761 



VIRGINIA. 



r i o,. ?o 4*1 n nn<) whirri would except their lands, which, for want of efficient laonr, 

 the ensuing fiscal year is $510,000, which wouiu ^ ^ ^ ^ districts, for want of stock, in; P le. 



leave a balance in the treasury ot $l,uod,- mentS) horses, and buildings, cannot be successfully 

 286 86 on the 1st of October, 1867. In the cultivated, and, as a consequence of this condition 

 estimate of expenses are included an appropri- O f things, there exists an unprecedented scarcity of 

 ation to supply artificial limbs to disabled - '< *" ^ = ^d wherea 

 soldiers, the balance due on the statues for the 

 Washington monument, and appropriations tor 

 the benevolent and penal institutions of the 

 State. The Governor attaches no value, for 



revenue purposes, to the stock held by the stances; and while this General Assembly recognize 

 uiyysea, w I*K>< t, lrT1T> ;w. nml their imperative duty to respect and obey the con- 



State in the James Eiver Canal, turnpike, am. stitution ^ prov i sions j w bich prohibit the enactment 

 bridges, and in railroads commenced out not of law i mpa i r j n g the obligations of contracts, 



they believe that, when construed with reference to 

 the objects of those provisions, and in the light of 

 principles recognized anij acted upon by the courts 



tution of the United States, as well as before and 



money among the people of the State; and whereas, 

 it cannot be questioned that this state of general em- 

 barrassment and distress presents the strongest ap- 

 peal for legislative interference to prevent the unjust 

 and ruinous sacrifice of property that would inevita- 

 bly result from forced sales under such circum- 



completed. The State owns about $15,000,- 

 000 in stocks and bonds of railroads in active 

 f with nrndpnt man- 



ag^invuu, i>j- ij ic it, tution 01 tne uniteu oiates, as wen as ui 



which in a few years would sumce to pay the s j nce taa t time, those provisions do not forbid them 



interest on that amount of the public debt ; but 

 he advises the sale of stocks and bonds of the 

 Virginia and Tennessee, the Southside, Norfolk, 

 and Petersburg, the Richmond and Danville, 

 and York River roads, and the Orange and 

 Alexandria, and Virginia Central roads. 



The literary fund of the State amounts to 

 $1,618,057.05. It is all invested in old James 

 River stock, old military six per cents., bank 

 Joan of 1814, loan to the Commonwealth, and 

 internal improvement loan, none of which 

 are dividend-paying. Up to 1861. between 

 $200,000 and $300,000 were invested in bank 

 stocks, which yielded a dividend ; of the re- 

 mainder, the payment was indorsed by the 

 State, and the people were taxed for it. At 

 the present time, in the language of the Gov- 

 ernor, the " literary fund is a myth ; " and he 

 takes the opportunity in his message to recom- 

 mend taxation for the support of common 

 schools, which benefit the masses of the people, 

 instead of colleges, which are intended for the 

 few. 



Some progress was made in the education of 

 freedmen during the year. Considerable sums 

 of money were raised by benevolent societies 

 in the North, and schools for teaching the 

 freedmen were opened in Richmond and other 

 parts of the State, and are reported to be in 

 successful operation. The Soldiers' Aid Society 

 of the North has founded in Richmond schools 

 for white children, at which three hundred are 

 now taught, without charge. 



At the session of the Legislature in March, 

 18(16. a law was passed staying the collection 

 of debts for a limited period. The reasons why 

 the passage of such an enactment was regarded 

 as necessary were set forth in the following pre- 

 amble : 



Whereas, The war which has been recently waged 

 for several years in the State of Virginia, in its prog- 

 ress and results swept out of existence the property 

 in slaves, which constituted a very I.trge proportion 

 of the wealth of the people, as well as a very large 

 amount of other personal property, and, at the same 

 time, annihilated the only currency which had circu- 

 lated for over three years, together with the stocks and 

 securities growing out of the war, in which the people 

 had made Targe investments, and either destroyed or 

 greatly impaired the value of all other stocks and se- 

 curities, s.j that but little is n;w left to the people, 



from granting a temporary suspension of remedies, 

 in such a state of things as the present, in order to 

 prevent the cruel and ruinous results which would 

 ensue without such interposition, and especially as it 

 only requires that creditors, while their right to ulti- 

 mate payment is held inviolate, shall submit to a 

 course to which they might well be constrained by 

 the instincts of natural justice and humanity. 



The law provided that np to the 1st day of 

 January, 1868, no execution, venditioni exponas 

 attachment upon a decree or order, or other 

 process to compel the payment of money, or the 

 sale of property, should be issued, or if issued 

 should be proceeded with; nor should there be 

 any sale under a deed of trust, mortgage, or 

 other security ; nor under any judgment, decree, 

 or order. A case involving the constitutionality 

 of this law came before Judge Meredith, of the 

 Circuit Court of Richmond, in November, 1866, 

 and he decided that the law was unconstitu- 

 tional. The Governor, alluding to this subject 

 in his annual message, said: 



You cannot pass any law to impair the obligation 

 of contracts. Devices have been resorted to in other 

 States to shield property from sale by having valua- 

 tions made, and forbidding the sale, unless the prop- 

 erty should sell for one-half or two-thirds of the val- 

 uation. These laws have all been declared uncon- 

 stitutional by the highest courts of the United States. 

 All laws that have for their object the postponement 

 of the collection of debts, are odious to creditors ; 

 aud it is doubtful how far a law would be sustained 

 by the courts, that exempted specified amounts of 

 real and personal property from execution for debts 

 contracted before the passage of the law ; and there 

 is danger in passing stay-laws that look to long post- 

 ponements of executions, that they may be con- 

 strued by the courts to come under the constitutional 

 prohibition against impairing the obligation of con- 

 tracts. 1 believe the Legislature has full power over 

 the subject of priority of liens, and I think the great 

 error in the law of last winter was, in failing to 

 abolish the priority of judgment liens and placing all 

 creditors upon an equal footing. The law, as it 

 stands, has only provoked suits by the more impor- 

 tunate creditors. But we must now look to the 

 future, and it strikes me that it would be wise,. and 

 perhaps the courts and creditors would concur in 

 the measure, to direct the further stay of executions 

 upon the payment by the debtor of the interest and 

 twenty-five percentum of the principal within ninety 

 days from the first day of January, 18G8, and a like 

 sum, with the interest, each ensuing year. 



During the year a colony of twenty-five 



