Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-12
4 nsnsss - Ceseael Rsmn.

In your paper OF June 3Oth,
Membsr" conjsctured that your sdito-
rial of the 25th, on the rise Of Riddles,
vas inspired by the Second Auditor,
Who ID Q jealous advocate Of the
brokers' smart financial scheme OF ia.
ducing the State to buy up her own dis
honortd pspsr-such IS psslers. non-
tax-receivsble coupons, black scrip,
&C., after the brokers shall have first
bought up the aforesaid trash, and gone
through the farce of converting the same
into Riddles.
The conjecture of"A Member" was
vell.founded, Is the Second Auditor
comes to the front in your issue Of the
10th Of July and acknowledges the corn
like . man, and Immediately followed
the publication Of your editorial by sd-
vertising the time ct which the first
grand drawing of 100000 would take
place.
But he waited . week to see what
effect the announcement of the draw
would have on the Riddles, and, 10 and
behold he says they rather fell back .
little. Wonderful revelation indeed
Now, "a Member" had supposed
that the Second Auditors reputation
for sincerity was well founded.
1t is Q well.known fact that the
brokers are Is well informed as to what
is going on in the basement as any
member Of the Sinking.Fund Board.
Had they not wellnigh ceased to buy
trash and fund it into Riddles until
they had counted noses and were as
sured that the act authorizing the gouge
of 100000 q month would pass both
houses and be approved by the Gov
ernor? As soon as they were
assured Of this fact, and be-
fore the bill passed, did they not begin
to food the Treasursr's Office with
peelers of 1867 and their worthless and
harmless coupons? Did not eli, 900
of this trash come in in a single day
before the bill actually passed in anti
cipation Of, and with certain knoWl-
edge that it would pass? And when
the Board met at last, all things being
in readiness to declare the first grand
drawing, did not the brokers know be-
forehand the day and hour the meeting
would take place, and were they not
on hand in the Capitol ready and eager
| to hand in their bids? Will the Audi.
tor say that . single bid was made, or
q single bond purchased from any
others than brokers?
The Auditor again Injuries his repu-
tation for sincerity by attempting to
explain how it is that anybody invests
in Riddles. Hear him "Now, as in
all times of great business depression,
capital withdraws from productive en-
terprises and burrows in stocks and
bonds for safety" And, like the but
terHy, after flying over all the sweet
flowers in the United States, at last lights
on a-Riddle as the place of greatest safe
ty and fancies that it is as safe as if it
had lit on a United States 3, which
I" Just at this time is worth 100"
Is not our Second Auditor just pokipg
fun at . green member" simply to
amuse your intelligent resders? IL he
| did not mean the above remarkable
proposition as q joke, will ask if he
believes a single dollar has been invest
ed in Riddles since the scheme for the
grand drawing Of $4,000 was adopted
Is an honest, bona.fde investment. Is
| il not q fact, and does the Second Au-
ditor not know it, that every peeler ON
. coupon that has been purchased and
funded into Riddles since the passage
of that measure was bought with the
sole purpose of funding into Riddles to
sell to the State, and not for the pur-
pose of holding as an investment
The Second Auditor pronounces the
scheme . great success, for he says if
this process of drawing $4,000 per
month of the peoples money goes on
till April, 1883, the State will have &C.
cumulated, of her opn bonds, the mag
ni6cent sum of 90, GAO, l72.l7-equal,
at 10, to e2,574, 420.5l, which she can
cancel or use as cash. Colonel Sellers,
in bis palmiest days, never dreamed of
a scheme which promised such msgniti.
cent results as this. 1t is a splendid
theory, but will prove utterly worth.
less in practice. Who will cash the
assets at 70 should the "peopls's rep
resentatives find an empty Treasury,
as they are almost certain to do before
the close of Governor Lees administra-
ton.
| 1t requires no craftsmanship to de-
plete the Treasury, but it will puzzle
the wisest Legislature Virginia will have
in the next half century to realize forty
cents on the dollar from the sale Of the
Second Auditors millions of assets.
The Auditor wants to know if "a
Member" is dissatisfied with the Rid
die bill, and thinks he ought no. to be,
as he aided in its passage, and was in
strumental in procuring its adoption by
the Lynchburg Convention, &c.
No, indeed" A Member " is not dis
satisfied with the Riddle bill, but he is
unwilling to stand idly by it as some
other people do. 1t was never intended
by the originators and trainers of the
Riddle bill that it should be used only
IS . means of buying into its terms the
peeler bonds, non-tax-receivable cou-
pons, black scrip, and other trash, and
allowing it TO stand dead letter on the
Statute Book as to the tsx.receivable
coupon bonds. 1t was not to be ex-
pected that some people in the State
would be very Jealous in carrying out
the provisions of the Riddle bill, not
withstanding its adoption or acquies-
cence in at Lynchburg. At the same
time, it was not believed that there
would be found any considerable num-
Der Of people in the Democratic party
who would openly and boldly attempt
to make that measure ridiculous farce.
The Riddle bill never contemplated
the buying and begging policy adopted
by those in whose keeping the measure
now is. In the judgment OF " A Men,
Der" the buying process is humbug,
and it throws the door wide open to
fraudulent combinations between the