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YAX^E 
 
 HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 MISCELLANY 
 
 IV 
 
 ISSUED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY 
 
 FROM THE INCOME OF 
 
 THE FREDERICK JOHN KINGSBURY 
 
 MEMORIAL FUND 
 
Y\ ^U <J'-^-r^ 
 
The Readjuster Movement 
 IN Virginia 
 
 By 
 
 CHARLES CHILTON PEARSON, Ph.D. 
 
 Professor of Political Science in Wake Forest College 
 
 NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 MDCCCCXVn 
 
,7^5 6 
 
 Copyright, 1917 
 By Yale University Press 
 
 First published, July, 1917 
 
 ff 
 
 If 
 SEP 26 1917 O^ 
 
 ©C1.A473707 
 
i 
 
 THE FREDERICK JOHN KINGSBURY 
 MEMORIAL PUBLICATION FUND 
 
 The present volume is the fifth work published by tlie 
 Yale University Press on the Frederick John Kingsbury 
 Memorial Publication Fund. This foundation was estab- 
 lished August 3, 1912, by gifts to Yale University from 
 Alice E. and Edith Davies Kingsbury, in memory of 
 their father, Frederick John Kingsbury, LL.D., who was 
 born in Waterbury, Connecticut, January 1, 1823, and 
 died at Litchfield, Connecticut, September 30, 1910. 
 Mr. Kingsbury was a graduate of Yale College in the 
 Class of 1846, and an Alumni Fellow of the Yale 
 Corporation from 1881 to 1899. The income of the 
 Foundation is used ''to promote the knowledge of 
 American history and to associate the name of Frederick 
 John Kingsbury with this study at Yale. ' ' 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The half century just ended is the "Dark Age" of the 
 South. Beginning with the attempt of Radicals to build 
 upon the ruins of the old a foreig-n and ultra-democratic 
 system, this period is probably now coming to its end in 
 the educational and economic renaissance. And the over- 
 lapping of the two ages may be studied today, throughout 
 the older South, in farm and factory, state debt and 
 schools, in poor white and aristocrat and "substantial 
 citizen," and in the still uncertain status of the negro 
 citizen and voter. 
 
 After the brief reign of Radicalism, during the ' ' Dark 
 Age, ' ' came a time of reaction, when ' ' Confederate Brig- 
 adiers" ruled, and the South was "solid." This was 
 good. Times were exceedingly "hard," however, and 
 heavy depression lay upon the spirit of the people. The 
 excesses of Radicalism had disgusted many. So the 
 gradual democratic advance discernible under the old 
 system, to which war should have imparted a stimulus, 
 was sharply checked. 
 
 During this time of reaction there occurred in most, 
 if not all, of the Southern states a series of independent 
 movements, some of which are still manifesting them- 
 selves. The earlier of these movements were aided by 
 the vote of the negro ; the later, by the prejudice against 
 him. In all, however, the leaders professed themselves 
 inspired with zeal for the interests of the common white 
 man. And it is not improbable that, studied closely and 
 together, these movements may prove to have been, in 
 origin and effects, democratic — an outw^orking of forces 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 strengthened by war but restrained by reaction, and, 
 however crude and sordid, harbingers of the renaissance. 
 
 One of the earliest and most far-reaching of these 
 movements occurred in Virginia. It gathered about a 
 state debt of long and interesting history. Eventually it 
 produced a leader of national importance. This study, 
 however, is not primarily an account either of the debt 
 or of Mahone and his machine. It is, rather, a chapter in 
 the history of Virginia, from the Civil War to the first 
 administration of Grover Cleveland, in which some of the 
 forces that moulded the present state are shown in their 
 operation; and in the showing the ''Readjuster" claim 
 to liberalism, democracy, and progress is tested and due 
 record made of the achievements and solid worth of those 
 who stood for conservatism, aristocracy, and scrupulous 
 honesty. 
 
 Hearty thanks are due to many who have aided me. 
 Some have loaned materials or given information, speci- 
 fic acknowledgment of which is made below. The Vir- 
 ginia State Library staff have been untiringly helpful 
 and courteous. Under the encouragement of Professor 
 William A. Dunning the task had its beginning; if its 
 completion proves worth while, the credit is due pri- 
 marily to the sympathetic interest and practical assist- 
 ance of Professor Max Farrand. In preparing the 
 manuscript for the press Professor C. M. Andrews has 
 placed me under lasting obligations. 
 
 C. C. PEARSo:sr. 
 
 Wake Forest, N. C, 
 January 1, 1917. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface ........ vii 
 
 Chapter I. The State Debt and the Old 
 
 Eegime, 1784-1867 . . 1 
 
 Chapter II. Radicalism, 1867-1869 . . 17 
 
 Chapter III. "Restoration of Credit," 1870- 
 
 1871 24 
 
 Chapter IV. Reaction, and the Courts, 1871- 
 
 1873 35 
 
 Chapter V. ''Debt Payers," and the Ele- 
 ments of Dissatisfaction, 1874- 
 
 1877 47 
 
 Chapter VI. Mahone and the Barbour Bill, 
 
 1877-1878 .... 68 
 
 Chapter VII. The ''McCulloch Act," and the 
 
 State's Capacity, 1878-1879 . 85 
 
 Chapter VIIL The "Readjuster" Convention, 
 
 1879 95 
 
 Chapter IX. Sections and Leaders, 1879 . 103 
 Chapter X. The Readjuster Campaign, 1879 118 
 Chapter XI. National Influences: The Re- 
 adjuster-Republican Alliance, 
 1880-1881 .... 132 
 Chapter XII. The Readjusters in Power, 1879- 
 
 1883 142 
 
 Chapter XIII. The End of Readjustment, 1883- 
 
 1885 160 
 
 Conclusion ....... 175 
 
 Bibliographical Note ..... 178 
 
 Index ........ 187 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE STATE DEBT AND THE OLD REGIME, 
 
 1784-1867 
 
 From the Revolution to the Civil War one of the most 
 important economic and social activities of the state of 
 Virginia was the furtherance of a system of '' Public 
 Works. "^ 
 
 There were four main stages in the legislation under 
 which this system was developed. It was inaugurated 
 in 1784 when the state became, through purchase, a 
 minority stockholder in corporations created for the 
 improvement of the James and Potomac rivers. Among 
 the sponsors for this beginning were a Newton, a 
 Taylor, an Ambler, and a Southall, names still honored 
 in Virginia; and a peculiar but characteristic mingling 
 of business and sentiment appeared in the gift by 
 the commonwealth of shares to ''George Washington, 
 esquire," in appreciation of his ''unexampled merits" 
 and his interest in enterprises which, the legislature 
 thought, would be "the durable monuments of his 
 glory."- To the policy thus begun a decided impetus 
 was imparted in 1816 when all the state's holdings in 
 
 1 There is no adequate study of the social and economic aspects of this 
 system. Sydenstricker and Burger's School History of Virginia (1914) 
 gives a brief but correct account based on the work of Mr. Sydenstricker 
 which is still in manuscript. C. H. Ambler, in his Sectionalism in Virginia 
 from 1776 to 1861, has described its political bearings in elaborate and 
 scholarly fashion. 
 
 2W. W. Hening, Statutes at Large, XI, pp. 450, 510, 525. Cf. G. S. 
 Callender, Economic History of the United States, p. 335 (quoting). 
 
2 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 such companies were converted into one fund pledged 
 for fifty years to the sole purpose of improving traffic 
 and communication and managed by a special "Board 
 of Public Works. "^ As the demands on this fund were 
 greater than could be met by it, the legislature in 1838 
 directed the board to obtain money for all authorized 
 improvements by selling state bonds.* This was an 
 important step ; for it meant that the state was entering, 
 on credit, a business that was necessarily speculative. 
 Here, practically, began the state debt. Twelve years 
 later the fully developed policy was embodied in an act, 
 still in force when the Civil War began, under which the 
 board might borrow ''from time to time, on the credit 
 of the state of Virginia, such sums of money as may be 
 needed to redeem the engagements of the state," which, 
 of course, included not only new investments but also 
 unearned interest.^ In the development of this policy 
 the western counties were most insistent.^ 
 
 Behind this policy lay one great purpose, clearly 
 indicated by the act of 1816 and adhered to with reason- 
 able fidelity throughout the period. It was to knit 
 together and develop the commonwealth as an economic 
 unit. Such unity was demanded by the state's geo- 
 graphic divisions, the rivalry of outside markets, and 
 the untouched wealth of the trans-Alleghany region. 
 
 3 Revised Code of the Laws of Vvrginia, 1819, II, p. 201. The state's 
 holdings in banks were placed in the same fund. 
 
 4 Code of Virginia, 1849, p. 342 ; Journal of the Senate of the Common- 
 wealth of Virginia, 1877-1878, Doc. XXIV, being a report of the committee 
 on finance, prepared by Bradley T. Johnson, This journal will be cited 
 hereafter as Sen. Jour., the corresponding one of the House as House Jour. 
 Documents are to be found (unless otherwise indicated) in the appendix 
 of each. 
 
 5 Code of Virginia, 1860, p. 386. 
 
 6 Brief of Attorney-General William A, Anderson, in Virginia vs. West 
 Virginia, Supreme Court of the U. S., October term, 1909. Original Becord, 
 p. 5. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 3 
 
 Railroads, canals, turnpikes, were thought the best 
 instrumentalities; so for these the state borrowed and 
 spent. Powerful business interests, antagonistic sec- 
 tions, political parties all tried to shape the system in 
 their own behalf, but none seriously opposed it as a 
 whole. And when, in 1861, the policy was abruptly 
 terminated, it had pre-empted the natural lines of 
 ,commerce.'^ 
 
 7 The prevailing method of investment was determined 
 in part by this dominant purpose and in part by the 
 tendency of local capital to lock itself up in lands and 
 labor. Instead of building and owning outright, the 
 state endeavored to entice capital into transportation 
 ventures by chartering stock companies therefor and 
 itself becoming a partner in them. Terms too strict 
 would have defeated the end; and so the state was 
 generally less well secured than private undertakers; 
 and often very poorly secured.® But the results obtained 
 were distinctly creditable. For the thirty-five millions® 
 which the state had invested down to 1861, it had secured, 
 besides smaller improvements, a canal from Richmond 
 to the Valley and a railroad system which cost nearly 
 seventy millions and which was nearly half as long in 
 miles as that of all New England." 
 
 7 Cf. Anderson, o-p. cit., and Ambler, Sectionalism, passim; Charles 
 Bruce, Speech in the Senate of Virginia on the Internal Improvement 
 Policy of the State, February 16, 1858 (1858). 
 
 8 See terms of act of 1816, op. cit.; Messages and Documents, 1861-1862, 
 No. 8; Bruce, op. cit.; Governor, Message, March 8, 1870. The governor's 
 messages will be found in both Sen. Jour, and House Joiir. under date of 
 messages ; they will be cited by date only. 
 
 9 Eound numbers will be used wherever exactness is not necessary to 
 clearness. 
 
 10 Expenditure figiires are taken from Messages and Documents, 1861- 
 1862, No. 8, table J; railroad figures from American Railroad Journal, 
 January 5, 1861. $1,784,000 was spent by the state without the aid of a 
 stock company. The total length of the railroad system was 2,483 miles; 
 
4 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 The extent to which this policy dominated all other 
 social and economic activities of the state finds striking 
 illustration in its attitude toward education." A ''Lit- 
 erary Fund," nominally created in 1810 by the 
 segregation of Qertain small revenues, was firmly 
 established in 1816 by turning into it the proceeds of 
 a large war debt which the federal government had paid, 
 the whole being solemnly pledged to educational pur- 
 poses. This fund appears to have been honestly handled 
 and was gradually increased until in 1860 it amounted 
 to over a million and three-quarters of dollars invested 
 mainly in state bonds. Most of the income from it and 
 all the poll tax receipts after 1851 were regularly 
 apportioned to the counties and towns. But the educa- 
 tion offered was intended only for confessed indigents 
 selected in aristocratic fashion by a board of local 
 officials. The schools used were private with but nominal 
 public supervision. Only in rare cases was assistance 
 extended beyond the most elementary stages. Not 
 unfittingly was the system often called the "pauper 
 system, "^^ a name which expressed the fundamental idea 
 of the ruling class that a man's children should be 
 educated by himself, in proportion to his social status. 
 Any considerable education of the masses, they believed, 
 
 in operation, 1,805 miles. The amount invested in railroads by the state 
 was some twenty millions. The estimates of B. T, Johnson (op. cit.) are 
 somewhat larger. 
 
 11 State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Beports, especially for 
 1871 and 1878, printed separately and in Annual Beports of Officers, Boards 
 and Institutions of the Commonwealth, of Virginia. Eeports in the latter 
 collection will be cited (as above) under name of the reporting official or 
 official board. See also House Jour., 1838, Doc. 4; Bocuments and Mes- 
 sages, 1861-1862, No. 7; A. D. Mayo, Education in Southwest Virginia; 
 Ambler, Sectionalism, ch. IX; G. W. Dyer, Democracy in the South before 
 the Civil War. No account is taken here of appropriations to professional 
 or collegiate institutions. 
 
 12 This term was used in other states at similar stages of public school 
 development. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 5 
 
 must lead to unrest which could result only in disap- 
 pointment or in '^ levelling. " Only when charity abso- 
 lutely demanded it should the state intervene/^ Yet, 
 despite the tremendous power of such opinion, the annual 
 amount thus spent increased from $44,000 in 1836 to 
 $214,000 in 1860, and the number thus ''educated," 
 from 18,000 to 62,000— which meant that by 1860 the 
 state was paying the tuition of one-half of those at school 
 within the limits of the present Virginia. Moreover, in 
 some western counties and in parts of the older section 
 open to outside influences, the desire for state aid had 
 prompted experiments in schools supported jointly by 
 state and local governments and free, or nearly free, to 
 all. These facts, together with the reports sent in to 
 Richmond by local officials, irregular and imperfect 
 though they were, seem to demonstrate clearly that the 
 old aristocratic idea was giving way before the new and 
 democratic impulse.^* Could a direct issue have been 
 forced, the latter must have triumphed. But eastern 
 Virginia had now become politically and financially 
 committed to the policy of internal improvements, while 
 the western part of the state, always the leader in 
 democratic movements, was too much absorbed in its 
 desire for more railroads and more turnpikes,^^ to put 
 the matter to a test. 
 
 On the whole, fiscal conditions and prospects in 1860 
 appeared to be satisfactory. There was, indeed, a 
 
 13 Professor Dyer thinks otherwise : ' ' The method of Virginia may be 
 criticised, but the motive was thoroughly democratic," Democracy in the 
 South, p. 77. 
 
 14 Another defect, inherent in the dominant theory, was the lack of 
 co-ordination and adequate supervision. Strongly backed attempts had 
 been made to remedy this also. 
 
 15 Ambler, Sectionalism, passim. Professor Ambler attributes the 
 unusual activity in building public works from 1850 to 1860 to the program 
 for a united South. Ihid., 311. 
 
6 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 bonded debt of $33,000,000/'^ But offsetting this were 
 assets of a face value of $43,000,000, consisting chiefly 
 of the stocks and bonds of the railroads and canals/^ 
 As yet less than one-fifth of these were yielding the state 
 an income ; but most of the rest, as most of the debt, had 
 been accumulated only within the last decade, and time 
 was needed to make extensions and develop the western 
 trade, for which purpose charters had already been 
 issued and appropriations authorized/® That the debt 
 had trebled within the last decade and would probably 
 continue to increase under the operation of the act of 
 1850 was certainly ominous. But, on the other hand, the 
 \ constitution adopted in 1850 removed old dangers by 
 j forbidding the state to guarantee corporate liabilities 
 or release the corporations from their obligations to it. 
 The constitution also provided for a sinking fund which 
 must be adequate, safe, and unimpairable in times of 
 peace, and into which must be converted the proceeds 
 of any assets sold.^** Back of debt and speculative 
 assets was a settled population of over a million and a 
 half, two-thirds of which was white, and property worth 
 over a billion dollars. From dividends and from taxes 
 on polls, incomes, property, and business licenses the 
 state derived an annual revenue of over four millions,^" 
 of which less than one million was needed for the ordi- 
 nary purposes of government."^ Back of all this was a 
 record of fiscal honor which none was disposed to tarnish 
 
 16 Exclusive of the bonds owned by the literary and sinking funds, 
 Messages and Documents, 1861-1862, No. 8. There was a small sterling 
 debt. 
 
 IT Ibid., table T. 
 
 18 Ibid., table K. There appears to have been no ' ' water ' ' in the stock 
 of these ' ' public works. ' ' 
 
 19 F. N. Thorpe, American Charters, Constitutions, and Organic Laws, 
 VII, 3841-3842. This will be cited as Thorpe. 
 
 20 Auditor, Report, 1861-1862. 
 
 21 Cf. p. 54. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 7 
 
 by questioning the honesty of the debt or the state's 
 ability to pay it. State bonds in the first half of 1860 
 sold above 90.-^ 
 
 When the Civil War was over, the state's great system 
 of public works was an utter ruin.-^ The canal lay 
 incomplete, dismantled, profitless — ''a great gash across 
 the heart of the commonwealth." Though, bit by bit, 
 the railroads patched up their worn-out rails and rolling- 
 stock, rebuilt burned bridges and depots, and opened for 
 business, yet it was all too obvious that they must have 
 time and a great deal of money before they either paid 
 dividends or met the needs of the people."* Western 
 Virginia, for the development of which these railroads 
 had been built so largely, and to which the worn-out 
 eastern counties had looked for a lightening of taxes, "^ 
 was now gone, a full third of the old state. 
 
 Sadly reduced, too, was the people's tax-paying 
 capacity."^ ''By the abolition of slavery and of the 
 'Confederate debt,' " said the Commercial and Finan- 
 cial Chronicle, ^^ "nearly the whole of the accumulated 
 and available capital of the South was practically 
 annihilated." Of the rest, that which had been invested 
 directly in the public works brought little return or none, 
 and that which had been invested in state bonds, perhaps 
 
 22 For favorable opinion see Journal of BanTcing, Currency and Finance, 
 January, 1860. 
 
 23 Contemporary newspapers ; ' ' Personal Recollections. ' ' 
 
 "^i American Bailroad Journal, July 1, 15, 29; September 9, 23; October 
 14; November 4, 1865; also, 1866, 1867, 1868, passim. 
 
 25 An interesting report on the losses of war, made by a committee 
 consisting of ex-Governor William Smith, W. T. Taliaferro, and T. J. 
 Armstrong, and adopted by the House, January 13, 1877, was as follows: 
 personal property, $116,000,000; realty, $121,000,000; internal improve- 
 ments, $26,000,000; banking capital, $15,000,000; circulation, $12,000,000; 
 state's interest in banks, $4,000,000; slaves and other property, $163,- 
 000,000. 
 
 26 January 18, 1868. 
 
8 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 the greater part of the whole debt,^'' was shrunk two- 
 thirds in market value. Farm lands, long deteriorating, 
 now through the necessary change in labor system had 
 become less desirable from a social point of view, and 
 less productive, too, even where the ex-slave settled down 
 on a wage or crop-sharing basis. ^^ As offsets there were, 
 indeed, high prices for tobacco, corn, and wheat, and a 
 rise of land values in and about the towns, which was 
 caused by the shifting of the native population and the 
 incoming of outsiders.-® But, despite the excellent credit 
 of Virginia farmers abroad, to borrow on lands divorced 
 from slaves was difficult.^" Yet borrow one must for 
 fences, for farming implements and livestock, for 
 houses, for mills — for almost everything which four 
 years of business stagnation and ruthless devastation 
 could destroy. With state assets and the tax-paying 
 power of the people fully two-thirds reduced, what hope 
 was there for the payment of the public debt now 
 increased by war time interest to $38,000,000 T^ 
 
 The legislature which faced this almost hopeless 
 
 27 Governor, Message, December 4, 1865. In 1887 ex-Governor Peir- 
 point stated that 80 per cent was supposed to be owned in Virginia just 
 after the war, E. H. Hancock, Autobiography of John E. Massey, p. 120 
 (cited hereafter as Massey, Autobiography). Wm. L. Eoyall, History of 
 the Virginia State Debt Controversy, p. 6, and John P. McConnell, in The 
 South in the Building of the Nation, I, p. 133, appear to hold a contrary 
 opinion. The sale to outsiders was rapid. In 1874 it was estimated that 
 only one-fourth was owned in Virginia, Second Auditor, Eeport, 1874. 
 
 28 B. B. Munford, Virginia's Attitude toward Slavery and Secession, ch. 
 19; B. W. Arnold, History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia, ch. 2. 
 
 29 The increase in the number of whites at work was at least offset by 
 the waste in the general transition; nor should the increase be estimated 
 too highly, Callender, Economic History, p. 783, and Dyer, in The South in 
 the Bxiilding of the Nation, X, ch. 9. 
 
 30 See Euffin in Eichmond Whig, Sept. 25, 1874. Cf. below pp. 25-27, 44. 
 
 31 Governor, Message, December 4, 1865. The literary and sinking funds 
 are not included, and will not be in future statements of the amount of 
 the debt. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 9 
 
 situation in December, 1865, was the last one thoroughly 
 characteristic of ante-bellum Virginia.^^ Its acts, thei*e- 
 fore, are important not only as immediately affecting 
 fiscal affairs but also as disclosing mental and moral 
 attitudes, the stubborn yielding of which to changed 
 conditions forms a large part of the history of the next 
 generation. 
 
 Foremost among the important matters to which 
 Governor Peirpoint called the attention of this leg- 
 islature was the state debt, for the payment of the 
 interest on which bondholders were '^ pressing.". 
 Several honorable courses lay open. The legislature 
 might delay action pending a settlement with West 
 Virginia, for which the organic laws of both states 
 provided.^^ By so doing it would secure the aid of 
 powerful private interests in compelling a settlement, 
 and thus definitely limit the state's obligations. It 
 might frankly recognize that the state was bankrupt and 
 seek a compromise with creditors, for men afterwards 
 said that fifty per cent in new bonds would have been 
 
 32 Kichmond Enquirer, March 3, 1866. Under Lincoln 's plan of recon- 
 struction as amended by Johnson the hitherto ^adowy government of 
 "loyal" Virginia, administered from Alexandria for the most part, was 
 extended to all Virginia. Peirpoint was governor. The legislature was 
 chosen oh practically the same basis as before the war, Eckenrode, Political 
 Beconstruction of Virginia, ch. 3. John B. Baldwin was speaker of the 
 House. 
 
