The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-23

said debt wasincurred for, anQ WHAT amount
Of this State debt was then held by the COM
nlissioners Of the sinking fund and by the
board Of the library fund. Also, that we
should "ascertain and report the amount OF
all investments then held by the state, their
respective amounts and character, ana whal
portions thereof were then productive, and
the dividends therefrom, and whether any OF
such investments were then so held by the
authorities of said State, and if 80, the amount
and how disposed Of" Also, that re should
/" ascertain and report the revenue derived
for the fiscal year ending on the 30th OF sep
tember, 1860, from all sources by the State oi
Virginia within the present territory Of Viz
ripia. and the amount derived from oil
sources from the territory now comprising
the State of West Virginia" and also thai
we "report any other relevant mntter deemed
proper" hy Us.
In addition to the foregoing duties thus
deyolved upon lis by the terms OF the joint
resolution passed on the 18th OF Februar!
we were "furthcr empowered" in the lam
e1iare of the additional joint resolution pass
ed on the 9th Of the same month, "to pro
coed as soon as practicable to adjust, award
and determine upon fair, just, and equitable
principles what proportion OF said pubic
debt of Virginia should, in their opinion, be
naid l,y West Virginia. and what part thereof
should be paid by Virginia, subject, however
TO the approval and ratification of the Legls'
lature Of West Virginia and the General AS
sembly of Virginia"
Under this authority and direction, thu;
minutey specified to US, we felt called upon
to take substantially the same steps after the
receipt of Governor Walkers letter OF Sep
tember 7th as we would have taken had We
expected to meet commissioners representing
Vi10inia-viz., to 60 to Richmond and en-
deayor to gather the information expected
and REQUIRED under the terms of our appoint
mcnt. a..
ACCORDINGLY we met in that city on the 9th
of November last, and after spending seyera
DAYS in the examination of such public docu
mcnts rs were available to us at the capitol
and realizing the necessity for further ano
more explicit and official information than We
could either Of ourselves unassisted from
said documents, we addressed the following
note to the Second Auditor Of Virginia
RICHMOND, November IA, 1871.
To tic Stcond 4uditor Of VirJiatd:
| sir-I am directed by the commissioners repre-
| scntng West Virginia in the matter OF inc pubu'
debt Of yrsnia prior to Inc t 1i n can can
|
T. The actual amont Of tho public debt of Vr
SniI tho S amounts Of said cJt owned by tho slpkini
fund tho amount owned by the literary fund.- an'
tic amount hy the lhr;1 [aI.d ,obt WAS invested
and how Invested, on TIE lst of January, 1891 Also
portion Of the s was tbereo
for the Year 1861 ana whether any such Investment
h Wt a. since Iecn donated, changed converted o.
otherwise slslosu o ~ TIN onnronrIotIon, exrendc1
WIZ vrE riiian e for 'n puby
,r r. tie sales OF State bonds and what portion
! NoTn tho r,.ycnucS or taxes OIL Virginia.
f. 4 cory Of the advertisement for the redemption
| "f a portion Of Tic public de-. on the Isl oil 'ahu
~ st,rcr,ent of the amount Of public debt &C
tuqliv redeemed the Isl OF January lSGl, p'irsu
~ H. sri! advertisement. ,
l-nnn these points the commissioners uesire 10 lci
| from you at Your earliest convenience.
Very RESPECTFULLY, Your 1bculenl seFtant,
\. ". CAMPBELL, Secretary.
In reply TO the foregoing communication
| we received the following note at D O'CLOCK
Oh the evening Of the 10th of November
after the lapse of two and half days, ant
Yftcr We had abandoned all hope Of the a.
sistarce asked for in our letter, and after, il
fact. we were on the eve of our departure
for home:
SECOND AUDITORS OFFIcE,l
RICHMOND, November TO- ISL.
4. ". Campbell, Esq. Secretary, &C.:
Dear Sir-Yours Of the 18th was received. io'
mcc;oi with cur public debt, the transactions Of tn
Board of Public WORKS In regard to It. and the lnan
cla affairs Of the State, which 1t Is UNDERSTOOD,
course Won propose TO use in the contemplated az
justlncnt OF the portion TO he paid By west Vlrgh
To answer the questions propoundel would lnvolv
nil amount OF Dor which we could not bestow OF
lie subject. But, apart from thIs, presume tat a
IN early day this office vii DO c3lod upon by m
| = IL n
t!cttls1 reports OF all inc matters referred to- Which
vii! Ec available 10 yoiI. - -
The hooks, AID records Of this Office are open It
rust tia: in failing TO respond TO your Inquire
YOU viii rot regard me as in any wise wanting III ON
cla courtesy to you or your associates Hone' Ger
have the honor to he, most respectfully yours,
ASA ROGERS.
With the reception of this note the com
missioners closed their labors in Richmond
| 1nding that g further stay was not likely X
add 20 the scant Information already gleanct
by them from the public documents.
| It is proper TO say in connection with tn
Second AUDITORS communication that VIC, il
delivering our own communication to him
| caused it to be verbally understood that w
were ready and willing to pay for the ser
vices Of an expert competent to obtain for IL
the information requested, and that we dit
not desire or intend to trench upon the ser
vices of any one with whose duties the labo
required might seriously conflict.
After this termination Of their visit tt
Richmond the commissioners agreed to NEE
again on the 18th Of December following u
Pmkersburg, there to prepare and TRANSMIT
to YOUR Eycellency such information as the.
had been able to obtain, and such rs the.
might still further obtain, and along with
such an expression Of opinion as is called 70
in the joint resolution Of February 24th.
Accordingly we met in Petersburg at tn
date named, and after nearly two weeks G
examination and comparison Of all the source
OF information accessible to us agreed upol
and drew up the facts and statements herein
after presented.
Previous to this meeting we had just r.
ceiyeJ copies of the Richmond papers of DE-
cember 7th, continuing Governor Walker
message to the General Assembly of V1rgini
at its meeting OH the 9th, in which we OF
served that among other illusions to the deb
question pending between the two States
end aftera reference to our correspondent
with him Of August last, and his answe
thereto, as already quoted, he proceeds t
arnign the good faith OF the authorities
this State rs follows:
"Now, if the authorities of West NirSinI
entertained an earnest desire to make
speedy and final settlement of this matter
why did they not accept our tender of a
arhitration-a mode Of settlement of sue
controversies universally recognized by bot
nations and individuals as right and apprc
pirate: Suppose an equal number of con
missioners appointed by each State, and tina
they should meet and disagree upon an
or all points involved, who is to decide bt
tween them? And yet, beyond doubt, the
would radically disagree upon the first Q
chief point to be settled-viz., the basis 9