Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-21
The Debt Question.
To the Editor of the DisDatch 4.

To the Editor of the Dispatch
The most pressing of all questions
with Virginia now is that Of her debt.
In comparison with this every other
sinks into insigni6cancc, and until
something is done toward settling 1t no
other bill or measure should for one
moment engage the attention of her
delegated lawmakers now in session.
For if no other i'll consequences land
they aresegioD) threatened the failure
by that body to devise some method Of
relief, the danger-certainty indeed
that Malone will make it his opportunity
and recover his lost hold upon the
throat OF our old mother alone should
| be sufficient.
have no Gata at hand to give me
accurately either figures, facts, or dates :;
but roughly the situation, as | under
stand it, is as follows--yiz.:
() The principal Of the debt has
swollen to proportions too vast for a
Commonwealth SO poor as ours to hope
to liquidate.
(2) To keep down the interest Of this
debt and meet our current expenses is
equally impossible.
(3) The creditors. encouraged by the
recent decisions of the Federal court
Of last resort, our supreme mistress,
will, as things now stand, listen to no
composition.
(4) Under these circumstances for
The Legislature to adjourn without at
least an effort at remedy would be pure
madness. When p watcr-logged ship
is drifting upon the rocks her crew may
hope to escape by taking to their boats.
But from Virginia whittier can Viz
ginians flee? We all must sink or
swim with her
Without revenue, with litigation and
confusion at every turn, with Malone
and his myrmidons, white and black,
again in power, Chaos will be come
again
Is there. then, no escape: Can no.
thing lie done to avert this certainly
impending fate;
Some boldly suggest, " Repudiate the
whole debt, without saying to the cred
itors even so much as by your
leave" "To this complexion it may
come at LAST; but it is a fearful rem
edy, even if eifectual.
Others " Let all good citizens pay
their taxes in money and all will be
we'll" Aye But all citizens will moi
be found in this sense "good -; for
"Och mankind are unco'weak.
An lille to be trusted:
II self The waveTing balance shake
It's rarely right adjusted.
A few noble, patriotic spirits will, as
now, cast into the Treasury Of their gold
and silver. But the great majority
will by degrees "go back" upon
their old mother and defile their fingers
with coupons.
Others again :" Appoint commission
of our best men to arrange with the
bondholders for a reduction of their
claim to such figure as we can hope
to pay the best plan Of all, provided
they 60 in condition to dictate, not to
beg.
How to enable them to 90 is the
question we have to consider.
Suppose, then, we, through our Legis-
lature, at once imperatively quadrupte
ar rates of tdration and license upon
erery article and business throughout
the State, providing for rebate Of
IS per cent. in all cases where the
same are paid in coin or greeHbacks
one month before they faU due! As .
consequence the great bulk Of the reye-
nue. will continue to be paid in money.
Coupons will be at heavy discount,
and their holders made amenable to
reason. Then will come our oppOr-
tunity for negotiation. Unable longer
longer to extort his "pOund Of Aesh,
Shylock will gladly compound for such
portion of his principal as arbitrators
fairly chosen may decree. We fear
this scheme is impracticable.l
Before closing one word upon this
point In scaling the debt strict justice
would require that each holder should
receive il proportion to what be has
actually paid out, not in proportion to
the face Of his bond. With original
holders let there be, so far as possible,
no dealing at all. But in cases land
Just after the war there were many
SUCH where from the trembling hands
of the widow was "wrung by indirec
ton " the sole legacy Of fallen bus-
band, let the gripping Spectator find
the boarded bonds in his strong box,
like the clipped money in the fairy-tale,
but dust and ashes.
In justification Of some measure Of
scaling, did space permit, much might
be alleged-and, not least, the fact that
80 far from having any quid pro quo to
show for the debt incurred, the very
railroads that represent it have been
the "direful springs Of all our woes"
making and keeping Virginia poor. But,
having already trespassed too largely
on your patience, | forbear.
If myself, non rem acu tetigi, /, at
least, hope the attention ofothers better
able to deal with the subject may by
what | have said be directed to il.
Very respectfully,
" TUERI."
Fauquier co., Feb. l., 1856.