The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-18
The State Debt.

TNrJWO Houses OF tlie l-cSiah'I'h' ne " az
last done something. On THURSDAY tlle sen
ME passed the House bill which directs the
payment of four per cent. lnterest-t"o per
,.nnt 1st Of January and two per cent. LIST Of
1uIy-uron the whole of the funded debt.
and m two-thr(s of the unfundcd debt.
This bill provides that persons receiving in
tercst under it shall be held to "acquieSce'
in the repeal of the coupon clause of the
funding bill.
The senate Just before they voted affirm
ati,clv on this bill passed over the veto of
Governor Walker the bill repeating the cou-
pom clause.
Thus after three months OF almost inces-
SAINT effort, we sum UP rs the practical result:
The funding bill of the 30th of March, 1871,
is intact. except that two per cent. less inter-
est is to be paid per annum; and in addition,
the rcrciyability of the coupons for taxes
us under that bill is ahro@atcd i'll so tar Us II
can lie by this Legislature.
The Legislature apparently felt that the
bill of Mr.. Cochran which undertook to III
rect what should hc received in payment OF
taxes. was in itself incomplete. and that II
would necessarily fall short of its aim. They
therefore supplemented it by the fourth sec
ton of the interest hill, which provides that
an acccptauce Of interest shall he held and
deemed IN acnuiesccnce in the provisions OF
Mr.. Cochran's bill. Now. if all the holders
of new bonds were compelled by their ne
crsSitics to take their inercst-monPy, the
fourth section being nlri of the law, 1t might
he that the LEGISLATURE had actually repealed
the ro,pon rlall>r: he;1ll-c an acceptance OF
interest, - II voluntary act of the holder
of the bond, would Of course hc con-
>trucd au :,,rwptanc" under and in pur-
Stance of In" terms of the act pro-
yidin1 for the payment Of the mic
rest. and rs such the bondhoioer
would be cStoppcd hy his own act in at
| tcmptin~ 10 assert the rcccivahity OF the
coupons in th" payment Of taxes. Were
| this the only danger to Mr.. CochranS bill. 1t
might possibly stand. But the real difficulty
| is here The holder of Il bond refusing to
receive interest. and standing upon the faith
and pcrfrctnc>S of his executed contract, by
proper proceeding in our law courts, will
| test the conStitutiOnality of the bill Itself.
If the COUPON clause Of the funding bill itself
| is constitutional, and we think il manilcStly
! is, then the attempt by this Legislature to im-
| pair the value of the taX-rcccivablc coupon
| bond must necessarily he mconstitll-
tional, and if 50, void and of 10 effect.
When this conclusion i, reached, we have
| the funding bill rs il WIS in every particular
save only we pay four instead OF six per cent.
The needy are not the only holders Of bonds
| of the State. and before this Assembly recon-
ycncS the case will he made and decided by
our highest courts, and we predict Just ldentl-
calIv the result above Indicated. An lgnoble
ending truly, after the uphcaval we here in
| Rorkingham went through. The State debt,
| even conccding that Mr.. CochlanS bill be-
came Il law. is not in any essential feature
lcrscucd, made smaller, or placed III doubt.
Those who aa>:lilcd it before the people
and on the floor of the House, and denounced
i, AS oppressive burdcnsome. and notfoundcd
in Justice, must stand ab;Shed at the ridicu-
ous ending of all their wise schcmins. Pos
sibly now to them may come an awakening,
and they will begin to see that Reputation
has at least some difficulties in its path.
WHY here III this county many of the peo-
ple were led to hope that Immediately upon
| the coming together Of this reform Lcgisla-
| ture the whole debt Of the State would he
wiped out in a .jitly; that ii resolution or Il
buncombe speech would pay it. TO our car
nest words they turned deaf ear, and would
not for while believe that Reputation was
either wrong or impossible. Now that all
the open advocates and marked abcttors OF
this abominabIe hercsy are humbled and dis
comtitted; now that the whole achievement
OF this crusade Of reform foots up all
| insignificant reduction of only two per cent.
| of the interest, we take it that our readers
will agree that we had grounds good and
sufficient for the faith that was in us. We
really. however, feel some surprise in find
ing that the action Of this Legislature thus
carly has vindicated the entire soundness
OF the views we expressed and of the
position we assumed. We were very
sure, though. that ultimately they would
he with us, for the truth will al
ways vindicatc itself in the end. For the
first and last time, we hope, this mad policy
has attempted to fost itself upon our Viz
ginia legislation. 1t retired sullenly, how
ever. and fired Il rctreatins shot i'll the lower
House in the shape of Il debtor-relicf bill.
This was promptly dismissed 10y vote Of j6
ayes to 40 noes. Messrs. Douglas, Bristow,
and O'Fcrrs,ll opposed the dismissal. McsSrs.
Brooke, Daniel. and Others favored it.-Har-
risonJurJ Commonwealth.