Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-10-04
Ex-Governor Walkers Speech.

Ex-Governor Walkers Speech.
= In;Governor Walkers apeeeh in Richmond
last Tuesday night be said: and provcd5that the
State debt vas al honest debt and should be
paid:-
us it urged that because Of the division OF
the State and the destruction of property BY
the war our obligations have been cancelled al'i
our liability anuuIled? There have been meo,
T am sorrytogsaW bdIf enouah to mskc gwen
this preposterous proposition. The Fundamental
error of this proposition, however is that it has
not The slightest foundation In either public
law. equity, or morals. Even il AS an original
proposition it were poss Issed OF any merit, the
action Of every Legislature since the war has ut
| terly superseded and destroyed it, The first
| Legislature that convened after the war (that
| of 1865 Coy recognized the liability Of the State
for the whole debt by authorizing the tundIug
Of all the past due Interest upon the entire debt
The second Legislature, that Of 1866 81 (elect
ed by tho white people alone,) provided t1rthe
Payment OF interest upon the whole principal
of the debt; that of 1870 y l. authorized the re-
! funding of the debt and those Ct 1872 70.
| lS74.'75, and 1876 ~ provided Tor the pay
ment of interest on the debt, both funded aai
unfundcd. Not only has cur liability for the
debt been affirmed by every Legislature ASSEM-
| bled since the war, but their action has hrca
concurred 10 by every other department. Of the
| Government. 1t has been SANCTIONED ly the
Executive and confirmed by the Snprc 11a Gnlri,
and has therefore passed blyond the pao o! de
batablc questions. Again | ask, " " should
not the debt be paid y
HAS any action been taken or suffered hy
our creditors which lessons 10 the slightest tic.
gree our duty to pay them what ID honestly
their due? | uahestatingly answer nothing.
absolutely nothing. In fact, they Ii i've done
Enothipg except to- passlyely ascent What we
have rendered to Them In 1865 sG6, banG UNI
able to pay the arrears Of interest dhe them,
We offered to fund tho same Into bonds which
offer they uncomplainingly accepted. In 1866
'G7 we proposed; to pny them but lwo thirds 81
the accruing interest, that being ALL acH orllng IA
the language Of the law, that We Thought Va
ought to pay until settlement WAS bad with
West Virginia; and this proposition they ac
cepted without a murmur. Again, hn 1871 .
Goding after repeated efforts, that i've could
come to DO settlement with West Virginia, We
proposed to cur creHitors that Il they would
throw off one third of the debt, or remi it TO the
tender merces Of West Virginia. AMI & tend tic
payment for thirty four years, that on their sur:
to them a new bond for two thirds Of the
amount due them, the interest upoh which
when represented by maturcd coupons, should
be legal tender for all debts and dcni inls, in
Guiding taxes, due the State. AS might have
been expected this proposition or ca4 promise
was not readily accepted by tho creditors. II {
proposition became law known IA the tunu
ing bill, on the 3lst OF March, ISL |, and re
NAMED in full force Tor nearly iii II twelve
months.
Referring TO the fast that Dearly ona third 81
the creditors refused TO make i surrender of tic
West Virginia third, preierrlng to h0llIon TO The
entire amount and to the natural frclhg on thu
part of all that a hard bargain had bdcn made
for them, he said the fact that they hold
against US this same old hooes! Debt q ntractel
by our fathers Was no paIliali3n or CT cnsc ioI
our refusing to pay ii, or for heaplng abuse up
on their heads.
The question as TO our power to lhValldatt
our debt he considered fully settled by the dc
cree of the courts, and he secuted the charge
OF fraud 10 connection with the passage OF the
funding bill, Declaring that had there boon the
least faint, although his own measure, ihc w0ulu
have vetoed the bill.
aside from these legislative expcnbes, as
have shown, it will require annually 81, $4,000
to pay the full interest upon the whole princi
pal Of our public debt and the expenses of oul
schools aud State government. Now, tie Au
ditor estimates the revenues Of the State Tor
The current year at -, 100000 in round mum
bers. If these estimates be realized id will be
together with the school and Stale Expenses,
and have $l2O, 900 left for legislative expenses
fully twice as much as ought to be u BED. But
it is moro than probable that our rev nuc for
this fiscal year will exceed the Auditors cSti
mates In making those estimates be did not
| take into account the Increased receipts from
the tax on railroads under a late law, nor the
results OF the experiment now being made un-
der the new liquor law known as the 'Nlotfett
punch bill.
1T tho confident anticipation Of the friends
of these measures are but half realized our
revenue for this year will exceed $4,000, 900,
or, if we had no legislative session, over
$420, 900 moro than would be required to pay
the interest on the principal Of the 4 cbt and
school expenses. ... :,
"Does it not appear entirely teasiBlef with
our present systom. subjects, and rate of taxa
Ition, to meet the full interest upon the princi
pal of our public debt and our other legitimate
State liabilities Suppose that we sha ll be un-
able to reduce tho principal OF our State debt
quite as low as | have estimated (although |
believe we shall,) and that our State Expenses
should be little more than have e timat ed
| (athough | am confident they ought nj t to be-
still, admitting all this, We have margin enough
Of revenue to accomplish it it wo succeed in lop,
ping off unnecessary legislative cxpc1 SEES. At
least is it not worth al honest, earnest effort /?
If we succeed, what untold good will have been
| accomplished If VIC fail. it can only bh 10 part,
and, having set ourselves right. can hen con-
slider as to what other COURSE We will pursue to
escape the whitening blight OF a stained pnblic
credit.
The Organization Of the Hd use.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1.-The oreank lt on CT
the next House CT Representatives, is tho zen.