The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1877-06-28

comes, would yield an annual revenue OF
s3.364, 2o5.53, or more than the sum total of
our annual liabilities, including the expenses
'of. government, by $64, 255.53. !
1t was these estimates and statements and
the arguments based upon them that were
presented to the Legislature in support Of
the Funding Bill. Indeed, according to
Gov. Walker, il he believed himself. and the
Legislature believed him, the State could
readily have engaged to meet the demands
Of the bondholders and pay the interest upon
the entire debt, as stated, promptly, and ut
the same time the Constitutional tax of one
mill on the dollar would have been secured
for the public schools, making the rate OF
taxation for all but 50 cents on the 500, as
at present. But what are the real facts
The Auditors report Of 1867, to which Gov.
Walker referred, shows that his estimate OF
the taxable property exceeds the official
exhibit 1917 ZOO, 900, and that it actually ex-
ceeded the assessment of 1860 by $9l, 000, 900,
before the division CT the State and the
desolations of war! And it exceeds the
taxable resources given by Mr.. Stuart Of
$3l7. 10000, by s405, 100000!
This was the data, the information u
pressed upon the Legislature in support Of
the Funding Bill. The utterly groundless
estimates presented, and which formed the
basis Of the conclusion, it is to be presumed,
OF at least some who voted for it, very clearly
establishes that there was deep design in
the enactment, and tina. it never could have
been intended either to maintain the dignity
Of the COMMONWEALTH or conserve the inter-
ests of the people. Such monstrous misrep-
reservations amount to substantial fraud.
The manner Of the adoption OF the bill
! was in keeping with the duplicity by which il
was upheld. 1t was well known that i'm
mense numbers OF the bonds OF the State
had been bought up by spectators at less
than half their face value. The necessities
of the people on the one hand, and the
desolations that had impoverished the State,
shaking the faith OF the timid in her ability
| to pay, on the other, enabled spectators to
make their own terms In purchasing. Barter
| in Virginia securities was active in anticipa.
| ton of the enactment Of the Funding Bill,
and, to secure the favorable action Of the
Legislature, the paid agents Of these bond
holders, and some OF the bondholders them
selves, swarmed in the Hobbies and hotels
and places of public and private resort, ply
ing thek vocation by all the instrumental
ties known to men determined upon mis-
sion, nor scrupulous as to the means to &C
complish it. Indeed, it will not and cannot
be denied that corrupt means were used tt
secure the adoption Of the Funding Bill, and
that theelement Of fraud permeates the legis.
lation that consummated the stupendou
wrong.
When the people found that monstroui
imposition had been practiced upon them
when the true nature Of the Funding Bill
and the effects Of Its operation were discov.
cred, there was disposition everywhere to
revolt against it. Had the estimate OF the
rate Of taxation necessary to meet the inter-
est on the two-thirds Of the debt been fully
sustained. Notwithstanding the impoverished
and almost bankrupt condition Of the people,
| they would have endured it, regarding il
better to patiently tolerate measure thai
had been enacted by suspicious influences,
than to agitate SO sensitive question as the
States credit. But when the close Of each
fiscal year revealed deficit Of over one
million dollars, and the conclusion reached
by some of our most learned lawyers that il
was no compromise Of the debt, or release oil
any of the obligations existing in 1861, muir
murs crysta!lized into defined opinions, ant
opposition resolved itself into form. Tht
Legisl aturc Of the following year gave ex-
preston to the popular will, in the passage
OF law repeating that feature OF the bill
making the interest coupons receivable fol
taxes.
This brought the question OF this feature
q. the BIZ! jp It a. the Courts: The holder o.
collector in payment Of his taxes, and was
refused, was advised that he could compel
him to take them, and consequently writ
OF mGndGmus was served upon Wright, the
Sheriff. The Court, Judge Staples dissent
ing, determined that the act creating the
| Funding Bill constituted contract on the
part OF the State, which could not be repealed
by the General Assembly, and the contract
followed the coupons In the hands Of the
holders thereof. The inviolabilty OF the
Funding Bill itself, in the light Of the means
to secure its passage, was not before the
| Court. Had the history Of the legislation
preceding its enactment been considered,
the decision might and would doubtless have
been different, as the element OF fraud, SO
freely charged, would probably have been
established.
Judge Staples delivered a very able opinion
in support of the power Of the Legislature
to revoke the law, saying: 81 do not believe
that the Supreme Court of the United State 8
will ever hold that one Legislature can, by
any form OF enactment, bind succeeding
Legislatures and the public revenue in the
manner attempted in the funding act and
until they 50 decide, am not willing that
this Court should sanction precedent which
may prove most disastrous to all the vital
interests Of the State, and under authority Of
which, practically, liens and mortgages may
be given upon the future revenues of the
State by statutes assuming the forms Of con-
tracts. We have heard good deal Of vio
lated faith, and Of the obligation and duty Of
paying the public debt. These are questions
for the consideration Of the Legislatures, and
not Of the Courts. They who purchased the
bonds Of the State were well aware OF this
when they made their investments. They
who deliberately, and in defiance Of posi-
tive enactment Of the Legislature that those
coupons will not be received in payment of
public dues, persist in purchasing them, are
not entitled to the least favor or considera.
ton, and should receive none from the
Court
This is the history Of the Funding Bill, as
far as we know it, or are permitted here to
state it. 1t is based upon misrepresenta-
ton Of plain facts; it was enacted through
influences that attach the suspicion Of fraud,
to say the least. II stands upon the statute
book, thus conceived and consummated, 10
defiance OF the sovereign will OF the people.
They were never consulted in relation to It.
The legislature that nassed H. was mt elected