 33 The constitution of West Virginia and the act of the * ' loyal ' ' 
 Virginia legislature assenting to the division of the state clearly created 
 a contract between the two states under which their legislatures were to 
 adjust the debt. The act of Congress admitting the new state ratified this 
 contract. The secession convention at Wheeling, August 3, 1861, had 
 specified terms of adjustment, but these were not mentioned in any of the 
 above documents and were expressly repudiated by the constitution of 
 "loyal" Virginia (Thorpe, VII, 3862). The United States Supreme Court 
 decided in 1870 (11 Wall., 39) that a contract had been created as above, 
 and, in 1911, that the Wheeling terms were only a "preliminary sugges- 
 tion" (220 U. S., 1). 
 
10 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 accepted.^* Instead, by act of March 2, 1866, the legis- 
 lature not only assumed full responsibility for the entire 
 ante-bellum principal but also authorized the funding of 
 the entire war-time interest into bonds bearing the same 
 rate of interest as the principal, payment of interest on 
 the whole to begin the following year. This action was 
 the utmost that any creditor asked. It was taken without 
 a hint of improper influences and without recorded 
 opposition.^^ 
 
 Chief among the reasons for this policy was a scrupu- 
 lous regard for the state's unblemished fiscal record.^^ 
 Another was the attitude toward West Virginia. Ignor- 
 ing the tendency of fifty years^' and the events of the 
 last four years, the members of the legislature issued 
 a confident "appeal to their brethren of West Virginia" 
 for the "restoration of the ancient commonwealth of 
 Virginia, with all her people, and up to her former 
 boundaries," and appointed a commission to effect it. 
 Only after the commission had failed in this effort was 
 it to treat for a division of the public debt and assets.^^ 
 
 At the second session of the legislature the debt ques- 
 tion was re-opened. West Virginia had taken no action. 
 Crops had been poor. Private debts were pressing and 
 there was talk of scaling them. Why, men asked here 
 
 34 A very interesting suggestion was offered by J. Willcox Brown, later 
 a banker of Virginia and Baltimore, that after assuming the debt and 
 levying taxes therefor the state should invite some English bankers to act 
 as trustees, take over her assets and make the best possible terms. Such 
 a course might have changed the entire post-helium history, Broion Tapers. 
 
 35 Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, passed in 1865- 
 1866, p. 79; House and Senate Journals, 1865-1866, index; Governor, Mes- 
 sage, December 4, 1865; contemporary Whig, Enquirer. 
 
 36 This record was mentioned by foreign creditors time and again. The 
 faith of English business concerns in Virginia farmers was similarly 
 strong. See "Financial Eelief That Might Have Been," Brown Tapers. 
 
 37 Ambler, Sectionalism, passim. 
 
 ^s Acts, 1865-1866, p. 453 (being joint resolution of February 28, 1866). 
 
THE STATE DEBT 11 
 
 and there, should not the public debt be scaled in propor- 
 tion to losses? In this "wild talk" lay the germ of 
 repudiation.^^ But the legislature formally reprobated 
 such sentiments, discussed nothing more dangerous than 
 declining responsibility for West Virginia's share — a 
 suggestion endorsed by some creditors — and, finally, 
 regretting its inability to do more, authorized the pay- 
 ment of four instead of six per cent interest for the 
 current year, "that being the amount which this state 
 feels obliged to pay until there is a settlement of 
 accounts between this state and West Virginia."*" 
 Holders of coupon bonds could, of course, receive full 
 interest by presenting their coupons for taxes or other 
 state dues, and the same privilege was accorded holders 
 of registered bonds." To meet the interest voted and 
 the expenses of government, the relatively high tax of 
 thirty cents was imposed on personalty and on realty 
 as valued in 1856.*^ No pressure appears to have been 
 
 39 Governor, Message, December 3, 1866; Auditor, Report, 1866; Ameri- 
 can Annual Cyclopedia, 1866, article "Virginia." The last (which became 
 Appleton's with 1876) will be cited as Annual Cyc, and all references not 
 otherwise indicated will be to "Virginia." The Whig, however, declared 
 that it had heard of no desire to scale the public debt prior to the governor 's 
 message. 
 
 ■io Acts, 1866-1867, December 20, March 21; editorial resume of daily 
 debates in Whig and Enquirer. For positions of these papers on the debt 
 see Enquirer, December 5, 1866, and Whig, March 19, 20, 22, 1867. The 
 vote on the act appropriating four per cent was: House, 58 to 18; Senate, 
 17 to 2. James Branch, of Thomas Branch & Co., bankers and brokers of 
 Eichmond, suggested a compromise with creditors on the basis of 6 per 
 cent bonds for seventy per cent of the debt and certificates of West 
 Virginia's indebtedness for the rest. Enquirer, February 4, 1867. The best 
 people of West Virginia, in the opinion of Mr. Septimus Hall who has given 
 this phase much study, desired at this time to make a settlement. 
 
 41 Act of April 25, 1867. 
 
 42 Thirty cents on each $100, the customary statement of the tax rate in 
 this state. Valuation for taxation was called * ' assessing ' ' ; this was made 
 annually for personalty, every five years for realty. There were other 
 taxes. 
 
12 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 used to obtain these results. Yet by this time it was 
 certain that the state would be degraded, as no state had 
 ever been degraded under the Congressional reconstruc- 
 tion measures. Moreover, bonds were rapidly passing 
 out of the hands of native owners. Hints were, indeed, 
 thrown out to the North by the Whig*"^ that repudiation 
 of private and public debts might be invited. But the 
 legislature appeared blind alike to economic conditions 
 and to the possibilities of compromise, sensitive only to 
 the old ideas of honor. 
 
 Viewed from the debt standpoint only, the question of 
 the state 's assets** was quite simple : Should they be sold 
 at once to reduce the immediate burden or should they 
 be retained as a source of future revenue? Past policy 
 and the prevailing confidence in the future suggested the 
 latter; the burden of the interest and the cheapness of 
 state bonds urged the former. But as these assets con- 
 sisted chiefly of the stocks and bonds of railroads 
 within the state, the transportation problem must also 
 be considered. 
 
 Under the old policy the natural routes for great 
 railroads had been pre-empted.*^ From north to south 
 connecting short lines crossed the state at two points. 
 One could go from Norfolk on the coast to Bristol in 
 the far west by using three roads — the Norfolk and 
 Petersburg, the Southside, and the Virginia and Ten- 
 nessee. From Richmond to Covington in Alleghany 
 County ran the Virginia Central. Charters had been 
 issued and appropriations authorized to continue these 
 westward lines, the one through Cumberland Gap, the 
 other through the undeveloped Greenbrier county to the 
 
 43 December 5, 12, 1866; March 20, 1867. 
 
 44 For condition, see Governor, Message, December 4, 1865. 
 
 45 With the exception of that of the Virginian Eailroad, recently con- 
 structed. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 13 
 
 Ohio, both seeking the Mississippi. Among these and 
 the other numerous short lines a fair degree of unity 
 had been attained, because through the Board of Public 
 Works, as a kind of holding company, the state sub- 
 scriptions had been made and the state stock voted.*® 
 But all of these roads now needed money,*^ and this the 
 state could no longer supply directly, or indirectly.*^ 
 The needs of commerce, therefore, seemed to demand, 
 as the governor kept insisting, that the old policy 
 should give way to private ownership and consolidated 
 management.*^ 
 
 To this problem of the state's assets the legislature 
 addressed itself at greater length and with more heat 
 than to any other. Advocates of immediate reduction 
 of the debt principal, supported by private interests, 
 urged a general sale to the highest bidder,^*' But it was 
 too much, so frankly to declare Virginia bankrupt and 
 so completely to reverse the policy of the past. Most 
 of the roads were, indeed, permitted to buy out the 
 state's interests in them. They were permitted also to 
 combine their managements. But each permission was 
 carefully hedged about with restrictions and guarantees 
 
 46 F. A. Magruder, Secent Administration in Virginia, p. 147. 
 
 47 Cf. American Bailroad Journal, October 23 ; November 4 ; December 
 16, 1865. 
 
 48 Thorpe, VII, 3861-3862. 
 
 49 There is nowhere a full description of the situation, see Governor, 
 Message, December, 1865 and 1866; Enquirer, January 30, 31; March 7; 
 Eichmond Dispatch, January 23, 31, February 6, 23; Whig, March 6, 
 April 19, 1867. 
 
 50 A bill to this effect attached as a rider to the act of March 21, 1867, 
 for payment of interest on the public debt passed the House, Jour., 1866- 
 1867, extra sess., pp. 63-64. For the long fight against outside control, see 
 Ambler, Sectionalism, index, under "Baltimore and Ohio." Objections 
 are succinctly given in Whig, December 8, 1866; see also Enquirer, March 
 21, 22; Dispatch, March 21, 1867. Motives appear in various resolutions, 
 e.g., House Jour., 1865-1866, pp. 65, 377; ibid., 1866-1867, pp. 12, 132, 208. 
 
14 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 intended to prevent monopoly and to secure long-desired 
 extensions, quite in conformity with the state's former 
 policy.^^ 
 
 Similarly, other acts of this legislature showed it to 
 be following old prevailing tendencies, often failing 
 to grasp or deliberately ignoring new conditions. No 
 attempt was made to compel an equitable compromise 
 of old private debts, the security for which was gone 
 in whole or in part. Instead, acts merely staying their 
 collection until 1869 were passed.^^ With loanable funds 
 commanding from ten to fifty per cent, pleas for a 
 relaxation of the six per cent legal rate were refused.^^ 
 As slavery had been patriarchal, so now equally patri- 
 archal was the legislation directly affecting the freed- 
 man: if the latter stayed at home and attended to his 
 work, he was better protected than the ignorant white; 
 if he insisted upon being idle, he was practically 
 remanded to servitude; if he committed crime, his own 
 race could testify for or against him, but only before 
 white judges and juries.^* Though old appropriations to 
 collegiate and professional schools were revived, ele- 
 mentary education was neglected.^^ 
 
 Outside the legislature, also, old forces reasserted 
 themselves. The ex-planter paid his negroes a share of 
 
 51 Out of such acts, when supplemented by further concessions, were to 
 grow the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio, the Virginia Midland, and the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio, Acts of April 18, February 14, March 1, 1867. 
 
 52 Acts of March 2, 1866; March 2, 1867. 
 
 53 Governor, Message, December, 1866; Whig, January 29; February 3, 
 1866. J. Willcox Brown gives details of an English scheme to lend five 
 million dollars at six and one-half per cent on security of Virginia farm 
 lands which was blocked by this refusal. Brown Papers. 
 
 ^i Acts, 1865-1867, pp. 83, 84, 89, 91; Eckenrode, Political Beconstniction, 
 ch. 3; McConnell, Negroes and their Treatment, chs. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 55 An argument advanced against the levying of taxes for debt interest 
 at this time was that the proceeds might be used by the federal government 
 to support public schools. Whig, March 20, 1867. 
 
THE STATE DEBT 15 
 
 the crop instead of board and clothes. Grown men 
 studied law as they would have been doing three or four 
 years before had there been no war. Among the news- 
 papers, the Enquirer and the MHiig again dictated public 
 opinion, seldom agreeing. Far behind, the Dispatch 
 gathered news and talked business. Men wanted to 
 revive their old party lines.^'^ When a party conven- 
 tion met, there was the old oligarchical dominance.^^ 
 Nowhere do we meet with new ideas, nowhere with an 
 adequate appreciation of what had happened ; but every- 
 where we find infinite patience with the ex-slave, a stub- 
 born clinging to what was deemed honor, and a strange 
 capacity for silent, cheerful suffering. 
 
 Thus before the Civil War Virginia concentrated her 
 economic activities upon a system of public works, with 
 the result that in 1861 she possessed assets in railroads 
 and canals of great potential value but offset by a very 
 large public debt. There was an increasing demand for 
 state participation in public education and the like. But 
 this demand was met only partially because it conflicted 
 at once with the policy of internal improvements and 
 with the individualistic and aristocratic ideas of the 
 ruling class. Consequently, state expienditures were 
 small and taxes light, and the credit of the state was 
 excellent. The first legislature after the war was rep- 
 resentative of the old regime. Though the balance 
 between debt and assets had been fearfully upset, this 
 legislature recognized the debt as absolutely binding and 
 tried to provide for interest payment. Most of the rail- 
 road assets, it permitted to pass into private hands but 
 under careful restrictions. It made no provision what- 
 ever for schools or charities. In these and most other 
 
 56 Below, p. 20. 
 
 57 Below, p. 20. 
 
16 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 respects the old ruling class showed itself to be adhering 
 to past policies and standards. New ideas appearing 
 were the consolidation of railroads, which was grudg- 
 ingly and partially accepted, and the scaling of public 
 and private debts, which was not seriously considered. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 RADICALISM, 1867-1869 
 
 Hard upon this conservative legislature came the 
 '* Radical" constitutional convention of 1867-1869/ 
 Called to ' ' reconstruct ' ' the state according to Congres- 
 sional mandate, this convention in both its membership 
 and its acts savored much of outside influences, and was 
 characterized by ignorance and self-seeking. None the 
 less, both its acts and its membership indicated, in how- 
 ever absurdly exaggerated form, social forces released or 
 newly created that would have to be dealt with in the 
 future. 
 
 Negroes, ''scalawags," and ''carpet-baggers" pre- 
 dominated, with only a few scions of the old regime to 
 hector and oppose them. Unmindful of economic condi- 
 tions, they struck "frugality" from the ancient Bill of 
 Rights ; but mindful of the f reedmen to whom they owed 
 their unwonted prominence, they inserted the "equal 
 civil and political rights and public privileges" of all 
 citizens.^ These two alterations give the key to their 
 plan of government. 
 
 1 ' ' Eadical ' ' and ' ' Eepublican ' ' were ordinarily used without distinction, 
 and will be so used herein. This sketch, based on Eckenrode, Political 
 Beconstruction, the convention journals, and the contemporary Eichmond 
 newspapers, is intended to show only the popular and expansive features 
 of the constitution. 
 
 2 Section 15 of the Bill of Eights as adopted in 1851 read: "That no 
 free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people 
 but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and 
 virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." Com- 
 pare this with section 17 in the document as adopted in 1869. Section 20 
 
18 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 Suffrage was to be based on manhood; jury service 
 and office-holding, on suffrage.^ Where before some 
 twenty officials had served the average county's needs, 
 there was now to be a minimum of forty-eight, all elected 
 for short terms and mostly by "townships" or smaller 
 territorial divisions so that power might not gravitate 
 into strong hands and "the people" lose their rights. 
 For similar reasons judicial power was transferred from 
 the old county board of justices to a county judge, and 
 above him was the circuit court, above it the supreme 
 court, forming a complex and costly system. All of 
 these judges were dependent upon the legislature for 
 appointment, salary, and possibly tenure. The legisla- 
 ture was also empowered to appoint all administrative 
 officials except three, including all school officials, the 
 Board of Public Works, and such other boards as it 
 might be pleased to establish. Instead of the old system 
 of public aid doled out to indigents for education, a 
 uniform system of schools, free to all classes, adequately 
 supervised, and liberally supported by specified funds 
 and taxes, was to be established at once, and by 1876 
 extended equally and fully to all the counties and towns. 
 The burden of taxation should no longer fall upon the 
 poor; for the state might levy no poll tax above one 
 dollar, and the local government none above fifty cents, 
 and all other taxation should be ad valorem^ 
 
 Significant for the future was the attitude of the con- 
 vention toward debts. The wild talk of 1866^ now took 
 the form of many resolutions offered by Radical mem- 
 
 of the latter reads : ' ' That all citizens of the state are hereby declared to 
 possess equal civil and political rights and public privileges. ' ' 
 
 3 For the attempted disqualification of Confederates see below. 
 
 4 A few specified license taxes and cases where values could not be 
 ascertained form exceptions to the general principle. Business capital and 
 incomes over $600 were taxed as other property. 
 
 5 Above, p. 10. 
 
RADICALISM, 1867-1869 19 
 
 bers to scale or repudiate private obligations, which 
 resulted in an unusual number of petty exemptions. In 
 close connection with these resolutions were similar, 
 though less vigorous, attacks upon the public debt.'' 
 Efforts of conservative men, including some Radicals, 
 secured recognition of the latter in the constitution.^ 
 But between the policy of protecting a huge public debt 
 and the policy of expensive and popular government 
 there was, under the impoverished conditions prevailing, 
 an incompatibility as striking as that between the old 
 and the new elements of the convention. 
 
 Had the Radicals been allowed to carry out the terms 
 of this constitution, rampant democracy would unques- 
 tionably have had full play for years to come, and one 
 can only conjecture the extremes to which it would 
 probably have gone. But by inserting clauses disfran- 
 chising many ex-Confederates,® the convention alarmed 
 and disgusted almost the entire white population, and, 
 as the whites were in a decided majority, made possible 
 the victory of moderate men. Two steps were taken in 
 reaching this end. 
 
 The first to move were the extreme men of the old 
 school. Confronted with the probable loss not only of 
 their political power and their private property but also 
 of their highly prized civilization, and fearful of '^ Afri- 
 canization" and ' ' Yankeeizing, "® they determined to 
 defeat the constitution at the polls even though they 
 
 6 The printed journals are incomplete and unindexed. See, however, 
 pp. 150, 442-444, 519, 705. 
 
 T Thorite, VII, 3894-3895. This was contrary to the general rule in the 
 new constitutions of the Southern states, Dunning, Eeconstruction, p. 207. 
 
 8 Thorpe, VII, 3876. The "test oath" (ibid., 3877) would have excluded 
 all ex-Confederates from ofSce. 
 
 9 This feeling is vividly expressed in private correspondence of the time, 
 see Buff tier Papers ; Memoirs of Gov. William Smith; T. J. Johnson, Bohert 
 E. Dainey. 
 
20 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 knew that this would probably mean a long continuation 
 of military rule. Meeting in state conventions domi- 
 nated by two or three ante-helium leaders, they planned 
 a complete organization under the name ''Conserva- 
 tive," and nominated a state ticket." Their success 
 would ultimately have meant no extravagance, no cor- 
 ruption, and no repudiation ; no democratic local govern- 
 ment and no concentration of power in the legislature; 
 no common schools, no extensive public charities; no 
 jury service or office-holding for the negroes. An aris- 
 tocratic and individualistic society, with as little govern- 
 mental activity as possible and that little directed by the 
 fittest, was the remedy for the distempers of the times 
 thus boldly prescribed a second time by ''Bourbons."" 
 To avoid the dilemma of negro rule on one side or 
 military rule on the other, a "new movement" was 
 begun. Before the elections for the constitutional con- 
 vention, many substantial citizens, aided by the ardent 
 pro-Southern Whig, had already given strong evidence 
 of their desire to "co-operate" with the Republican 
 party for the restoration of the state to the Union on 
 the basis of universal suffrage and equal civil and 
 political rights. The movement, however, lacked dis- 
 tinctive leadership and died almost still-born.^^ After 
 the convention and the Republican victory in the elec- 
 tion of 1868, the idea revived in the form of an agree- 
 
 ^0 Dispatch and Whig, December 12, 13, 1867; May 7, 8, 1868. Col. E, E. 
 Withers was nominated for governor. Ealeigh T. Daniel, John B. Baldwin, 
 and A. H. H. Stuart were leaders. Their dominance was, of course, due 
 to the crisis and the trust imposed in them. It was exercised largely 
 through a ' ' committee on business, ' ' named by the chairman, which shaped 
 all matters before the convention, including party organization. Cf. below, 
 pp. 39, 49. 
 
 11 Though the term ' ' Bourbon ' ' was little used until later, it will be 
 employed here to designate the ultra-conservatives and their ideas. We 
 should remember that many changed their views soon after this. 
 
 12 Eckenrode, Political Beconstruction, ch. 5. 
 
RADICALISM, 1867-1869 21 
 
 ment between groups of moderate leaders in both 
 parties, heartily supported by the Whig, for the adop- 
 tion of the constitution without the disfranchising 
 clause, and the election of respectable Republican state 
 officials and a moderate legislature." Having obtained 
 permission, through the favor of President Grant, to 
 vote for the constitution without the objectionable clause, 
 these men next induced the ' ^ True Republican ' ' faction" 
 to endorse their plan and nominate for governor Gilbert 
 C. Walker, a carpet-bagger Republican, but a moderate 
 and intelligent man, strongly connected in Congressional 
 circles. Though many Bourbons objected bitterly to this 
 procedure, all of them yielded to its manifest advantages 
 (some perhaps with mental reservations),^'^ and with- 
 drew their candidate.^® Thereupon the masses of the 
 whites rallied under the old name, "Conservative," in 
 support of the movement. In this way originated the 
 Conservative party of the future. 
 
 The significance of these events lay, undoubtedly, in 
 the preference of the white masses for moderation 
 instead of for Radicalism or Bourbonism. Pregnant 
 
 13 For full narrative accounts see A Narrative of the Leading Incidents. 
 etc., by A. H. H. Stuart, who is credited by Eckenrode (Political Becon 
 struction, ch. 7) with having initiated the move; "New Virginia," in Whig 
 February 4, 1885; and Frank G. Euffin in Dispatch, October 30, 1880 
 emphasizing Mahone's share. For national interest and approval see New 
 York Herald, January 3, 16; April 8, 29; New York Times, April 9, 1869 
 
 14 Cf. Ehodes, History of the United States since 1850, VI, 304. Mr, 
 Rhodes 's quotation cannot be applied to this faction in Virginia. 
 
