Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-07-17

three millions, and from which they
have never realized one dollar AnC
yet when the farmers undertake to con.
denim such an iniguitOus, rotten system
as this, they are for repudiating the
State debt! Gen. Malone says toe
many railroads have been built since
the war. and that there are seven hun
dred millions of dollars invested in non.
dividend paying railroad stocks. So
that there may be too much of that good
thing. Now what sort of charges .on
these roads would make all that divi-
dend paying? The farmers have COM
planned of the iniquitous discrimina-
tions against our local trade, and in ia
vor of the through trade from the west,
which has the effect to bring the wes-
tern trade centers in close proximity to
ours. The fierce competition for the
western trade, which, of course, is en-
couraged by the western producer,
makes the eastern producer tributary to
the western. The producer in the At
lantic States, under this system, is taxed
Indirectly to the extent of these discrim-
inatlons, and what is worse, pays this
tribute to have himself excluded from
his own markets. The farmers have
said, shield us from this iniouity. and
less will be heard about the State debt.
The State debt! Why that will vanish
like the morning mists whenever the
agricultural interest ceases to be subor-
dinated to all others. The producer has
gone too far in his concessions already,
and as sentinel on the watch tower he
must not sleep, or he will waken up to
find himself in shackles. He is now
almost, if not quite, ga newer of wood
and drawer of watern 1t has come
to the pound of flesh. John Taylor
complained long ago of the burdens
imposed upon agriculture. His quarrel
was with the general government. He
knew nothing about railroads, and if he
lived to talk about the State debt, and
other burdens, of which nothing was
known in his day, he would be set down
as an old ignoramus. The farmers of
Augusta possess information enough to
guide them, and we know they have
the muscular brains to WELD intelIi :
gently the power that is rightfully
theirs, and to spurn the approach
to sleep while they suck their llfe-b blood.
The farmers have engaged in no discus
sion upon the State debt question. They
have proceeded upon information de-
rived from official sources, and no light
has been shed to dispel the mists, in
which, they are sorry to find, the limp
ing logic of well-informed men has left
the whole question enshrouded. Is it
nothing to the Taxpayers to know that
some day or other they may be called
upon for interest and principal of the
entire ante belEalna debt? Some we'll
informed gentlemen say that Virginia
has been relieved of her liability for the
fifteen millions cut off till there is set
Element with West Virginia. Others
assert the direct contrary. Gov. KEN
per, as late as 1874, three years after the
passage of the Funding bill, says: II
have gone with those who went furthest
in upholding the public credit, and I
have held that the two Virginias are
bound, jointly and severally, for the
whole Of the original debt" So it seems
the Funding bill settles nothing as be-
tween Virginia and West Virginia.
Mems opinions settle nothing.
But the question of the liability of
Virginia for the whole debt is settled by
the courts. The history of the proceed
ings of the body that passed the funding
bill shows that no such contract as would
release Virginia was intended, and the
bondholders accepting its terms unques-
tionably so understood it. There may
be purpose, not declared, in the effort
to keep the taxpayers ignorant upon
this subject. They are not afraid to face
the facts, and they should probe the
whole matter to the bottom, so that they
may stand from under" when the ava
lanche descends. But now when the
farmers are seeking information and
put themselves on the alert, that they
may not be taken by surprise when mat
ters are brought to the test; when they
venture to declare their opinion that
re-adjustment with the creditors alone
can keep the whole question out of the
courts, and terminate the suspense and
uncertainty hanging over it, they are
branded as repudiators. That there is
something disingenuous, if not unset
tied, in the opinions of those who MAIN
tain the non-liability of Virginia for the
whole debt, is evident, from their limp
ing logic as to what should be the basis
of settlement between the two Virgin.
population, one-third of the taxable
values, and one-third of the territory,
and therefore ought to pay one-third Of
the debt. If this was the basis insisted
on by the Virginia Commissioners, is it
any wonder that two attempts at set
| tlement with West Virginia proved fail
ures? It was the basis suggested by
Gov. Walker, who likens the settlement
between the two Virginias to the settle
ment of the liabilities of dissolved part
nership. Very we'll. A great parade
has been made over what Virginia has
to show for the State debt. She has the
State Capitol, the Penitentiary, State
Institutions, Asylums, Canals, Rail-
roads, the Universities-all but the
Parkersburg road beyond the State line.
If anything was done for West Virginia
beyond the making of the Parkersburg
road it was so little that it is not worth
taking into the account. The Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad Company built their
own road from Harper's Ferry to Wheel
Ing over West Virginia soil, and paid a
bonus into the Treasury for the privi-
lege. They in like manner built the
Parkersburg Branch. Virginia paid not
one dollar towards these roads, Two
partners engage in the business of bank.
ing. They purchase ground, erect a
banking house, and incur all the ex-
pense incident to the business-all on
credit. There is separation of the part
ners. One of them holds possession o1
all the assets of the firm. The creditors
might look to both, but who ought te
pay-he who has everything, or he who
has nothing, but who, besides, has paid
up his proportion of the interest on the
indebtness of the firm, up to the separa
ton? Then there is composition with
the creditors-some Of them agree to thu
terms, others do not-then the peelel
bondholders not having accepted the
terms of the funding bill are not bound
and they at least can look to Virgins
for all that is due them. Such is tht
conclusion to which they are forced
whatever view they may take of the ef
feet of the funding bill. In fact, Vir
ginia retires from the partnership, ant
holds possession of all the assets of thu
firm, and as Gov. Walker says: "Tt
Virginia will the creditors look for thei
pay" This is no idle clamor about tn
State debt. There is only too mucl
prominence given to this question, as
the State debt were not but part of tn