Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-09
v,pc,y,.. WAR, AND TAXES.

Tho Southern Planter, In It's Aprii Mo-
,.nsses doubt whether results VIII
nrove that the retrenchment measures o.
| tho virginia Legislature VIII yield siVV'V0O
| ro, annun. as II has been claimed they
would.
op,;e probably the saving Will not be
a. r,ucb as has been calculated. Indeed
n there Is much more legislative woiA
found 10 be as faulty as that relating 10
| ,,o abolition OF the Office Of the Register
| q. lands we may be certain public ex-
Notation as 10 retrenchment will be as
! ornointed. However, let 1t not be forgot
Ton tbat the tax-rate In Virginia Is now
inst what 1t was Immediately prior TO 'he
beginning of the war OF lSbl- 3D. anu ie'
Il be also remembered that out OF TINS ~
cents on the 500 we give good deal more
than one-ouarter for pubiic-school pur-
ucses whereas i'm ante-bellum times,
! only the proceeds of the eapitation TAX
went TO the support Of public free schoois'
IN sbost. with our present rate OF taxa
,jon. our State feels able to appropriate
about 81. $4,000 per annum for purposes Oh
education in public schools. colleges, IN
stitutes, and universities
Possibly some little additional CUTTING
and whiting of State expenses couiu pe
made. but if our people wish 10 Tree
locomotives from any considerable part
% tho,r tax burden, they will now have
70 look after and reduce their county anu
city expenses.
We consider 1t probable that local eX-
nerses. as a rule will be reduced IN I'oi'
8, rronortion as real estate values are
rednced by the reassessment or I"o. we
venture to say that in few counties VIII
the voters permit the tax-rate 10 De
rafsed to offset the decrease IN the As
sessed value Of LANDS!
l. would be "a far cry from the pres
at ,5me 70 the next meeting OF the
General Assembly" but for the iif'iniie"'
nrosnect of war. In case OF war 'li"'
threatened TO last so much as nan
~ on extra session of our Leslsia-
,,,ra xyo,,ld probably be unavoidable Our
militia laws are inadequate, ana 'no
amount of money in the public treasury
ornIicable TO the organizing ana assem-
Hing If our troops is fearfully inadequate
Va. there are many expenses which our
C,o,a would have to meet in getting It's
.n,s readv TO turn over to the Federal
Government.
7, &c true Governor Tyler Is making
onarsetic and praiseworthy efforts to re-
cover from the United States the sums
odvanced by Virginia during the war OK
1910 e,c hut even should he succeed,
legislative session would probably be me-
cessary to authorize the disbursement Vi
that fund. Again, ii may De suppo'e'
+bo+ West Virginia would have something
% cav about the division of the fund, ana
thus tbe legislative assent would be ne
ceesarv before the money could be avail
able for our use. Again, we hiio" 'o'
what offsets the United States may nave
TO present against our clam All we
tnov, is that our claim is a just one; that
Il uould he a graceful thing upon the part
of tho United States to help us in our
reed as we helped the Union in its need'
and that the money is well-nigh lndispen'
sobla IN mt MS upon a proper war-1oot-
ing.
, We reneat that. in the event of war, we
should look for an extra session or the
LEGISLATURE of Virginia. In those states
where the legislatures are now IN session.
efforts are being made by conditional APP
proprfations and by amendments or the
militia laws to forestall the necessity for
extra sessions How far success will at
tend these efforts it would be hard to
nredct. Much would depend upon how
long ne war lasted. and whether the pub
lie enemy endeavored to make landings
upon our coasts.
we find very few ''hre-eaters' here;
hut our whole population is Of one mind
in the determination that should hostili-
ties ensue Virginia must and will be In
the forefront of the country's defenders.
Whether It would fall to our lot TO take
care of our own coast only, or TO furnish
HELM to other States, or TO land upon
Spanish soil, our duty would be under
taken and performed with equal cheerful
ness.
But coming back to the subject Of legis-
lative retrenchment, we would say,
though the General Assembly may be
ca.ed into extra session this year, it can
not proceed much farther in the way OF
retrenching State expenses. The limit has
been wel-ngh reached. For the future,
public attention would better be directed