 "i-^ Enquirer, passim; E. E. Withers, Autobiography of an Octogenarian 
 pp. 275 ff. ; Memoirs of Gov. William Smith, pp. 263, 269, 276. The follow 
 ing ironic telegram (New York Times, July 8, 1869) to President Grant 
 from E. T. Daniel excited mirth among Eichmond Bourbons : " I congratu- 
 late you upon the triumph of your policy in Virginia. The gratitude of 
 the people for your liberality is greatly enlivened by the overwhelming 
 majority by which that policy prevails. ' ' 
 
 16 At a meeting of the old Conservative central committee and county 
 "superintendents," Annual Cyc, 1869. 
 
22 EEAPJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 with meaning for the future, also, and of no little imme- 
 diate importance, was the fact that the most efficient 
 of the new leaders were city men and represented large 
 business interests. Thus, Walker, at this time a banker 
 of Norfolk, was interested in Virginia bonds. Franklin 
 Stearns, a Republican who had been considered for the 
 gubernatorial nomination, appears to have been closely 
 associated with large railroad interests centering in 
 Richmond, with which the management of the Dispatch, 
 likewise a supporter of the movement, was also soon 
 associated. Though attracting little public notice, none 
 was more active than Gen. William Mahone, president 
 of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. To him 
 and to his numerous correspondents the success of 
 Walker meant the success of '' consolidation," for the 
 nominees of both the Radicals and the Bourbons were 
 bitterly hostile to his plans." 
 
 Despite the concessions of the whites, the negroes 
 voted by a very large majority for the Radical candidate 
 and disfranchisement. None the less, the ''new move- 
 ment" won an easy victory. Under the deft guidance 
 of Walker and his advisers^^ and with pledges to abide 
 
 17 Below, p. 27. Col. R. E. Withers, the Bourbon nominee, was closely 
 associated with the extreme Lynchburg opposition to Mahone 's control of 
 the Va. & Tenn., Withers, Autobiography, pp. 242 ff. Governor Wells, the 
 Radical nominee, had tried to sell this road to the B. & O. Railroad (Ecken- 
 rode. Political Beconstruction, p. 117) and he appears to have received 
 B. & O. support during this campaign. Among those who assisted Mahone 
 were : J. F. Slaughter, of Lynchburg ; Geo. W. Boiling, of Petersburg ; V. D. 
 Groner and R. H. Glass, of Norfolk, Robert M. Hughes, of Abingdon. See 
 also letters of John W. Johnston, G. K. Gilmer, of Richmond; H. W. 
 Holliday, and ex-Governor Peirpoint, Mahone Papers. Walker's influence 
 over Grant appears to have been exercised through * ' Chandler. ' ' James 
 Barbour, brother of the president of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, 
 and Robert Ould, who represented Richmond's interests in the Canal, both 
 competitors of the A. M. & O., opposed the move. 
 
 18 Whig, October 10, 12 ; Dispatch, October 2, 8, 1869 ; Eckenrode, 
 Political Beconstruction, p. 126. 
 
RADICALISM, 1867-1869 23 
 
 by the essentially democratic features of the expur- 
 gated constitution,^^ Virginia returned finally and fully 
 to the Union in January, 1870. 
 
 We have seen, then, that the reconstruction constitu- 
 tion was framed by adventurers in the interests of the 
 ''mud sills of society." It sought to create complete 
 equality by such devices as manhood suffrage and jury 
 service, numerous elective local offices, taxation accord- 
 ing to wealth, and state support of common schools and 
 charities. The sponsor for these ideas was the Radical, 
 or Republican, party, but they were also accepted as a 
 matter of expediency by a new party, called ' ' Conserva- 
 tive, ' ' and supported by the bulk of the whites. ' ' Bour- 
 bons, ' ' that is, advocates of the old-time policies, opposed 
 this course. While insisting upon these democratic ideas, 
 some Radicals of the constitutional convention endeav- 
 ored to scale both public and private debts, but without 
 success. Ratification of the new constitution was accom- 
 plished through the combination of the Conservatives 
 with a wing of the Republican party. This combination 
 was effected by city capitalistic leaders, and to it (and 
 them) was entrusted the inauguration of the new 
 regime. 
 
 19 Code of 1870, preface. These included suffrage and public education. 
 Cf. Dunning, Essays on Civil War and Reconstruction, pp. 347 ff. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 '^RESTORATION OF CREDIT," 1870-1871 
 
 When the first legislature of reconstructed Virginia 
 met in January, 1870, twenty-seven negroes had seats. 
 The absence of well-known faces was marked — acts of 
 Congress and the exigencies of the campaign had kept 
 them at home. Men said — some with obvious effort — 
 that it was perhaps well; for the young men and new 
 men could more easily forget the past and face the 
 pressing problems which war and reconstruction had 
 created or complicated.^ 
 
 Chief among these problems was the serious economic 
 and fiscal situation. The state debt now amounted to 
 over $45,000,000'— $36 for each person, $62 for each 
 white. Transition from the old to the new transporta- 
 tion policy awaited completion; meantime the state's 
 assets paid little dividend and commerce was hampered. 
 There were, however, some signs of improvement. Small 
 farms for the landless were beginning to be created from 
 the great estates; men unaccustomed to work were 
 putting their hands literally to the plow; in some parts 
 
 T^ Dispatch, Whig, Enquirer, October 5-12, 1869. Cf. Mayes, L. Q. C. 
 Lamar, p. 131. This legislature had in the fall of 1869 completed the 
 reconstruction process. Its composition was: Senate, 30 Conservatives and 
 13 Eadicals (6 negroes) ; House, 95 Conservatives (3 negroes) and 42 
 Eadicals (18 negroes), Annual Cyc, 1869. 
 
 2 Under the act of March 2, 1866, "a large proportion" of interest 
 accrued by January 1, 1867, had been funded. Under act of March 21, 
 1867 (above, pp. 10, 11) four per cent interest had been paid in 1867 and 
 two per cent in 1869. Between these dates the taxes were not fully 
 collected and government expenses were high. Governor, Message, March 
 8, 1870. 
 
''RESTORATION OF CREDIT" 25 
 
 old industries were taking on new life — truck-farming, 
 for example, in the Norfolk region, the tonging and 
 planting of oysters in the Chesapeake's tributaries, and 
 cattle-raising in the southwest.^ Favored by this activ- 
 ity and by immigration from the north and from other 
 parts of the state, seventeen counties and all the cities 
 but two showed greater realty values than in I860.* 
 The masses of the people appeared cheerful, glad, for 
 all the changes, to be back at peaceful work again.^ But 
 the ''good times" immediately succeeding the war had 
 already begun to pass away.'' Protected against old 
 debts by stay laws, men had created a fictitious pros- 
 perity by making new loans, often at usurious rates. 
 Now stay laws were unconstitutional, but the debts 
 remained. The Richmond Enquirer gravely argued 
 that "reason and true statesmanship dictate a compul- 
 sory scale of 'ante bellum' private debt from its appar- 
 ent to its true value," and public meetings endorsed the 
 suggestion.^ Prices of farm products were declining 
 
 3 ' ' Personal Recollections. ' ' 
 
 * The basis of these estimates is the assessed values of 1860 (being 
 the figures of 1856 corrected in 1860) and of 1870. Petersburg and 
 Fredericksburg showed losses. Auditor, Beport, 1871. 
 
 5 Ibid. ; tone of the press ; ' ' Personal Recollections ' ' ; Buffner Papers ; 
 Johnson, Dahney. 
 
 « Tobacco production was 123,968,000 pounds in 1860, 114,480,000 in 
 1866, 43,761,000 in 1870. This decrease was coincident with a heavy fed- 
 eral tax, Arnold, Tobacco Industry, ch. 2. The price of bright tobacco, 
 very high in 1865-1867, decreased thereafter, while the corn and pork 
 imported by the planters were high. Whig, March 8, December 8, 1870. In 
 non-tobacco growing sections the high price of corn was offset by the low 
 price of wheat, ibid., March 8, 17. There had been a succession of disas- 
 trous floods in the James and Shenandoah valleys; also droughts. Annual 
 Cyc, 1865-1870; Governor, Message, December 7, 1870. For negro exodus 
 see Enquirer, February 17; March 19 to 25; Whig, April 20, 1870; for 
 transition to town, P. A. Bruce, Bise of the New South, ch. 30; for the 
 optimistic view of an intelligent English tourist, Robert Somers, The 
 Southern States Since the War. Cf. State Grange, Proceedings, 1874. 
 
 7 Thorpe, VII, 3896; Enquirer, February 17, March 19, 1870. 
 
26 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 and production was increasing but slowly, sometimes 
 actually decreasing. Negro laborers were leaving or 
 talking of leaving, and even though they remained, land 
 in most regions had not yet become profitable. In each 
 of seventy-four counties, not including cities, realty 
 values were distinctly smaller than in 1860, their shrink- 
 age totalling probably over $10,000,000.* 
 
 To meet this situation, Governor Walker urged^ a 
 '^ restoration of credit" policy. Let the entire $45,000,- 
 000 of debt, he said, be funded into uniform coupon 
 bonds bearing the same rate of interest as the old, the 
 coupons being declared on their face receivable for 
 taxes and other public dues. Complete the exchange of 
 the state's interest in public works for state bonds. 
 Curtail expenses. Tax all property at its tr%ie value," \ 
 and reach out for other sources of revenue possible under ' 
 the new constitution. The honor of the state would thus 
 be preserved and its credit restored. Then grant liberal 
 franchises under general laws, unhamper the private 
 interest rate and, while making concessions in the case 
 of old debts, secure the creditor by ''prompt and effect- 
 ive remedies for the enforcement of his rights. " Private 
 credit, as the basis of individual prosperity, would 
 follow. 
 
 The spirit in which these recommendations were 
 made — its extravagant optimism" and its sympathetic 
 appreciation of state pride — received from the press the 
 
 8 Assessed realty values for the entire state showed a loss of some fifteen 
 millions, or about five per cent (currency) ; but the cities and favored 
 counties showed an increase of nineteen millions. 
 
 ^Message, March 8, 1870; December 6, 1871. 
 
 10 This he assumed to be the same as the ' ' true value ' ' given by the 
 census of 1860. 
 
 11 For example: "We have a canal which, when completed, will prove as 
 valuable an adjunct to commerce as the far-famed Suez Canal. ... A 
 Southern Pacific railroad has been projected with its eastern terminus at 
 Norfolk, and I doubt not it will be built." 
 
''RESTORATION OF CREDIT" 27 
 
 heartiest commendation and helped to conciliate or 
 silence elements hitherto in opposition/" The legisla- 
 ture responded readily. It provided for the funding of 
 the debt, adopted a liberal railroad policy, and enacted a 
 tax law of greater reach than any heretofore passed. It 
 took the first step toward repealing the constitutional 
 restriction of the contractual private interest rate to 
 twelve per cent." It gave liberal interpretation to the 
 exemption provisions of the constitution, especially as 
 regards private debts contracted prior to the end of the 
 war." It left no room for a Radical reaction or inter- 
 ference of the federal government, for it set in motion 
 the local government machinery, enacted laws for the 
 protection of suffrage, and created an elaborate and 
 up-to-date public school system.^' Because of their 
 future bearings, the first two of these acts require more 
 extended notice. 
 
 Among the railroad acts of the legislature of 1865- 
 1867 was one permitting Gen. William Mahone and 
 others to merge, under careful restrictions, the manage- 
 ments of the three lines from Norfolk to Bristol and to 
 build extensions with a view to connecting eventually 
 the seaboard with the Mississippi and the Ohio. This 
 was the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. This 
 plan, however, had met with opposition, both from those 
 who opposed consolidation on theoretical grounds and 
 from those with conflicting business interests. As had 
 been expected from the alignment of forces in 1869, 
 Mahone at first received the co-operation of Governor 
 Walker in forcing through the legislature, with the aid 
 of the Republican vote, an act granting the A. M. & 0. 
 
 12 Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer, and citations in each, March 9-11, December 
 8, 9, 1870; above, p. 21, 
 
 13 Acts, 1869-1870, p. 19. 
 
 14 Act of June 27, 1870. 
 
 15 Act of July 11, 1870; below, p. 60. 
 
28 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 valuable privileges and completely crushing the opposi- 
 tion within the consolidating roads.^*' Others, appar- 
 ently with Mahone's assistance, received similar char- 
 ters/^ But these acts were soon seen to be only a part 
 of the governor's ''free railroad" policy. "Wherever," 
 he said in his next annual message," "a railroad, or a 
 canal, or a transportation company, is needed, and people 
 can be found who will invest the necessary capital, let 
 the enterprise be organized and completed." Since this 
 policy involved the sale of such of the state's assets as 
 had not already been disposed of, a bill to that effect was 
 introduced. But Mahone, deeming the policy dangerous 
 to A. M. & 0. interests, fought it. The Enquirer, which 
 had recently been purchased by the Pennsylvania Cen- 
 tral Railroad and reorganized under Richmond business 
 men and politicians for the acknowledged purpose of 
 advocating "Free Railroads" and the "maintenance of 
 public and private credit of the state, "^'' urged the bill's 
 
 16 Act of June 17, 1870; Enquirer, March 3, 16, 18, 20, 1871. The 
 state's interest might be bought by the consolidated road for $4,000,000 in 
 state bonds at par, payable in installments beginning January 1, 1885. 
 The security for the purchase should be a mortgage on the consolidated 
 road second to a first mortgage of $15,000,000. The proceeds of the latter 
 were to be used for building an extension through Cumberland Gap and for 
 certain minor purposes. To the opposition above noted (p. 22) had now 
 been added certain Eichmond men, who were interested in an air-line from 
 Eichmond to Lynchburg, and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia 
 Eailroad represented by John B. Baldwin. 
 
 17 Acts of July 11, 1870 (Eichmond and Danville) ; March 24 (Chesa- 
 peake and Ohio); January 14, March 28, 31 (Orange and Alexandria), 
 1871. Mahone appears to have reached an agreement with the Baltimore 
 and Ohio interests, which were closely connected with the Orange and 
 Alexandria, Letter of W. W. Wood, November 16, 1871, Mahone Papers. 
 
 18 December 7, 1870. 
 
 19 Enquirer, March 21; Whig, November 10, 1871. The Enquirer made 
 no denial of the Whig's charge, "Are not six-sevenths of the Enquirer 
 stock held in Pennsylvania?" Probably Governor Walker's political inter- 
 ests were to be looked after by the Enquirer in return for his support; 
 certainly he had some close connection with the Enquirer's management in 
 
'' RESTORATION OF CREDIT" 29 
 
 passage. So did the Dispatch, the owner of which was 
 an interested party.^" Opposing it was the Whig, whose 
 traditional attitude was to fight outside control and the 
 diversion of trade from Virginia centers, and which, 
 through A, M, & 0. patronage, was gradually passing 
 under Malione's control.'^ Each side maintained an 
 extensive lobby — an agency scarcely known before in 
 Virginia, and each had legislators avowedly in its pay.^^ 
 In the melee Mahone lost the negro vote and the bill was 
 passed."^ 
 
 Meanwhile there had come from the joint committee 
 on finance a bill for funding the state debt, afterwards 
 commoilly known as "the Funding Act." It was the 
 governor's bill in every point"* save that interest-bearing 
 
 1874, Walker to Euffner, September 4, Buffner Papers, December 31, 1883. 
 The State reprinted from the Chicago Tril)une a letter of C. P. Huntington 
 in which he spoke of Walker as "a slippery fellow, and I rather think in 
 Scott's interest." See also letters of E. F. Walker (1872), in Mahone 
 Papers. 
 
 20 Act of March 28, 1871. The short lines from Washington south 
 through Eichmond were the main bone of contention. Some were primarily 
 interested in the Carolina trade {Dispatch, March 10, 1871); others, in a 
 trunk line north and south. 
 
 21 Mahone appears to have negotiated for the purchase of the Whig in 
 1868 without success; yet from that year records of its business were regu- 
 larly sent him. The Whig's editor asserted (March 4, 1872) that his views 
 were reached independently and in ignorance of Mahone 's. A total of 
 $77,200 was paid the Whig by the A. M. & O., Dispatch, October 11, 1879. 
 
 22 John Goode, Jr., represented Mahone (Dispatch, February 10, 1870; 
 New Virginia, in Whig, January 3, 1885), but the charge that he was in 
 the pay of Mahone is based on insufficient evidence; Walter Taylor and 
 A. B. Cochran, the Pennsylvania interests (Enquirer, November 4, 1871); 
 Gen. Bradley T. Johnson (who was not at this time in the legislature), 
 John Lyons, and John W. Jenkins, a Eadical lawyer of Eichmond, the 
 Eichmond interests (Dispatch, February 15, 1872). The A. M. & O. paid 
 $13,900 apparently for lobbying in addition to sums paid the Whig, op. cit., 
 1879. 
 
 23 Act of March 28, 1871. For convenient later account of the whole 
 affair see Dispatch, June 16, 27; August 7, 8, 1877. The contemporary 
 papers are full of it. 
 
 24 Above; also speech of Walker, in Dispatch, October 3, 1877. 
 
30 EEADJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 coupons instead of bonds were to be issued for one-third 
 of the debt, for which '^payment . . . will be provided 
 in accordance with such settlements as shall hereafter 
 be made between the states of Virginia and West 
 Virginia.""^ Obsessed by a sense of obligation to the 
 governor, overwhelmed by other duties, and involved in 
 the railroad war, legislators could give to this bill no 
 adequate study. Nor did they receive light from public 
 i discussion. The Dispatch and General Mahone kept 
 \ discreetly silent. The Enquirer, indeed, favored the bill, 
 ^ and the Whig opposed it ; but their arguments were 
 clouded with references to each other's railroad and 
 political intentions, and weakened by their complete 
 reversal of opinion within four months.-*' At the very 
 close of the session, having previously passed the Senate, 
 this measure was railroaded through the House, receiv- 
 ing the votes of just half of the Conservatives and all 
 of the Republicans but one." 
 
 Thus the ''restoration of credit" policy, balanced 
 against and protected by a careful observance of the 
 democratic ideas of the constitution, was enacted into 
 law. Under its operation important business connections 
 were formed with the North in which men of all shades 
 /of political opinion participated, and before these illib- 
 eralism of all kinds was certain to give way. Almost 
 the entire state press^® and the outside world endorsed 
 the policy as economically correct. Yet several consid- 
 
 25 In the opinion of Mr. Septimus Hall (previously quoted) Walker and 
 the railroad interests blocked a settlement with West Virginia lest the latter 
 demand a share of Virginia 's assets and so delay railroad consolidation ; and 
 the opinion became fixed in West Virginia that no settlement would ever 
 be demanded. 
 
 2« Compare editorials in December, 1870, with those of March, 1871. 
 
 27 Act of March 30, 1871; contemporary Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer; 
 Ruffin, Facts, etc.; Journals of both houses, March, 1871, John W. 
 Daniel and James Stubbs protested vigorously against the procedure. 
 
 28 Whig, January 9, 1873. 
 
'^ RESTORATION OF CREDIT" 31 
 
 erations might well have given pause to the men behind 
 this policy. 
 
 (1) The state's most valuable fiscal assets had been 
 contracted away upon terms that were inadequate if 
 the grantee prospered, insecure if he did not prosper. 
 No special privileges of the old railroads, such as 
 exemption from taxation, proper enough under the 
 former system, had been surrendered. No provision for 
 control over transportation to take the place of the old 
 method had been made. Such defects invited, if they 
 did not compel, railroad control over the legislature. 
 
 (2) It was questionable, at least, whether the fiscal 
 obligations imposed by the Funding Act could be met 
 by the state if that act were accepted by all creditors. 
 The interest on the new debt principal would just about 
 equal the estimated revenue under the new tax law less 
 the minimum appropriated by the constitution for public 
 education, leaving nothing for government expenses 
 which the auditor estimated''' at over one million dollars. 
 Nor was there any obvious remedy for this situation. 
 The debt-principal was indeed reducible by sale of the 
 state's railroad assets; but the amount receivable in the 
 near future from this source had been rendered almost 
 negligible by the acts noted above.^*' Expenses could 
 be reduced only by undoing the democratic features of 
 the constitution just put into effect; but at best this 
 would require years. Any considerable increase in 
 revenue depended upon economic improvement, which 
 could come only gradually, or upon the always slow 
 process of finding new subjects and new methods of 
 taxation. Meantime the annual deficit would be accumu- 
 
 29Beport, 1871. 
 
 30 In 1874 only $3,400,000 had been received, Sen. Jour., 1874-1875, 
 Doc. 1. Walker's estimate (op. cit.) was $2,600,000 "immediately," and 
 $10,000,000 more remotely, available. 
 
32 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 lating so as to impair or destroy the efficiency of these 
 proposed remedies. 
 
 (3) The ''restoration of credit" policy did not rest 
 upon a well-advised popular will. The legislature had 
 been elected when the main issues were not fiscal. The 
 
 I true fiscal condition had not been made clear by the 
 I governor or by the press. While some legislators had 
 voted from conviction for the funding and railroad acts,^^ 
 those acts, the very backbone of the governor's policy, 
 could scarcely have been passed without the combination 
 of interests and the skill of lobbyists. The governor 
 hiniself was known to be financially interested, directly 
 or indirectly, in state bonds.^^ Men said, and no one 
 took the trouble to deny the rumor, that the negroes had 
 been bought.^' It was not at all clear that the people 
 would approve the funding of $13,000,000 of interest 
 accruing mainly during war and reconstruction days 
 and part of it compounded, and it would not be sufficient 
 to say that this was offset by the release of Virginia 
 from one-third of the whole debt ($16,000,000) ; for this 
 one-third was generally considered West Virginia's fair 
 , proportion, and from this Virginia was already released 
 ; in law and in equity."** Nor was it clear that in the clash 
 bound to come between the schools and the debt, the 
 people would side with the latter. 
 
 (4) Factions within Conservative ranks and a ten- 
 
 31 Among the affirmative voters were A. B. Courtney, Charles Herndon, 
 Daniel A. Grimsley, Meriwether Lewis, Wm, A. Anderson, George Walker, 
 John A. McCaul, and M. Hanger. 
 
 S2 Enquirer, December 22, 1871; Massey, Autobiography, pp. 44 ff. 
 
