The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-01-19

nm UNASSIGNED ad Tocate instead Of sutterfng
the calm and measured words sof cnieL
| magistrate, dealing impartialy with great
| public interests. And when he, eseW heie
| in his speech to the b0ndholders, Wofks
himself up to the pitch Of. saying that Il inc
funding bill had not been repealed society
would have been stripped of the protectlon
| of law, the Government would nave Deen
dissolved, and the Commonwealth pfungeu
Into the abyss Of bankruptcy" it occurs 20
nv humble apprehension that MS fegasus
| cot, the bit between his teeth and maoiy
dashed at will over all factR, philosophy, anu
history. i. .g,-r-r .o-,s ,,o
met they had before them the simple ai1erha-
Live of legyiug taxes sufficient to meet an Tue
engagements of the Commonwealth OF VI
refusing to do so, and bringing upon ber LUG
calamities, moral and material, Wblcn surrey
and swiftly follow In the tram OF Dco r.s,
nately 7 think. chose the latter course, anu,
| az T must ever believe, in doing so drove
g stern ruins poughsbare full on" the rHing
nrosnerity of the Common wealth. TO have
adonted the other course required OF them
| little seIE.apnesatiop, some courage, anu
stern,inditference to popular c!amor--Vlrtues
which are seldom practiced by politicians;
| None know better than they how widespread
is that distemper which Lord Castlereagh
once fplicitously termed "the ignorant lm.
natience of taxation" and none are so apt
rs thew to trembl at the groWls of that mon
ster called "the people" "
! know of no fact which authorizes the
Governor to say that the people of Virginia
are unable to bear further taxation. Within
the district of country with which am ac-
nuainted I have not known or heard OF
single forced sale of property to pay taxes.
1t is true that men complain of taxes, out
| this Is an infirmity of human nature-at
least, of .Anglo-Saxon human nature. In
nv boyhood, when taxes were twenty cents
on the 800, I learned from what then
heard that grumblng is the inalienable prl-
vilege of the Virginia Taxpayer. When
turn to the Auditors report find that with
4 total revenue of S2,421 1881 actually col
lected there was deficiency in tue payment
of the property-tax OF only 800 .o2-not
the fortieth part Of the whole assessment, ana
this too in time of exceptional and severe
stringency in the money market, consequent
upon the panic. This is certainly no unusual
deficiency, and points to anything but ~"
ability on the part of taxpayers. Ine 10
vernon arrays in appalling millions the
amount of Federal taxes imposed upon the
people of Virginia, and argues from IL our
inability to bear further burdens. he tells
us that in the shape Of tariff taxation on ar
ticles actually consumed we pay annually
into the Federal treasury S5,9I6, 4O1.95. l
draw very different inference from these
figures from that deduced by his Exeellency.
Why should we call that people poor who
are able to pay tax Of six millions on luXu-
ries consumed by them? And what shall be
said of the honesty of people who eau
readily spare six millions for brandy,
wines, tobacco, cosmetics, jewelry, and
costly apparel, but say they are un-
able to pay a million OF honest State
debt? say nothing of the S7,3lS,O!o.o6
which it Is said we are compelled 10
pay as an internal-revenue tax on tobacco
and WhiSkey. OF course we get a large por-
ton of this back from the consumers outside
the State. To so much Of these articles as
we consume my argument equally applies.
They are luxures which the honest man
should buy only when he has paid his just
debts. The face Of every honest Vifglnlan
should have tingIed with shame to read il
DR.. Ruffner's school report of 1873 the start
llnG luoL liz OSi"oiNioo poo
ple of Virginia swallowed in the shape OF
alcoholic beverages S12,0O0,000 per annum
Oh, my countrymen, what Falstatnan pic
ture of sobrety and of honesty
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The arm'd rhnoceros, or the Hyrean tlser'
Take any shape but that"
IF we look to the rates of taxation which
have been and are to. day cheerfully borne
Inv other States and countries we derive
no announcement in our persistent course
Of reputation. Of course, | do not allude
TO our unfortunate sister States OF the South,
on which Radical yultures have been gorg'
inc themselves. But look 10 the commercial
States of the North, the agricultural States OF
the Northwest, where at no time 10 their his
torV has taxation been lower than 1t would
he with US if we levied the full amount
necessary TO pay every dollar Of interest on
the public debt. Look at desolated France,
with an enormous public debt already ex-
istinp. called upon ut the end of an exhaust
ing war to pay to her cOnqueror $l,OOO,-
OOO, 900 by way Of indemnity /; and mark The
noble selt-sacriicing spirit of her heroic
people in bringing to the public Golfers more
than was needed twice over to pay even
such demand. Look at the country from
whom we probably claim our descent, whose
language we speak, "whose morning drum
beat, following the sun and keeping com-
pany with the hours, circles the EARTH" In
all the long and glorious history of England,
extending through centuries, through
changes of dynasty, through changes of go-
yernment through revolutions, through
wars that have shook the earth with their
thunders and consumed the very subsistence
! of her people, through famines that have
| 1 r. her .rirt islaI
through monetary crises that have crushed
her industries and shaken her institutions to
the very foundation-wheu was it ever
heard that she paused to discuss the question
whether she was able to bear taxes sufficient
to pay her public creditors? What British
statesman, whether in thS Ministry or the
Opposition, has ever dared to hint at repudi-
alton in her House Of Commons!
a distinguished French writer of the pre-
sent day, portraying the Saxons of the Hep
tarehy, Notwithstanding his Celtic preJu,,
dices, SAYS of them: independence and
bravery shoulder amongst this young nation
with violence and excess; but these are OF
Themselves noble things; and no less noble
are the sentiments which serve them Tor OILS.
cinline-to wit. an affecttonate devotion and
respect for pli9hted faith. These appear IN
their laws and break forth in their poetry"
Bluff, honest, beefeating John Bull has not
lost this inheritance from his Saxon ances.
tors. No sacrifice has ever been deemed by
him too great to pay in full bis honest
debts. I need not 90 beyond my own
memory for illustrations. In the year
1871. when Great Britain was passing
through one of the severest commercial
and monetary crises she has ever known !;
when five successive crops had failed; when
wheat was at seyenty.two shillings the quar-
ter $50 1R ner busheD and wages at five cents