Year: 1877

They have q new plan for paying on
the State debt Of Virginia, and what a
plan it is? 1t is stroke of states man
ship outshining BIsMARcks consolids-
tion Of the German Empire; it leaves
the Missouri compromise in the shade
and the electoral plan grows dim by the
side:of itl 1t is simply proposition 70
impose a tax ON whisky punches. For
every puuch set up for the old-fashioned
Virginia gentleman, a one cent piece is
TO be dropped into the State Treasury.
There is no visionary political vsgary
about this mode, it is simple practical
craftsmanship. 1t comes right down to
bottom facts. The necessity for reve-
nue. IS acknowledged, aud the surest way
to collect the revenue is 10 be adopted.
The average Virginia gentleman will
drink his whisky punch, and what is
more the average Virginia gentleman
will pay for his punches. And when we
take into consideration the nun Der Of
punches which the average Virginia gen.
tleman will drink IN ayear, we can
make soma estimate OF the amount OF
revenue to be derived from this source.
And then there is another feature about
it. It is an agreeable way of paying
taxes. There is no burden imposed upon
the property holder and the taxpayer
What comfort 70 the patriotic son of
the Old Common wealth is the reflection
that when ne is enjoying the tunes and
flavor Of his fsvorite beverage ne is con-
trlbuting a mite toward the great sum
needed to liquidsle the indebtedness of
the "Mother of States and of Statesmen


There is always some new ligh, burst !
ing upon the world, and we would Lot |
be surprised if this idea should grow !
and force itself upon every State in the !
Union. What il the West Virginia |
Legislature should adopt it. Whist a
number of roads could be made, how
many bridges could be constructed, the
barrow gauge railroads would cross our
State in every direction, we could soon
have money in the treasury to build |
forty State houses, the pages and COM
mit,ee clerks could have mileage, We
could support at least half q dozen more
normal schools, the State U9iversity |!
could receive liberal appropriations, even
though no students ever entered Its
walls, the Mud River Navigation Com.
pany could have subsidy-and yet no
increase of taxation on the taxable prop
erty OF the S.ste. II is true that the
temperance people would cry out against
it, but being only theorist and not know
ing how to deal with practical questions,
their voices would soon be drowned in
the hum of work on internal improve
ments, all set going by the novel Vlr-
ginis idea of excise duty.


Bu. what is best of sll is the manner
of regulating the sale of the liquor and
fo- the imposition and collection OF the
tax. The plan is simply the enforced use
of the belt punch, heretofore sacred TO
the horse car conductors. The bsr-Geeper
is To have one of these punches, pur-
chased of the State, and every time q
drink is sold the alarm is 10 be sounded, |
and the bsr.keeper is indebted to the
State in the sum of one cent. Throwing
aside all moral considerations, we repeat
,hs. the idea is a good one. But there
is one trouble about it. There is no
rose without its thorn and the trouble
the country will have to contend with in
this instance will be the efiusions of that
greatest of all iools-the Centennial
poet. We will be having new versions
OF that horse car poetry, something after
the following style:
Punch, brothers, punch punch with care
Punch in the presence OF the consumaire. |
A gentle punch for whisky rare;
A quick, sharp punch for cocktail !


there,
A high-toned punch for the champaign


aire;
Punch, punch Tor q regular isre.