The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-12-20

Community The private individual who
| faiiel 10 meet his financial Obligations was
| generally regarded dsgraced man. and AT
once forfeited the respect OF the community;
IL may be imagined, therefore. what wou.u
| be the shock To the public mind had IL been
suddenly announced that the incumbent OF
some high place Of trust had violated inc
| principles upon which his appointment ihu
been made. SO universal. had been tnis
state OF official integrity that, 90 tar as we arc
informed. but single instance OF puollc 10
| falcation had occurred - the history OF tno
State. In this case the unfortunate Nic1'Il;;
unable O. bear tho whips and scorns OF Tune,
! by his own hand sought :eleI III mo hSS-
teries Of eternity.
DrsPsHATELY poon-
Tho peopo of Virginia were loft cespcr-
atey poor at the end of the Revolutionary
war For about seven years they PAD Few or
no taxes into the treasury. The now Gov
! crnment was forced 10 borrow money 10
maintain It's existence. and there we're times
during the first yents when tnerc was ii'eI-
ally mot . shilling in the treasury" and IN
the year 1854 Mr. jacqucin Amber. the
treasurer. reported that there was not money
enough n his Office To supply HIN VINE iue1
and stationery.
The credit OF all the States but latcly freed
! from British rule was 50 low thLt even
| France her recent friend andally was 'unwll-
| ling 20 make loans 10 indlvld lal states. Whch
! the sherGs md their deputies with all tho
J rowcrs referred % above went out 20 col
/ Iect tho taxes levied upon the property. OK
| those who. through their representatives. mad
virtually agreed 20 pay them no:
! q smiling could be collected. ~
! the high touo of private and public honor
/ this seems paradox indeed But i. must DO
/ remembered II was their inability 10 pay and
/ no; their desire % defraud the Government
/ So universal was the want Of money that
i out OF about seventy-hve counties in the
/ State we d. not know of a single one that
! paid more than very small part OF rs taxes
! u was not confined 10 any one section. In
I Eastern Virginia. where It might be expected
the people. although exposed o. the rayGges
of the enemy during the entire war, would
be better OF than their brethren Of the West.
there seemed 10 be the greatest amount OF
suffering in one year fOrty-three sherils
were reported delinquent in the agcre-
gete amount of Lot. 3S5.17. In another
forty more we're declared delinquent.
Orders had been sent out instruct
ing the sherifs 10 make ,nmedlG 20
loves upon the property Of the tax-peyeis.
Stu no practical results had followed. As
late as December. 1885. the sherihs OF some
Of tie best counties were praying for re1et
on account of their inability 10 collect the
taxes 10y reason ii the scarcity Of money and
poverty Of the people. Among these vera
Abemarle. Amelia. Brunswick, Campbell,
Cumberland, Chesterfield, Fauqu.er. Din.
widdie. Gloucester. GoochiAnd, Isle Of
| Wight James City, King George. Lancaster,
Louisa, Lunenburg. Nansemond Northenp-
tn. Northumberland SOUTHAMPTON. West
mcreland. Surry and others. This list af-
fGyds sufficient evidence Of what WAS the
state Of the country at this date. In every
instance the cry came up that the trouble was
based upon the scarcity OF gram and
a. t~a stfa.
wheat crop had failed three years "a sue
cess.on, and the tobacco crop Lad been very
small.
~ DANGER or STARVATION.
In many parts Of the south side'of James
river the inhabitants were in danger Of star
vaiion. and Had no money 10 buy food even Il
il could be found Even the great counties Of
IOudoun and FauQuier became delinquent.
Strange 70 say the most variable product OF
that region was tobacco. the former prOdu-
eng at that time-l7,5 and 1857 more Of tbs
staple than the county Of Halifax Itself.
PETITIONS FOR RgLyEF.
The petitions Of the sherl1s for relief were
for suspension Of the executions issued ly the
cOurt against them and their bCud-men for
the amounts duo the State according To the
assessments made, but net collected When
the authorities demanded to know why they
had not levied upon the property OF the peo-
pie and obliged them 70 lay their taxes the
universal reply was that they had performed
tuat dlsagreeabie duty 10 the utmost Of their
ability. In yerbcation OF this they produced
an endless number of a1idAYts made
under oath and IN The presence OF most credit
bic witnesses These sworn statements
were in every case TO the elect That
they could not sell property-frst. because
there was no money ~ the county. and sec
Ondly, that people would not bid for the goods
and chatle,s OF thor neighbors when thus Of
tered Tor sale. So great WAS the public Decd
tor financial resources # some sort that the
State was forced 10 allow the payment of
certain portion OF the taAes in cOminutHilo
articles. In the cases where sales had Leen
effected the articles sold rarely brought more
than One-tenth OF their value and 0n one Oc-
caslOn o young negro optS eighteen wears old
aud under good character and very likely
brought only nineteen pounds seven sA-
lngs. although worth hundred.
TAXES N KIM.
in parts of tho country where they were
abundant skins Hnd tufs were received. and
hemp tobacco. both crop. and "trahslera-
bic" represented their valuein money Irals-
ferable tobacco was 80 called because IL had
already been deposited IN some one Of the
public warehouses and notes given for IT,
which notes representing It's money value
became Thereby circulating medium and
we're transferable from one psrsOu t. another
Crop tobacco meant the staple in the rough.
fresh from tho curing house Such were the
responsibilities and auxetics OF the county
sherts that If was at times with difficulty
that proper person could 10 found to take
the Office Men of substance were unwilling
70 risk their property and perhaps their
character. or 10 give the bond rcGuilea Nh
Archibald Cary. OF Amutlill. wrote with i'm
pOrtuulty to the Executive. setting forth tie
necessity of their appointing a sheriff ioT the
county Of Chesterfield because Nh Holt,
the lato incumbent. had refused 20 give
security that he could collect tho taxes The
sheriff OfROck b-ldsG. COonsl William Paxton.
gentleman o: high standing IN That Great
county. declined tho Office for the sane
reason, and 50 II was III many other cases over
the state.
DIFFICULTY or COLLECTING.
The difficulty ~ realizing the revenues
finally became 20 great that the Treasurer
could not rely up the delay and uncertain
ties Of the mail IN communicating with de
linquent sherinS. 1t became necessary TO
place IN the hands OF these officers notices OF
judgments obtained against them IN the
courts. 30 that they might take the prOpe.
course 10 satisfy them. To oyyedte this
business special messengers. known as liiders.
we're appointed for tins purpose. and We lind
sundgy appropriations Ok 80 and mora
made from tine to time 10 delray the ex-
penses OF man and horse during these tins.
70 be C ntln0edl p.
Oh, What \ Cough.
VIII you heed Tho warning-the SIGNAL mar
h3ps, OF the sure approach OF that more terrlbls
disease, Consumption? AK yourselves ( yoa
10 run the risk and do nothing for H. We know
from experience that ShilOh's Cure will cura