The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-03-07

Of the fundamental law, and by it put as (
higher obligation, and that they both togett
er, with the interest on the public debt
must be paid out Of The taxes at the rate c
fifty cents on the one hundred dollars as
sessed value of property, personal and real
which is as much as can be imposed withou
ruinous results. ~ pa '''7.'@ -
Pc I shall not stop to inquire whether thu
I first position be true Of not by the simple as
sertion Of the Legislature, and open to nj
further inquiry. IT certainly contains
lawsuit. Nobody will deny, in the alb
stract, that unless the State can live, it can
not do anything that belongs to life. Tha
isa truisrn.i h-A ''.e'
But the second proposition, that the Leg
stature is bound to support the free schoo
system at the expense Of the States cred
tors, either by the necessity OF its life, or TIN
command Of the organic law, I beg leave
most respectfully, to deny. ~ ''.7t ''3"'
" Education isl great blessing, when 0
the proper sort, and properly gained
There is no one who longs for it more thai
7. There is no one who sees in it more 0
everything that goes to form the free citi
The "consummate flower' of a ma
TONS growth. But State has no NOR
right to educate its youths, than an individ
iual his children, at the expense Of creditors
The tain. Of the source will cling to the ed
ucation, and instead of nurturing noble
men, there viii grow up in our midst those
who will feel through life, how dark a shad
ow even their education casts upon the
States history. 9' a'-' D'i"'''H
Our fathers did not need free schools tt
make them what they were Happy thi.
generation could it rival them in those viz
tues that 60 to make up the glory OF a Com
monwealth. They would not have toler-
ated them on the soil Of Virginia had they
to be established by the denial OF theil
honest debts. g 2 .uois'9i''sl A9 ''t''3 ''e
~ The friends Of free schools make a woe
full blunderif they think by such means az
this bill proposes to build them up, or spread
their usefulness. They are striking them,
as we'll as the States fair fame, most fatal
blow % ti9@4t 'ip
g Public free schools are not a necessity
the world for hundreds Of years grew in
wealth, culture and refinement without
them. They are a luxury, adding when
skillfully conducted, it may be, to the beau
ty and power Of a State, but to be paid for
like any other luxury, by the people who
wish their benefits. v i'' -'.s'' I2'.9
'2tIo cannot, therefore, believe that the
trainers Of the organic law meant anything
else when they provided for their creation
and support. They did not mean that we
should deny the payment Of our debts and
that, with the money drawn from such a
source, we should educate the children Of
the State. Whatever were their views Of
the benefits Of education, they did not think
they ought to be bought at such price
They believed, as you and 1 believe, that
even The life Of the State, like that of the
individual, saved by loss Of honor, is moi
worth much. Education, blessing as it is
won in such a way, contains a germ whicl
will be sure to bloom into curse and, be.
lieving this, they in the same instrument
most fully acknowledged the debt, and in
several clauses provided for its payment.
That debt was due when free schools were
scarcely, it at all thought Of as a system in
tie State justly and honestly due for full
Since the war, and before
the Constitution was adopted, it was four
times acknowledged, and directly or indi.
rectly promises made topayit with interest,
and the charge OF its Reputation most in
spurned by an almostif not unan
imous vote of legislature composed OF men
of the old regime, among the ablest, best
and tfuest who ever grew upon Virginia
soil, and, whatever. may be said Of those
who framed the Constitution, it will not be
denied that it was adopted by the people Of
the State.iE 10 s6s9l1f 9ai 5iiH ia.hno3 1of
NJ will not now east a stigma upon those
men by saying that they were guilty, de-
of a pious fraud, by planting the
seedsof Reputation in the organic law, the
fruits of which they proposed thereafter to
gather. s9la 9aa 7sai&Ra 3sF si"sia u 'si
Whatever value may be put upon the
sehool:system, however much we may hope
from its future growth, the Constitution does
not put it on any higher ground than the
debt then owed. 1t could not without abso-
lutte qualification. It's trainers and the PEG.
pie who adopted it saw no virtue in an edu.
cation for their prosperity, of the means Of
getting which they would ever be ashamed
They lookedupon the debtas Of too high a
dignity thus to be treated, because it was an
obligation then in being and recognized as
having both a legal and moral force, and in
that very Instrument, which the bill calls the
fund amental law and Of snca binding pow.
er, they acknowledge or provide for the
pa yment of the then and now existing debt
in six separate clauses That the whole Of
an instrument must be, taken together to, ar.
rive at, the intention, is a cannon Of con.
struction we learn in the horn books. Tt
save the makers and endorse rs, think they
ought to have the benefit Of that canon
But the friends Of the bill say that the
amount OF tax is specified, within certain
limits. which shall be laid for the support Of
free schools, and which is binding on the
Legislature. So much the worse for their ar
eument. For the Constitution does not limit
the amount which shall be laid for the pay
ment Of the debt, and which is at least none
the less obligatory. H.. ...-..a.,,.. .....-
cannot, therefore, see how the preamble
saves. the bill, either upon the ground OF ne
cessity for the preservation Of the States
sovereignty and existence, OF the obligation
Of The organic law. Its a fiat denial Of the
latter, in its refusal to carry outfits provisions
for the payment Of the debt. e,i 49,, ~ !.
Nor can Il see how the fifth clause brings
any relief, In my view, lam not aware Of any
power In the Legis lature to take away, o
force the creditors to CONF promise their lega
rights and il it had. wouldit be any solace
after having used it to, say twas not meant
Nor is it any more solace, after having in this
very act taken away those rights, to tellthem
it is only done s'witlt q, purpose to secure al
adjustmentof the debt.9 Is there any bet
ter. time than now to carry out that pur
pose? ''''A =
toYhis bill does not help to that end, 1 an