Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-10-02
[From the Stanton Vindicator,]
Speaking on the Debt Question.

CONNECTED STATEMENT OF THE
LEGISLATION ON THE FUNDING BILL
WHAT THE DEFICIT IN STATE
TREASURY NEXT MONDAY is EXPEc-
TED TO BE,
&C., &C., &C.,
On Monday afternoon at l O'Clock
Hon. Henry e. Allen, of Shenandoah,
Speaker Of the House Of Delegates,
spoke at the Court House here, on the
subject Of Readiustment. He opened
to thin crowd, which, however, I'M
proved as he progressed, but which at
no time approached what is called in
Augusta large meeting. But the lack
was not with the speaker, for he gave
more information about the legislation
on the public debt since the war than
any one who has spoken On the subject,
but it was with the people, who have
been wearied out with the discussion Of
the subject, and whom nothing but the
most animated and personal conflicts
on the hastings can induce to take any
interest in public addresses. Mr.. Allen
had the merit Of being a candidate ioI
no position-a recommendation thai
few, if any debaters here OF late have
brought with them, and he has the adj
ditienal merit Of honestly entertaining
every opinion he expresses.
He went back to the beginning ofthe
State debt, showing that in lS4O it was
only 1900, 900. At this time the in
ternal improvement fever struck the
State, and she borrowed enough money
on her bonds to make the debt in 1861
amount to s33,OOO,OOO. That debt
Mr.. Allen said, was an honest debt
and the creditors gave dollar for dollar
for the bonds at their face value. lie
was not one Of these whs rallied at the
holders OF these bonds as bloated bond
holders. This debt was based OIL
1858, 900, 900 worth of property In the
State. To-day Virginia's property is
assessed at only $326,0OO,O0O, and she
has lost by the separation Of Wes'
Virginia four hundred thousand pepula
tien.
1t was under circumstances like these
that the legislature met in Richmond il
1865, the message OF Governor Peir'
point, the Executive Of that day, stat
ing the debt to be s35, 200, 900 with at
additional 5000, 900 accrued interest
making, with what was guaranteed FOL
the James River and Kanawha Canal, a
total of al, 100000. In March, 1866,
the next legislature IN which were such
men as Baldwin, Waddell, Cabell,
Jsynes and others whe deserved the
name of statesmen, passed bill fund
ing the $4,000, 900 Of interest and prom
ising 10 pay full interest on the whole
$4l, 100000. And to pay this full in
terest they passed lax bill of fourteen
cents in the 800 which would only raise
$3.50, 900. That was the work Of men
the newspapers tell us were statesmen I!
They hadn't yet realized the changed
condition Of affairs in Virginia. But
their sight was clearer when they came
together again in 1867. They had
made a contract fortunately not self
executing like the receivable coupon
billy which they saw they could not
carry out and they fercibly readjusted it.
They passed another law to pay only 4
per cent. on the debt, excluding those
bends given for funded interest, and
deferring any further interest until
with West Virginia, and to
pay this 4 per cent. they made levy
Of 30 cents in the tl00. When Forci-
bic Readjustcrs are talked OF the peo-
pie should not forget Baldwin, Waddell
and Cabell and the rest who changed
this contract after the creditors had ac-
cepted it.
Things went on. During Reconstruc-
ton dayc nobody thought of the debt
or the interest. When they ended, the
legislature met in 1870 and in 1871
with Governor Walkers estimate of
the value of property IN Virginia at
s726, Oo0,0 1t passed the Funding
Bill. The whslc debt then, increased
BY the accrued interest during Recon-
struction was s45,000,000, Of which
SIS, 900, 900 was set aside for West Viz
cinia, leaving $50, 100000 assumed by
Virginia. Of;his last the speaker con-
tended the State owed only part. The
accrued interest was due Gully to bond
holders at the North and in England,
those in Virginia having received theirs
in the deprecated currency ofthe times
and he held the former we're not, in
equity, entitled to come forward to get
theirs in gold. After this action, James
Marshall, OF Winchester, one OF those
who sat in the Legislature OF '65. pub
lished letter urging the Governor to
reconvene the legislature to repeal the
law and predicting all the evils that
have come to pass, if it was not repealed.
The next legislature that met repealed
the receivable coupon feature Of the
bill, but, the Court of Appeals held that
repeal imperative as to bonds ALREADY
funded.
Having given this ,uccinct history OF
the legislation regarding the state debt
Mr.. Allen quoted Gov. Kemper 10 the
effect that the people were unable to
bear more taxation and said that Mr.
John NJ. Miller, of Frederick, was sent
by Gov. Holiday, or by gentlemen who
represented him, to Rockingham, during