The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-01-10
position to s'repudiate~ are simply slandcrs
upon the people.

smooth sentences and dcclaim inspiring
sentiments, to please tho ear and excite
emotion. That is the stndy of popplar
speakers. They finc RESPONSE in the innate
honesty of the people. They are as 9ld as
the law of our being, and will continue to
receive response until the crack of doom.
The style of remark of Governor Holiday is
that INDUCED heretofore by the very class
of men who have engineered the affairs OF
the State, and broug hit about her present de-
plorable condition. They have been proclaim
ing sshoror'' and the sacredness of con-
tracts from the house-tops, while they were
violating the fundamental law Of D. State !,
in robbing the schoolfund. They have been
pleading for State integrity, while one-third
of the recognized debt Of tile State, Of the
highest dignity. has been practically repu-
dated, and the other two-thirds given Pc
culiar precedence by legislation tainted all
over with corruption. They have dragged
ND the drowned honors'' of the State ''by the
loclls'' from the sarcophagus of her great
ness, and held them up to popular gaze,
to impress upon the people lessons OF
political virtue, while they suppressed u
searching investigation into defalcations and
frauds known to have been perpetrated, and
now engaging the attention OF special COM
mittee by reason of the voluntary statement
OF one of the officials Of the government.
The people had borne this deception and
! l,.l,,e;on until forhoo mn ooocad 70 ha q
virtue They determined to elect a Legis-
lature rejecting their sentiments, and
| pledged to economy, retrencliment, and
| honesty in the administration of govern
ment, and in doing this, disregarded past
party usagcs, ignored the caucus, and pro-
tested trading politicians. And because
members were so electeG, it has been the
policy OF the caucus organs and caucus
mouth pieces, the adherents of the Fund
ing bill iniqnity,-to declaim ''repudiation'
| against the very men who were sent to
Richmond for the purpose of saving the
State from that disgrace, so far as the debt
is concerned; to practically exempiify it so
far as the miserable caucus system and its
!
ton do the people want but the contempJi-
| bic trading politicians, who have been clam
orlng about the honor of the State, while
/ they were robbing the poor children OF the
funds necessary to their education, With
| holding from widows and orphans the in
terest on their securities, and cody con-
templating the disgrace of the State in the
default of interest, while frauds were con-
doned and criminals allowed to go unpnn-
ished.
| 1t was these things that aroused the peo-
| pie of Virginia, and neryed them to break
through all the traditional restraints OF par
ty machinery, and demand a general clean
| ing up and readjustment of State affairs.
reputation sentiments
The american has done the people Of Vir-
sinia great injustice, in its criticism assign
| ing to them sentiments OF reputation, for
! it should not forget that tllree-fourtlls, If not
four-liftlis, are for rea1justment, and mean
| tosetfect it in the manner we have indicated.
/ Our contemporary does not understand the
| situation in this State, and the influences
at work. When we assure it that it is the Peo-
pie against the Politicians which constitute
the contending factions, and that Readjust'
ment means the People, some more accu-
rate lea may be formed Of the merits Of
the controversy and the points at issue. The
result is not doubtful, either. The people
mil tl,,,s,, o,,6 1,o
cheap gush about traditions and past glories
will amount to just SO much sound and
fury. .rI .a..s
1t is proper to state that we have not
adopted the figures of the Auditor or Gov
ernor kemper in giving the annual default
in interest or the aggregate of the default.
! The Governor, giving the Auditor as author
ity, places the verage Of the one at $3.50,
036,10 and no MORE" and the other at
$1,000, PIG. These figures do not represent
the facts of the case, for whether by design
or ignorance, the report of the Auditor is
/ inexcusable inaccurate. The Investigation
now going on, and as to which a report at
this time may be ready, will sustain the fig
ures we have adduced. We have it from
very satisfactory authority that the deficit
this year will reach 100000, without the
10000 recently paid by the Chesapeake &,
and Ohio Railroad and the 100000 bOr-
rowed from the banks. now due and not
paid, which have been acknowledgement
ting, at least for the last year, near eleven
| hundred thousand dollars. We have it from
like authority that the aggregate default in
interest will be over $780, 900, instead Of
$4,000, 216. as stated in Governor Kemper's
by the Finance committee, ordered by spe-
cial resolution of the Legislature, will es-
tablish the truth of this statement.
| Does the american believe that such a
policy will protect the rights OF the creditor
and the ''honor' of the State? and can it
contemplate with patience the rodomontade
of Governor Holiday about State s'honor''
and the traditions of the fathers" in view of
this practical, tangible business condition of
the case We write this more in sorrow
than in anger, but write it we must, when
the Penple of the State are resting under the
imputation OF reputation, through the
deception and falseho dds of the miserable
cancus politicians who are now trembling
under their certain doom.
Not only will the developments of the in.
vestigation as to the actual condition of this
phase of the debt show that there has been
misrepre sentation, and that the people have
been deceived, but further fact will be I'M
folded. that the exact amount Of the debt
cannot be ascertained by reason of double
funding and fraud upon tie Treasury. The
Second Auditor reported that he had dis
covered a swindle of the State, in this way,
to the amount of $4,000. A very superb
cial investigation TINS far develops that it is
nearly double that amount, and that there
is no estimating, yet, the extent of the
fraud. The Second Auditor had in his pos
session at the time he made his voluntary
report to the Legislature all the facts that
have been accessible to the committee. 1t
was his business to be familiar with them