The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-07-07
A Dangerous Sentiment.

A Dangerous Sentiment.
There was meeting OF Re-adjnsters at
Va on Friday night last. at
which Capt. John S. Wise, Capt. Harry
and Col Cameron, the NOM
inee of that party for Governor SPOKE
Capt Wise is reported in the Petersburg
Inder-Appeal, and the report was repub-
lished in the Wing. to have said on the oc-
casion:
"He maintained that the State of vir-
einia. which contracted and created this
debt was DESTROYED as a legal entity
II was disrupted and made into two new
States. and the old State is not equita-
bly responsible for the debt. He discussed
the Debt question at some length. and said
that after all the ruin the war has brought
in view of the poverty of the people we
ought to stop this stuff of consulting the
creditors of the State as to what they are
willing to take; decide what we are able to
give them, and make them take it. whether
they are willing or, not This is forcblei
Reimbursement. practical REIMBURSEMENT
and he was in favor of it,.
Tt should be remembered, In considering
the proposition made in this extract, that,
s23, 900 900 of the debt has been passed up
on by the Courts. and the validity of the
$4,000, 600 remaining of the bonds issued
under the law of 1871, with tax-recevable
coupons attached. and the s8,U00,000 issued
under the law of 1879, with similar coupons,
determined. How to evade or circumvent this
determination OF the highest Courts OF the
State and Nation, is what is to engage the
attention Of the Re-adjusters. They rely
upon that feature of the Riddleberger bill,
which provides that certificates OF indebt-
edness shall be issued, to be passed into the
hands of the taxpayer at so cents in the
dollar, and by him into the Treasury, in
liquidation of the tax charge against him.at
100 cents in the dollar. The object of this is
to destroy the current value of the tax-re-
ceivable coupons attached, to submit to the
conditions of the Riddleberger bill, and &C
cept the proposed elimination or palpa-
BILE robbery, as the best thing to be DONE
By this means it is hoped that the de-
csions of the Courts may be nullitied, their
verdicts secuted, and the policy of the Re-
never occur to these sanguine gentlemen
that the Supreme Court of the United States
has some respect for its own dignity and the
integrity of its decisions and that if it has
not the power to enforce its DEGREES the
Congress of the United States would see
that the power was conferred. We can i'm
agine no more demoralizng and dangerous
education than that which leads TO de-
tiance of the Courts of the country and the
training of the public mind to the cOnclu-
sion that the devices Of demagogues and
the necessities Of desperate politicians are
to override the conservative guards OF So
ciety in all of its relations. 1t is a mon.
strous suggestion. and yet there are. Repub-
lican journals ir the North. which boldly
espouse the cause of faction which pro-
poses such revolutionary measures. In do
ing so they not only aid and abet in the
| reputation of honest obligations, but in an
assault upon the bulwark of Republican in
stitutions, and the education and gro" tn of a
sentiment and license that may lead to an
archy itself. 1t is time for them to pause
and ponder awhile before they go too far
in this direction and give momentum to in
flnences which may shake the very pillars
of the government,
The plea of ruin and poverty advanced
by Capt Wise is far-fetched and inapplica-
BILE. Virginia voluntarily determined her
relations in the late conflict between the
sections. and should bravely assume the re-
sponsbility of her own action. Neither in
law nor morality can she escape from it, if
she would. I he poverty plea has proven to
be fallaciOus. Gen. Malone, in his great
Washington City interview, assumed that
there would be reduction of the assessed
values of real estate at least % per cent
Upon this assumption he estimated the rev.
enues at 50, 100, 900, and underline operation
of the Riddleberger bill, surplus of
100000, after meeting the interest charge
| stipulated for in that bill, the support Of
the public schools and the current expenses
of government. The facts are that the re-
uuCblOu VI dSSSSSVu ICdl Values lS dSCCltd
not to exceed 5 per cent. instead of 25 per
cent, while the increase in personal proper
ty has been more than to cOunterbalance
this per cent decrease in realty. The
taxable resources of the State have largely
increased, as is evidenced by the failure of
the assessors to reduce them to the amount
it was ella lined would be the result; and
there is no reason or honesty in assuming
that the revenues wi not be as great, il
not greater than they have been at any
period in the history of the Common wealth
since the war. Indeed, the railroad and ia
dustrial properties which have been con-
structed within the past five years. to say
nothing of the enhanced values of the lands
through which they pass and where they
are located, would justify an estimate OF
largely increased revenues. fully competent
for all the demands upon the State, with
the prospect of large surplus remaining
in the Treasury.
Virginia is able to pay her honest debt as
determined by the courts and the equity of
the case, and fair presentation of the facts
and reasons for this will invoke a severe
Judgment from the people upon the propo-
sition to evade or cireumyent the legal de-
Examinations which have fixed the settle
mert within the reach of the capacity of the
taxpayers. without an increase of the rate
or aggregate of taxation. Let the people
meet the case as brave men and place their
seal of condemnation upon every PROPOSE
ton or scheme which looks to an assault
upon the integrity of the State, or Il COM
promise Of the fair name of the historic old
Commonwealth.
Mr.. J. w. Cochran
The Republican State Central Committee
did homor to itself the other day in electing
the above gentleman to fill the honorable
position of Chairman of that body. 1t is,
we believe, the first instance in the history
of Virripia in which ~