The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-01-05

s. & .,rrYnnA !. AN uARY 3. lsssss.
$50 IA National Honor.

state ana Matte oral T1onor,
il. II M sssihIe to associate State aud
na,ionaI honor as IL u.s. 70 associate public
4 and nriyate honor. It was q fauitless pro-.
nas,fion announced by Senator BEN. HILL,
~ Georgia, that the States (and he was
5speaksng especially Of the southern States)
ssare ,inGler every obligation Of honor, rs
sweii as interest, to stand by the national
scredit and pay the national debt to the
slast farthing.. No rejecting, sensible,
and honest man can deny this proposition.
Can any man, admitting its truth, deny that
southern State has any claim to relief
from It's public obligations on tie ground OF
the acts OF the Federal Government? Some
OF the forcible readiustors put in an
apology for their conduct, based on this
groupd.. Most assuredly the acknowl-
edgment Of our allegiance to the Ma.
tionai Government. aeprives us OF all
claim to relief on the ground that
it has wronged us. This plea is one
utterly without justification. 1t is un-
worthy Of men OF loyalty to honor and
Justice. The people Of Virginia knew what
they were about. They took their resolu-
ton and marched like high-minded, honor
able men, as they were, into war with their
lives In their hands, determined to conquer
Or abide by the consequences OF defeat.
They were doomed TO defeat, and they knew
the consequences and showed their true
manhood and noble natures by meeting
them calmly and bravely. It is not only
unreasonable but disereditable that such a
plea as that we hear-a plea that tends to
impair our national obligations and our
LOYALTY to the constitutional power should
be made.
1t is q phase OF ultra reimbursement that is
hostile to our proper relations with the
Federal Government, and discreditable to
manhood and integrity. 1t is q shame to us
all that any respectable number Of our citi-
zens should seek to escape from the conse-
quences Of conflict openly and squarely
waeed by US with aR understood pledge to
abide the result. OF all the pleas set up by
readjusters this is most idle and contempti-
bic. The consequences come from our act.
We are obliged by force to submit, and we
should all feel obliged by the moral and po-
litical obligations which follow the result Of
the war TO maintain the most earnest and
faithful allegiance to the Government which
subdued the resistance and restored our re-
lations to the republic. This precludes alto
gether any right to claim relief from alleged
wrong perpetrated by the Government
which has reeStablished its authority over
US. We suffer from the thorns OF the tree we
planted, and our murmurs could not but be
regarded as the complaints Of weak-minded
and weak-hearted persons. altogether i'm
worthy Of respect or sympathy.
Yes, we do owe entire allegiance to the
Federal Government, and, as Senator HILL
says, we are bound to stand by the national
interest and the national credit. And does
not this obligation bind us TO do nothing
that will impair the national honor and
credit? Will any man say that the repudia-
tioa Of its public debt by a State does not
affect injuriously the national reputation !?
Certainly not. The republic is composed
Of combination Of States coequal in their
relations to one another. Each is repre-
sented in the national councils and each is
entitled to respect as component part Of
the Federal Union. The dishonor OF any
one of them is preiudicial to certain extent
to the community OF States. 1t will surely
excite regret and modification with them
all, and be greatly deprecated by every
friend Of our Government in the civilized
world. No matter what the apology for the
dishonor may be it must be deplored; but
when that apology takes the shape OF CON-
plant against the Federal Government it
carries with it alien sentiments and accuse
tons OF wrong towards that Government.
We have no earthly right to take such
ground or assume such relation. We owe
our debt for money obtained and expended
for the public good. We can claim no re-
lief because Of war which we brought on.
Our own obligation requires us to pay it,
and our allegiance to the national interests
prohibits us from becoming dishonest de-
faulters, and thus impairing that standing
and honor OF the whole nation which we
should feel bound to maintain.
We have had our griefs and wrongs, but
they in no sense relieve us from our own
obligations, nor from our constitutional and
social obligations to the Government Of the
nation. The northern States. have been
much criticised by our southern people for
their pecnliaritieS, but it cannot be said that
they have repudiated public pecuniary OBJ
legations. Their Puritanism has in this re-
spect put to shame southern Chiyalry too
often for our satisfaction. And we are
ready to say that if faithlessness to Just OBJ
legations must become a trait OF that ChIv-
airy we will none Of it. We repudiate
that as counterfeit coin, to be nailed to the
counter as base.
The obligations Of Virginia, viewed in
reference to her national relations, assume
a most solemn phase. For the sake OF the
state herself we pray God she may never
be dishonored by FORGETTING her public faith
But outside OF this consideration, and in re.
gard to her position in the national coun.
ellis, we cannot see how her people could
bear to see her representatives appear in
those councils ever again after such a hu.
initiation. When those representatives Sc
asDeared they would stand forth as the
sponsors for a State who had pledged he'
honor at every hazard to pau debts she
failed to pay, and had retained possession
OF money that belonged to others, and which
she acquired under false pretenses.