Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-08-27
From the Page Courier Supplement-
CAPT. n. H. RIDOLEBERGER'S
REPLY To-
THE PACE CALL.
To The Editors Page Courier

10 me EUU0fS rage COutT
GENTLEMEN-In your issue of the
! 7th inst, there is published card, ad-
dressed to me by number Of gentlemen
of your county, requesting me to become
candidate TO represent this district in
the State Senate. Permit me to express
through your columns my appreciation
of the honor these gentlemen do me,
and to return to them my sincere thanks
| for the kind terms in which their solicit
tation is conveyed.
In further reply, beg to say, IN all
candor, that it has not been in my mlad'
for some time past, to become a candl-
dale for political office, aud when re-
feet upon my personal interests and
situation tie struggle with selfis indeed
severe. But, after mature considera'
ton, my purpose is formed to present
myself on the issue which those gentle
men have so properly called the para
mount question in our State.
Since 1871 l have stood firmly for
what I bclieyc TO be legal, moral and
equitable settlement of Virglnia's debt,
unawed by epithc:s and unmoved by
maudlin sentimentality.
From the first opening of this ques'
ton the conviction OF our people has
been that we should not pay one dollar
OF interest that accrued during the war
or years of military reconstruction
This conviction is based on principle
of international law as old as civlllza-
ton. accepted by the governments OF
Europe, by the founders ofour own gov
eminent after their struggle IN the Rev.
olution and the subsequent conflict with
the same enemy, and, finally, by every
state in the South except poor old war
smitten and poverty-stricken Virginia.
This standard OF public integrity was
erected IN America by Jefferson and his
contemporaries in the councils, by Pen
dleton and his in the courts. For my
self, | frankly confess that it is with
great difficulty can measure up to this
standard now. l cannot reach that
which is fixed by the patriots of this
dav. Conscience does not dictate 1t,
and Judgment tells me that every inter-
est of this state now worth nurturing is
utterly and hopelessly ruined ifthe ''new
light law" and "higher morals" shall
obtain and prevail.
From this standpoint I propose to
review the situation.
The debt of Virginia at the beginning
Of the war was s30,51S,S37. Setting
aside one.third to West Virginia, and
our principal debt was 500. 345' 'S92.-
This | hold was the debt Of Virginia on
the day that Congress declared the war
closed and remitted our State to the full
exercise ofall her sovereign rights. The
law. as before stated, saws the alien
enemy is entitled to no interest, and
this was affirmed by an ordinance Of a
Virginia convention declaring that he
should receive none. (See ordinances
of 1861. Moreover the law gives the
option to juries to withhold interest as
between our own citizens during that
period, and. in every case, almost with
out exception, it IS done. AS for the
foreign holder Of our securities, the State
made legal tender TO the representatives
of their governments during the war.
and on instructions from their superlors
at Washington it was declined. A le-
gal tender always stops interest, and a
tender to the government is a tender to
the subject. (See acts and journals
from 'G1 10 'G5.l Here we recur 10 the
home-holder. Strangely as it may
sound. l say he has, if possible. the
least claim Of all. The State provided
currency Of treasury notes to pay this
interest. It was better than confeder-
ate money which the soldier had to re-
ceive or be shot for insubordlnation. 1t
was better than the farmer could get for
his crops when taken from him by i'm
pressment; yet Senate document No.
7 of The session of 1864, under the
signatures OF the Auditor, Secretary OF
Commonwealth and Register, reports
that our home patriots refused to receive
their interest, and asked that disposi-
ton be made of the money or the bond.
holder compelled to take it when due.
They did not accept it. Recalling some
of the sad memories OF that period when
the men in the field were giving their
blood and the men and women at home
contributing their substance, all for con-
federate money, the claim Of the holder
| excepting the ever-since robbed or
phan) to death for treason was stronger
then by odds than is his claim now made
upon all the other sufferers of the war
to have that interest compounded into
the principal Of bis bond to be paid,
principal and interest, IN gold. The
claim ofthe bond holder for war inter-
est IN gold is not superior to that of the
farmer who holds an old quartermaster's
receipt, or Of the soldier who got nc
pay for the last six. twelve or eighteen
months Of his service.
Thank Ged, reverently, that the wal
as an issue is dead, and, despite the
wish and work Of peace patriots, buried
only visit and open the tomb to take
the evidence Of the equities IN our cause
In my view, as here set forth, the
principal of Virginia's debt is s2O,345,'
s92. This 3 the amount she borrowed
all she expended OF borrowed money
1t makes no difference whether now
held by second or third parties. The