 33 Tor evidence see House Jour., 1871-1872, pp. 31, 137, 297 ff.; Whig, 
 Enquirer, Dispatch, February 14-20, 1872. 
 
 34 C. U. Williams, Present Financial Status of Virginia; above, pp. 9-11 
 and note 38; Enquirer, March 28; Whig, March 18, 1871. It was thought 
 at the time that, despite the previous refusal of West Virginia to treat, her 
 new officials, being Democrats, would do so, Governor, Message, December 
 7, 1870, House Docs., 1869-1870, Nos. 17 and 20. 
 
''RESTORATION OF CREDIT" 33 
 
 dency toward demagogy were already appearing. The 
 men of southwestern Virginia were almost solid against 
 the Funding Act ; and some of them were using language 
 which questioned the validity of the debt.^^ Mahone's 
 railroad supporters were strong and active men and 
 Mahone himself was deemed a skilful and unscrupulous 
 leader.^*^ Against them were arrayed the governor and 
 the interests represented by the Enquirer and the 
 Dispatch, to which the Bourbon element was already 
 allying itself. Already the Whig was seeking to array 
 the masses against its enemies. "Are they not," it said, 
 ''working for Cameron and Scott and McClure . . . the 
 Radical leaders of Philadelphia? . . . The demoralizing 
 effects of Virginia gentlemen chaffing and bargaining 
 with Radical adventurers are deplorable in the extreme. 
 Colonel this, and Major that, and Mr. Somebody else, are 
 seen hobnobbing with union leaguers from Pennsylvania, 
 and aiding them in obtaining the most valuable fran- 
 chises in the state ..." Already, too, the Whig was 
 predicting, no doubt unconsciously, its own future 
 course: "Suppose this . . . [the Funding bill] becomes 
 a law by appliances which stock-jobbers so well under- 
 stand, . . . will the iniquity be patiently endured! Will 
 it not give a handle to demagogues to agitate for repu- 
 diation of the whole ?"^^ 
 
 To sum up : The legislature, elected under the circum- 
 stances narrated in the preceding chapter, endeavored 
 to give effect to the democratic ideas embodied in the 
 new constitution. At the same time, influenced by city 
 
 35 See resolution of Colonel Pendleton in Whig, December 12, 1870. 
 
 36 The Enquirer (November 4, 1871) charged that John F. Lewis, 
 Eepublican, had been elected to the United States Senate through the 
 coalition of the A. M. & O. and the Old Dominion Steamship Company; 
 this appears probable, Letter of Gr. E. Gilmer, September 14, 1869, in 
 Mahone Papers. 
 
 37 March 18; November 2, 1871. 
 
34 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 capitalistic interests and with the expectation of restor- 
 ing public, and thereby private, credit, it adopted a 
 ''free" railroad policy and enacted "the Funding Act." 
 Under the former, control as well as ownership of the 
 railroads passed, or would pass, almost entirely into 
 private hands. Under the Funding Act, the annual debt 
 interest, collectable through tax-receivable coupons, 
 almost equalled the entire revenue of the state. Accom- 
 panying results were a bitter railroad war in the legis- 
 lature and a cry that the interests of the people had been 
 sold out. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 REACTION, AND THE COURTS, 1871-1873 
 
 The legislation described in the previous chapter came 
 before the people for review in the summer and fall of 
 1871. Since the scope of the referendum was limited 
 by peculiar political conditions which continued to 
 dominate public policies for several years, we must note 
 here the development of party politics since the election 
 of 1869. 
 
 It had by no means appeared certain to party leaders 
 in the early months of 1870 just what the lines and 
 policies of the future would be or which party would 
 prevail.^ Hitherto the strength of the Radicals had been 
 the negro vote, but now men hoped, and sometimes 
 seemed to expect, that the negroes, won to reason by 
 fair treatment in their homes and in the legislature, 
 would see that their interest could be best subserved 
 by dividing their vote.^ Instead of assuming the Repub- 
 lican leadership. Governor Walker had just declared his 
 independence of all parties.^ The older Republican 
 
 1(7/. Dispatch, July 11 (quoting Walker in New York World); also, 
 October 22, 1869. 
 
 2 Whig, July 5, 6; Dispatch, July 2, 3; Enquirer, July 1, 2, November 25, 
 1869. For recognition of the common interests of the races see Whig, 
 July 7, 12; Dispatch, July 9, 1869. Walker thought one-fifth had voted 
 Conservative in 1869, and that in two years one-half would be Conservatives, 
 op. cit. The Enquirer believed the negro was rapidly learning his political 
 interests. Amicable relations in the legislature are shown in Whig, January 
 6, 19, 20, 23, 1871 — two negroes sitting ' ' with their political associates, 
 the Conservatives." Ku Klux operations (at no time severe) ceased in 
 1868, Sen. Reports, 42 Cong., 2 sess., no. 41, Pt. 1, p. 92. 
 
 3 Message, February 8, 1870. 
 
36 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 leaders had been discredited by defeat and the virtual 
 abandonment of their policy by the federal administra- 
 tion. Hence, among the Republicans factions had devel- 
 oped, which warred with each other over the spoils and 
 the treatment of ex-Confederates. On the other hand, 
 the Conservative party, which had sprung into exist- 
 ence for a specific purpose, now achieved, had never 
 received formal and authoritative organization. The 
 future co-operation of ex-Whigs with ex-Democrats and 
 of Bourbons with liberals was not assured.* West of the 
 mountains the whites were in such overwhelming major- 
 ity that they could not be expected to appreciate the 
 problems of the "East"; and the reverse was also true. 
 Meantime, from across the northern border was coming 
 a call, to which some had already listened,^ for men of 
 ability and good standing to align themselves with the 
 party which controlled national policies and distributed 
 the national patronage. 
 
 Such a chaotic condition of parties gave to the Con- 
 gressional campaign of 1870 a state-wide interest and 
 importance. Early in the year the Richmond State 
 Journal began, with the approval of Washington, a 
 movement for a state convention which should rescue 
 the Republican party from factional fights and give it 
 leaders and policies less closely associated with events 
 of the last four years. The movement was successful 
 and the convention met in Richmond in September.^ 
 Though deploring the facility with which ''our whilom 
 true Republicans in office have forgotten and abjured 
 
 4 Above, p. 20; Enquirer, November 25, 26, 1869; Marcli 14, April 15, 
 16, 1871; Whig, August 11, 1869; January 13, 17, 1871. 
 
 5 Examples are : Gen. W. C. Wickham, vice-president of the Chesapeake 
 and Ohio Eailway; Eobert W. Hughes (below); Z. Turner, speaker of the 
 House; Alex. Eives, federal district judge. General Mahone and the Whig 
 were continually under suspicion. 
 
 ^Enquirer, February 7, March 14, April 15, 16, 1870. 
 
REACTION, AND THE COURTS 37 
 
 their pledges to Gen. Grant and Congress" and thougli 
 condemning Conservatism as a ''contrivance to avoid 
 the issues between the two great parties," this conven- 
 tion formally abandoned the party's past policy of 
 "proscription and hate" by pledging a "conciliatory 
 policy" in the selection of local officers and silence as to 
 the test oath; while the platform's emphasis upon pub- 
 lic education connected the party closely with what was 
 best in its reconstruction work/ 
 
 To meet this move, leaders of ante-bellum Democracy 
 urged that the Conservatives adopt a clear-cut and 
 vigorous policy.^ The non-partisan plan of 1869, they 
 said, was operating as a cloak for time-serving Repub- 
 lic'ans and Independents. Therefore a state convention 
 should be called which should draw strict party lines, 
 affiliate with the national Democracy, and "fire the 
 hearts" of the white people. But the outspoken sus- 
 picion of old Whigs and the widespread fear of renewed 
 federal interference upon the slightest provocation 
 counselled caution. Accordingly no convention was 
 called and no drawing of lines or statement of policies 
 was attempted. Instead, those moderate men who had 
 been elected to the legislature the year previous under 
 the name of Conservatives met in caucus and, with the 
 assistance of certain prominent Richmond sympathizers, 
 appointed a new central committee. Through this com- 
 mittee, effective control of which was cautiously centered 
 in Richmond, an address was issued. Ignoring national 
 matters save for a suggestion as to economic relief, this 
 address put forward home rule by the fittest as the para- 
 
 TWhig, Enquirer, Dispatch, September 27, 28, 1870; Dunning, Essays, 
 pp. 233 ff. Grant was popular in the state on account of his attitude at 
 Appomattox and in 1869. 
 
 8 E.g., the Lynchburg News, the Tenth Legion Banner, and the Enquirer. 
 
38 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 mount issue, and on this platform invited and urged the 
 co-operation of all. 
 
 At the ensuing elections, however, the liberal profes- 
 sions of neither party availed it anything. The whites 
 voted mainly for Conservative candidates, but without 
 enthusiasm; the negroes remained almost solidly Radi- 
 cal. The Radicals won eight of the eleven Congress- 
 men, the Conservatives had a majority of 2,239 in the 
 state as a whole.® 
 
 The indecisiveness of this campaign and the fact that 
 state issues had not been directly involved left the prob- 
 lem of party lines and policies still an open one in the 
 early months of 1871. Nor did the adjournment of the 
 legislature clarify the situation, for on each of the two 
 chief issues" before that body the Conservatives had 
 divided about equally, while the Republicans had, as a 
 whole, supported each side of both questions in turn. 
 Hence, at the ensuing elections for local officials, men 
 who claimed to be Conservatives ran independently in 
 some places and received support from the negroes. 
 Soon the Conservative central committee perceived its 
 authority ''measurably impaired" and the party itself 
 "in the throes of distraction." Likewise, the Repub- 
 licans were again divided into factions, carpet-baggers, 
 backed by the bulk of the negroes, again insisting that 
 Republican Congressmen should control the distribution 
 of the federal patronage, scalawags opposing this." 
 
 Again, therefore, the demand went up for a Conserva- 
 tive state convention. Not without misgivings, the 
 
 ^Annual Cyc, 1870; Enquirer, July 2, August 2, 5, October 7, November 
 11, 18; Dispatch, July 2, 6, August 5; Whig, Mareli 8, 17, July 2, 22 (con- 
 taining the address), 1870. The party plan of organization was that 
 drawn by John B. Baldwin and adopted in 1867 (above, p. 20) slightly 
 amended by the caucus. 
 
 10 The railroad and the debt questions, 
 
 11 Keferences as in note 9. 
 
REACTION, AND THE COURTS 39 
 
 central committee yielded, summoning the delegates to 
 Richmond, where its own headquarters were, and fixing 
 a late date for the meeting (August 30). The venture 
 proved a complete success. The old leaders, whom dis- 
 abilities or inclination had kept in the background for six 
 years, now returned and were received with enthusiasm. 
 This was an important event, for it marked the begin- 
 ning of a Confederate reaction not only against Radical- 
 ism but also against the compromising idea that had 
 prevailed for two years. It was, indeed, the beginning 
 of a "Confederate cult," the deep influence of which 
 was to be felt in business and social life as well as in 
 politics for many years to come.^" By common consent, 
 issues of the Civil War period and before were laid aside 
 as "dead." There was no considerable expression of 
 Bourbon opinion on democracy and the new constitu- 
 tion. Despite some slight opposition on the ostensible 
 ground that it would give the impression of outside 
 dictation, an invitation to sit with the convention was 
 extended to Governor Walker in appreciation of his ser- 
 vices in 1869. Six negro delegates from Richmond were 
 received with applause ; and though bluff General Early 
 left in a rage, declaring that he had come thinking ' ' this 
 was to be a convention of Virginia gentlemen — a white 
 man's convention," the Richmond press enthusiastically 
 described the event as "historical." As a concession to 
 the representative principle, a resolution offered by 
 H. H. Riddleberger, of the Valley, that the "consulting" 
 members of the central committee should be selected by 
 the delegates from the several Congressional districts 
 instead of by the convention president was adopted; 
 but effective party direction was left concentrated in 
 Richmond, and provision was made for bringing promi- 
 nent local men into harmony with this management 
 
 12 Cf. below, pp. 48, 109, 133. 
 
40 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 through local reorganization on a democratic basis. 
 Sternly refusing to consider any other question the con- 
 vention put before the people the single issue of the 
 previous year: ''Conservative or Radical control T'^^ 
 
 To meet the enthusiasm created by this move, the 
 Republicans could only develop the policy adopted the 
 year previous. By carefully packing their convention, 
 and obtaining the personal attendance of Washington 
 officials, and after a long secret conference of leaders, 
 they were able to restore party harmony. Defeat of the 
 carpet-bagger plan for controlling federal patronage 
 manifested unmistakably the dominance of the liberal 
 wing. Thus the way was prepared for co-operation in 
 the coming national elections with the many whites who 
 did not relish an alliance with the national Democratic 
 party. To these, and to old Whigs especially, the plat- 
 form extended a cordial and liberal invitation. In state 
 matters, the party's special interest in public education 
 prompted a serious enquiry whether the schools, espe- 
 cially those for the negro, would be safe under continued 
 Conservative control. With Conservatives in possession 
 of the courts, the platform continued, the negro's con- 
 stitutional right to serve on juries was unquestionably 
 being destroyed; beyond doubt, the operation of the 
 Funding Act would cause a doubling of taxes.^* 
 
 The issue of the campaign that followed was the one 
 
 13 JF/u^r, July 20, 22, (address of state committee), 27; Dispatch, July 
 23, August 19, 23; Enquirer, Dispatch, Whig, August 30, 31, September 1, 
 1871. The change in the Enquirer's ownership had brought it into fairly 
 close harmony with Governor Walker, above, p. 21. Ealeigh T. Daniel 
 as party chairman named Eobert L. Montague president, and he appointed 
 William Smith chairman of the committee on business, to which all impor- 
 tant matters were referred. This arrangement was at once a recognition 
 of old leaders and a necessary step in identifying the new Conservative 
 party with the old (above, p. 20). 
 
 ''■*Whig, January 13, 17; Dispatch, Enquirer, Whig, September 28, 29, 
 1871. 
 
REACTION, AND THE COURTS 41 
 
 stated by the Conservatives — "Conservative or Radical 
 rule?" Inspired by the example of their old leaders, 
 the great bulk of the whites voted for the Conservative 
 candidates, and the negroes for the Republican candi- 
 dates, each regardless of other issues. The Conserva- 
 tives, consequently, won with an increased majority in 
 both houses. 
 
 The policy of the Conservatives, however, did not 
 entirely prevent other issues from having weight; and 
 herein lies a further characteristic of Virginia politics 
 for several years to come. These issues were discussed 
 and roughly decided by the Conservatives in each legis- 
 lative district separately, and when the district was a 
 close one, not only the regular Conservatives but also 
 the doubtful and apathetic voters had weight. In this 
 campaign such issues were: the public school and local 
 government systems, the number and salary of legis- 
 lators, the railroad policy, private interest rate, exemp- 
 tion laws, and the Funding Act. How general the dis- 
 cussion was can not be determined ; but that it was often 
 vigorous may be inferred from the comment frequently 
 , made that the nature of these questions and the igno- 
 I ranee of the voters rendered the local demagogue dan- 
 \ gerous. Particularly noteworthy were the arguments 
 advanced against the Funding Act; That it had been 
 passed by the corrupt influence of brokers and specu- 
 lators; that before any assumption of obligation had 
 been agreed to there should have been a settlement with 
 West Virginia because the debt was "created by the 
 whole state before any division of her territory or any 
 destruction of her property in slaves ' ' ; and that it made 
 "the taxes of the rich payable in coupons at far less than 
 par value, while the poor . . . [would] be compelled to 
 pay . . . dollar for dollar." Of course such a method 
 of deciding important questions did not yield the definite 
 
42 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 and organized expression of popular will ordinarily 
 obtained through political parties. Thus in the present 
 instance only twenty-six of the one hundred and thirty- 
 two members of the previous House were returned; but 
 the exact reasons for the change and the intentions of 
 the new members were not at all clear/" 
 
 To the legislature thus elected Governor Walker 
 reasserted his fiscal views, December 6, 1871. Remind- 
 ing the members that '*as a legal proposition the inter- 
 est on the funded debt must unquestionably be paid, ' ' he 
 demanded, in substance, that three-fourths of the current 
 revenue should be used for this purpose. Referring 
 lightly to "what may be appropriated for school pur- 
 poses," he suggested as a substitute for the constitu- 
 tional appropriation a poll tax of two dollars, prepay- 
 ment of which should be a suffrage requisite. The gov- 
 ernor's belief was, plainly, that if the people wanted 
 free schools, good roads, improved asylums, an agricul- 
 tural department, and the like, they would submit to 
 higher taxes." 
 
 But the legislature forthwith voted, by a majority of 
 119 to 33 in the two houses, that the operation of the 
 Funding Act be suspended. This action w^as vetoed by 
 the governor because it was contrary to sound public 
 policy and discriminated against those who had not 
 funded; and this reasoning prevailed with the Senate." 
 Thereupon a bill prohibiting the receipt of coupons for 
 
 15 C/. Whig, October 31, November 1, 10, 1871; January 2, 3, 1872; 
 Enquirer, September 1, 18, November 6, 9, 1871; January 8, 1872; Dis- 
 patch, March 8, 1872; December 19, 1873; Euffin, Facts; C. U. Williams, 
 Present Financial Status; C. T. O'Ferrall, Forty Years of Active Service, 
 pp. 194 ff.; Memoirs of Governor William Smith, p. 276; Annual Cyc, 1871. 
 Eichmond Conservatives nominated and elected representatives of the Ger- 
 man and Irish elements, Dispatcli, Whig, September 27, 1871. 
 
 10 Governor, Message, December 6, 1871; Auditor, Report, 1871. Cf. 
 pp. 26, 29. 
 
 17 Sen. Jour., 1871-1872, pp. 88, 111; acts in force March 7, 19, 1872. 
 
EEACTION, AND THE COURTS 43 
 
 taxes was passed, notwithstanding the veto, and the pay- 
 ment of four per cent interest on the whole debt recog- 
 nized as Virginia's was ordered. But the state supreme 
 court, early in the next legislative session, declared 
 by a vote of three to one that the state must receive for 
 taxes the coupons of all bonds issued under the Funding- 
 Act prior to the attempted prohibition because they con- 
 stituted a contract between the holder and the state/® 
 Under this decision a preferred class of bonds, soon 
 known as ''consols," was created to the amount of some 
 twenty millions, or about two-thirds of the whole. The 
 legislature deemed it impracticable — as, indeed, it was — 
 to remedy this discrimination against "peelers"" by 
 making the interest on them also receivable in payment 
 for taxes, and the holders of consols refused to sur- 
 render their privileged position.^" The governor sug- 
 gested, and the legislature adopted, a joint resolution 
 petitioning the federal government to assume the whole 
 debt; but the only result of this was a temporary rise 
 in the bond market.^^ 
 
 In other respects, also, the legislature pursued a course 
 
 18 Antoni v. Wright, 22 Grattan, 833, December 13, 1872. Judge Staples 
 dissented. 
 
 19 Strictly this term applied only to bonds issued between the passage of 
 the prohibiting act and the court's decision; but it will be used for all 
 bonds other than consols. 
 
 20 Under the initiative of the legislature a conference with creditors was 
 attempted; but its only result was a demonstration of bad feeling between 
 legislature and creditors. Enquirer, February 19, 21, 22, 1873. 
 
 21 Sen, Jour., 1872-1873, December 16; joint resolution of March 26, 
 1873; Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer, February 18, 1873, and quotations in Whig 
 showing division of press. For New York opinion of the stock-jobbing 
 nature of the proposal see Whig, February 12, 1873, quoting New York 
 Advertiser. Henry A. Wise had favored such a petition by Virginia, West 
 Virginia, and the creditors jointly (B. H. Wise, Henry A. Wise, p. 397), 
 and Governor Kemper (Message, January 1, 1874), endorsed it on the 
 ground of duty incident to the war. But the plan never had influence other 
 than that indicated above. 
 
44 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 quite antagonistic to the restoration of credit policy. It 
 taxed state bonds on the theory that they were private 
 property; it ordered an investigation of the passage 
 of the Funding Act ;^^ it put bonds held by the colleges in 
 a specially favored class f^ and established, in the inter- 
 est of farmers and local politicians, the Virginia Agri- 
 cultural and Mechanical Institute;"* it repealed the 
 act for a general sale of the state's railroad assets; 
 refused even to consider a somewhat similar plan for dis- 
 posing of the James River and Kanawha Canal; and 
 resumed the older policy, under which the great era of 
 railroad consolidation and expansion was soon brought 
 to a close.'^ It limited the permissible private interest 
 rate to eight per cent, which was even lower than that 
 allowed in the unamended constitution, rendered easier 
 the redemption of lands held for delinquent taxes, and 
 tried seriously, though in vain, to stave oif the threat- 
 ened defeat of the exemption laws by the state courts.^® 
 Aided by the general desire of the whites to be rid of an 
 impracticable "Yankee idea," it took the first steps 
 toward amending the local government system." It 
 
 22 House Jour., 1871-1872; Dispatch, March, 1871, passim; Whig, August 
 8, 1877. 
 
 23 An act of February 23, 1867, authorizing payment of full interest on 
 their bonds was continued in force by act of March 20, 1872, and from 
 time to time thereafter, Second Auditor, Beport, 1879, p. 10. 
 
 24 Acts, 1871-1872, pp. 48, 312. It was to be supported by the proceeds 
 from two-thirds of the land scrip donated by Congress in 1862, and by a 
 local appropriation; but state appropriations were of course soon made. 
 
 25 The old railroad wars continued, however, being especially fierce in 
 1874 and 1875. Cf. Dispatch, Whig, Enquirer, passim. They ceased with 
 the appointment of receivers for most of the roads in 1876 and 1877. 
 Acts, 1871-1872, p. 45; Annual Cyc, 1872, 1873; Brown Papers. 
 
 26 Above; Acts, 1871-1872, pp. 72, 99; 1872-1873, pp. 138, 177, 329. 
 The exemption act of June 27, 1870, and the clause of the state constitution 
 on which it was based were declared unconstitutional by the state supreme 
 court in 1872, 22 Grattan, 266. 
 
