VIRGINIA. 



B00 



281,100 of tho debt had been funded in coupon 

 bonds with tax-paying coupons, ami the fur- 

 ther sum of $2,057,918.80 hail boon funded in 



.-ml liuii.ls and fractional ccrtii; 

 which are convertible at tho option of tho 

 holder into coupon bonds with ta.\-pa\ IIIL' cou- 

 pons making $20,239,015. 80 in all, funded 

 under tlio provisions of the original funding 

 act upon which the annual intcrot in or may 

 he. -oino demandable on tax-paying coupons. 



The following statement of taxation in Vir- 

 pinia, under State laws, for tbo fiscal year 

 1872-'73, the luto.-t for which returns of local 

 taxation have been received, has been mado 

 by Governor Kemper : 



venue derived from taxation $2,421,945 41 



Amount of reported county, tOWDtblp, road, 



ami local school levies 2,217,588 49 



Amount of unrcportfd county, township, 

 road, and local school levies, as estimated 



by the Auditor of Public Account* 282,461 51 



Costs of collection, retained by tax collect- 

 ore, etc 172,81809 



Total of taxes paid, under State laws, for 

 one year $5,094,268 CO 



During the same year the United States Gov- 

 ernment collected in Virginia, in the shape of 

 internal revenue taxes, $7,310,015.56 ; and as- 

 suming, says the same authority, what is far 

 short of the truth, that the money directly 

 and indirectly drawn from the people of Vir- 

 ginia by United States tariff taxation is in the 

 proportion of the population of the State to 

 that of the whole country, it is shown that 

 Virninia pays, by reason of the national cus- 

 toms laws, the further sum of $5,976,401.95, 

 making a total in one year of $18,388,681.01. 

 And yet the total of fairly-assessed taxable 

 values in the State is bat $336,686,433.23. 



The Legislature of 1874 passed a new tax 

 bill, which promises to yield greater revenues 

 in future. In many particulars it enlarges the 

 subjects and increases the rates of previous 

 taxation. This increased taxation is considered 

 as onerous as tho people of the State can en- 

 dure in their present impoverished condition. 



As above stated, it requires $1,528,295.84 

 annually to pay the ordinary expenses of the 

 government, and the constitutional requisition 

 in favor of the public schools. It is hoped and 

 believed, by the friends of the new tax law, 

 that it will probably yield that amount, and 

 the further sum of $1,200,000 annually. This 

 surplus would pay full interest on two-thirds 

 of tho new funded debt, or four per cent, on 

 the whole. And this is supposed to be the 

 utmost that the State can pay to its creditors 

 under existing circumstances. 



The committee of bondholders to whom 

 was referred the communication made by tho 

 Governor, reported that they were "of tho 

 opinion that, notwithstanding tho reduced and 

 impoverished condition of Virginia in her tax- 

 able valuables, and various industries, taxation 

 sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of tho 

 State government, including the proper main- 



tenance of the public ftchoolfl, a* provided for 



by the State COIint it ut ion, and tin- payin. 

 four per cent, interest on her funded and two- 

 thirds of her unfunded debt, can be levied 

 without serious damage or inconvenience to 

 tin- people of the State; that, to ccure thin 

 end, your committee are of the opinion that 

 an arrangement ina\ l.c ell. .-t.-d by \\ hich large 

 numbers of holders of the bonds can 1 

 bleed to Mirrciidcr the tax-receivable coupona 

 as they fall due, and receive the two per 

 payable on the debt semi-annually." This, in 

 the opinion of tho committee, can bo largely 

 effected by legislation providing for the prompt 

 payment of tour per cent, interest, as it falls 

 due, at points accessible and convenient to 

 the bondholder. This legislation, it was be- 

 lieved, would result in retiring seventy-five or 

 eighty per cent, of the tax-receivable coupons 

 on the payment of the four per cent, interest, 

 and that only the coupons from bonds held in 

 Virginia would be used in payment of taxes. 

 The following resolutions recommended by the 

 committee were unanimously adopted by the 

 conference : 



Baolved, That tho State ought to provide, by ap- 

 propriate legislation, by permanently setting apart a 

 specific portion of its accruing revenue, for the prompt 

 payment of two per cent, interest semi-annually at 

 London, New York, and Baltimore, and the Treas- 

 ury of the State, and the issue of certificates for the 

 unpaid interest, payable at the pleasure of the State 

 at any time within ten years ; and if not paid in ten 

 years then such certificates ought to be rundable in 

 lour per cent, bonds. 



fietiolced, That the State ought to resume payment 

 of full six per cent, interest at the earliest practicable 

 moment. 



The State government of Virginia in 1874 

 was as follows : Governor, James L. Kemper ; 

 Lieutenant-Governor, Robert E. Wilbers ; At- 

 torney-General, Raleigh T. Daniel; Secretary 

 of the Commonwealth, James McDonald ; 

 Treasurer, R. T. M. Hunter ; Auditors, William 

 F. Taylor and Asa Rogers ; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, W. II. Ruffner; Register 

 of the Land-Office, Samuel H. Boykin. All are 

 Conservatives. 



The Legislature is composed as follows : 



Conserv. majority 



M 



80 



The congressional election of 1874 resulted 

 in the choice of the following Representatives : 



Diet. I. Beverly B. Douglas Conservative. 



II. John Ooode. Jr 



III. Gilbert C. Walner 



IV. -William H. H. Stowell Adm nUtra'n. 



V. George C. Cabell Conservative. 



VI. John R. Tucker 



VII.- John T. H.-irris 



VIII. Em>a Htinton 



IX. William Terry 



The constitutional amendment abolishing 

 the township system was ratified by a majority 

 vote of 26,516. 



