The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-01-20
from the Philadelphia PressI
MALONE SPEAKS.
His Views and Those of the Read
juster Party.

His Views and Those Of the Read.
juster Party.
THE PUBLIC DEBT OF VIRGINIA EXAMINED
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. HISTORY OF THR
VARIOUS MOVEMENTS AND SCHEMES OF SET
THEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH 1T.
The great concern manifested everywhere In
the particularly interesting political situation
in Virginia, and the widespread misconceptlon
which seems to prevail outside that State as
to the real status Of her public debt ana the
attitude of local parties toward it, recently led
several gentlemen, representing various sec
tions and interests, to seek an interview Win
General William Malone, United States Sena-
| t0r.eect from Virginia, in which he was asked
to impart to his interlocutors for general bene-
tit his views ON these subjects, with special
reference to the much mooted debt question
| To this General Malone readily assented, ex-
pressing his pleasure, indeed, at an opportunity
which enabled him to vindicate Virginia and
| her people about matter that had been grossly
misrepresented. 1t is large subject and a
long story, said the General, but, to correct
| and enlightened understandngofit, its history
| must be told. In 1861, at the outbreak of the
Civil War, Virginia possessed territory one
| third larger and population one-fifth greater
than she does to-day. Then she held large and
valuable interests in the public Works and the
banks of the COMMONWEALTH share in the
! latter alone contributing annually $368,650 to
her Treasury These were either destroyed
or impaired at an absolute loss to her of forty
millions of dollars. Then her people were in
easy financial circumstances and prosperous,
the owners of large property, in which in
personally alone they bave suffered direct de-
privatiOn to an amount not less than five hum
mil in " yUaa
| taxable. Then the property OF all kinds as
sessed with taxes in Virginia was greater than
now by 1917 900, and now amounts to only
S267, 1884, 900, and then her public debt was
S31 ,1SS, 900, with an annual liability for inter-
est If 81 $4,000, while the McCulloch Bill
would arbitrarily impose debt of $33, 228, 671
upon the Virginia OF to-day, shOrn of her ter
rtory decimated in her population. and beg
CARED in all her resources debt greater than
that of any other State of the Union, to crush
and paralyze the State which suffered most of
all by the war. The revenue Of Virginia in
the year 1659-1860, on levy of forty cents
upon the one hundred dollars ofassessed value,
was So, 1861 In 1880 81, when every species
of property is taxed, her revenue cannot be
counted upon for more than $2,100,000 net,
although the levy is now, since 1871, fifty cts.
And whereas formerly the State levy OF forty
cents was substantially the whole extent of our
county, State and Federal exactions, equal q
tax OF 81 per cent. on the assessed value of
property, or $685. on every one hundred dol
lars OF our taxable values
The expenses of the State Government now,
under the most frugal administration, cannot
be put at less than $1,430,000, including the
Constitutional charge the free schools and
averaged about 81 100000 until the Readjusters
came into power. Yet our interest account,
,,1or tho (,rIfoch hill would cfoud for tho
year 1879 at 81 1853, 1854; for 1880 at 81 1874 1884,
for 1881 at 81 ,Q93, 1884, for 1882 at 81 ,008 ,012
and for 1888, and each year succeeding to 1890
at 1896, $50: or, if averaged for the ten years,
at 81 ,057 $50 year. For the ensuing twenty
years lat per cent? the annual interest
would be $1,329, 147 and for the remaining ten
years nnder the bill lat 5 per cent? it would
be 81 ,661 1888 a year-and this the flinders are
won't to call three-pe settlements,
and s. The utter impossibility of meeting
merely the average annual interest demand OF
the McCulloch Bill even during the period
of it's lowest rate, need not be discussed, when
it is apparent that, after defraying the neces-
sary expenses of Government, including sup
port OF the schools, no larger annual surplus
can be relied ON than $500, 600. And when we
are at once confronted, moreover with an
urgent floating debt of $2,552 372, which com
prises $l,5O4,24G OF school money diverted
Turing former years. $50, 4s2 Of accrued inter-
est on college endowments, $40,520 due the
Literary Fund from fines diverted, $16S894 of
outstanding warrants against the Treasury,
and 1888, 231 of overdue, selfexecuting tax
receivable coupons
1t was in the year 1e66-67 that the matter
of Virgnia's debt was first considered by the
General Assembly That was the first Legis-
lature elected after the war, at time when
the partition of the State, the loss of popula-
inin
erished condition OF our people were none of
them properly realized. Yet that Assembly
strangely enough, before Its constituencies had
been consulted upon the subject and when
our circumstances were not understood, rashly
and without due authority undertook to
shoulder the entire old debt of undivided Vir-
ginia, with all its accumulations of overdue
and unpaid interest that had accrued since
TIE begun ng OF the war, and to capitalize the
latter and interest upon that as additional
principal. Nay, 80 Tar from being authorized
to assume this debt the very Constitution I'M
der which it acted THAT of Alexandria, direct
ed that the debt should be first adjusted"
with West Virginia, The same body which
so improperly assumed the debt and its accu-
mutations also appointed a Commission to
negotiate for the return of West Virginia
within our bounds and Jurisdiction, 80 little
did our representative men, our public lead
Z,
alton. Nor was it until after the complete
failure of this effort 10 restore the integrity of
our former limits that our politicians and our
legislators began to understand and measure
the permanent disruption of our territory as
one of the numerous results of the war that
too many were slow to see and TO accept. The
General Assembly, which so thoughtlessly and
presumptuously began in 1S66-'67 to treat this
great problem, gave another instance of its
Oft hax,
visedly and unauthoritatvely assumed the en-
tire debt of the old State and capitalized all
interest in arrears, ii actually levied a tax of
only fourteen cents on the one hundred dol
lars of valuations in divided and desolated
State. AT subsequent session, in 1866-'67,
this same Legislature directed the Auditor to
paw only tonr per cent on the old PRINCIPAL of
the debt, and expressly forbade him to pay any
interest upon the arrearages of interest which
they had just authorized to be capitalized
though over eight millions of dollars (SS, 287.-
286) had been funded under the act The in
adequacy OF so small levy as fourteen cents
but too plainly illustrated how little the rep
resentative men OF the State in that day knew
of her condition, and singularly proclams the
lnconsiderateness with which they SO hastily
proceeded The sequel proved that the lew
was even insufficient for the support OF gov
eminent alone Yet no efficient remedy was
applied. The maximum OF promise was fol-
lowed only by the minimum of performance
The same Assembly, at the following session,
simply repudiated its own previous enact
ments 1t then proceeded to effect the organi-
cation of the Slate government under the
Alexandria constitution Then came the acts
of Congress, renting the State to the condi-
ton Of a conquered province and to military
rule,and thereby annihiiatng in effect the Gov
eminent and the legislation that had interven-
Ccsf, nd