 27 Above, p. 18. 
 
REACTION, AND THE COURTS 45 
 
 shifted the burden of taxation noticeably from the farmer 
 and the laborer to luxuries and corporate wealth.^^ But 
 it did not increase the revenues nor immediately decrease 
 expenses. 
 
 Radical as this legislation was, it probably fell short 
 of the popular wishes. For of the two houses the lower 
 was at once the "fresher from the people" and the more 
 extreme. Moreover, a majority of the legislators repre- 
 sented the upper and middle classes, the negroes and the 
 ' ' odds and ends ' ' having voted for Republicans and Inde- 
 pendents who advocated more extreme action in economic 
 and fiscal matters. Did the people of the state, then, 
 wish to repudiate? Some thought so.^" Certainly, the 
 first step toward repudiating "peelers" had been taken. 
 Yet the legislators intended only to get rid of town and 
 corporate influences and Yankee ideas, to regain con- 
 trol over the state's finances so as to adjust them equit- 
 ably and rationally, and to give the substantial country 
 people a chance to recover.^" This was certainly a very 
 natural course for farmers and ex-Confederates to take, 
 and by no means an improper one. On the announce- 
 ment of the court's decision, however, most of them 
 
 28 This was done (1) by permitting revaluation of land and the oyster 
 catch; (2) by imposing taxes on gross receipts of transportation and insur- 
 ance companies in addition to license and property taxes; (3) by a sales 
 tax, as well as license tax, on liquor. Not all of this was new, but the 
 tendency was decidedly as stated. See Acts, 1871-1872 (including extended 
 session). 
 
 29 For vote on suspension of funding, see Sen. Jour., 1871-1872, p. 88; 
 Enquirer, December 16, 1871; Euffin, Facts. Conservatives favoring sus- 
 pension were: Thomas J. Christian, A. Fulkerson, C. T. O'Ferrall, F. 
 McMullin, H. H. Eiddleberger, Wm. E. Taliaferro, Wm. E. Terry. On 
 prohibiting receipt of coupons for taxes the party vote was: ayes, 81 
 Conservatives, 33 Eepublicans, 5 Independents; noes, 32 Conservatives, 1 
 Eepublican. The vote on the private interest rate bill was quite similar. 
 
 30 See House resolution of December 23, 1871; Whig, December 28, 29; 
 contra, Enquirer, December 20, 1871; Beligious Herald and Central Pres- 
 byterian, in Enquirer, February 19, 1872. 
 
46 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 yielded out of traditional respect; and it was they who 
 blocked further action of the same character. But 
 Republicans and Independents and a minority of the 
 Conservatives, chiefly those from the "Southwest," 
 agreed with the dissenting judge^^ that the decision was 
 wrong in law because under it "liens and mortgages 
 may be given upon the future revenues of the state, by 
 statutes assuming the form of contracts"; and with the 
 Whig^^ that it substantiated an impression begun since 
 the war that "the law which is dispensed is wanting in 
 the essential elements of justice and equity." 
 
 Thus, by 1872, party lines and policies had become 
 definitely established. Despite its varied program of 
 liberalism, democracy, and reform, the Republican party 
 was controlled, through federal appointees, from Wash- 
 ington, and few besides the negroes were attracted to 
 it. On the other hand, the Conservative party relied 
 upon its single promise of native white control ; and this 
 sufficed both to hold together the Bourbons and the 
 capitalistic interests and to control the state legislature. 
 The elections of 1871, however, had disclosed a wide 
 difference of opinion among Conservatives, due in part to 
 a Confederate reaction, now just beginning, and in part 
 to divergence of economic and social interests and prin- 
 ciples. Especially noteworthy was the legislature's 
 attack upon the Funding Act. This subsided, however, 
 when the attempts at undoing the act met defeats at the 
 hands of the governor and the courts. But the Rich- 
 mond Whig and other Conservatives, especially in the 
 "Southwest," bitterly condemned governor and courts 
 as well as the Funding Act. Republicans shared this 
 hostility. 
 
 31 Judge Staples lived in the ' ' Southwest. ' ' 
 
 32 December 17, 18, 1872. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ''DEBT PAYERS," AND THE ELEMENTS OF 
 DISSATISFACTION, 1874-1877 
 
 As the campaigns of 1870 and 1871 fixed unalterably 
 the issue between the Conservatives and the Radicals, 
 so the contest for governor and legislature in 1873 and 
 the events growing immediately out of it sealed the fate 
 of the Republican party until its rejuvenation in the 
 early eighties/ 
 
 The prospects of the Republicans at the beginning of 
 the campaign were bright. Through their victory over 
 the Conservatives supporting the Liberal-Democratic 
 combination headed by Greeley the year previous, they 
 were enabled to urge with more effect than before the 
 futility of the non-partisan idea. Though the Conser- 
 vatives quite correctly attributed this defeat to their 
 candidate and not to their party policy, they could con- 
 ceal neither their factions nor the failure of their fiscal 
 efforts; and so good a politician as Governor Walker 
 declared confidentially that only two Conservatives 
 could be sure of carrying the state that year (1873).^ 
 Accordingly, being assured of continued support from 
 the federal administration, liberal Republican leaders 
 early took the initiative and by July were able to 
 assemble a state convention marked, as in 1871, by the 
 domination of federal employees and the subordination 
 
 1 See ch. 13. 
 
 2 Letter to W. H. Euffner, May 7, Euffner Papers. Walker 's view, how- 
 ever, proved incorrect. Walker was now recognized as a Conservative. 
 
48 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 of the negroes. For governor they nominated Robert 
 W. Hughes, once an extreme secessionist but now fed- 
 eral district-attorney in the '* Southwest, " a man of 
 excellent family, the ' ' brains of his party, ' ' and a reputed 
 favorite of Grant. Carpet-baggers were represented by 
 C. P. Ramsdell, of Surry, and old Union men by David 
 Fultz, of the once strongly Whiggish county of Augusta. 
 In an intelligent and well written platform they offered 
 to the ' ' Southwest ' ' development of its resources through 
 outside capital and federal aid; to the railroads, a ''free" 
 policy ; and to liberal sentiment, the hospitable reception 
 of immigrants, exact and impartial justice, and fair elec- 
 tions. As in 1872, they endorsed the administration of 
 the schools under Supt. William H. Ruffner,^ Conserva- 
 tive though he was, urging only a more democratic 
 method of selecting the local trustees. Shifting to meet 
 the changed situation, they condemned repudiation in 
 any form and promised compulsory adjustment with 
 West Virginia through use of the federal courts.* 
 
 The Conservatives, however, again refused to recog- 
 nize any issue save negro rule under federal direction. 
 Their newspapers refrained from expressing guberna- 
 torial preferences, and their convention, marked even 
 more than in 1871 by the prominence of old leaders, spent 
 its energies in stately compliments to itself and bitter 
 denunciation of Radicalism. A brief platform noted the 
 results of Radical rule in the Southern states, declared 
 for ''exact and impartial justice" to both races, pointed 
 "with pride" to the school system, promised to co-op- 
 erate with "Gen. Grant" in cultivating good will 
 between the sections, and urged the completion of the 
 James River and Kanawha Canal as a matter of national 
 
 3 Below, p. 60. 
 
 i Enquirer, Whig, July 31, August 1; Dispatch, August 7, 1873; Annual 
 Cyc, 1873. 
 
''DEBT PAYERS" 49 
 
 importance. For governor they named Gen. James L. 
 Kemper, of the Valley, a soldier of two wars and twice 
 Speaker, a liberal in politics and a friend of Mahone in 
 the railroad war. Then, by a dramatic coup, they com- 
 pelled Kemper's closest competitor, Col. E. E. Withers 
 (now of the ''Southwest"), an ex-Bourbon and an enemy 
 of Mahone, to accept the second place. The ticket was 
 completed with the name of Raleigh T. Daniel, of Rich- 
 mond, a lawyer and editor of war-time fame and since 
 the war the dominating party chairman.^ Likewise, in 
 the campaign that followed, the Conservatives permitted 
 but one issue; with this they colored all the brilliant 
 liberal speeches of Hughes. Hitherto they had carefully 
 refused to draw the race line; now, without nominally 
 changing this policy, they refused in places to enter joint 
 discussions and by thus ' ' dividing the crowd ' ' compelled 
 white men to support the Conservative party or repudi- 
 ate their color. After this the result was never in doubt. 
 Hughes was overwhelmingly defeated.*' 
 
 The Republican party now began to pay in full for the 
 indignities which it had attempted to heap upon ex-Con- 
 federates. For some time trickery and fraud had been 
 practiced by the Conservatives and the drawing of the 
 color line tended to encourage the practice. But such 
 methods were ever uncertain in their results, they lacked 
 social respectability and were in direct defiance of stat- 
 
 5 Above, pp. 20, 39. The chairmanship of the state committee and 
 that of the executive committee were hereafter held by different men. 
 
 ^Dispatch, July 13, August 8, November 4, 5; Enquirer, July 18, 20, 
 August 7, 8; Whig, July 17, August 5, 7, 8; November 4, 5, 12, 1873; With- 
 ers, Autobiography, p. 313. For Mahone 's share in the selection of Kemper, 
 see below, p. 70. That Eepublicans hoped for assistance from public school 
 men is indicated by a letter of Hughes to Superintendent Euffner, April 24, 
 1873, and by the reported assertion of Eamsdell that Superintendent 
 Euffner was not in accord with Conservative policy as to schools; also by 
 the preparation of John W. Daniel (letter to Euffner, October 1, 1873), 
 to meet the move, Euffner Papers. 
 
50 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 utes which their sponsors had made/ So an amendment 
 to the suffrage law embedded in the constitution was pro- 
 posed by the legislature in 1874 and ratified in 1876, 
 under which failure to pay the poll tax and conviction 
 for many petty crimes became disqualifications. This 
 limitation of suffrage, together with the abolition of one- 
 third of the local offices, was an ''undoing of reconstruc- 
 tion" which rendered unnecessary the constitutional con- 
 vention that would otherwise probably have been called.^ 
 As a result, the hold of Republicans, already weakened 
 in the counties and towns, was now broken completely. 
 Of the two federal senators chosen by the compromising 
 legislature of 1869, one had proved to be a good Conserv- 
 ative and the other was replaced by Colonel Withers 
 in 1875; next year the Conservatives elected all but one 
 of the members of the House.'* By the end of Kemper's 
 administration (1878), therefore, federal appointees had 
 become not only the dominating leaders of the Repub- 
 lican party but almost the party itself. With this condi- 
 tion of affairs they appeared quite content. 
 
 When Governor Kemper began his term, January 1, 
 1874, Virginia faced not only the effects of a far-reaching 
 national panic — in her case unrelieved by previous pros- 
 perity — but also the fiscal woes inevitably arising from 
 
 7 Knight V. Johnson, Sen. Jour., 1875-1876, Doe. 3; Piatt v. Goode, in 
 C. H. Eowell, Digest of Contested Election Cases; Acts, May 11, 1870; 
 March 30, 1871 ; April 30, 1874. 
 
 s Thorpe, 3901, above, pp. 19, 44. A. E. McKinley in ' ' Two Southern 
 Constitutions" {Political Science Quarterly, IX, p. 671) quite overlooks 
 this fact. The bulking of the negroes made such laws necessary. The 
 political motive is evident from the fact that negroes voted against them. 
 Cf. Dunning, "Undoing of Eeconstruction, " in Atlantic Monthly, 
 LXXXVIII, p. 437. 
 
 9 In 1874 and in 1876 ex-Governor Walker was chosen by Conservatives 
 of the Richmond district, previously represented by the Eadicals C. H. 
 Porter and James A. Smith. At the expiration of his second term he 
 returned to New York. 
 
''DEBT PAYERS" 51 
 
 previous policies. The legislature of 1870-1871 had 
 avoided the problem of current debt interest by permit- 
 ting the greater part of it to be funded. The succeeding 
 legislature had managed to retard the annual million 
 dollar inflow of coupons by offering four per cent in cash 
 and two per cent certificates in exchange for them, while 
 making their sale for tax-paying purposes difficult.^" By 
 means of these devices and the habitual under-payment 
 of appropriations for other purposes, especially for the 
 "peeler" debt, the annual deficit of about a million 
 dollars had been temporarily concealed." But now the 
 large surplus which had existed at the beginning of 
 Governor Walker's administration was gone. Nearly a 
 million dollars in authorized cash payments and half a 
 million in tax-receivable coupons were outstanding, the 
 current year would show a deficit of almost another mil- 
 lion, the bulk of the state's assets had been bargained 
 away, and general economic conditions demanded a 
 decrease, rather than an increase, in taxes. ^" 
 
 The fiscal views of the new governor were unknown 
 at the time of his election, the debt not having been a 
 campaign issue that year. To the great disgust of the 
 financial world, however, he attacked the problem at 
 once, somewhat after the manner of the legislature of 
 1871-1872. The fundamental need, he said, was a "per- 
 manent financial policy." The first essential of this 
 policy was equality of creditors and uniformity of obli- 
 gations, and the proper way to obtain these objects was 
 
 10 Acts of March 19, 1872 (repealed December 23, 1872); March 13, 
 1873; December 24, 1872 (prohibiting collecting oflficers from dealing in 
 coupons and imposing a broker's license tax on other persons dealing in 
 them). Only some $300,000 in coupons were turned in for taxes up to 
 October 1, 1873, Second Auditor, Beport, 1873. 
 
 11 Message, March 8, 1870. 
 
 12 Auditor, Beport, 1874. In addition there were $1,800,000 of deferred 
 interest certificates. 
 
52 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 to call a conference of consol holders and induce them to 
 exchange their tax-receivable coupons for, say, four per 
 cent in cash and two per cent in deferred interest certifi- 
 cates. The second essential was prompt payment of 
 interest, for which the necessary money could be obtained 
 only by a more careful administration of the revenue 
 laws, by finding new subjects of taxation, and by reduc- 
 ing expenses in proportion to the state's reduced capa- 
 city, through a constitutional convention if necessary." 
 The legislature endorsed the governor's proposal by 
 authorizing the conference, and named the governor and 
 R. M. T. Hunter, the treasurer, as the state's represen- 
 tatives. At the appointed time, ex-Secretary of the 
 Treasury Hugh McCulloch came to represent part of 
 the British holders; Richmond men and some members 
 of the legislature spoke for most of the other creditors. 
 In a long address the governor portrayed the extreme 
 distress of the people and the heaviness of the state's 
 burdens, coupling with this gloomy picture a severe 
 arraignment of his predecessor for misrepresentation of 
 the facts and waste of the state's assets. Asserting that 
 there was a strong sentiment against the debt entertained 
 by ''leading minds," he intimated that the coupons could 
 be successfully fought. On the other hand, he empha- 
 sized the desire of the state to be perfectly fair and her 
 ability to meet her obligations if given time for recovery. 
 The creditors' representatives agreed with the gover- 
 nor that the state could pay four per cent now and should 
 soon be able to pay six per cent. They could do no more, 
 however, than resolve that if punctual payment of inter- 
 est should be guaranteed, those consol holders who had 
 no taxes to pay would, in their opinion, accept the terms 
 
 ^^ Messages, January 1, March 27 (Sen. Jour., 1874, Doc. 17), December 
 2, 1874 (with appended speech before the conference, Sen. Jour., 1874-1875, 
 Doc. 1). 
 
^'DEBT PAYEES" 53 
 
 proposed by the governor." Out of this resolution grew 
 several propositions, more or less authorized, for fund- 
 ing the consol debt. But from the stringency of their 
 terms it was obvious that the holders of consols intended 
 to surrender their position of preferred creditors only 
 for a better one, and that they would permit no relief to 
 holders of ''peelers." This attitude they soon made 
 very clear by thrusting upon the treasury a deluge of 
 coupons. ^^ 
 
 Thus by 1875 two attempts at undoing the Funding Act 
 had been undertaken by the Conservatives, and had 
 failed. Further agitation would probably prove equally 
 futile. It might injure the party; it would handicap 
 business, already sorely distressed and clamoring for a 
 cessation of attacks upon credit, and it would be accom- 
 panied by appeals to the whims and passions of the 
 masses, to which the Bourbons, now rapidly recovering 
 their old-time influence, were bitterly opposed. Accord- 
 ingly, in the opinion of a majority of the legislature and 
 of almost the entire press, nothing remained but to ''pay 
 the debt." This view Governor Kemper accepted. And 
 with his acceptance began a united and truly heroic 
 attempt on the part of almost all the upper classes to 
 meet the state's obligations as they stood. 
 
 The program of the "debt payers" was divided into 
 three parts : reduction of expenses, increase of revenues, 
 and reorganization of the sinking fund. 
 
 14 Op. cit.; Dispatch, November 11, 1874. Senator H. W, Thomas, of 
 Alexandria, presided; James Dooley, of Eiehmond, was secretary. Seventy- 
 five to eighty per cent of the consols were held outside the state. Below, 
 p. 89. 
 
 15 Sen. Jour., 1874-1875, Doc. 4; BispatcJi, November II, 18, 1874; 
 Second Auditor, Report, 1875. The Dispatch (December 18, 1876) advo- 
 cated a waiting attitude. The Enquirer (December 12) believed the whole 
 attempt "a lame demagogic movement." Even the Whig (December 3) 
 was unenthusiastic. 
 
^ 
 
 54 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 State expenses^^ for all ''ordinary" purposes from 
 1850 to 1860, according to Governor Kemper, averaged 
 $588,236; from 1869 to 1875, $1,084,189— an increase of 
 eighty-four per cent with population and territory 
 reduced nearly one-third. Among "extraordinary" 
 expenses, also, there were new and increased items (quite 
 apart from the public debt) the total of which is not 
 easily ascertainable. Some of these items were due to 
 inefficiency and petty graft, often concealed in fees, 
 travelling expenses, and the like. Others, however, were 
 the unavoidable outcome of war and reconstruction. 
 Such were the one hundred and twenty-five per cent 
 increase in ' ' criminal expenses ' ' for which emancipation 
 and the cumbersome judicial system were responsible, 
 and the eighty-seven per cent in legislative costs for 
 which matters of race adjustment, the unprecedented 
 fiscal situation, and the enlarged powers and duties of 
 the General Assembly offered sufficient reason. Such, 
 too, were increases of some $275,000 for public schools 
 and of perhaps $50,000 for the care of lunatics, a class of 
 expenses which popular approval quite as much as posi- 
 tive law rendered unavoidable." This situation the 
 
 16 Local expenses were curtailed through reducing township officers from 
 twelve to eight and giving the legislature control over local debts. Cf. 
 above, p. 50. 
 
 17 Governor, Message, December 1, 1875; Sen. Jour., 1859-1860, Doc. 33; 
 Annual Beports, 1877; "Civis" (B. Puryear, professor in Richmond Col- 
 lege) in Beligious Herald, January 17 to February 28, 1878. The division 
 between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" expenses is largely an arbitrary 
 one; but the comparison made by Kemper appears fair. "Criminal 
 expenses" were allowances made by the state to the county and circuit 
 courts; the penitentiary was an additional expense, the negroes furnishing 
 the great bulk of the inmates. In 1879, 110 lunatics were being kept in 
 jail and other places besides asylums at an expense to the state of $35,000 
 a year. Emancipation both increased the amount of crime and trans- 
 ferred the policing of the negro from private to public hands; so with 
 lunacy. An illustration of pettiness appears in Sen. Jour., 1877-1878, 
 Doc. 12, where it is reported that of $1,300 appropriated for the encourage- 
 
^'DEBT PAYERS" 55 
 
 ''debt payers" attacked vigorously, some favoring a 
 return to the standard of 1860 or perhaps even lowering 
 it in proportion to war losses.^* But the Radicals, 
 insisting that the adoption of more direct penalties and 
 more summary processes would degrade the lower 
 classes, retarded the adoption of a revised criminal code 
 until 1879 ; then an annual saving of $50,000 was at once 
 shown. Though the legislature as early as 1874 proposed 
 a constitutional amendment reducing its own member- 
 ship and substituting biennial for annual sessions, this 
 amendment did not become effective until 1880, because, 
 some said, legislators liked Richmond and their easy 
 salaries. Though both Walker and Kemper had ear- 
 nestly urged more work and fewer clerks in the depart- 
 mental offices, every effort in this direction was blocked 
 by the ''associated influence" of interested persons.^® 
 There seemed, indeed, to be two fundamental difficulties. 
 The leaders insisted upon treating alike, as equally for- 
 eign and objectionable, those expenses which were mere 
 abuses and those which in the long run would prove both 
 popular and productive. Again, some fees and salaries 
 had come to be considered the customary reward of 
 politicians, great and small, and necessary, in the absence 
 of federal patronage, to keep the state out of the hands 
 of the negroes. The result was that a standard of econ- 
 
 ment of immigration, $1,000 went for a Summary of Virginia, of which 
 libraries received 303 copies, legislators 1,760, and 43 were sold. Half 
 the legislature's time was consumed in private legislation, sometimes for 
 minor matters — empowering a high school to grant certificates of distinction, 
 for example. 
 
 18 Above, p. 20 ; " Civis, ' ' op. cit. 
 
 i^Acts, 1877-1878, p. 207; Thorpe, VII, 3903; Sen. Jour., 1877-1878, 
 Doc. 7; Auditor, Reports; Governor, Message, December 1, 1877; "Civis," 
 op. cit. Under the revised code the first to suffer the penalty of whipping 
 was a white man in Norfolk, and at the hands of a negro constable, Annual 
 Cyc, 1878. 
 
56 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 omy severe even to niggardliness^" was set for new 
 undertakings without effecting any considerable elimina- 
 tion of abuses or curtailment of expenses. 
 
