Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-19
VIRGINIA POLITICS.
Reply of Senator Johnston TO Gem
eral Mahone-A Temperate but
Complete Refutatton OF Eeadjuster
Arguments.


WASHINGTON, January 18.-Senator John
SOB, Of Virginia, has prepared an address,
which was made public to-day, In reply to
the recently published interview with Gen
eral Malone and the late address of the
State Committee of Readiusters. He opens
by saying that while the address and inter
view do not seem to have produced the
effect hoped for, he nevertheless invites q
reply and proceeds to put in an answer in
behalf of "My State and people," brief
and temperate. After giving sketch Of
/ events dating back to the time of the
formation of what is known as the Alexan-
dria Constitution and up to the adoption
by the people of Virginia, 1862 Of
the constitution now in force, the s. ma
tor proceeds to consider at great length the
difficult financial problem, or the settle
/ ment Of the State debt, which grew out of
/ the division of the State of Virginia, and
| the burdens resulting from the war. He
| discusses the merits OF the MeCulloch re-
! funding bill, and elaboratelY takes iesue
! alike with the statutes and conclusions of
the Readjuster party, set forth In the ad-
1 dress and interview referred to.
After showing what he claims TO be an
error Of over half a million of dollars OF
revenue of the State, he says: "The state
ments of tie interview are faulty and wrong
4 In regard to the expenses of the government
! and the amount necessary to pay the in
terest on the McCulloch bill, as they are In
I relation to the revenueh He proceeds to
combat the correctness of these statements
i In detail and continues:
f'If the claims and assertions of the Re-
/ adJusters should appear, as insist they do,
I unsound and incorrect as to the matters of
/ debt and revenues and expenditures of tine
( State, are they more reliable In other
respects? They claim to be the sole and
| exclusive guardians of the common school
system, and that the B0urbons or Funders,
if not its enemies, are at least not its friends,
and have let it languish and be neglected.
4 Their peculiar and excessive zeal is of q
very recent birth. They had nothing to do
with establishing the system or putting 1t
into operation
He further attacks this claim by asserting
that the Legislature of 1869, when it met,
addressed itself at once to putting the
present school system incorporation, and
says: Gas far as / can recall now, not one
man who Is now prominent as q readiuster
was a member of either convention
or the first Legislature. That is not all.
The State of Virginia, having
received from Congress land scrip
lOf the osLaoASnmenb OF cOIlegeS nad TO
! decide how to use the fund. There was
not one disputing voice as to the diStribu-
tion of one-third the amount. The colored
people had college at Hampton, to which
the whites were not admitted, and one-third
of the money was given to that college by
I universal consent. As to the boast made
so loudly that the Readjusters
were put into office year ago, and the
affairs of the State have been better admins
tered than formerly, 1t must be borne in
mind that under the McCulloch bill the
amount of s., ,049, 40 20 was funded 10 new
bonds at per cent, which before that time
bore per cent, thus reducing the interest
to One-half, and etfecting an annual saving
to the State of more than $40 900, of
which two thirds you'd be Ia tax receivable 'e
coupons. OF the sum funded $l05, 1874 go
were purchased for the sinking fund and
have since been cancelled, so that whereas
before the passage of the McCulloch bill the
State had to pay six per cent. on $S, ,049,
449 20, 1t now pays three per cent. on
/ 81, ,944 ,3l4 so, and it is the saving thus eff
fected and the saving by the retrenchment
acts Of the so-ealled Bourbon Legislature of
| 1877-i78 that has made money more
abundant in the Treasury, snd:not any skill
ful or wise management OF the officers"
The Senator refers to the apprehensions
of General Malone, that after the end OF
| the first ten years, when McCulloch would
commence drawing per cent. interest and
| the people could not pay, and says they
seem wholly groundlees He says the in
crease Of interest would be only per cent,
whereas the population would probable
grow 20 per cent, and the property and
general wealth great deal more, and the
sinking fund would each year diminish the
principal of the debt
The concluding portion of the address is
devoted to an array of statistics intended to
show the growth and extension of agricul-
ture and manufactures and the flourishing
condition of the people in different sections
/ of the State.