The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-07-09
$77,611 IS 10000 AZ
S11S,O40 90
77.6lI SIS
10000 AZ
Making i
total Of. S226.353 10

assessed IN .oOuLuWcSI lIplllEt. L Ills illdhtS
10 allowance for deIinquents and insolvents,
none for costs Of collection. Deduct these
amounts estimated by the Finance Commit
tee OF the House Of Delegates at last session
at eight per cent.-S1S, l0S.25-leaves a net
revenue from Southwest Virginia OF $685.
244.94, which is less BY S21,763.15 than the
annual interest on the amount expended for
your immediate benefit.
OF the amount so paid you get back for
schools, S4S, 622.07; for criminal expenses
in your counties over SO, 15S.7l; and the
members OF the Legislature from these coun-
ties have been receiving $4,000 per annum.
These three sources bring right back to your
doors over $4,000 OF the amount you pay
that is, about two fifths OF your whole tax.
Then comes your fair proportion OF the
other expenses of the government, when
balance to your credit to be applied to the
interest on the debt. You have about one
seventh OF the population and nearly one
sixth of the territory; charge yourselves
with one eighth of the expenses of the
government, which at the Auditors esti-
mate is S134,125; add to this the school
fund you receive, and it makes 1882, TAT
which you receive the benefit Of; take this
from S20S, 244.94 paid by you, and there is
left 1854 to be applied to the public debt.
What have we to pay with? What arc our
resources ?-I mean in Southwest Virginia.
We have 6,11O,922 acres OF land, which be-
meath warm sun and in a mild climate pro-
duces in abundance all staples and
many Of the luXuries OF life; with
in its breast lie untold quantities OF iron,
coal, lead, plaster, and salt; in the fields
roam the finest and latest Of cattle and
horses. These lands are assessed land who
sells land at its assessed value) at S23,2l7,-
S2G45, the personality at IS, 1G3, l27. Hold
ing this property are 222.290 people-222,-
300 people, with S31, 3S0,9S9 worth OF pro-
perry, seriously considering proposition to
repudiate Il debt upon which they have not
been paying over S25, 1874 year, or less
than III cents head. What a spectacle !!
Look at her when, with smaller popula-
ton (for her population has increased con-
siderably since 1869, there sprung from her
bosom at her country's call 1000 volunteers,
who risked their property and lives in de-
fence OF her honor. Looa at her when four
wears her women labored, her men suffered
in her armies, the enemy ravaged much Of
her territory, the impressing officer carried
away her horses and cattle, and the tax
gatherer took 1.-THE OF all her produce as the
annual levy. During that period, like hero,
she stood, feeling all the pain, but utterlnS
no murmur, no word OF fatering. Look ut
that future and then look at her to-day, when
all is peace, when every man is ut his home,
when no blood is being shed, and see her
covering, whimpcriDg, at the thoughts OF
paying 100000 on her debt, and applaudIng
when public speakers sheer at that honor
which she has shed her blood to defend.
Where, oh where, is the spirit OF the men
OF 1861 aud 1865? Where is the fortitude
that endured the winters camps, the muddy
trenches, the frozen bivouac, the bloody
fields of the east, the scorching suns, and
whitening fire Of Chickamauga and Powder
Spring? You, sir, sheer at honor, but the
soul in you pays its homage to the days OF
her sufferiAgs and her fortitude?
Now, fellow-ctizens, we have gotten the
creditors money. We have pledged faith
and property to pay it. We have invested
it so that it yields 4 permanent rs we'll as
immediate benefit. We are reapinS the
benefits now, and our children after us VIII
reap benefits from it, both in the increased
value OF property and the advantages de-
rived from easy communication WIN Tue
world. Is it right to deprive our cfcal'ols
OF any part Of their dues without their con-
sent!
Is it expedicnt to do so? II were asked
to name one thing without which IL Is I'm.
possible for State to prosper, ana "l.noul
which her very existence must De lmperliiea,
and maybe lost, I would say credu. no
politician has been wild enough 10 preteha
that n Government should accumulate large
amounts OF money IN lis treasury 10 DE
held there to meet unforeseen contingencies
- lnS1TrpPtlnn.
disorder of any kind. Such fund would
be a source OF corruption. 1t would be
that much capital withdrawn from circula-
ton and from the business OF the country,
which OF itself would make it a source Of
discomfort and oppression. There is no
government, national or State, that is so
we'll managed or happily situated that it
does not at times need extraordinary
amounts of money-mora money than it
can raise as tax-gatherer. Domestic in
surrection arises and must be quelled. Nor
ia the honor OF our own land entirely clear
Of such clouds. Socialism and communism,
with their hatred OF power, their disposi-
ton to divide the earnings OF the diligent
and proyident among the vile and vicious,
have reared their heads in this country, and
we know not where they will find their
end. War comes when we least expect it,
and States must do their duty, and are COM
PEELED to raise large sums OF money to has
ten their quotas Of troops to the field.
There has been q time in the history
OF these United States when money was
80 scarce that it was physical impossibility
to collect the taxes, because the money did
not exist among the people to pay them.
Calamities oyertake the States-your asy-
p ~ q y Es " .