The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-01-30
FLOR the DiSpatch.l


In my article addressed TO the pubic
creditors Of Virginia, published In thurs
days Dispatch, the phrase was used' me
KING can do no wrong" A correspondent
in Sgturday's Dispatch. either misappre'
hending tbc sense IN which that phrase was
used. or desiring to indulge in little humor
ot nv expense, wants information OF YOU
respectinc it. will probably be sufhcient
10 say IL was stated TO be claw maxim,
and the explanation Was thereupon gwen
that the sovereign OF a country is not aine'
nable 10 the criminal or civil law, ana cannot
he cqerccd or restrained by either. Inc
bond of sovereign has for it, only sanction
:. the faith and honor" OF the sovereign.
The old doctrine i'm Virginia was that me
bond OF the State Of Virginia had Tor It's
only sanction the faith aud honor OF tue
Stale. and that the holder had no rene.
DIV whatever in the courts 10 enforce
PAYMENT 1t was never meant that
IN moral sense the sovereign was
incapable of doing wrong, only the tdp does
not contemplate such contingency. NOW,
in the old.fashioned view, whilst virginia
was not bound by a "cOntract" which
could be enforced in the courts to pay ner
public debt, yet, having pligbtcd her fallh
and honor. she was bound in honor not 10
do ANYTHING touching it inconsistent win
peifect good faith and here l Will not Tres
piss on your courtesy so far as to enter INTO
The discussion OF the moral questions ln-
volved in "forcible readlustment:" lie,
minding your correspondent that Epsianu
has rt&djusted her public debt wlthout
craving leave OF her creditors, VIII simply
say it was not The object OF my commuhi'
cation to the public creditors to invite them
to ga feast OF reSdiustnent," but simply
guarding them against falling INTO tue
error of thinking readiustment cutter
lv souelched" l appealed to their com
mon sense as well as their generous iin-
pulses in the matter. The funded bonds at
75 cents and the untuuded (oId regisiered)
al 20 cents ia the dollar, with Treasury
notes annually redeemabe in part by SINK
ing fund, pay them very well. VirginIans
can and will carry, and cheeIiuliy carry,
a 500. OOO, 900 compromise debt at per cent,
non.taxab!e, equal TO per cent. interest.
| have always favored upholding the credit
and honor OF the State. But when Brltish
bondhoders allowed Il paper blockade TO
| seal our ports during the war; wnen tney
failed to put IN any claim before the Claims
Commits. ion at Geneva for indemnify 10
holders OF Virginia bonds on account OF the
confscation OF our slave property by the
Federal Government; when northern bond-
holders persist in saddIing Virginians with
the burden OF about four times their pro-
portion OF the national debt, crushing out
agriculture by their taxation, destroying
the values OF landed property, running the
| tenant-class i'm the tobacco districts, and IN
turing the whole State by keeping up an
artificial balance Of trade against the State
when these are before us, it is worse than
madness TO haunt court decisions in the
faces of the people and to force another can
yass on the debt issue. The party which
4 goes before the people OF Virginia Offering
no compromise Of the "consol" debt, de-
handing the last dollar OF principal and in
terest, will, in the humble opinion OF the
writer, meet with the most crushing and
overwhelming defeat ever sustained in the
State. In the hope Of averting thlS, in The
hope of getting the debt out OF politics.
| wrote. A VIRGINIAN.