The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-01-05
From the Winchester Times.

A cloud Overcasts tue credit OF Virginia III
the financial circles Of the North and OF ELL
rome. Her fair fame is somewhat obScured,
and ugly epithets are applied to her conduct,
which are as offensive to the pride as they
are harmful to the business prospects OF her
citizens. 1t is charged that her Legislature
has put her in an attitude OF bad t;lth TO-
wards her creditors, and there is color, II not
complete justification, for the charge, III the
strange action Of the House prohibiting the
payment of her january interest when there
was enough and to spare in the Treasury.
We hope and believe, however, that the
difficulty is only temporary, and that the
Legislature, upon reassembiing after It's
Christmas frolic, will adopt such wise mea-
sures as will reGstabish upon firm basis
the damaged credit of the Commonwealth.
With due Difference to the opinions OF
Judge Meredith and the authors of the fund
inc bill, we are firmly persuaded that the
main cause of all the trouble is that feature
of the bill which makes the coupons Oh the
new bonds receivable for taxes. But for that
there would have been plain sailing. There
would have been no resolution suspendlng
the funding, and no hesitation about paying
the January interest. 1t was novelty, an
anomaly to the Virginia mind, and ut once
aroused widespread and determined oppo-
sition. It made two classes of taxpayers.
1t made the bondholders greater, than the
State itself. by providing that they should be
paid before dollar of taxes could be applied
to the support of the Government. 1t was
in derogatiOn Of the sovereignty of the State
and took away from the people the complete
control, through their General Assembly,
over the question OF taxation, which 1t Is
essential that State should at all times re-
tain-in peace as we'll as in war. Finally IL
gave, or purported to give, the bondholder
compulsory legal process, by writ OF NAH
damus, against the State, i'll the persons Oh.
its tax-colectors. The taxpayers, except
such as had bonds to fund, felt that It was
an insult, and flew into a rage about it. Ihey
were willing to pay their taxes, but they
were not willing to have them legally alb
sorbed. They would walk up to the rack,
but would not be driven. This Is the clue
to tile whole matter.
There are as honest men in the Legislature
as any in the State, and among, the noisiest
and maddest opponents of this coupon fea-
ture are to be found men who would rather
lose their right arms than bring discredit
upon Virginia. The idea of reputation
never entered their heads. 81 .t.- H..
All they want is clear, full, and sufficient
light on the subject, and O satisfactory state
ment of the exact financial condition of the
State, about which there have been conflict
ing opinions, even among the functionaries,
who ought to know all about it. Most of
them have made pledges to their constituents
that they would not vote to increase the rate
of taxation beyond the present 30 cents on
the 500; and as soon as it is demonstrated
to them, as we think now it can be demon
strated, that the interest on the two-thirds of
the debt and the expenses of the Govern
ment can be met at the present rate of taxa
ton, the Legislature will meet the question
lnanfully and honestly. ,
Our advice to the body, which we thinka an
ADLER one than its predecessor, is to pay out
promptly the January interest, and to set
earnestly to work about the business Of re-
| trenchment. IL
When all the unnecessary leaks and drains
| upon the Treasury are stopped, and the rail-
roads are made to pay fair proportion of
the taxes, the financial problem is solved. -