Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1878-02-11


declaration lha. it is necessary. 10 Impair toe
contrsc, previously nade 10 order 10 pIts=fse
the State and give i: c,D!ro d liz oTn reTe'
uue=. nus, be iakeo as tue aod incootIoTers-
ible. and justie5 The lmpariog. Mr. Ma=n
back acknowledged the principle that me judi
cal power will not Interfere with poilteal q1es'
tons or with the political poEtr, further than
to pass upon The cons,itusiooatl!y oil their acts
tn. coprts will not 90 tehibd this preamble,
say the tcrcibe rea5j1steis. That's true, they
1ei!l not go Le7and 1t. They will gorlghto1era It,
and beyond il AID head il lot. They FILL 90
back to lhe original fuodiog bill and say, here
is YOUR cootIact unfort opate though 1t may DC.
stand up to il. You cannot BY preamble RID
Yourself Of its obligatiobs. Anlndlrect, sophiS-
ucal attempt TO avoid it Is az obnoxious as Q
direct attempt aud will uect with the same
fate tha. The direct attempt OF IS y ol1. we
cannot be permitted to trample the CoDsltu-
ton under our feet by msaLs Of preanb!es.
If lev was Introduced in this Legislature
nak,dy to provide that from ADD after It's pas.
sage the State Of Virginia should emit bills OF
cred: or co:o money, every member #ould
rise to bis feet and scof at it as uncoustl!u
tiooal. II could scarcely get vote 10 this
body. But the position Of The advocates CT toe
new doctrine is such that IT the bill TO PROVIDE
for the coiniog Of money, or for emitting bills
of credit is preceded by preamble containing
the statement that i; is necessary to do so 10
the end that the sovereignty Of The State may
be maintained, and TO enable it TO pay lis gov
erunen,al expenses. thcn The bill is unoblsc,
tionable, and the Constitution Of the UOnted
States goes for naught Suppose b isinlro-
duced providing hat hereafter none but white
pcrsoDs shall be allowed 10 vote in Virginia, not
one of US would vote for it, its nncoDstitu
tionality being SO urquestlooas!c. But the ad'
vocates Of the measure would then put prefix
to it declaring that the evils OF universal sui
frage are such that DO honest men could be
elected to office, that those elected We're lncom-
peteot that they either failed TO collect the
taxes, or stole them when received, and that
such state Of affairs existed as TO endaoger
the safety OF the State, and destroy its govern.
msnt and sovereignty. Then it seems the bill
would be iDVuncrabIe, aud the constitutional
provision circumvepted. If this be true, you
can destroy the whole Constitution By judi
cious use Of preanbles. This is an absurdty.
Dir. Mushbach quoted authorities 10 sustain
his position, among others, kent, CON- 392.
aud Crauch, 397. He also said that the
further claim made by the friends Of the Bar
bour bill, that the constitutional provision
only to contracts between individuals, and not
to contracts made by States, although such was
the option Ct many men coutemporaDeous
with the formation Of the Constitution, is not
sustained by the authorities Of the present
day. Ga the contrary, nearly all the Leading
cases on the subject decided by the United
States Supreme Court, Woodruff vs. TrapoalI,
New jersey vs. Wilson, Fletcher vs. Peck, Ere
b/l nd
upon contracts made by sovereign States, and
it was held they could not impair them.
Passing to another branch Of the subject,
Mr.. Mushbach said he could not vote for the
Barbour BILL because it was part Of, or pre-
Jude, or an opening overture to torcble read
iustment bill 90 the basis Of per cent. lie
would not consent to such torclble measure,
not only because it was wrong in principle. but
because, with the present revenues OF the
State, under rigid economy, the State could
keep the wheels of government moving, and
} maintain the public school syscm-a system to
which he vas the firm friend-abd at the same
time pay four per cent Interest 90 the public
debt, which the creditors would willingly accept
and compromise 90 those terms. Member after
member has stated upon this floor that they
are 10 receipt OF numerous letters from the
creditors of theStatc in this aud other countries
to the effect that they will gladly take 4 per
cent. tax receivable coupon bond in exchange
for those now held by them. Such bill Mr..
Mushbach would vote for if it lett the creditors
free to--accept. and did not purpose to compel
them. 1t is capable Of mathematical demon,
stration that our revenues will pay per cent
and it is reputation TO pay less, for rcpudia-
ton consists as much 10 the failure to pay
what We are able as in the direct refusal.
The report of the Finance Committee shows
that -
Virginia S2.4,9,2l4 Ga
From this they deduct the current
expenses Of govt. 81, 013, e85 80
Amount due public
schools ... ........ 1912 81
81 571 669 Is