 The tax-paying class believed themselves to be getting 
 poorer. In 1875, though the full effects of neither the 
 long period of depreciating prices nor the panic of 1873 
 had yet been felt, reassessment of realty showed a loss 
 of twelve per cent as compared with 1870.^^ Unused to 
 heavy taxes the people believed their burdens already 
 too great. Every year $7,000,000 of excise taxes were 
 collected in the state, and, on a per capita basis, the 
 state 's share of the tariff amounted to nearly $6,000,000 ; 
 these great sums, the tax-paying class believed, were 
 paid by the people of the state. Besides, state and local 
 taxes amounted to over $5,000,000.-^ To increase the 
 state's revenues was, accordingly, very difficult. Treas- 
 urer R. M. T. Hunter devised a tax revision scheme 
 intended primarily to reach personalty; but, as such a 
 scheme would affect landowners primarily, it was quietly 
 dropped, for opinion was all but unanimous that the land- 
 owners could stand no further burden. Taxes on busi- 
 ness licenses were tried as far as the increasing political 
 importance of the merchant and the doctor permitted." 
 Capital, notwithstanding its demand for an honest debt 
 policy, availed itself of every constitutional safeguard, 
 of old charter exemptions, and of the strong railroad 
 contingent in the legislature; not until 1879 did it pay 
 
 20 Below, pp. 59 ff. Because of poverty the state was not represented at 
 the Centennial Exposition. 
 
 21 Act of March 31, 1875; Auditor, Beports, 1871, Doc. 9; ibid., 1877, 
 Doc. 7. The valuations were $279,000,000 and $246,000,000 (currency). 
 
 22 Sen. Jour., 1874-1875, Doc. 1. 
 
 23 See, for example, tax bill of 1874. In 1879, these yielded (exclusive 
 of licenses to manufacture and sell liquor) $340,000 — a very great increase 
 over 1871. 
 
'^DEBT PAYERS" 57 
 
 as much as $120,000."* Great efforts were made to reach 
 the masses. Thus a dog tax, it was urged, would net 
 large sums; but the legislature gave it only a brief and 
 imperfect trial, for the dogs' owners had votes.-^ For 
 a similar reason the suggested increase of the poll tax 
 from one dollar to two was not tried; and the require- 
 ment that the dollar tax be paid before voting netted little 
 additional revenue,'*' Dr. Moffett, of the Valley, fathered 
 an act for taxing the consumption of liquor which was 
 expected to produce half a million and to solve the whole 
 matter. But the liquor dealers, now an important 
 political factor, fought it so successfully that there was 
 a large loss the first year, only a slight gain the second, 
 and in the third the act was repealed." 
 
 At the beginning of Kemper's administration the 
 state had two sinking funds : one amounting to a million 
 and a half dollars in 1861, but dormant since then; the 
 other created by the act of March 31, 1871, for the 
 reception of proceeds from the public works. Both were 
 invested almost entirely in state bonds. By an act of 
 March 31, 1875, the former fund was revived and con- 
 solidated with the latter, and payment of interest on 
 the whole was authorized. The practice immediately 
 arose of investing this interest in the cheaper state 
 securities. This practice was open to the serious 
 objection that the state was paying herself interest in 
 preference to her creditors, and was depreciating their 
 holdings in order to buy them in at a low price. But it 
 
 24 For efforts and difficulties see tax bill of 1871-1872 (extended ses- 
 sion) ; act of February 4, 1873; Governor, Message, December 3, 1879; 
 Auditor, Beports, passim. 
 
 25 Acts, 1871-1872; 1872-1873; Whig, January 3, 20, 1877. 
 
 26 Below. 
 
 2T Acts, 1876-1877, pp. 245, 301; 1878-1879, p. 310; 1879-1880, p. 147; 
 Auditor, Beports; Enquirer, March 3, April 1; Dispatch, February 7, 1877; 
 January 17, 1879. The motive appears to have been mainly fiscal. Eegu- 
 lation of the business was quite a problem, however, Whig, January 5, 1879. 
 
 -H,, 
 
58 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 was certainly legal because the constitution required a 
 sinking fund, and it was probably just because it pro- 
 vided a market for peelers at a time when funds were 
 not available for interest on them.^* Moreover, it seemed 
 to assure their eventual retirement. By 1877 the total 
 of this fund was $5,145,271 ; by 1879, $5,841,620.^'' 
 
 By 1877 in the opinion of Governor Kemper,^" the fiscal 
 results of these efforts were very encouraging. For the 
 fiscal year 1876-1877, Kemper estimated a net gain of 
 nearly $200,000 over the average for eight years. "It 
 is as clear as a mathematical demonstration," he wrote, 
 "that, if the legislature shall leave the general features 
 of the present revenue system untouched . . . , the 
 current resources of the treasury will hereafter suffice 
 to pay full interest on the entire outstanding debt." 
 But this optimism, so characteristic of debt payers, 
 found little warrant in the auditor's reports of that year. 
 Over four millions of interest were accrued and unpaid 
 on July 1. Presuming an increase of $125,000 in reve- 
 nues the next year, the annual deficit would still be 
 $600,000. 
 
 But this policy of the debt payers, commendable as it 
 
 28 Authorization of four per cent cash (and a two per cent certificate) 
 for interest on the funded and two-thirds the unfunded was made in 1874 
 and 1878, provided so much could be spared. In 1876, in order to avoid 
 the discussion always occasioned by special authorizations, interest payment 
 was left entirely to the auditor's discretion under the last clause of the 
 general appropriation act. Acts, 1874, p. 264; 1874-1875, p. 366; 1875- 
 1876, p. 263. The amount actually paid in cash in 1876 was $158,000, and 
 in 1877, $68,000, Auditor, Report, 1876, Doc. 3; ibid., 1877, Doc. 4. 
 
 29 See C. U. Williams, Present Financial Status of Virginia. Apparently, 
 in 1879 some $2,000,000 represented the old fund and its invested interest; 
 some $50,000, the bonds of defaulting officials; $1,540,000 had been "pur- 
 chased by the commissioners" apparently under act of March 31, 1875; 
 and the rest had come from the sales of state assets. See Second Auditor, 
 Report, 1873, Doc. C. 
 
 30 Message, December 5, 1877. Compare with message of December 6, 
 1876, for the governor's optimism. 
 
'^DEBT PAYEES" 59 
 
 was, contained one serious defect. It did not take into 
 account the elements of dissatisfaction. Three illus- 
 trations of this will suffice. 
 
 Early as 1873 the farmers had begun to organize in 
 *' granges," for the purpose of alleviating the "languish- 
 ing condition of agricultural interests" "caused in part 
 by the oppression of unequal legislation, both state and 
 national." Strongly opposed at first because they 
 "introduced innovations upon long and well established 
 usages of society" and endangered the Conservative 
 party, these granges by January, 1876, numbered 685 
 with a membership of 18,783, including many conserv- 
 ative farmers and shrewd politicians. In state meet- 
 ings, they appointed committees to obtain favorable 
 legislation on transportation, immigration, and the 
 inspection of tobacco and fertilizers. Locally, they 
 attempted to manufacture fertilizers and to do away 
 with the middleman's profits through co-operative stores 
 and agencies. In 1877, however, the legislature had done 
 little for them, the co-operative undertakings were 
 failing, and the membership appeared to be deteriorat- 
 ing, with a consequent passing of leadership into more 
 radical hands.^^ 
 
 31 State Grange, Proceedings, 1874, 1876; Southern Planter and Farmer, 
 1872-1876; "Personal Eecollection. " The long established State Agri- 
 cultural Society still existed; also local farmers' clubs. Prominent first 
 members were J. W. White, William Taylor, and Lewis E. Harvie. In 
 1875, M. W. Hazlewood of Eichmond (below) became secretary. Other 
 active members were Franklin Stearns, W. H. Mann, C. T. Sutherlin, B. B. 
 Douglass, Mann Page, J. M. Blanton, E. E. Farr (below), Wm. Ambler, 
 Frank G. Euffin (below). The Virginia Patron became the organ of the 
 order. The Southern Planter was favorable, but appears never to have 
 endorsed agitation of railroad rates. The promotion of public education 
 was one of its declared objects, but this was not emphasized. Possibly the 
 long and short haul law (Acts, 1874-1875, p. 443) procured a reduction 
 of freight charges on grain; but the rates on guano, agricultural lime, etc., 
 were very high and unequal, Sen. Jour., 1878-1879, Doc. 19; Eailroad 
 Commissioner, Report, 1878. Cf. Magruder, Becent Administration, ch. 6. 
 
60 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 To a majority of the upper classes between 1865 and 
 1870 the idea of a state system of public education was 
 distinctly objectionable. The institution, they declared, 
 was a foreign one which their conquerors sought to force 
 upon them. Its main purpose was to break down all 
 social ranks and put the negro upon a plane of equality 
 with the whites. It was an experiment too costly to be 
 tried in the impoverished condition of the state. Others, 
 however, ignoring its immediate origin, declared the 
 institution theoretically good and practically a necessity, 
 in view of the breaking down of the old system and the 
 impossibility of fitting it to the negro even if it should 
 be revived. As a sort of compromise between these two 
 views, it had come to be generally agreed by 1869-1871 
 that since the constitution had been accepted with the 
 provision for schools in it, the experiment ought to be 
 made in good faith. Such was the view of Governor 
 Walker, of Gen. R. E. Lee (then president of Washington 
 College), of the Whig, and probably of the Dispatch. 
 To this sentiment the legislature of 1870 responded by 
 entrusting the drafting of the school laws and, virtually, 
 the selection of local school officials to the state super- 
 intendent, and by electing as state superintendent Rev. 
 Dr. William Henry Ruffner, son of the famous Henry 
 Ruffner,^^ a man of broad intelligence, marked admin- 
 istrative ability, and indomitable energy. Thus at once 
 the schools were removed from the influence of ordinary 
 politics and the foundation was laid for a system sur- 
 prisingly good and destined rapidly to increase in 
 popularity. Poverty helped; for many a genteel lady 
 and disabled veteran found employment in the schools 
 and threw about them a much-needed atmosphere of 
 respectability. From the first the negroes favored them 
 solidly. The attempted passage in 1874 of Sumner's 
 
 32 See Branch Historical Papers, June, 1910. 
 
^'DEBT PAYERS" 61 
 
 Civil Rights Bill requiring mixed schools threatened for 
 a moment to put them out of existence; but this was 
 soon forgotten. ^^ And though the whites generally 
 thought that the negro's education ought to be paid for 
 by the federal government and a request to that effect 
 was made, still the negro received, on the whole, a 
 reasonable share of the facilities provided.^* By 1877 
 nine-tenths of the families of the state were public school 
 patrons, and it was accounted political death for a public 
 man to oppose openly this institution ^'of the people. "^^ 
 But there still remained lurking in the financial 
 situation a serious danger to the schools. At first, land- 
 owners had protested against the ten cent tax imposed 
 by the state and the still larger taxes imposed by the 
 local governments. Appreciating the importance of this 
 landowning class, Superintendent Ruffner at once sug- 
 gested the substitution of an increased poll tax and a 
 tax on dogs and the consumption of liquor, arguing that 
 many would contribute for schools in this manner though 
 they would not for anything else. The suggested change 
 was not made, but with the increased use of the schools 
 opposition of this character gradually died away, save 
 for the fitful attacks of that old-fashioned organ of the 
 
 33 Rhodes, History of the United States, VII, 90; State Superintendent, 
 Beport, 1874. The legislature protested, Poore, Descriptive Catalogue, 
 p. 989. 
 
 34 The whites constituting seven-twelfths of the population (according 
 to the census of 1880) received three-fourths of the school funds. But 
 the negroes paid almost no taxes, were more compactly settled. Besides, 
 it was almost impossible to get suitable teachers in sufficient numbers. 
 For aid to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute see acts of 
 February 7, March 19, 1872. 
 
 35 State Superintendent, Reports, 1871-1878; Educational Journal of 
 Virginia, 1869, 1870; September, 1878; Dispatch, July 10, 1877; February 
 1, 14, 1878. Very effective in harmonizing public sentiment and the new 
 system was the work of the Educational Journal of Virginia, of which John 
 B. Minor, of the University of Virginia, was the father, and C. H. Winston, 
 of Eichmond College, the chief editor. 
 
62 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 farmers who could not change, the Southern Planter. 
 Between the schools and the debt, however, the clash 
 grew sharper and sharper. Early as 1873^'' the super- 
 intendent, with characteristic foresight, secured the 
 passage of an act requiring the auditor to pay the 
 schools their constitutional quota of state funds in cash. 
 Despite this it was discovered in 1876 that there was 
 due the schools down to 1875 nearly $400,000. By 1877 
 this sum had increased to $526,000, and in September of 
 the next year appeared to be $850,000. If to this amount 
 was added the interest due on the state bonds held by 
 the literary fund, the total "diverted" was over a 
 million.^^ The auditor's excuse was the confusion of the 
 state's bookkeeping and the inadequacy of the revenues. 
 He had, he said, paid the schools more than their pro 
 I rata share (one-fifth) of the cash received; the govern- 
 I ment must go on; the obligation to pay the debt was 
 equally as sacred as the schools. Worse still, from the 
 viewpoint of school partisans, the colleges and the 
 religious press, being habitually conservative and tied 
 P up in interest with the bond-holding class, urged the 
 moral obligation to pay the debt while speaking of the 
 education of the masses as a luxury.^^ Bourbons took 
 courage, and began to talk of abolishing the new system 
 in favor of the old one. And a prominent debt payer 
 was understood to have said publicly that it would be 
 better to bum the schoolhouses than to permit the state 
 to default in interest payment on the debt. Thus it came 
 about that, while the people were paying the school tax 
 
 36 Act of March 29. 
 
 37 Superintendent, Beports, 1876, 1877, 1878; Auditor, Report, 1878. 
 Of $8,511,943 cash received by the state from 1873 to 1877, $1,912,266 was 
 paid to the schools. 
 
 38 Second Auditor, Report, 1879; Beligious Herald, 1878, 1879, passim. 
 Not all college men agreed with the auditor, e.g., John B. Minor, letter to 
 Ruffner, November 21, 1877, in Buffner Papers. 
 
^'DEBT PAYERS" 63 
 
 and the system was growing in popularity, teachers were 
 going unpaid and schools were closing. These facts the 
 state superintendent did not fail to point out, and the 
 politicians, great and small, took notice.^^ 
 
 In later years when the ^'Readjuster" political party 
 had been formed,*" certain men were often spoken of as 
 '' original readjusters." By this it was meant that they 
 had at an early date objected to recognizing the whole 
 debt of the state as valid, and had insisted that it be 
 ''re-adjusted." Hints of this view we have met from 
 time to time. It originated, apparently, in a feeling of 
 humiliation and resentment that men who had inflicted 
 loss upon the state, and such Virginians as were now 
 willing to ally themselves with them, should be able to 
 levy tribute upon those who had defended her with their 
 all. The enactment of laws staying the collection of 
 private debts, the setting aside of a share of the public 
 debt for West Virginia, the iniquities of the Funding 
 Act, and the obvious impossibility of meeting its terms, 
 all contributed to emphasize the idea in thoughtful 
 minds." 
 
 In the legislature the notable advocates of this view 
 were Massey and Fulkerson,*^ J. Horace Lacy, of Spott- 
 sylvania, Moffett, of Rockingham, and Lybrook, of 
 Patrick. They argued" that -Virginia had been ''con- 
 
 39 The situation as to asylums and other public charities was similar to 
 that of the schools. The Enquirer (February 4, 1875) estimated the 
 number of the insane unprovided for at 500. 
 
 40 Below, eh. 8. 
 
 41 Above, passim, 
 
 42 Below, p. 105. 
 
 43 This is a composite argument. For development of Massey 's views 
 compare his letter of 1873, his speech in the House in February, 1875, his* 
 pamphlet, Debts and Taxes, published in the fall of 1875, and articles in 
 the Staunton Spectator in 1877. The speech is in Virginia Political Pam/ 
 phlets, I (Virginia State Library), the others in his "Autobiography." 
 See also Euffin, Scrap-Boole, I (Virginia State Library), An Appeal; 
 Fulkerson in Whig, January 13, 1879. 
 
64 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 quered territory" and therefore, according to the law 
 of nations, her ante-bellum debts devolved upon her 
 conqueror. If the federal government would not admit 
 this, then equity demanded that the* debt should be 
 reduced in proportion to the impairment of the security 
 on which it had been based — one-third for the loss of 
 West Virginia and one-third for property destroyed by 
 war, leaving $15,000,000 principal and interest as of 1865. 
 No recognition of the debt was valid which had been made 
 between 1865 and 1870, because the state was not then 
 in possession of her ' * sovereignty. ' ' As for the Funding 
 Act, its moral force was vitiated by fraud in its passage ; 
 and though the courts had declared it binding, that 
 decision was wrong in principle because it ''bound the 
 state's sovereignty," and so could justifiably be reversed 
 or avoided. The ''state's honor" and "restoration of 
 credit" arguments relied upon by debt payers were alike 
 purely commercial. Both depended ' upon ability and 
 ability was conditioned by the size of the debt. In this 
 debt, under existing arrangements, was probably in- 
 cluded the portion which had been pretendedly set aside 
 for West Virginia but which was known on*the market as 
 "Virginia deferred." In it certainly should be included 
 the literary and sinking-funds. Taxes on "dogs and 
 whiskey" and all the jiainful expedients of debt payers 
 they thought simply absurd. 
 
 After the failure of the compromise move in 1874, 
 something like a concerted attack on coupons and a 
 campaign for publicity had been begun under the lead 
 of these men. Through the columns of the Whig, Col. 
 Frank G. Ruffin replied in his striking style to the 
 Council of Foreign Bondholders, London, over the 
 signature of "A Virginia Farmer."" Massey sought 
 to have the legislature ask explicit instructions from the 
 
 *4 Euffin, Scrap-Boole., I. 
 
''DEBT PAYERS" 65 
 
 people as to the terms on which they were willing to 
 compromise with creditors, and in a pamphlet known 
 as "Debts and Taxes" he reprinted his peculiar views 
 previously expressed through the local press. *^ In the 
 legislature, Fulkerson, hoping to bring the Funding Act 
 again before the courts, pushed through the House a bill 
 imposing a tax of twenty-five per cent on coupons,*® 
 while Massey sought, under guise of protecting the 
 treasury from fraud, to hamper their retfeipt for taxes. *^ 
 In 1876-1877 similar efforts again met defeat; but the 
 effects of the agitation were seen in resolutions deliber- 
 ately designed to scale the debt one-half or two-thirds, 
 which were offered by the Independent Stovall and the 
 Radical Curlett.*^ More immediately important were 
 the earnest efforts of careful leaders of the old school, 
 such as R. M. T. Hunter and A. H. H. Stuart, to effect 
 a compromise with creditors ;*^ for these men, though far 
 from accepting "original readjuster" principles, inevi- 
 tably lent an atmosphere of seriousness to the idea of 
 readjustment. 
 
 These measures had received support from practically 
 all Republicans, Independents, and "Southwest" Con- 
 servatives, from part of the Valley Conservatives, and 
 from individuals and counties here and there with whom 
 times were hard.^° There was a certain resemblance, 
 
 45 See House resolution, in Virginia Political Pamphlets, I; Massey, 
 ' ' Autobiography^ " 
 
 *^ Enquirer, March 14, 17; Dispatch, March 18, 20, 1875. 
 
 ^T Virginia Political Pamphlets, I; Enquirer, February 11, 1875. Con- 
 ditions warranted suspicion, see below, p. 62. 
 
 48 House, Jour., 1876-1877, index. 
 
 49 Stuart 's effort had the endorsement of William Cullen Bryant, Thurlow 
 Weed, and Peter Cooper, but it netted only a report on war losses, Whig, 
 January 11, 13; March 30, 1877. For Hunter see Euffin, Scrap-Boole, I. 
 
 50 House vote on Fulkerson 's proposal: "Ayes," 21 Eadicals, 36 Con- 
 servatives, 1 Independent; "Noes," 3 Eadicals, 41 Conservatives, 3 
 Independents (Dispatch classification, March 18, 1875). Among Valley 
 
66 EEADJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 taking them as a group, between these men and Mahone 's 
 railroad faction, though the two were by no means 
 identical. They were friendly to the schools. Some of 
 them were prominent in the granges. They had back 
 of them, however, no organization, no strong press 
 support,^^ no great financial interests. At the beginning 
 of 1877 it seemed that this second wave of repudiation, 
 like that of 1867-1868, had been completely beaten off by 
 the determination and influence of 'Mebt payers." 
 
 Summarizing, we find that though the Republicans 
 won the national elections of 1870 and 1872, their party 
 was again beaten in the state elections in 1873, and 
 thereafter rapidly declined. This result was due in part 
 to the Confederate reaction and in part to restrictive 
 legislation. In this legislation the influence of Bourbon- 
 ism, as well as that of politics, was reflected. The fiscal 
 situation had now become acute. Accordingly, when, 
 creditors had refused to compromise despite veiled 
 threats from the new governor. Conservative leaders 
 informally adopted a policy of ''paying the debt" 
 through decreasing expenses, increasing revenues, and 
 redeeming the cheaper bonds. This policy completed 
 the union between Bourbons and the city capitalistic 
 interests. But, though faithfully pursued for four years, 
 it met only partial success owing at once to depressed 
 > economic conditions and to the burden unavoidably 
 imposed by emancipation and the new constitution. 
 Moreover, such a policy involved no attempt at concilia- 
 tion of the farmers, now seeking defence of their interests 
 
 members not voting was Eiddleberger. Eoss Hamilton (below) and James 
 B. Richmond voted "aye," Ly brook and Allen (below) voted "no." 
 Examples of counties probably influenced by hard times are Spottsylvania, 
 Stafford, Lancaster, and Essex. 
 
 51 The Whig favored compromise, but not Massey 's and Fulkerson 'a 
 methods. 
 
''DEBT PAYERS" 67 
 
 in the granges, nor did it appease school partisans to 
 see "debt payers" and Bourbons united against them.' 
 Believing all other remedies futile, "original read- 
 justers" now openly began not only to demand that the 
 debt be scaled but also to fight the tax-receivable coupons 
 in the legislature and the public press with a view to 
 forcing the issue. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL, 1877-1878 
 
 Both governor and legislature were to be chosen in 
 1877. At last, owing to Republican disorganization and 
 apathy,^ the Conservatives were free to act without the 
 restraining fear of Radical domination. But it was 
 impossible at once to break the habit of years, and the 
 habit had been to refer all issues, save that of race con- 
 trol, to the decision of the legislative districts, and to 
 follow in these districts the leadership of war heroes.^ 
 Personal and sectional rivalries, therefore, rather than 
 economic and social issues, characterized the guberna- 
 torial race in its earlier stages. The ''Southwest" pre- 
 sented Gen. "William Terry; the Valley, Colonel Holli- 
 day;^ the Piedmont, Maj. John W. Daniel; the Tide- 
 water, Gen. William B. Taliaferro ; while Gen. Fitzhugh 
 Lee's friends urged him as a compromise candidate. 
 None of these expressed, or was expected to express, 
 opinions on the burning economic and social questions 
 of the day, for the convention must be left free to "point 
 with pride," as of old. From this negative attitude the 
 campaign was rescued by the candidacy of General 
 Mahone. 
 
