if they had received
their interest regularly sclni-lnnually-in ac-
cordance with the terms Of the original con-
tract made with the State-during the years
that We failed to pay interest. 1t would have
been a great relief TO many who actually
needed their interest to enable them to live,
while others who were not in such necessl-
tolls circumstances could have converted
their interest into other bonds or stocks that
would have brought them in IN annual or
semi-annilal revenue. We ought not, there
fore, to take advantage Of our own wrong, and
say that, because we first broke fIith with our
creditors and kept them out of their in
terest for series Of years, they have nc right
to q bond now which funds those long arrears
of interest. That portion of the debt Is
surely Us sacred and binding as any other
portion, and rs much deserves to be paid
when we shall be able to pay it; and as we
cannot pay principal now, we ought not to
expect the creditor to be content with less
than interest upon his arrears OF interest,
which, in the form Of ready money, had it
been regularly paid, would have exceeded by
five or six times the sum he will now receive
in cash by reason Of our failure to pay inter
est regularly during the years that have
passed. -.e.- -.-----.--~-
But it is frequently said that the funding
bill was passed through the influence or
combination OF bankers, brokers, and stock
jobbers, who used money In the Legislature
to accomplish their object. We know not If
tlliS clarSe DC well lCunueu II ih'ss VI may
not be. But this we know, that the State,
through its regularly constituted authorities,
entered into I new contract with its credl-
tors, and consider that by it we are bound
both legally and morally. We know, too,
that the repudiating party i'll Mississippi
took the ground that the debt Of that State
had been created by improper means, which
exonemted the people from all blame in re-
pudiatiug it. And yet disgrace was entailed
upon that State from which it has never re-
covered, and never will SO long rs its debt
remains uncancelled and uncompromised.
We want no such stain to rest upon Virginia.
And now, to prevent any misrepresentation
OF our views, we say that we arc not in favor
of paying the State debt at present. We
would leave that to those who may come
after us; for we, in our prostlation, could
no more pay that now than England in her
greater prosperity could extinguish her
colossal debt. But we would pay the inter-
est on two-thirds Of the old Virginia debt
and keep it down to its present magnitude.
And with an economical State government
we can do this, and that without increasing
the present rate of taxation.
Virginia Warned.
from tbe New York Evening Post.