What proportion of the State debt of Virginia do the “Readjusters” intend to repudiate? What part of it was created during the late civil war? Is the State really unable to pay its creditors? Give a few of the chief features of this Virginia debt controversy.
F. G. A.
Answer.—The whole of the Virginia State debt was contracted before the war, for railroads, canals, turnpikes, and public buildings, including penal and charitable institutions. Of course any debts made in aid of the rebellion were wiped out by section 4 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. On Jan. 1, 1861, the State owed $33,248,141.63. On Jan. 1, 1870, owing to non-payment of interest during the intervening ten years, the debt had accumulated to $45,660,348. The constitutions of Virginia and West Virginia (the latter of which had been constructed out of Virginia during the war) both provided for an equitable apportionment of this joint indebtedness; but the two States have never agreed on a division. In March, 1871, the State of Virginia passed an act to set aside one-third of the debt to West Virginia, which contained about one-fifth of the population and one-third of the territory of the original State and a trifling proportion of the public improvements for which the debt was created, and to give the bondholders new bonds payable in thirty-four years with 6 per cent interest annually, and certificates promising that the payment of the remaining one-third would be provided for in accordance with such settlement as should thereafter be made with West Virginia. This left as the debt of the present State of Virginia $29,614,793 (report of Second Auditor, 1881). The State’s creditors hastened to exchange old evidences of indebtedness for the new bonds, which went forward rapidly until about two-thirds of the whole were refunded, when, a majority of Readjusters having been elected to the Legislature, the process of refunding was stopped. The old bonds left outstanding by this sudden change of policy constitute what is known as the “Peeler debt.” The interest coupons on the new bonds were “receivable for taxes and all dues and demands against the State,” and have been honored, but the interest on the Peeler debt has been paid only in part. In 1879 the creditors proposed the exchange of the bonds then outstanding for new bonds bearing 3 per cent interest for ten years, 4 per cent for twenty years, and 5 per cent for ten years, making an average of 4 per cent. The total principal of the debt at this time was $29,367,958.06. Accordingly the “McCulloch bill” was passed, binding the State to this settlement: and bonds to the amount of $8,000,000 were issued under this law. Senator Johnston, in an article in the North American Review setting forth the above facts, claims that, had the law been faithfully executed, the surplus revenue of 1879, after paying interest on all the State’s indebtedness and all State expenses of the government and the public schools, would have been more than $400,000, which would have gone to pay off so much of the principal.
Senator Riddleberger, in his reply to Mr. Johnston, in the North American Review for April, 1882, declares that instead of there being any surplus in the State Treasury at the close of 1879, the Readjusters found, on their accession to power, Jan. 1, 1880, “a great mass of the proposed McCulloch tax-receivable certificates ready for issue. They were forced to borrow money to run the government. Half a million of money, due by defaulting treasurers, was uncollected and unsued for. Over $1,500,000 had been diverted from the schools. The charitable institutions of the State were on the verge of bankruptcy.” Nevertheless, the boast of the Virginia press, that the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural resources of the State are developing more rapidly than before the war, is generally believed to be true; the crops of the six principal cereals and potatoes, tobacco, and hay in 1881 amounted to $44,280,690, and the live stock to $33,538,877; the taxable value of property, real and personal, even at the low assessment prevailing, is given at $308,455,135: facts which lead the world to believe that Virginia is perfectly able to pay her debt. Taking the total debt under the McCulloch bill at what Senator Mahone placed it at the time of the passage of the bill, the annual interest would have amounted to not quite $990,000, which, added to $565,000 for public schools and arrearages, and $765,000 for current expenses of the State Government, would make but $2,320,000. That same year the net revenue, if faithfully collected, would have amounted to $2,606,425.36, so that there would have been a remainder of $286,500 to apply as a sinking fund. Since then the Riddleberger bill has become a law, and the debt has been scaled down to about $20,000,000, instead of about $33,000,000, which is nearly what it would be had the McCulloch law been carried out. As there is no provision for the payment of the $15,239,370 set over to West Virginia, and which the latter repudiates on the ground that she has offsets to all her proportion of the original debt, it appears that the total loss to the State’s creditors, adding the accrued interest on the latter amount, is over $36,000,000, or fully 80 per cent of the amount conceded by the act of 1871 to be the total sum then due them.
POINTS OF A GOOD SHOT-GUN.
Fourche, D. T.
What are the essentials of a good shot-gun? Name several prime quality guns.
H. M. Eastman.
Answer.—The following, in the opinion of skilled manufacturers and practiced sportsmen of this city, are essentials of a first-class shot-gun. The barrel should be of laminated or Damascus steel or stub-twist (the former being generally preferred), and full choke or modified choke bore. A taper bore is also highly esteemed. Length of barrel, 28 to 32 inches; bore, 10 to 12 gauge. The gun should be a breech-loader, with rebounding lock and extension rib. Pistol grip, patent fore-end are points insisted on by some, although they are hardly to be classed as essentials. The front action or bar lock is a feature of many of the best guns. Among English guns the Greener and Scott stand very high; among Belgian, Charles Daly; among American, Parker, Colt, Remington, Nichols & Lefevre, and Baker; and in the Northwest, the Abby gun, manufactured in this city, is a favorite. Good English guns range from $350 to $400. Good American guns with English barrels may be had at prices ranging from $200 to $300.