Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1880-03-24

| only question. therefore, IL "notho. III
terest during the war constitutes oone
fde part of the debt ? And l do moi
hesitate to declare my opinion IN the
negative, whatever stigma may be at
tached to that opinion. Our situation
at that period. attacked by powerful ma
ton, to whose government we had Deen
subjected, called to the exertlon OF every
power. personal and pecunlary, in de-
fence of life liberty and property and
without commerce (Which had thereto
fore been monopolized by that nation),
to enable our citizens to pay their
debts, take the case out OF every prln-
ciple on which interest is demandable.
On the merits, therefore,
1 am of opinion that
NO INTEREST IS DUE,
and that none of the moral obligations
stated are violated by the opinion.
Whether religion has been transgress-
ed, will rest with another and more un-
errins tribunal"
There was a great and good man who.
even on the bench Of justice and law,
could respect the views Of the people.
Here and now the verdict OF the people
at the polls is disregarded aud contem-
ned And there is but one answer TO
this decision of Judge Pendleton's and
his brethren of the Court of Appeals, land
it is the answer which last fall was
heard resounding from the mountains 10
the sea: That our debt is the debt OF
State and the debts treated of by Jeh-
erscn and Pendeton were private deots.
But on research, they who make THIS
answer will find that the very courts
they so revere hold that as to a con-
tract a State is to be regarded as an i'll
dividual. See the Charleston cases;
And, of course, if State is 10 be held
to all the obligations of a bargain like
A PRIVATE PERSON.
1t is also, by parity of reasoning, and
on all the equities, to be granted all the
reliefs and abatements that arise in law
and equity to the private obIigor. You
cannot fix the rule at all unless you
grant that it should work both ways.
Virginia is construed TO be subject to
all the laws and Obligations Of contract
as an individual; she can bind herself
by an rrepealable contract; issue lrrey-
ocable tax receivable coupons pawn
her sovereignty and in all matters OF
obligation can bind herself as firmly as
any private person. So say the FUND
ers; and so have SAID some of our judges.
But in reducing the State to
THIS sUBJECTION
is her condition to be made worse than
:hat of the individual citizen ? Can you
in law, or equity, or morals place her as
to obligations on the same footing as
one other own citizens without grant
ing her also the privileges which attach
to the citizen IN matters OF contract !
Nay not so! That would be 10 make
the States condition worse as to her
creditors than that OF any private debt
or. My own position in regard to the
matter is this: will give Virginia the
benefit of all the law and of all the
equities. To the Yankee. under the
law, 1 will say, we owe you no inter"
est TO the home bondholder, under the
equities, 1 will declare the same.
THE FUNDER DOCTRINE
the theory Of the Governor and his mes
sage-ls that in 1871 Virginia was an
individual TO surrender her sovereignty
and enter into an irrepealable contract
but in IS79-'S0, Virginia is a State,
sovereign and independent, as to her
liability for war and reconstruction in
teresf TO Huph McCullOch and his assO~
ciate brokers.
In accord with the views Of the IA
theirs of the Commonwealth we have in
the Readiustment Bill eliminated war
and reconstruction interest-not caring
greatly for the precedents set us IL the
teachings of case-law.
Speaker Allen in his speech in the
House on the tax-bill IN 1873, said:
Another element of wrong in the Fund
ing Bill was IN allowing war interest to
Northern bondholders. The principle
that war interest could not be demand
ed, under the circumstances, has been
clearly established and is recognized BY
all the courts of the country"
Without book-without DECISION
without case-law-put the question to
the supreme people on its equities and
let the Virginia conscience determine
II But the Governor sees a terrible
vision IN ''the outside world" What
world does he refer to? And what
matters 1t, if we be in the right? Yet
he may look
THE OUTSIDE WORLD
over, and find none that can put Vir'
ginia 10 the blush on her financial re-
cord. Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, all our South
ern and nearly all our other sister States
have INDUCED in down right reputation.
And the same may be said OF France,
Austria, Prussia, England, and all the
rest of the nations OF the earth.
Why be afraid Of those portions.
or any portions,o "the outside world"
in settling your public debt on your con-
sciences ?-You have already repudla.
ted The Allen Amendment, several
Funders in the House having voted for
its repeal ;and you have also, unani-
mously, it seems, repudlated the whole
of the
HONORABLE AND FAIR"
settlement of the Brokers' Bill and TAX
en- 10 that set forth in the Ross Hamll-
ton Substitute Were you playing for
political capital, or acting in good faith,
in these repeated regulations? prefer
TO consider that you acted in good faith,
taking to the Hamilton Bill as better
one than the NcCulloch Bill. And
where is the outside world. that it does
not rise up and rebuke you tor this rank
reputation
His Excellency tells Us that the Re-
adjustment Bill is unconstitutional
But why prate of the Constitution for
the purpose of protecting the most un-
constitutional of legislation? No State,
dare to say, can make an irrepealable
contract. The very existence OF the
State forbids 1.-THE earlier and better
and more authoritative decisions of our
courts deny the power-the spirit of our
institutions repel the policy-Magna
Charta vods the obligatlons-and
THE ELEVENTH AMENDMENT
of the Federal Constitution renders it
impossible ! No Legislature can dimln-
ish the powers of succeeding Legisla-
tures. said our Supreme Court, speaking
=, T.l-o w pohortonn and i'm |