Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-10-29

cne u. - Senate for six years from III
4th OF next March. It means also r,
districtingof the State forIegisIative al,
congressional purposes more in accol
dance with justice and reason-for
map or the present districts is absolute
~ laughabie, and is alike condemne
now by republicans and democrat,
But this great victory has another an
even greater meaning and that ia j
secures to the statesman and. patriot
Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks. the nomi
nation for President of the Unite
States in 1880 on the democratic ticket
which will then be equivalent to aJ
election; Indiana demands this. an,
10 the next contest will accept nothin,
less. The sooner the democracy. Moth
South, East, and West, settle down firm
ly to this conviction and determination
the better 1t will be for the future of th,
party as well as the welfare our commo
country. Two years ago we were dis
appointed, yea more, we were mortified
to see oyr idol Hendricks take the second
place on the ticket; we protested, we al
mOstswore at first that we would take
no partsin the contest but we reconsider
ed and like men put forth almost su.
perhuman efforts and helped to elect the
TICKET. For the sake of good Govern
ment do not ask US to make further sac.
rltce. | speak for the masses-ye can
not doit?
But enough of the politics of our State.
10 Quondama Virginian the policy and
politics OF the good old "mother of States
and of presidents" looks little mixed
If nothing worse. To former Virgin
ian it is indeed gratifying to see the good
old SPECTATOR" take stand. which
at this distance, seems so creditable and
statesmanlike. Of course we cannot full
ly appreciate your financial situation /;
nor Is It any matter of ours, except in
the abstract, what remedies you adopt
for your financial ills; but this much /
will take the liberty to say, that the bare
idea OF the grand and glorious old State
OF virginia even for moment enter
tanning the thought, much less the prop
osltion, of impairing the obligation of
any. portion of her contracts Is absolute
~ shocking TO every man here, of what
ever party or degree of intelligence,
whom the writer has heard speak oft. If
the proposition had come from almost
any other State, North or South, these
people would not have been so surprised !;
but that Virginia statesmen, to the
manor born, too, and not carpetbaggers,
should openly discuss such proposition
utterly astonishes them. 1t seems that
the people of the West a. least, for all
time, have heen in the habit of regarding
the best class of Virginians as the embo-
dlment OF courage, honesty, honor, and
integrity and Virginia statesmen as
being capable of meeting any emergen-
cy in the State affairs fairly and success
fully; and as being wholly incapable of
giving poqntelance to any measure that
would In the least compromise their own
dignity or honor, or the fame and good
name of the Commonwealth. I can truly
say, too. that this feeling has in no wise
been modified on account of Va. having
engaged in the rebellion" as they choose
to call the late war between the States.
This feeling of confidence, reverence al
most, I might say, does not exist to
anything like the same degree towards
any other Southern State. The coun ter
movement Oh the part of many of the
very Iirst ladies of your State, by which
they are making an heroic and noble eff
fort to help pay the debt of the State,
and thus avert the stain and disaster of
partial reputation or forcible adjust
Inent has tendency to very much COM
plicate the situation there in the eyes of
the thinking people here. They cannot
help but think that forcible adjustment,
or any other eg nqr5e action is even re-
gardad there as a desperate alternative,
when even the gentler sex, of whom
their appreciation is even higher than
OF your men, steps to the front in an Or
ganized body and plaintively and ur-
gently calls upon their sisters to join
them in every sacrifice to help to disen-
thrall State, than which no other has
ever produced greater men or nobler wo-
men, lest as a. a'6ternieT resort she may be
forced to adopt financial measure that
Is likely to entail incaiculable moral as
well as material disaster.
From the instructions of your able,
accurate, and philosophical pre,s, 1t ia
understood here that in order to gay the
interest on your share of the State debt,
to defray the expenses of your public
schools, and to meet the ordinary ex-
penses of your State government, 1t will
require tax on the property of the
State not exceeding $l.20 per one hun
dred dollars worth of property and the
latter, too, usu lily assessed at exceeding
ly lew figures. We understand, too,
th4t this estimate was made before the
introduction Of the Moffett register and
it is safe to assume that the latter will
abate your annual burden half million
dollars, or at least one fifth of the whole
this would leave your tax on the hun
dred dollars worth of property but little
over one per cent in all probability. 1t
is true that it would almost be double
your present taxation but what of that
The tax in Indianapolis is lower than
in almost any large city in the West OF
North, yet tits about tWo per cent, Oh
two dollars on every hundred dollars
worth of all kinds of property, and that
too, assessed at figures approximatine
its true valu5; and I am satisfied from
my experience there that the assessment
here is so per cent. higher than on thu
same property there, personal or real
In the smaller cities and towns, ant
even in the rural districts, not only o
our State, but of other Western States
as for instance Illinois and Iowa, thu
rate of taxation is even higher, ranging
from two to two and half per cent
and in exceptional counties and districts
ever much higher; but, about So. 25 pc
cent. would express a ruling rate for thu
above mentioned States. This is NJ
| L., k,y~ L.