The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-11-26
[for the Dispatchl
HAN IN PAY the state Debt.

vidual credit. TDe puoHc cftuit vi cVu'"
Carolina is the private credit OF every IN
diyidual South CaroliDian, and II be does
not see the immediate and instant result OF
A stab at the credit OF the State, he viii feel
1, in hi. individual fortune shortly. In e.
giuia there has been much distress and
trouble. Frankly, do not think their af-
fairs were so wisely n.anaged as they might
have been. They temporized with affairs
they ought not to have temporlzed with,
and believe that the State lost more money
by temporiZing with its public credit than
the whole principal and Interest OF lis pub.
lie debt would amount to; and being q
friend OF Virginia and loving Its people,
do deplore the unwisdom OF Intercourse IN
this"
We wish to comment on this text. IL can
easily beShown that the State OF Virginia
has lost more than one hundred millions OF
dollars In actual depreciation OF real estate,
besides the indirect loss OF unascertainable
millions by the damage to public and pri'
yate credit. r''...:-
Before proceeding further, the present
writer would state that he j. practical
man. identified in interests with the agrl-
cultural class, and taxpayer on small
landed estate. lie estimates the loss to his
own pocket from the source mentioned by
Senator Bayard at about $50 per annum
and rs this is double what he pays in the
shape OF taxes he Is naturally more anxious
TO stop The leak by which his own and his
neighbors' lands are deprecating every
year than he is to diminish his taxes, much
as he would welcome any tightening OF this
load also.
Another preliminary remark: We en-
dOrSe The action of none Of the political
parties ,cuh regard 10 The State debt Ii
seems TO Us that they are but furnishing an
other illustration of DIckens's CIrcumIocu-
ton Office, here Government officials were
taught the art Of " How not 10 40 it,"
II was fondly hoped that the prompt and
regular payment OF The iniere-t on bonds
funded under the McCullOch bill would re-
store to us the confidence OF the world, so
that capital would settle in our midst.
Without stopping TO point out the futility
of expecting immigration into debt bur-
dened and taX-riddeu State, it is sufficient
now to say that the McCulIocb settlement
has been, whether wisely or unwisely, ire
trievabiy damaged by the course pursued
BY the ReSdjusicrs. What arc our Debt
Payers gong TO do about il? And what
substitute Will the Readiusters give uSy
The problem which presents Itself to the
Virginia fnancier is fourfold one: |. To
provide funds for the necessary and regu-
lar expenses OF the government. =. To
maintain the system Of public instruction.
3. To pay the interest on the bonded debt.
4. To provide for the payment CT the deGt
itself, and this without appreclably lncreaS'
ing the rate of taxation. The party which
shall succeed In such a scheme OF finance
vii! receive the unanimous support of Nir-
giniaDS. We really do not see why there
should be any differences among Us. We
are all aiming at the same thing. And il
pride, pre- JUDGE, and passion did not blind
lis, we should clearly see that the shield (aS
in the old story is gold on one side and sI.
yer on the other. Our politicians care more
for getting themselves into place than about
settling the debt.
tie debt can only be settled by the people
in cOnUeEtiOn assembled. LET tins settle.
ment, whatever ii be. be made part Of the
Constitution, SO that Legislatures cannot
NEEDLE with il.
We have a plan TO propose to our Read.
iuster friends by which the debt can be paid
IN thirty years without increasing ihe taxes
on capital and thereby hindering lis advent
into our State, without doing injustice to
any one. without iniuring the public sell
vice, and with the result OF an increased
value TO our lands. At first glance the plan
may appear 10 have some obnoxious fPa-
lures: but we have thought over il long and
and have conferred with several
persons OF practical business intelligence,
and we promise 10 answer all objections.
Before an effectUal cure Can be devised
for any economical condition that calls for
a remedy clear idea must be formed OF tue
precise nature of the evil. We must ascer-
tain the cause OF our dIlipidated fortunes
before we can nationally set to work TO build
tuem up. WY cannot Virginia pay her
debti
There are but two possible methods by
which either an individual or a corporation
can get out OF debit, retrenchmebt OF eX-
pendilureS; 2, increased production. The
first method has already been pushed almost
10 its furthest limit in our State finances, and
not much more can be hoped in this drec-
ton. II we are ever 10 be rid OF The lncu-
bus Of the State debt, il will be by an in
crease in the productive capital subject TO
taxation. In other words, we must make
more II we would pay more.
Why are we not making more? Tho
chief wealth OF Virginia j. agricultural.
and whatever may be our possibilities as
mining and manufacturing people, it is
now and will long be 10 the landed inter
est that the State must look in its effort TO
retrieve its credit and restore its finances
to sound condition. What is the cOnd.
ton OF our landed interest i?
Without having al hand full statistics to
verify the statement, we venture the asser-
ton hat the average yield 10 tlie acre is
only half what il was twenty years ago.
All the facts that we bave been able TO
gather point 10 this conclusion. Again, we
Inquire the cause. The answer is not far
to seek: A soil impoverished by excess
sWe cropping, because the owners had not
he capital necessary to improve their lands
by ret and clover. Shorn Of every thing
except their land at the close OF the war,
with stock destroyed, implements worn out,
and labor disoiganized, they were obliged,
by the adoption Of the tenant system, to
put every acre into active use; and in many
Eases, with private debts hanging over
hem, they have never been able to adopt
my system OF agriculture but that which
would geld the largest immediate returns.
rhe future was sacrificed for the present. |
We are now feeling the effects.
To farm successfully man should have, |
" ''oNh, 'VV'oj anu NaNH' "IsOudl capital |
'qual TO at least the thiI d Of the value OF |
lis land. II at the close Of the war our
landowners could have disposed OF part OF |
heir lands, so rs TO provide themselves with |
he mears Of farming the remainder in
proper and truly economic way, all classes |
II our community would now be twice as |
prosperous as they are. But In default OF |
his, we have been compelled 10 exhaust |
ur soil IN the effort to lice, and the result
) laid deprecated in market value because |
IN productive value.
The depreciation OF our lands. however,
not wholly due to that diminished fer
litV: "A still greater causp Il me ,rnnf of |