Iron County register., 1882-01-26
The Republican Repudiators In
Virginia..

To the Editor of The iSun-SIR: II
would Hratify and enlighten tnanv OF Won,
readera IL you would kindly state what the
Indebtedness OF Virginia is, and what Malone
proposes to do with 1t. In other words how
does be contemplate repudiating the debt OF
Virgiuiai CITIZEN.
The best answer to the above INQUIRY
il furnished by an extract from a speech
by Gen. Mahens, delivered al public
mesting over which Mr.. Riddleberger
presided, held in Mozart Hall, Rich
mond, in 1879: II would use my best
endsavors to secure a vote of the people
sanctioning settlement at per cent,
for forty-five years, on the basis of
$32, ,977, ,OOO.02." He was particular,
even to the cents, as to the exact
amount OF debt due by the State which
he and his followers were willing to
recognize.
The Readjusters and their allies car
ried the State in 1879, and the foremost
measure pressed in the Legislature was
the Riddleberger bill, fixing the debt
at $40 sos. 1876, or $13, 2S1 1894 .O2 less than
the debt admitted publicly only few
months previously.
That bill Of denominations arbitrarily
struck off one-third of the acknowledg-
ed principal of the debt. 1t trepudiated
all the interest on the debt during the
vebellion, and during the reconstruc-
lion, upon the distinct ground that the
North had subjugated the State of Vir-
glnia, and destroyed its property; and
the right was reserved to tax the bonds,
after refusing to receive the coupons in
payment Of taxes. The allied repudi-
ators carried their scheme through, and
when it was passed, III. 8. Blair, who
was recently elected Attorney-General
by the coalition, declared publicly as
follows:
"HaVing achieved q great triumph
in the Stote on our View of the debt
ISSUE, noaU favor a vigorous 0ppii-
cation of the re0dj4stnaent principles
to the national debt" In plain terms,
he proposed to repudiate one-third Of
the whole nationa1debt as the shortest
way Of settlement with the public cred
itOrs. And it may be said if Mr. Blair's
and Gen. MahOne's "principles" were
right for Virginia. they were equally
right for the whole Union, for there is
no moral or political distinction between
the cases. The party and the men ho
sustain the reputation cause in one
place cannot deny it in another place.
The Republicans who upheld Malone,
endorsed his infamous doctrines and
justified his Attorney-General in de-
manding"a vigorous application of the
readjustmsat principles to the national
debt"
The Administration threw its whole |
weight into the scale of the recent cleo |
ton, and it made Gen. Malone power |
in politics, as the audaclous advocate of
o policr which, carried out to its logical
consequences. would destroy credit,
violate contracts, trample honest debts
under foot, and dem0ralize society.
What followed his triumph? There
-,
cent. of the vote in Virginia; but when
a Senator was to be elected. Gen. Ma
hone insisted that bis small faction of
one-fourth should rule absolutely, and,
to make the pill more bitter, he required
that Riddleberger, the author of this
scheme, should be chosen
AS his colleague, over a pronounced Re-
publican whose name and whose infiu-
ence had been given to the coalition. Il
The late Democratic Governor of
Virginia vetoed the Riddleberger bill,