The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-01-10

.bied ID 1881 authorized its Governor TO me- s
gotfate d loan Of I've millions OF dollars 10
be expended on tile public work q sif 5naer
this authority he I1atie cen tract on Ine lsI
Of Jare, 1893, wish f,ie norris Caiaai ana
Banking Company, Of the city OF New
York, which constituted that GO 20 Z pauy ene
agents OF the State to mike sales OF the nve-
million loan. This company Us the agents
of the State, sold to various persons bonds
amounting to s1,1s7, 900. On the LIST OF.
July, 1871, the interest on these bonds be-
came due and payable, but the state made
no provision for the payment OF that IN.
terest. Subsequently,, however, IN 1885,
the Legislature declared that the state was
legally and equitably bound to provide Tor
the payment OF the principal and interest on
these bonds" and made an acceptable ar
rangement for the payment OF both.
Maryland issued her bonds to the amount
OF s15,000,0 900, the proceeds Of which, with
the exception OF S215,947, were spent on
| her internal improyements.the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad, the Chesapeake and
Ohio canal, the Baltimore and Susquehanna
railroad, &c.
| There was a party in Maryland in that
day that contended she ought not to pay
her debt because there was clause In her
Constitution which said .t.eyery person in
the State ought to contribute his proper
ton OF public taxes for The support o. the
government according to his actual worth
in real and personal property" and they
held that when money was appropriated 10
internal improvements it was not for "the
support Of the government" ana ousht
not to be paid But the State at large finally
took different view OF the matter, ana met
its interest and its principal, and reinstated
herself in the galaxy of debt-paying States.
The funded debt Of Pennsylvania was on
the 1st of January, 1S43, S37,93I7So.24,
payable in different periods and in different
sums, the last Of which matured in 1870.
The most Of this money was spent Tor ana
on internal improvements, and they had
seven hundred and ninety-thrce miles OF
railway and canal completed, and one hum
dred and forty miles Of canal which they
expected to be complete by the 1st OF JAN
1lary, 1912. The interest on it's public debt
fell due on the 1st OF August, 1872, ana was
not paid, and it remained unpaid for several
years. Pennsylvania had at that time Al
600 SQUARE miles Of territory and 1,724,OCO
people. It's manufactures in 1912 were
$4,000, O0O It's agricultural products were
S126,620,617. Its coal mines were worth
about S9,OO0,O00. Its annual products
then were s2Oo,C0O,OC0. The interest
due was some S2,OO0,OOo, which was
one per cent. OF their annual products.
A capitation tax, such us we now pay, OF
one dollar head would nearly have paid
the whole OF their interest. Her mines OF
iron and Of ore were ineXhau>tible. Her
soil was fertile. Her climate was mild.
Her water-power was immense. Her peo-
pie were temperate, economical, and indus
trious. Her ability to pay was undoubted.
Her unwillingncss to pay was regarded as
the pure offspring OF dishonest heart.
She-ncglected to do so for years, and her
glaring delinquency, added to the unblush-
ing wrong Of Mississippi, made these States
and this country stink in the nostrils OF the
world. Some of her counties, too, raised
some doubt about the details OF some act
that was designed to raise revenue to pay
her interest; but this was regarded, both IN
the State and out Of it, as the bubble OF
those who wished TO save cent at the ex-
| pense Of the loss of their honor.
Such, in brief, are some Of the facts con-
nected with the action Of the States men,
toned respecting their debts. 1t appears
that only one State disoWned her debt,
while two or three denied for awhile tneii
liability for theirs, while others, still fully
acknowledging what they owed, and with
ability to pay it easily, protractedly ne
elected to do so! Thus it was that the con-
tempt OF the world was excited, and some
of these States were pilloried in its indigna-
ton, and one was left
" A fixed object upon the pedestal Of scorn
For time to point its slow, unmoying finger at"
Does Virginia owe her debt? Did any Of
the agents employed to negotiate her loans
violate her Instructions? Were any Of the
provisions of her Constitution dsregarded
when the world, generously confding in
her integrity and honor, loaned her its mo-
neY? Did she at the..close Of the war claim
any abatement of the principal Of her debt
on legal grounds? When her creditors
released her from one third Of the debt
owed by her, was she wronged? When
the interest that accrued during the
war was funded, was any legal princi-
pie applied to her that her citizens did
not enforce against each other? When
she pledged her yearly revenue to the pay
ment OF the interest due on her debt and
made her coupons receivable in payment OF
taxes, did she do more than had been done
by many community many time before?
1t may have been unwise, but was it uncon-
stitutional? 1t may have been impolitic, but
was it a matter of her own domestic polity,
and if her creditors accepted her terms ought
she to grow indignant and become unjust?
Will she permit a few cents of gain to each
OF her people to outweigh the bright jewel
OF her honor? Can she pay? Will she not
retrench to pay? Will she not lop of every
superiority and economize in every neces-
sary before she confesses her inability TO
respond to Just demands? After this is
done, can she not 60 before her creditors
with a prouder mien than ever, and say: 81
have economical to the last point OF exist
ence; have taxed to the last degree OF en-
durance; and now ask you to reduce your
Il,