The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-01-19
FIR the Dispatrh.1
EdunssRd Peastieton. Esq., ON the sLh ass
HE nespt and FundAng BiR1. w

1&SBmEroURr COUNTY, January 0, 1870. Z
Messrs. Editors,-There Is perhaps nc
tonic touched in the last annual message OF
the Governor of such commanding and VIDE
spread Interest to the!peopleas che puple
debt. Besides that. general interest Hhlch
ali citizens of the Commonw ealth must ne
cessariIy feel in asuhject $50 intimately con,
nected not only with Its honor and good
name hut also with its material wealth and
prosperity, ] have felt somewhat personal
interest In. Che subject from having oeen q
member of that Legislature which IN the
winter of 1s70-'7l adopted the hnanc'al
measure Familiarity known as the tuna
ing BILL" In this age Of stay laws, nome.
stead laws, bankrupt laws, and other scnemes
and devices under the forms OF law lot re-
pudlaing aud deferring private ooiigatlons,,
It has been an easy task for demagogues ana
politicians to ipgratiate themselves lnto
popular favor by persuadlng tne un,
thinking masses to raise hue ana
cry against that measure, or, indeeo,
against any measure which looked 10
a scrupuous ful1lment Of public engage,
meuts. 1t is, unfortunately, too true that
there is nothing of which the people are SO
easily convinced as that they ought not 10
nav taxes. Fucilis eat descens4s duern1 !;
and the rath of stern duty is in this case, a.
NOT upfrea,ently, strewn with thorns. Still
if ia the Dah of duty, and must be trod, even
with wounded feet, by those who do not
nrefer disgrace to wounds. It is consollng
70 know that it leads, through what din
entities soever, to blessed fields beyond,
where are green pastures by the side
Of still waters. Neither nor any member
of the General Assembly who voted for the
rundjpp bill supposed we were preparing a
bed of roses for the people of Virginia. We
attempted, to the best of our ability, TO pu'
the public debt in such shape as would be
most available 10 the creditors Of the Com
monweal,b and least burdensome 70 its peo.
ole. consistently with the preservation of
plirhted faith. I have waited patiently TO
see v hat wiser measures would be adopted
bv those who have so unsparingly criticized
and condemned our action, and yet, after
four years. dcliberation, nothing is done and
nobody ventures to propose any scheme
which does not, in greater or less degree, in
v1re violation OF public faith and the con-
seuucnt dishonor of the State, The Legis-
Iature repeul d our scheme, and yet stands
trembling on the bank of an angry stream,
which all see must be crossed, but into
whose SuTpiUS tluc, SiONIus Gull
AID swifter, they dare not plunge.
am one Of those who dare withstand
popular clamor and vindicate the funding
bui.. believe that good faith to the public
creditors required its passage. / believe that
it was the wi$est plan for the permanent ar
r. ngement of the State debt which could
have been devised under the circumstances
then surrounding us; and | believe that if
it had been honestly carried out, rs was a
plain duty, it would not only have surround.
ed the gray temples Of our venerable old
Common wealth, blasted by the hot breath
of war, with an uufadiug wreath,
bat would have infused into her
blood the young vigor of a new prosperity,
which would bave soon led her to forget the
mourntul past in contemplating the bright
future which would have opened to her
view. Sincerely entertaining these convic-
tons, propose, briefly, to state some of the
reasons which appear to me to sanction
them. l do this not with the view of de-
Tending The Legislature which enacted the
funding bill, nor myself as one of its men,
bers. l feel confident we might safely leave
our Yindcation TO time and well-considered
public opinion; and if this were my only, or
even my cnief, object should not ask An inch
of your valuable columns. As one Of the peO-
pie of Virginia, born and expecting to die on
her bosom, | wish, if possible, to persuade
my itlIow-cilizens-though speaking with
out official authority from an humble pri-
rate sation-to adopt that course on great
public ques ion deeply affecting us all which
appears 10 ne TO be the only refuge from
impent,ag dishonor aud ruin.
Goyeruor kcmper, In document accom-
panying bis message, under the garb of an
address TO the public creditors with how
much good taste and with how many official
precedents to guide him shall not presume
TO say, arraigns his predecessor in the guber-
Material office for having, either through ig-
uorance or by intention, go misrepresented
the financial resources and property values
of the Common wealth as to persuade the Le-
gisa,ure of 1S70-'71 into what he is pleased
to call "the appalling mistake of pledging
the State to pay more than aoas possible to be
paid" And to show to the British bond
holders how plastic material Governor
Walker found on which 10 make his i'm
preSsions he thus portrays the Legisla-
lure which clothed his false scheme
in the forms of law: "The funding bill be-
came law when nearly all the experienced
public men of the State had been shut out
from participation in its government. They
were practically DISTINGUISHED by measures
resulting from the late war. Those who le-
gislated for Virginia were generally new
men, unused to public affairs, and called
suddenly to the control of the most impor.
tart and intricate financial and other inter-
estS. testify that many of these ltbe Gov
ernor does not tell Us how manyl who voted
for the funding bill were patriotic and in
corruptible men, who acted on the purest
CONVICTIONS" He seems to leave his audi
ence to add (what politeness forbade himto
saw that "the many" who were, honest
were none the less ignorant and plastic.
should perform certainly task to which
| am not invited, perhaps work OF super
erogation to the people of Virginia, if I'm.
dertook to defend Governor Walker against
the elaborate indictment OF his successor.
If I volunteered in the cause might justly
say that when Governor Walker sent in bis
financial message Of 1870 property values
were unsettled by the disastrous civil war
from which we had just emerged; that he
had not then access to the returns Of the
census of 1870, or of the township assessors,
which Governor Kemper Celebrates with
such unwearying industry; that if he over.
estimated the financial resources and taxable
values of the Common wealth it was because
of insufficient data and for the laudable end
of persuading the Legislature and people of
Virginia to tine scrupulous observance OF
their traditional good faith; that be Was
born and educated in State where the
prompt fulflment of public obligations has
led to material prosperity unexamped in
modern times; that whilst Governor Walker
looked prospectiyely with buoyant hope to
the genial influences of restored public
credit, an influx of new population and cap
ital, and an increased industrial activity,
Governor kemper looks retrsspectvely
through the effects of broken faith and its
inevitable consequences eff1uy of popula.