 William Mahone* was essentially a self-made man. 
 
 1 Above, p. 50; below, p. 134. 
 
 2 See above, p. 48. 
 
 3 F. W. M. Holliday was born in Winchester. He studied at Yale and 
 later took a law course at the University of Virginia. 
 
 * W. L. Eoyall, Some Beminiscences ; Withers, Autobiography ; O'Ferrall, 
 Forty Years; Euffin, MaJioneism Unveiled; Whig, November 20, 1879 
 (being a reprint from the Old Dominion Magazine) ; New Virginia. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 69 
 
 The son of a poor but respected merchant in one of the 
 older counties, he had been educated at the Virginia 
 Military Institute through the aid of friends. For a 
 time he taught school, then he built railroads, notably 
 the Norfolk and Petersburg of which he became presi- 
 dent. Entering the war as colonel, he came out major- 
 general. "Mahone's brigade" was noted for superior 
 equipment and condition, and at Appomattox mustered 
 out more men than any other.^ 
 
 Mahone was perhaps the first in the South to grasp 
 the possibilities of railway consolidation. Out of three 
 loosely connecting and dilapidated roads, he soon created 
 a splendid trunk line nearly crossing the state from east 
 to west, and of this he became president with the munifi- 
 cent salary of $25,000. To this line he diverted from 
 more direct routes the northward-bound cotton of the 
 South to Norfolk, where allied steamships connected. In 
 token of his hopes he called this road the ''Atlantic, 
 Mississippi, and Ohio." 
 
 To carry out his railroad plans public influence was 
 necessary, and this he sought in ways characteristic of 
 the new generation rather than of the old. Thus he 
 strove to mould public opinion through the Whig^ and 
 perhaps other newspapers, though his control over their 
 ownership was never announced. Always a Conserva- 
 tive, he had been found on each successive inauguration 
 day "close to" the new governor. When special legis- 
 lation was to be enacted, his unseen hand directed that 
 new institution, the lobby. If a measure was to be 
 defeated, his men were usually in the proper place, 
 whether on legislative committees or in departmental 
 offices. As agents in these matters, he sometimes 
 
 5 Speech of John S. Wise in the convention of 1877 (below). J. H. 
 Lacy in an anti-Mahone speech stated that General Lee had expressed a 
 preference for Mahone as his successor, Virginia Star, August 20, 1879. 
 
 8 Above, p. 29, and note. 
 
70 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 obtained men already prominent in public life, but more 
 frequently he brought forward new men, perhaps by 
 organizing the "odds and ends" in their communities. 
 And so a "Mahone following" was gradually built up, 
 which was strong enough to be credited with having 
 determined the selection of Kemper for governor.^ 
 
 But Mahone's railroad policy had neglected or injured 
 towns and sections, and these, especially Richmond and 
 the Valley and part of the "Southwest," bore him dis- 
 tinct ill will. Competing interests dubbed him the ' ' Rail- 
 road Ishmael."^ Practical men saw in the financial 
 arrangements of the A. M. & 0. with the state® little less 
 than a steal. Though weighty in the councils of his party 
 and generous in its support, Mahone so conducted his 
 relations with the Republicans and the Liberals as to sug- 
 gest a lack of political principle and to create constant 
 suspicion." More than one impartial and thoughtful 
 man despised his legislative methods and deemed his 
 power too great." There was about him, too, an imperi- 
 ousness of will and manner that had helped to estrange 
 
 7 See Enquirer, June 6 ; Whig, May 29, 1876 ; Dispatch, August 3, 1877, 
 The A. M. & O. paid $155,069 for "legal fees, commissions, engraving, 
 bonds, &c. " at the time of consolidation. Dispatch, October 11, 1879. For 
 Mahone's share in the campaign of 1873 (above, ch. 5) . see Withers, 
 Autobiography, p. 313; Whig, July 7, 9; August 2, 1872'; Nation, August 
 14, 1873; Dispatch, August 3, 1877; Enquirer, June 6; Whig, May 29, 1876. 
 Prominent in support of Kemper were Dr. Eives, Dr. Moffett, James 
 Barbour, Joseph Mayo, all of whom favored Mahone's debt views in 1877 
 (below). N. B. Meade, editor of the Whig, became chairman of the Con- 
 servative executive committee in 1873. 
 
 8 The phrase was William E. Cameron 's. For the fight over the Eich- 
 mond and Danville Railroad, to which Mahone, Scott, Garrett, and a group 
 of Richmond men were parties, see Whig, Dispatch, Enquirer, April, May, 
 December, 1874. There is virtually no mention of the A. M. & O. in the 
 American Bailroad Journal from 1870 to 1876. 
 
 9 Above, p. 27, and note. 
 
 10 The Whig always favored liberal party lines ; so did Kemper, see 
 Message, January 1, 1874; above, pp. 38, 48. 
 
 11 Enquirer, July 6, 13, 1877; March 31, 1871. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BAEBOUR BILL 71 
 
 each successive governor and some of his own strongest 
 followers/^ An unfortunate magazine article and the 
 farcical pretense at a duel which followed led to the 
 charge that his military reputation was made by the 
 press and his personal courage was questionable/^ Sig- 
 nificantly enough, most of the old Bourbons and debt 
 payers were included in some one of these groups of 
 detractors. 
 
 It w^as probably with the hope of using the office to 
 recover his road, now in the hands of a receiver," that 
 Mahone began his race for the governorship. Until 
 July, the arguments advanced in his behalf were dis- 
 tinctive only in the emphasis laid upon the benefits 
 derived by the state from his business activities. But 
 from the first, as the Norfolk Landmark said, "No radi- 
 cal candidate was ever pursued with more remorseless 
 severity." Had he not destroyed six millions of state 
 assets, blocked large enterprises, and ruined his road? 
 Where had he learned statesmanship? Was it not as 
 ''king of the lobby"? Would he pledge himself not to 
 run independently if he failed to obtain the regular 
 nomination? The widespread character of this attack 
 soon showed that the case was one of "Mahone against 
 the field," and that Mahone would lose unless he could 
 
 12 Norfolk Landmark, June 17, 1877; Richmond Times, October 9, 1895; 
 Governor Peirpoint does not appear to have been estranged. 
 
 13 W. L. Royall, Some Reminiscences, p. 82 ; Withers, Autobiography, 
 pp. 307 fe. 
 
 1* Mahone 's friends contended that this was the result of a conspiracy 
 between a representative of English bondholders of the A. M. & O., Bour- 
 bons, and the Pennsylvania, C. & O., and B. & O. interests. A desire for 
 change of management by the English holders and the good relations of 
 Vice-President Wickham of the C. & O. with the federal and state courts 
 and Richmond capitalists are indicated by the American Railroad Journal, 
 September, December, 1875; April, June, 1876; October, November, 1877. 
 In New Virginia the statement is made that Mahone was offered the 
 presidency of the road upon certain conditions. 
 
72 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 effect a diversion." Accordingly, early in July, there 
 appeared in the Whig^^ and other friendly papers a letter 
 which did not ''re-open the debt question,"" but which 
 did mark the beginning of Mahone's antagonism to the 
 ''debt paying" policy. In this letter he declared, in 
 brief, clear fashion, that to continue "in the present path 
 of inaction" would mean ruin to both state and creditors ; 
 that taxes could not be increased; and that "It seems to 
 me the part of practical wisdom, and in direct pursuit of 
 an honorable purpose to deal fairly with the public cred- 
 itors,, that we should seek and insist upon, urge and if 
 necessary demand, a complete readjustment of the debt 
 of the commonwealth and of the annual liabilities there- 
 under which shall be within the certain and reasonable 
 capacity of the people to pay." Defining his position 
 somewhat further, in another letter^^ he declared ' ' diver- 
 sion"" of the school funds not only a violation of the 
 constitution but also bad public policy and contrary to 
 the wishes of the people. For free schools, he argued, 
 were necessary for the children of soldiers and, signifi- 
 cantly, for "the large class of persons recently admitted 
 to the privileges of citizenship." 
 
 "The very letter for the times — clear, manly, bold 
 . . .," wrote Colonel Fulkerson,^° from the "Southwest" 
 
 15 See, for example, Whig, March 26 (quoting Staunton Virginian), 
 April 23, 21 (quoting Farmville Mercury) ; Dispatch, April 6, 30, May 11, 
 June 27, July 2, 5 (quoting Gordonsville Gazette) ; Norfolk Landmark, 
 June 19, 20, 1877. 
 
 16 The letter was addressed to M. M. Martin, Charlotte, C. H. 
 
 17 Above, cf. pp. 58 ff.; Dispatch, July 7, 11 (noting articles by Euffin 
 in Virginia Patron, and Southern Planter, and the talk of local candidates) ; 
 Whig, April 17 (Hunter letter). 
 
 18 To Major Alfred E. Courteney, of the Eichmond school board, under 
 date June 29, 1877. 
 
 19 Above, p. 62. 
 
 20 Whig, October 15, 1882. Massey says that Fulkerson gave Mahone 
 a copy of Debts and Taxes and that Mahone was converted thereby, Auto- 
 biography. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 73 
 
 on the appearance of the first of these declarations. ''It 
 will elect you governor." The election of delegates had 
 proceeded too far, however, for any such decisive result 
 to be possible. Still, great interest was aroused. The 
 Enquirer, speaking for the extreme Bourbon faction, 
 even encouraged the suggestion that the nomination of 
 Mahone might mean the union of the debt-paying Con- 
 servatives with the Republicans,^^ for it deemed these 
 letters an appeal to the radical spirit manifesting itself 
 all over the country and, because ' ' levelled at property, ' ' 
 an offspring of the "French principles of '93."^^ The 
 Dispatch, more diplomatically, tried to break their force 
 by insisting that there was nothing original in Mahone 's 
 suggestions, that the convention would, of course, decide 
 what should be done in these matters, and that the nomi- 
 nee would have to abide by its decision.^^ Soon it 
 appeared that "readjustment" had more partisans than 
 "debt payment." All but one of the other candidates 
 declared for it, though with vague qualifications.^* How 
 a readjustment could be obtained was the question. 
 Mahone had said, "If necessary, demand"; did he mean 
 to compel creditors to compromise? And if so, would 
 not this be repudiation! This question Mahone shrewdly 
 left unanswered. 
 Both the earlier and the later phases of the prelimi- 
 
 21 See quotation from New York Tribune, July 29. 
 
 22 July 25, 27, 31. The Lynchburg Virginian and the Lexington Gazette 
 held similar views. 
 
 23 On the morning of the publication of the debt letter, the Dispatch 
 editorially favored debt action by the convention. This, it declared (July 
 14), was done without knowledge of the letter. It never published the 
 letter. 
 
 24 Only Terry flatly declared for payment of the ' ' last dollar. ' ' For 
 views of candidates see Dispatch, July 10 (Lee), 31 (Taliaferro and Hol- 
 liday) ; Whig, July 13 (Terry); Enquirer, August 2 (Daniel). 
 
74 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 nary campaign were reflected in the convention.'^ Four- 
 teen hundred delegates, August weather, free liquor, and 
 unrestrained eloquence marked the celebration by elastic 
 spirits of a victorious party policy. Mahone, on the 
 other hand, was prepared to fight, and there was a dan- 
 gerous enthusiasm and confidence among his young floor 
 leaders, Wise, Stringfellow, Cameron, and Riddleberger. 
 Uniting with other '^forcible" readjusters, for the debt 
 views and the gubernatorial preferences of the delegates 
 did not always coincide, he endeavored to have the plat- 
 form adopted first. But Daniel, Holliday, and Lee 
 marshalled their forces in joint caucus and prevented 
 this innovation. In the balloting, Mahone at first led, 
 his strength coming chiefly from the "Southside" but 
 with significant additions from all parts of the state, that 
 is, from the '^ solid business men" of Norfolk, the "ward- 
 heelers of Richmond," and counties wherein the per- 
 sonal influence of a lieutenant was predominant. Then 
 Daniel forged ahead, the readjuster "Southwest" swing- 
 ing to him when its favorite was dropped, rather than to 
 the former "railroad king," who had once disappointed 
 them.-''' Thereupon Mahone in spectacular fashion threw 
 his strength almost en masse to the Valley candidate, who 
 consequently received the nomination. By this maneu- 
 ver Mahone not only established "claims" upon Colonel 
 Holliday and the Valley but also made the nomination 
 appear colorless from the viewpoint of readjustment. 
 Colorless, too, was the platform which urged the use of 
 "all just and honorable means of bringing about an 
 adjustment of the obligations of the Commonwealth 
 which will bring the payment of interest upon the debt 
 
 25 Enquirer, Whig, Dispatch, August 5, 10. Under the editorship of 
 James Barron Hope, the LandmarTc was strongly for Mahone, understand- 
 ing that Mahone was not for repudiation. 
 
 26 In not extending the A. M. & O. to Cumberland Gap. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 75 
 
 within tlie resources of the state derived from the pres- 
 ent rate of taxation, and so do justice to all classes of 
 our creditors." But it was significant that at last the 
 Conservative party had taken a stand on the debt 
 question. 
 
 Since the Republicans made no nomination for state 
 offices, Colonel Holliday and his colleagues were not 
 called upon during the ensuing campaign to interpret 
 the Conservative platform."^ Again, therefore, the 
 matter was referred to the legislative districts. ^^ Here 
 confusion reigned. 
 
 Early as 1870, we find Conservatives standing for 
 office as Independents.^® The chief cause of this phenom- 
 enon was the temptation to bolt offered to numerous 
 office-seekers by the eagerness of the negro minority to 
 vote against regular Conservative nominees. One might 
 not become a Radical and retain his social standing; but 
 under the Conservative policy of liberal lines and a 
 single paramount issue^° one might occasionally bolt and 
 yet retain the brand of "Conservatism." The favorite 
 excuse for bolting was "ring rule" and "court-house 
 
 27 In his letter of acceptance Colonel Holliday merely expressed the hope 
 that the people would choose men for the legislature who ' ' have in view 
 the memories and the resources of Virginia, " as "on them in chief measure 
 will fall the work of solving this question," Enquirer, September 1. The 
 Enquirer commented (September 2): "If [the letter] means any thing it 
 is that the writer appreciates the necessity for a canvass of the state debt 
 question within the party." The readjusters, however, saw in it a pledge 
 to leave the decision to the people expressing themselves through the legis- 
 lature. Cf. Riddleberger in Whig, March 9, 1880. 
 
 28 Whig, August 31, September 1 ; Dispatch, July 31. 
 
 ^^Whig, November 11; Enquirer (quoting Lynchburg Virginian), 
 November 11, 1870; Dispatch, November 2, 3, 6, 10, 1875; Knight v. 
 Johnson, Sen. Jour., 1875-1876, Doc. 13; "Personal Recollections." For 
 dislike of Independents, cf. George F. Hoar, Autobiography, I, p. 313; 
 F. Curtis, The Eepuhlican Party, last chapter; W. L. Fleming, Civil War 
 and Reconstruction in Alabama. 
 
 30 Above, pp. 37, 48. 
 
76 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 cliques." There was much truth, beyond doubt, in the 
 implied charge. For with the reaction against Radical 
 rule, beginning as early as 1871, power had passed very 
 naturally to old leaders and old families, and there the 
 ''Confederate cult" tended to keep it. Since this leader- 
 ship, whether unduly influenced by the bondholding 
 interests or not, was somewhat self-centered and neglect- 
 ful of the wishes of the people, the Independents had 
 pretty generally advocated whatever appeared ''popu- 
 lar" or savored of " reform. "^^ 
 
 Now^ in 1877, the conditions which had in the past 
 called Independents into existence, prevailed to an 
 unusual degree.^" The disorganized state of the Repub- 
 lican party^^ rendered negro minorities unprecedentedly 
 available. Mahone men were complaining, not with- 
 out reason, of much unfair treatment in the con- 
 vention primaries. The nation-wide labor agitation 
 was affecting Virginia cities.^* Saloon-keepers had a 
 special grievance in the Moffett "punch bill," which 
 Mahone, appreciating their power, had taken pains to 
 characterize as "class legislation."^^ The varied pro- 
 gram of the more than six hundred granges had created 
 business antagonisms, which, with some concealment, 
 were transforming themselves into political factions.^* 
 And to the confusion caused by all this was added the 
 doubtful meaning of the Conservative platform.^^ The 
 cool-headed Dispatch admitted that "the war brought 
 
 31 Above, p. 65. 
 
 32 Landviarl:, April 8, May 25; Whig, July 7, 13 (quoting Portsmouth 
 Enterprifte) ; DispatcJi, July 9, 27; August 3; Enquirer, July 25; November 
 4, 6, 27. 
 
 33 Below, p. 38, 
 
 34 The Whig sympathized with this move, August 15. 
 
 35 Letter on the debt, above. 
 
 36 ' « Personal Eeeollections. ' ' 
 
 ST On October 7, the Enquirer printed correspondence between Major 
 James Dooley and Gen. Joseph E. Anderson, both of Eichmond, the former 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 77 
 
 changes in the moral sensibilities of the people," and 
 feared that ''agitation only tends to increase the public 
 indifference to public honor." On the other hand the 
 Whig printed, with evident approval, the opinion of an 
 observant correspondent that the Conservative party ' ' is 
 dead," because its leaders either did not know the proper 
 limitations of the words ''public faith" and "inde- 
 pendent judiciary" or "did not choose, from whatever 
 cause, to face the plutocracy that aspires to control, 
 even though it ruin, the people of the state. ' '^^ 
 
 Such conditions were necessarily reflected in the 
 legislative campaigns. Duif Green in the Stafford-King 
 George district, and J. L. Powell in Spottsylvania began 
 Independent attacks on the Fredericksburg "ring." 
 Richmond and Lynchburg had Working Men's tickets. 
 In Henrico, Branch and Atkinson both stood as Con- 
 servatives, one for payment of the "last dollar," the 
 other for no increase of taxes. In Albemarle, Massey 
 was the regular nominee for the Senate, while Inde- 
 pendents upheld his debt views against the regular 
 nominees for the House. The Dispatch opposed Massey 
 because he had once been an Independent, but supported 
 General Starke in Brunswick because, though an Inde- 
 pendent, he was for debt payment. In some counties, 
 such as Pittsylvania and Augusta, the Conservatives do 
 not appear to have made any formal nominations. An 
 analysis of the election returns show that twenty-two 
 Independents were elected to the House and that the 
 idea of readjustment had won a sweeping victory.^® 
 
 the author of the Conservative platform, the latter chairman of the com- 
 mittee on resolutions, which showed that neither of them understood the 
 debt plank to endorse "forcible" readjustment, nor, indeed, anything 
 similar to the later "Barbour bill" (below). 
 
 38 See Dispatch, March 20; Whig, August 19, 1878. 
 
 38 The "Southwest" was solid and the Valley nearly solid. Some of the 
 negroes voted for Independents (who were generally for readjustment), 
 
78 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 But whether these results rested upon some deep-seated 
 feeling of dissatisfaction with old methods and issues, 
 as is indicated by the setting aside of old leaders such 
 as William Smith and John Letcher, or upon mere 
 intrigue, as is suggested by the lightness of the vote, is 
 not clear. Nor is it certain, on account of the vagueness 
 of the Conservative platform and the confusion of issues 
 in the local campaigns, just what kind of readjustment 
 was endorsed.*" 
 
 With the assembling of the legislature in December, 
 1877, the fiscal program of the readjusters became some- 
 what clearer. From the House finance committee came 
 the "Barbour bill,"" which received the support of 
 virtually all the Republicans and Independents and a 
 majority of the Conservatives voting.*- In its preamble 
 this bill declared that "the preservation of the state 
 government is the first necessity; the constitutional 
 obligation to support the system of public schools, the 
 second; and the payment of the present rate of interest 
 
 and some for General Mahone, who consistently supported the regular 
 ticket. 
 
 ■ioWhig, August 29, September 1, 3, November 12, 16, December 18; 
 Dispatch, July 9, November 9, 11, 12, 15; Enquirer, November 4, 27; 
 Virginia Star, October 8, November 10; Nation, November 1. 
 
 41 So called from James Barbour (below) chairman of the House finance 
 committee. This committee was appointed by the speaker, H. C. Allen, 
 of the Valley, whom a readjuster conference had endorsed and sustained 
 in full Conservative caucus. There were several such conferences, sup- 
 posedly secret, Dispatch and Whig, December 5, 6, 10, 13, 18, 1877. The 
 citation is from the governor's veto message, op. cit. 
 
