Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-11-04

the court, answer that cannot recon.

Va tho CouTt, answer lOAl cannot recon-
cle them to my own satisfaction" That's
our feeling exactly; we can't reconcile them
to our own satisfaction. Judge Carr further
said: II can only say that in each have
decided as thought right" But we can't
say that, because it is impossible that both
of our positions should be right or that we
ourselves should think them SO. We MIGHT
as well try to reconcile the North poe with
the South pole, or Mr.. Cleveland's admins.
tration with true democracy.
For when people SEQ US advccetinp tho
Riddeberger bill with all the eernostness Of
our warm and enthusiastic nature. and at
the same time indignantly denying that we
are repudiationists, they will remember that
in cur issue of Sunday, September Is, 1881,
in discussing 1.-THE Minnesota casa,n we used
this unfortunate language: but the Riddle
berger bill does 'repudiate' the debt of Vir.
ginia-4 per cent. of the principle of the
consol bonds and nearly three fourths of
the interest. 1t does repudiote S47O Of every
1000 bond, and forty four dollars aud ten
cents OF every sixty dollars of interest"
| Yes, we said all that, even TO the italics
and quotation marks, and yet we are now
| finding fault with the bondholders because
they decline to submit with smiling faces to
what we ourselves denounced as the out.
rage of reputation. Are they seeking Office
| that they should be interested in the local
questions which the voters of Virginia have
since decided at the polls? Is it calculated
to exbilarate long suffering creditor to be
told that bis debtor has unanimously re.
solved" that he owes only one half of his
debt, and that he is going to settle, not the
debt, but the controversy, by that simple
resolutions How can debtor settle {. debt
all by himself? Now, that's o nice cues.
ton.
Then, again, when people witness our
nerculean efforts to belittle and degrade the
courts and to disparags the very decision
which we so confidently predicted and so
earnestly invoked, they will recall that we
said in that same article of September 18th,
1881, That's just what would be decided
in case under the Riddeberger BILL name
~, that in Issuing her bonds Virginia had
entered into contract TO pay them accord
ing to their tenor" and therefore that said
bill is lin violation of the national constita-
ton which prohibits any impairment of con.
tracts and is therefore void."n
Now how can we blame the bondholdsrs
for still believing what we once told them
| with so much force and frankness ? We
| fear we are losing our fraukness, Tor we
were just going to raise question as to
what kind OF tenor was meant in the fore
going extract ; whether it was the musical
term, or the even tenor of your way" or
something else.
When the world baholds US hurrshing for
the eleventh amendment at the top of our
atentorian voice, it will wonder why we
have so soon forgotten another part of the
constitution, for which we once entertained
so profound respect. For did we not saw
in that same mischievous article, I'VE doubt
if there is even readjuater Judge in Vir-
ginia, who would not pronounce the Rid.
dleberger bill unconstitutional, if it were
argued before him and no were compelled
to decide the Gaze. The reputation of Al
per cent. of the consol bonds and 33 per
cent. of the peelers s certainly unconstiu.
tional. There can be no doubt upon that
point"
Just observe how positive we were. Au-
euste Comte himself was never half so posi-
tive. We imagine we feel as Lord Edon
did on one occasion, before he was married,
when his name was Scott. Having distn
guished himself in the case of Ackroyd vs.
Smithson, he afterwards appeared before
Lord Ashburton to advocate exactly the re.
verse of what he had previously contended
tor. Mr.. Scott" said Ashburton, II have
read your argument in that case of Ackroyd
vs. Smithson, ard | defy you or any man ia
| England to answer it. | wont hear YOU"
What high toned man Lord Ashburton
| must have been and how different from The
people who have been politely hearing us
| argue against our own unanswsrable arpu-
ment. That's lust what it was, though we
say it soto coce
| Inconsistency, thou art jewel" and
that's the reason You are so scarce: but foW
people can afford to wear you.
Well, we know one thing. The 18th of
September, 1881, was the day before Presi.
dent Gar6eld's death, which was then mo.
mentarily expected. The world remembers
how fond we were of him, but Heaven only
knows how keen was our anguish st "the
deep damnation of his taking off" These
are the facts let the world judge lis.