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

ing Bill. 1t is trifling with the creditors; i
is trifling with public policy; it is trillins
with the Integrity OF the State, to contend
for sentimental impossibilities.
Mr.. Stuart is so well satisfied with his OWL
complacent and ingenious method of dlspos
ing of onc-third of the public debt, his lordl!
waving to the realms Of IGNORANCE F." o
"some people" who differ with him, such a
Judge Staples. that he dismisses these tor
turing certificates, - and proceeds tt
wade through estimates and conjectures, t,
reach satisfactory solution of the Difficult
ties presented in the interest on the two
thirds assumed. In this he is as unfortunat,
as in his assumptions as to the nature ant
effect of the Funding Bill. His calculation
are based upon conjecture merely. Their
is nothing to prevent the Legislature from
charging the pay Of members, and even in
creasing the aggregate over that now paid
Ii future Legislatures are to be constituted
as past ones have been, there is nothing tina
UiU prevent them from doing so. There /!
nothing to prevent extra sessions from fill
ing the gap in the biennial sessions. There
is nothing to justify the conclusion that til,
Bell Punch Bill will add. anything to tn,
revenue, but there is every reason to induce
the belief that the revenues from Whisky
will largely fall off. 1t surrenilers Ger.
tainty for an uncertainty. Wholesale dealer!
paid under the old law specific tax OF $50
and per cent. on sales. The present law
imposes $3.50 tax and no per cent, but de.
pending upon the operation Of the Bel
Punch. Under the law just repealed, toe
revenue for whisky was $4,000. Careful
estimates by well.informed gentlemen give
the revenue under the present law at least
$4,000 and probably 100000 less. The
Bell Punch is mere experiment, and it has
many of the Ingredients of failure. We
hope otherwise, but it.does not answer the
purpose of government to depend for its
revenues merely upon conjecture.
The enactment of the present law has
driven many dealers out OF the trade. Its
operation must be injurious to the wholesale
trade. 1t gives the foreign dealer great ad
yantages over the home dealer, and will
throw the trade Of all of the border cities
and towns into Baltimore and Washington,
where the 40 cents On the first gallon and 1(
cents on each subsequent gallon up to five, is
not charged. It certainly initiates against
an important production in Augusta county,
Foreign dealers are required to pay the spe-
cific tax OF $3.50 only. The Bell Punch does
not reach them. Our own dealers have to
pay the specific tax. and then a stipulated
sum on each gallon up to five, as we have
stated.
These facts point to the conclusion that
there will probably be large decrease in
the revenue from this source, instead of an
increase, as promised by the Bell Punch
experiment. Basing estimates upon such
Intangible sources is something like "count-
ing the chickens before they are hatched,"
and do not constitute basis upon which to
rest positive enumeration OF resources.
And just at this point, we will say, that
while the brains of the Valley members
were being cudgeled to devise method to
tax an article Of home production, it would
have looked just as we'll to have embraced
tobacco, an Eastern Virginia production, in
the subjects from which to augment the
revenue. Whilst whisky pays to the State
$246, 200, tobacco pays but s21, 900.
In the view we have taken OF Mr.. Stua.t's
conjectures and this view is rational and
practical-we do not think it will be possible
to reduce the deficit below that represented
in the Auditors cport-$6lO, SOL .ss-an
estimate that has to be augmented by
1921, 800, which the Auditor has taken credit
for bu: never paid, as will be seen by refer
ence to page Of the report from which Mr..
Stuart understanding the deficit reall y
1888, 19l.ss.
There is no dependence, however, to be
placed in the reports from the Auditors
office. We have had too many glaring omis-
sims asa Is aaaGaass fg za that
people-to implicitly rely upon it. We are
inclined to believe that the deficit is much
larger than we have stated, and that under
the operation of the present laws, it will
still increase. Since the time the Auditor
confessed his ignorance that 100000 had
been diverted from the school fund to nav
the interest on the bonds, many OF them
held by money sharks, we have been incre-
dulous OF any statement that comes from
that office--not probably that there is not
disposition to be honest, but that the system
OF accounting is so defective that the Auditor
himself does not know when he is right.
We confess our astonishment that Mr.,
Stuart should have given a statement in
regard to the school fund in direct antaga-
nism to the mandate of the Constitution,
and that while protesting his sympathy with
the cause of popular education, he should
have so arranged his sentences as to encour-
age the prejudices and opinions of the enc
mics of the Public School system. A lready
mas his paragraph on this subject been pa
raded in the columns Of an able contemporary
the Lexington Gazette bitterly opposed
TO the system, which congratulated itself that
t had so distinguished a coadjutor as Mr..
Stuart. We trust that this is not part of
'he plan OF assault upon the public schools
20 recently alluded to by the Richmond
Dispatch. We have had our apprehcnsons
lpon the subject. We have expressed them
IN more than one occasion. We believe it
s the purpose to avail of the unwise Consti-
sutional amendments, comforting extraordi-
lary powers upon the Legislature, to assault
he Constitutional provision requiring the
and 2erpetuation of the Free
school system, and to eventually destroy 1t,
the people are not on the alert.
Why it was that Mr.. Stuart should have
tated that the payment to the Public Free
schools OF sos, 024.44 was a "dversion of
evenues pledged by the Commonwealth to
'ay the. interest on the public debt, to another
nd very different object" is past our COM
'rehcnsion. He is aware that this $50S, 024.44 |
vas fund set apart by the Constitution as |
acred to the public schools-that the pro-
ision of the Constitution is mandatory in |
aspect to it, and not to have done so would |
ave been palpable violation OF the funda-
rental law, and subjected the Auditor to
He is also aware that the |
was adopted before the Fund
lg Bill was enacted into law-that it is the |