Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-10-16

Take away the canal and the railroad
which flourish in your own beautifI
and flourishing city, and in few yeal
Goldsmith's deserted village would b
a just picture of this proud metropolis
tan city Of Virginia, which now pay
one-ninth part of the taxes of the en-
tire Commonwealth. Take from MOI
folk, your sister "City by the Sea-" he
railroads, and from the third cottol
port in the Union she would dwindl
into village, and her ships, ''sailor
less" would lay rotting on the shore.
Without our railroads what woul,
become of our rural districts? Th
Shenandoah Valley-the granary of tn
State would have to haul her whea
and flour over bad roads to Richmond
while now. she has at her own door
markets equal to any in the State TO
all her grain. What would become O
the fertile empire of the Southwes
without her railroad? Land-locked by
impossible mountain barriers, cut of
from the rest of the world, she could
Rip Van Winkle-like, prepare for {
sleep of centuries. Her salt and leae
and iron, her gypsum and zine woult
lie dormant in their native beds, ant
her agricultural products wOuld, cease tt
exist in the markets.
Wehave value received for our money
and our people are repaid the Interest
on the State debt every year in the ia
cilities of transportation and travel af-
forded by our internal Improvements
Surely for debt thus contracted none
will deny our moral obligation to pay,
if we are able to do so.
VALIDITY OF THE DEBT
But 1 have heard it said by some thai
Virginia is not legally bound for the
deht-that she is not the same State
that contracted 1t. But the present
State of Virginia has repeatedly recog-
nized the validity of the debt since the
war.
tits recognized lii the constitution Of
the State. 1t was recognized by the
| Legislature of 1885 -'68, one of the ablest
bodies ever assembled in Virginia. II
was recognized by the Legislature OF
1S70-71, and by every Legislature since
that has made appropriations to meet
the annual interest. Not only has il
been thus repeatedly and distinctly re-
cognized, but our Court Of Appeals in
the case of Higginbottom VS.. The Com
monwealth has expressly decided this
question. The Court held that the
present State of Virginia is the old State
of Virginia herself, and that she is le
gally bound for the debt, and that the
creditors of the State might sue for their
debts in the State courts and recover
judgments for the amounts due them.
The legal liability of the State having
been settled, We have but two alterna-
tives left either to settle with the cred
: b,e.f Iofn ~
debt by refusing to provide the means
of payment.
The most agreeable way to settle with
creditor is to pay him; and we are all
agreed to pay the debt if it can be done
without increasing the present rate OF
taxation on property. Can this be
done?
I, for one. believe it can.
The deficiency of the public revenues
to meet all liabilities at present rate of
taxation is estimated at $1,000 This
is large sum, but it can be met.
HOW TO REDUCE EXPENSES.
Tn the first place, the biennial session
of the Legislature will reduce the civil
list 500, 900 and further saving can be
easily made in criminal and other eX-
penses of $4,000. This will leave de-
felt of $500, 900. Now, it is estimated that
our revenues from new sources OF taxa
| ton by the present tax-bill will be in
creased $500, 900, and this will reduce
our deficit to $350,000. If we will adopt
rigid and efficient mode of assessing
the personal property of the State we
can increase the taxable values of that
species Of property ($20, 600, ,O0O)--not by
increasing values, but by reaching all
the property, so that it may all be taxed
alike. That much personal property is
not taxed is plain. 1t is plain to every
intelligent man of business that there
is something wrong here, and that our
personally to-day exceeds by many mil
lions the personality assessed in 1867
Then we can add 100000 more to oul
revenues from this source, which will
leave deficit of only $3.50, 900. How
much further this might be reduced it
is impossible to say; but many claim it
can be reduced to nothing. But sup
pose they are wrong-how is this to be
met?
In the language of the platform it is
to be met by "usipg all just and honor
able means of bringing about an adjust
ment which will bring the payment OF
interest within the resources of the State
derived from the present rate OF taxa
tion." That such an adjustment can be
made on terms '.just and honorable to
the State and acceptable to the creditors
we have every reason to believe. The
holders of the coupon bonds do not now
realize more than tl"e per cent. on thell
bonds in the market, and they would be
willing to take that rate of interest from
the State if paid to them promrtly anC
regularly in New York and London
and thus take this question out of poll
tics and enhance the price ofthese bond.
in the market. Now, if this can be ef
fected, we will meet our deficiency ano
have
SURPLUS IN THE TREASURY.
But suppose all our calculations fail, anC
that the bondholders refuse to adjust thu
interest, then what follows? The cou
pon-holders collect their interest by
meanssof their coupons receivable fol
taxes, and we cannot prevent then
from SO doing as the law now stands
and as it must stand so long as the deci
sion of the Court of Appeals in Antonio
VS.. Wright stands unreversed. If ou
revenues are insufficient to meet all 9th
er demands, then the loss must fall or
the school fund or on the holders O
bonds with no coupons receivable fo
taxes, for there is no where else for it tt
fall. The constitution, which our legis
lators are sworn to obey. requires then
| to pay the interest on the literary an,
sinking fund annually; and this dut,
they must perform.
Then it follows that we must rails
taxation or the school fund must be de
pleted, or the peeler- -bondholders mus
60 without their interest, and that deb
must be virtually repudiated. Thus
while one set of creditors would get thei
interest in full, the others, who ar
equally deserving, would get nothing
Will any citizen of Virginia sanction
such rank injustice as this, and max
fish of one creditor and flesh of another
Would this be doing equal justice to al
classes of creditors?
In that event what fair minded ma
would hesitate to advocate and approx
an
INCREASE OF TAXATION
sufficient to meet this deficiency. TIE
cents on the one hundred dollars wort
of property would be ample to meet il
J and this sum would scarcely be felt b
any property holder.
But those who are unwilling to in