Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1881-09-28

Z Fl Z
RiddIsbergsr Bill Reviewed.

Il vi ltiC 1NtNAlDOCAECi iJl4lf ttAS o0bhOAo VI
It assert, that at is confidently 6eliereo
| that the people Of this State 'oiU necel
acgmesce in any settlement sehich shat
obigate them. and their posterity to pay
any part Of the interest upon the pubht
debt Sohich accrued during the rar and
the period of reconstruction.
A greatmany people in Virginia are
of the opinion that the funding Bill OF
March 80, 1881 should not have assum-
ed the payment of interest that accrued
during the war in favor Of the Northern
holder of Virginia bonds, and that the
assumption of this interest would jus
tfy readjustment Of the debt as fund
ed under the provisions Of that Bill.
But it was conceded. when the legisla>
tue OF 1877 met, that the only way to
fleet a proper REIMBURSEMENT would be
to leave the principal Of the bonds in
tact, and to reduce the rate Of interest.
That any attempt to eliminate the war
and reconstruction interest from the
principal of the bond would be fraught
with gross injustice to the creditor in
view Of the fact that many bonds were
not owned by original holders, and that
such elimination could not be practically
accomplished. Aud notwithstanding
the fact that tic Riddlebeger Bin malNes
the assertion that the people of Virgil
MIA will never acquiesce in any settle
ment which shall obligate them to pay
anu part ofthe interest upon the public
debt which accrued duriag the war, yet
the very settlement which it proposes
utterly fails to accomplish the elim'na-
ton of war interest as we will now
proceed to conelusively demonstrate
by the following illustration. Jones
was the holder of a Virginia bond for
50, 900 in 1861. He received no interest
on his bond during the war. In 1867
he funded the accrued interest OF five
years from January 1861 to Jan. 1866
under the provisions Of the act Of March
,, 1866, (Acts Of assembly 1866, page
79), which authorized the holders OF
the bonds of the State OF Virginia issued
before April 18th 1861 to Invest the
interest due upon said bonds in other
bonds of the State, bearing the same
rate as the principal Of the bond Oh
which the interest had accrued and was
in arreAr.
Jones now held two ponds, one for
$4,000 bearing six per cent interest
representing his principal, the other for
5000, representing the unpaid war inter-
est, also bearing six per cent interest.
Jones sold his 50 900 bond to Smith and
his 5000 bond 10 Brown. In 1871
Smith and Brown, sent their bonds to
the auditor TO be funded under the
funding Bill Of March 80, 1871. No
interest bad been paid on either bond
since 1867 when Jones funded the in
terest then in arrear, under the Act OF
March 3. 1866. Smiths bond there
fore principal and years accumulated
interest amounted to $500, and
Browns to $50 when presented to the
auditor in 1871, .one third Of each was
funded IN West Virginia certificates,
and new consol bonds and fractional
Oh G.ata nf VirUinia for
the other two thirds were issued respect
fully to Smith and Brown. A Sl7O0
bond and a $34 fractional certificate
to Smith, and a $500 bond, and 800
certificate TO Brown.
Now the Rlddleberger Bill proposes
10 eliminate Al per cent out Of the prin-
cipal of each Of these last named bonds.
1--WE will leave out of consideration the
frac iOnal certificates as not necessary
for lllustration), and this to get rid of
the 'oar and reconstruction interest.
Take Al per cent off Of Smiths
sl700 pond and he has left, under the
funding process Of the Riddleberger
Bill, new bond for 5000 and a frac-
tOnal certificate for one dollar, and by
the same process Brown has lett of his
$500 bond, new bond for 5000, aud
certificate for s65. In other words war
and reconstruction interest has been
tWice eliminated from Smiths bond
under the operation OF this wonderful
scheme of readjustment, and Brown
has a bond and fractional certificate
which represent war and reconstruction
interest altogether, for according to
the theory of the Bill, all the interest
that accrued between the beginning Of
the war in 1861, and the time that the
State was admitted to representation
in Congress, in 1870, under the consti-
tuition of 1869, was war and reconstruct
ton interest. Aud yet the the claus
Of the preamble above quoted solemnlv
asserts that the people Of Virginia will
never acquiesce in d settlement that
Obligates them to pay any part Of the
war and reconstruction interest. Smith
would be eliminated out of the money
which the State justly owes him il order |
10 pay Brown war and reconstruction |
should the Riddleberger Bill |
become law, That the above illus.
rates the Obvious working of the Bill |
viii not be seriously questioned when
we consider that thousands of dollars Of |
interest in arIear were funded under
he Act of March 2, 1866 above referred |
o, and that the bonds which represent
ID the funded interest were afterwards
under the funding Bill of
A 1871 -, go.