 42 House vote : aye, 20 Independents, 8 Republicans, 43 Conservatives ; 
 no, 1 Eepublican, 39 Conservatives. Voting affirmatively were the Conser- 
 vatives Farr, Fowler, B. W. Lacy, D. A. Grimsley, Paul, Phlegar, H. C. 
 Slemp, Hoge, Tyler; and the Independents T. L. Michie, L. E. Harvie, and 
 P. B. Starke. Prominent in opposition were: Jos. E. Anderson, W. W. 
 Henry, W. T. Taliaferro, Thos. S. Bocock, Marshall Hanger, John Echols, 
 John T. Lovell, Eobert Eyland, Wm. B. Taliaferro. The negative vote 
 was strongest in the cities, Richmond and Norfolk being solidly negative. 
 House Jour., 1877-1878, p. 284; Sen. Jour., p. 296. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 79 
 
 on the amount claimed as the principle of the public 
 debt, the third." Economic conditions, it continued, 
 forbade an increase of taxes. Therefore, of each fifty 
 cents collected through the general property tax, twenty- 
 five must go to the support of the government, ten to 
 the schools, and fifteen to debt interest; and the parts 
 thus set aside for the government and the schools must 
 be paid in money. But Governor Holliday, deeming this 
 bill only an attempt to rob the creditors and a transfer 
 of the '^ vexed and vexing question from the legislature 
 to the courts," promptly vetoed it." Thereupon, with 
 the treasury empty and the banks refusing to lend, and 
 with the Conservative party in danger of disruption,** 
 moderate men came into control, as in 1872. These 
 moderates, however, could suggest nothing except an 
 appeal to the creditors for a compromise, the terms of 
 which they embodied in the ' ' Bocock-Fowler Act."*^ 
 
 That the motive behind the Barbour bill was only in 
 part fiscal is also clear. The wild talk of a '' moneyed 
 aristocracy created by office-holders" and the suspicion 
 cast upon their integrity, the complaint of the seduction 
 of readjuster legislators by the "money rings," the 
 refusal to amend the Moffett act so as to make it efficient, 
 the suggestion of a constitutional convention to abolish 
 the veto and revise the debt — all of these reflected the 
 discontent of the preceding campaign.**^ Moreover, a 
 
 43 House Jour., p. 425. 
 
 4* Below. 
 
 45 Act of March 14, 1878; Dispatch and Whig, March 14, 15; Whig, 
 March 6, 1878 (statement of auditor). The auditor was directed {Acts, 
 1877-1878, p. 237) to pay the "diverted" school funds in quarterly cash 
 installments, but he interpreted this to mean, if the cash could be spared, 
 Report, 1878. 
 
 *^Whig, December 12, 1877; January 3, 30; February 7, 12; March 
 2, 15, 1878; Dispatch, December 6, 7, 1877. Thirty-five thousand dollars of 
 bonds were reported to have been abstracted and funded a second time, 
 
80 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 determination to control the Conservative party or to 
 disrupt it was indicated when the readjusters not only- 
 admitted Independents to their conferences but com- 
 pelled the full Conservative caucus to do likewise.*^ 
 Most appropriately, the Enquirer, which had so con- 
 sistently preached against "radicalism" and demanded 
 the drawing of strict party lines, expired with 1877. 
 
 Immediately after the adjournment of the legislature 
 there began a series of secret conferences among leading 
 readjusters/^ As a result General Mahone sent to 
 readjuster legislators a circular letter to be signed and 
 returned for publication over their joint signatures. 
 This circular declared that both the veto of the Barbour 
 bill and a recent decision of the state supreme court 
 reaffirming the binding force of the Funding Act and 
 in effect demanding that taxes be increased were in 
 direct defiance of the will of the people taken in accord- 
 ance with the Conservative platform of the year before, 
 and it urged the people "to take measures to give 
 efficiency and effect to your will, by public meetings, to 
 be held as you may elect, and the organization of 
 committees for each representative [Congressional] 
 district." As "principles of faith," it advised: th^ 
 sovereignty of the people of the state in matters of 
 taxation, expenditures, and schools ; reform and economy 
 in administration ; and a constitutional convention. 
 
 The immediate purpose of these activities was prob- 
 
 but this was the result of an earlier defalcation, Sen. Jour., 1877-1878, 
 Docs. 4, 6. 
 
 47 Op. cit. 
 
 *8 Dispatch, July 5 ; Whig, July 10, 1878. Two committees acted in the 
 matter. The first consisted of H. H. Harrison, Lewis E. Harvie, B. W. 
 Lacy (members of the legislature), and A. Moseley, W. H. Mann, Wm. 
 Mahone (identified with the Whig). These activities were suspected but 
 not definitely known until the Dispatch published (July 5) the circular with 
 the accompanying ' ' confidential letter. ' ' The letter requested a cash 
 contribution. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BARBOUR BILL 81 
 
 ably the election of readjuster Congressmen in the fall by- 
 identifying the state issue with the national Greenback 
 movement on the ground that both were against "money 
 rings" and their allies the courts. Thus the Whig's 
 platform embraced ''forcible and irrepressible Readjust- 
 ment of the state debt ' ' and readjustment of the national 
 debt by paying it in greenbacks, together with the 
 requirement of unanimity for setting aside a law as 
 unconstitutional in either state or federal courts and the 
 thorough purging of both from all impurities "personal 
 or judicial."*^ At first extreme debt payers and "hard 
 money" men, relying on their control of the Conservative 
 party machinery, were for accepting this challenge and 
 fighting it out on strictly party lines.^° A calm survey 
 of the individual districts, however, showed clearly that 
 such a course would probably mean Independent or 
 Radical success in each.^^ On the other hand, there were 
 many readjusters who were unwilling to desert the 
 Conservative party for that of the " Greenbackers, " 
 and some who thought a better fight could be made on 
 the state issue alone.^- As the campaig-n progressed, 
 leading debt payers,, notably the sitting members of 
 Congress, endorsed Greenback ideas in a more or less 
 qualified manner.''^ And so the movement for identify- 
 ing the state issue with the national Greenback move- 
 ment failed. Only two readjusters, and these of the 
 moderate type, were elected to Congress. 
 
 Details of the campaign, however, show how thor- 
 
 49 May 31, March 20, April 3, 28, July 12. 
 
 50 For example, the Eichmond State and the Lexington Gazette. 
 
 51 Dispatch, July 12. 
 
 52 Dispatch, May 30, July 12. 
 
 53 Whig, August 26 (R. L. T. Beale), 27 (Daniel); September 6 (John- 
 ston). Only "Ran" Tucker was out and out for "hard money." General 
 Johnston was a "gold greenbaeker. " All the candidates except these two 
 satisfied the Whig on the national issue. 
 
82 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 ouglily tlie forces of social and political discontent were 
 disrupting the Conservative organization. In the Rich- 
 mond district, John S. Wise seemed to have a clear field. 
 But he belonged to the local Mahone faction which 
 had long been fighting Gen. Bradley T. Johnson as an 
 ardent funder and "free" railroad man, and, the Whig 
 insisted, a too skilful manager of party conventions. 
 Accordingly, friends of General Johnson persuaded 
 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to become a candidate in the 
 belief that Wise would not oppose his old commander. 
 This belief proved correct. But the Whig in disgust 
 supported Newman, the "Greenback" candidate, alleg- 
 ing as an excuse that Johnston was not acceptable to the 
 people, as shown by the smallness of the primary vote.^* 
 In the Valley, John T. Harris, a moderate advocate of 
 readjustment and greenbacks, was opposed by John 
 Paul, a more ardent advocate, and by Gen. John Echols, 
 who was a debt payer and "hard money" man. Echols 
 withdrew in Harris's favor, but Paul fought it out 
 independently. The banner district for confusion, how- 
 ever, was in the "Southwest." Here, debt payers said, 
 the Mahone-Fulkerson-Blair idea was to use the local 
 officials to supplant the existing party organization. 
 Part of their forces, however, were diverted by Fayette 
 McMullin who ran as a Conservative-Independent- 
 Greenbacker and advocate of federal construction of 
 the Cumberland Gap railroad. At the nominating con- 
 vention a resolution endorsing greenbacks and readjust- 
 ment was voted down, whereupon the backwoodsmen 
 left and Col. John B. Richmond was named over 
 two other aspirants. Colonel Richmond soon declared 
 
 ^*Whig, August 2, September 26; Eoyall, Some Beminiscences ; "Per- 
 sonal Recollections" (of Mr. Eoyall). Wise had been associated with 
 Edgar Allen as counsel for Piatt, Republican, against John Goode, 
 Goode Becollections. 
 
MAHONE AND THE BAEBOUR BILL 83 
 
 himself for "honest" readjustment and greenbacks. 
 General Newberry as an Independent-Greenbacker, a 
 regular Republican, and an Independent Republican 
 completed the list of candidates."^^ 
 
 Soon after the elections, there was organized in Rich- 
 mond a "society to preserve the credit of the state." 
 It was composed of thirty-nine leading citizens, among 
 whom were several representative ministers and two 
 Republican judges. In its open address, this asso- 
 ciation proposed that similar affiliated societies, without 
 specified restriction as to party or race, should be 
 formed throughout the state, and that each should select 
 and support a "debt paying" candidate for the legis- 
 lature the following year. The gist of the argument 
 advanced was that an increase of twenty cents in taxes 
 (only a ten per cent increase in the total tax in many 
 counties) would meet all the state's needs, including a 
 sinking fund. "The work proposed is grand," declared 
 the Dispatch, and the editor of the State was among the 
 associators. But the Whig poured upon the "39," and 
 especially upon its "D. D. " members, the vials of its 
 wrath.^*^ Outside of Richmond the move seems to have 
 been regarded by the Conservatives as a mistake, for 
 it was not only in direct opposition to the pledge of 
 readjustment without increase of taxes, but it also 
 frankly substituted a fiscal issue for old party lines and 
 constituted ministers, bondholders, and federal officials, 
 directors in a matter which people had come to consider 
 chiefly political. Though the plan soon proved abortive, 
 it is significant as showing the loosening of old party 
 ties in the face of the new economic and moral issues, 
 
 55 Dispatch and Whig, 1878, passim, especially August 10, 12, and early 
 November numbers. 
 
 56 It persistently published (e.g., December 17) the amount of coupons 
 used in payment of taxes by the " D. D. " members. 
 
84 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 and as affording a convenient pretext the year following 
 for the organization of a Readjuster political party." 
 
 Thus, in 1877 and 1878, a re-division of political 
 parties along economic and perhaps social lines seemed 
 imminent. The state was virtually bankrupt. There 
 was much talk of '^ brokers" and "money rings," of 
 "court-house cliques" and "Bourbons"; and a tendency 
 to set aside old leaders was manifesting itself. Inde- 
 pendents abounded, representing every phase of dis- 
 content, but always opposing the "debt payers." The 
 Republican party was thoroughly disorganized. The 
 overgrown Conservative party, at last forced to face 
 the debt issue, had straddled it. An attempt at "com- 
 pulsory^ readjustment ' ' of the debt, thwarted by the veto 
 of the new governor, was succeeded by a campaign for 
 the identification of readjustment with greenbackism as 
 movements of "the people" against the "rings" and 
 "their allies," the courts. In all of this activity the 
 leading spirit seemed to be William Mahone, whom 
 (according to his friends) the rings and the Bourbons 
 had robbed of his railroad and defeated for the governor- 
 ship in 1877 through "bulldozing" and "trickery." 
 
 57 Eobert Beverly was president, A. H. Drewry, vice-president ; William 
 L. Royall, fast friend of Bradley T. Jolmson and attorney for the bond- 
 holders, was secretary. Eoyall appears to have been the leader. The 
 federal judges were R. W. Hughes and Alexander Eives. Among the 
 ministers were M. D. Hoge, Joshua Peterkin, J. L. M. Curry, J. B. Jeter, 
 and Andrew Broadus. Gen. W. C, Wickham, Eepublican and C. & O. 
 official, was a member of the executive committee. Dispatch, November 29; 
 Whig, November 30, December 5, 1878; Dispatch and Whig, January, 1879 
 (extracts from state press). Dr. Curry spoke on "Law and Morals" in 
 Mozart Hall, Eichmond. The rejection by the Law Journal of an able 
 paper attacking the constitutionality of the Funding Act by James Lyons, 
 of Eichmond, and the attitude of the Enquirer (above) illustrate the feel- 
 ings of debt payers at this time. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE ^'McCULLOCH ACT," AND THE STATE'S 
 CAPACITY, 1878-1879 
 
 The compromising spirit manifested by the legisla- 
 ture in the spring of 1878^ had, by the beginning of its 
 second session, December, 1878, spread to the creditors 
 of the state. Consequently, Governor Holliday was 
 able to transmit, with favorable comment, two propo- 
 sitions, one from prominent New York bankers and 
 brokers,- the other from the Council of Foreign 
 Bondholders, of London. In striking contrast to the 
 attitude of four years previous,^ both pledged their 
 efforts to secure from all creditors a readjustment of 
 the debt on the basis of equity to all and a rate not 
 exceeding four per cent.* To reconcile differences in 
 the two propositions and to provide a practical method 
 of giving them effect, the New York interests, acting 
 through The Funding Association of the United 
 States of America,^ united with the British Council on 
 
 1 Above, p. 79. 
 
 2 L. G. and G. C. Ward signing for Baring Bros. & Co., August Belmont 
 for himself and the Eothschilds, Brown Bros. & Co., Eichard Irvin & Co., 
 and Chas. M. Fry, president of the Bank of New York. 
 
 3 Above, p. 52. 
 
 4 Governor, Message, December 4, 1878. 
 
 5 Formed about a year previous to handle such debts by Hugh 
 McCulloch, officers of the First National Bank of New York, J. P. Morgan, 
 and others. Dispatch, January 3, 1879 (quoting New York Times). The 
 British organization included very distinguished names. Sen. Jour., 1879- 
 1880, Doc. 23. For McCulloch 's recent residence in England and friendli- 
 
86 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 a third proposition, which after various changes'' 
 (designed to give the appearance of concession, the 
 opposition said) became the "McCulloch bill." 
 
 Under this bill the debt was divided into two classes : 
 class I embraced consols and convertible registered 
 bonds; class II consisted of peelers and one-half of the 
 interest unpaid since 1871. These classes might be 
 funded, in the proportion of at least two of the former to 
 one of the latter,^ into new 10-40 bonds bearing three, 
 four, and five per cent interest for periods of ten, twenty, 
 and thirty years respectively, with tax-receivable cou- 
 pons attached, neither bonds nor coupons being taxable. 
 The exclusive privilege of funding was given to the 
 British Council and the New York Association above 
 mentioned on condition that they file acceptance of" the 
 terms by May 1, 1879, and fund at least eight millions by 
 the following January 1 and at least five millions semi- 
 annually thereafter. With the new bonds should be 
 issued certificates for West Virginia's third of the 
 original debt, acceptance of which constituted a complete 
 and final release of Virginia's obliga'tion therefor. In. 
 and after 1885 a special two cent tax was to be levied 
 for the sinking fund, this fund to be used "annually 
 or oftener" for the retirement of the "ten-forties." 
 To insure prompt interest payment the auditor was 
 authorized (under the "Allen amendment")^ to make 
 
 ness to the South, see Fleming, Documentary History of Beconstruction, 
 I, p. 190; McCulloch, Men and Measures, p. 420. For McCulloch's account 
 of the bill see New York Tribune, February 5, 1881. 
 
 « See Acts, 1878-1879, p. 29; Sen. Jour., op. cit.; Whig, February 6, 7; 
 Commercial and Financial, Chronicle, January 18, 25 ; February 15, 1879 ; 
 RufiSn, Facts, etc.; Ruffin, Scrap-Boole, I (L. E. Harvie in WythevOle 
 Dispatch, September 4, 1879) ; Fulkerson Papers (memoranda of Colonel 
 Fulkerson). 
 
 7 The ratio of the outstanding consols and peelers. 
 
 8 Incorporated as section 12 of the bill. 
 
THE ^'McCULLOCH ACT" 87 
 
 temporary loans and, if unable to do so, to sell, at not 
 less than seventy-five, certificates bearing no interest 
 but receivable for taxes. 
 
 Meantime there slumbered in a committee another bill, 
 introduced by D. W. Henkel, a Valley readjuster, which 
 required county and city collectors to reserve out of the 
 taxes paid them in cash, subject to the order of school 
 officials only, three-fourths of the county's or city's 
 estimated quota of the state's appropriation to schools. 
 The need for such protection was now very pressing, for 
 half the schools were closing and 100,000 pupils of the 
 year before were being kept at home.® Accordingly, 
 when the McCulloch bill had taken shape, the Henkel 
 bill reappeared and, receiving the support of both school 
 partisans and McCulloch bill men, passed both houses 
 without recorded opposition." 
 
 March 28, 1879, the McCulloch bill became a law. Its 
 passage was attended by no such scandal as that of the 
 Funding Act.^^ On the contrary, debate was full and 
 
 9 State Superintendent, Beports, 1878, 1879. In 1877, 73 local super- 
 intendents reported a favorable change of public sentiment as to the 
 schools, 37 no change, and none an unfavorable change; in 1878 the figures 
 were 46, 44, and 19, respectively. For hostility to the schools see "Civis" 
 in Religious Herald, January, February, 1878; Dr. Dabney in the Southern 
 Planter, January, February, 1879; Lynchburg newspapers, spring of 1879 
 (a local fight). 
 
 to Acts, 1878-1879, p. 264; Dispatch, October 29 (W. W. Henry), October 
 21 (editorial); Whig, October 17 and 31 (Euffner), 1879; February 13, 
 1885 ("New Virginia"); Ruffin, Mahoneism Unveiled. Henkel is thus 
 reported in the Shenandoah Herald, March 5 : " With the guarantee of 
 this house that the bill providing funds for the public schools [the Henkel 
 bill] will be passed, it aifords me pleasure to support the proposition made 
 to the General Assembly by the creditors of the state. ' ' The Allen amend- 
 ment (above) was a counteracting concession. Of twenty members who 
 supported both the Barbour bill and the McCulloch bill, eighteen supported 
 the Henkel bill. 
 
 "Above, p. 30. 
 
88 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 free/^ The vote^^ of the two houses was large, 104 to 59. 
 Consistently, the Independents voted against it, 21 to 1. 
 The Republicans divided evenly. Party considerations^* 
 and a belief that the bill contained the best attainable 
 terms were the influences which, in varying proportions, 
 won the Conservatives, 99 to 35. 
 
 This legislation, the McCuUoch and Henkel Acts,^^ 
 represented the triumph of that moderate move for 
 readjustment which had manifested itself in 1871 and 
 1874. It discarded on the one hand the ideas of ''state 
 sovereignty," ''will of the people, "^'^ and antagonism 
 to ' ' money rings " ; on the other, it recognized the actual 
 fiscal situation and the existence of new popular neces- 
 sities. If unhampered by political considerations, would 
 it settle the debt problem?" 
 
 A full execution of the McCuUoch Act would neces- 
 sarily bring the state very great fiscal advantages: 
 immediate relief from the pressure of accumulated 
 interest and reduction of the interest rate by one- 
 half, uniformity of obligations, equality of creditors, 
 and unquestioned release from obligation for West 
 Virginia's share; ultimately, a saving of at least 
 $26,000,000^^ in interest. Compared with these any loss 
 
 12 Contra, Whig, April 3, 4, 1879. Some debt payers, though they sup- 
 ported the act, boldly pointed out serious objections. For example, 
 Senator Bradley T. Johnson declared it would necessitate an increase of 
 taxes {Whig, October 28, 1879), and the State said the Allen amendment 
 meant "bankruptcy." 
 
 13 Sen. Jour., 1878-1879, p. 463; House Jour., p. 546. 
 li Below, chs. 8, 9. 
 
 15 To these should be added the Moffett liquor law amendment (Acts, 
 1878-1879, p. 36) previously rejected (above, p. 79). 
 
 16 For a proposition by Senator Paul to submit the McCuUoch act to a 
 vote of the people see Whig, February 25, 1879, 
 
 17 The following analysis is the author 's. The partisan arguments are 
 given below, ch. 10. 
 
 18 The Dispatch's estimate (February 3, 13, 1879) plus one-half the 
 
THE '^ Mcculloch act" 89 
 
 of taxes on bonds or coupons, the increase in the 
 principal by some two millions, and the annoyance 
 arising from the tax-receivable character of coupons 
 were negligible. 
 
 But a full execution of the act depended upon the 
 ability and good faith of the funding monopolists on 
 the one hand, and upon the ability of the state to meet 
 the new interest promptly on the other. 
 
 That the first of these requisites existed seems un- 
 questionable in view of the business standing of the 
 promoters, the advantageous terms offered creditors, 
 especially the non-residents,^** and the endorsement given 
 the scheme by the state and national administrations 
 and the great bulk of the press. Yet it is to be remem- 
 bered that the associations acted only as agents and with 
 no penalty for non-fulfillment of contract save its 
 cancellation, which would not aifect operations already 
 concluded by them. Readjusters at the time doubted the 
 ability of the agents as well as their good intentions, and 
 later asserted that the act was only a stock-jobbing 
 device.-" For this view, market fluctuations and the 
 cessation of funding on an apparent prospect of full 
 interest payment gave much warrant."^ 
 
 The second requisite for success was much more 
 problematic. The ability of the state to avoid defaulting 
 
 interest accrued to September 30, 1878. The new principal would be 
 $31,227,083, the old was $29,367,958, Governor, Message, December 3, 1879. 
 
 19 Owning probably two-thirds of the whole. Auditor, Report, 1874; 
 William E. Eoyall, History of the Virginia DeM Controversy, p. 6. Such 
 holders of two consols and one peeler would gain in the amount of this 
 principal and lose little of the interest which they were accustomed to 
 receive. Resident holders would lose somewhat, as they had used their 
 coupons for taxes. Non-residents had sold theirs for about seventy-five. 
 
 20 Whig, January 18, February 12, 24, 1879; Ruffin, Facts, etc.; Massey, 
 Autobiography, ch. 2. 
 
 21 Peelers were 25 in July, 41 in December, 1878, 44 in March and July, 
 1879. For cessation of funding see Dispatch, January 9, 1880. 
 
90 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 before the funding should be completed, without resort 
 to the endless chain of issuing certificates under the 
 Allen amendment,^^ was exceedingly doubtful. For the 
 act made no provision for arrearages to schools, colleges, 
 and asylums amounting to over a million or for coupons 
 amounting to a million and a half, as of February 1, 
 1879; the treasury was empty and the banks were not 
 disposed to lend. But presuming that the crisis could 
 have been passed, could the state pay three per cent on 
 the new principal during the next ten years? Taking as 
 a basis of income the revenue of 1878 and assuming that 
 bonds held by the colleges and the literary fund would 
 be converted, Governor Holliday estimated an annual 
 surplus of $350,000; General Mahone,'' of $115,000. But 
 the reassessment of realty next year was generally 
 expected to bring decided reduction in revenue; this 
 loss Mahone estimated would wipe out the surplus under 
 the governor's estimate and leave a decided deficit under 
 his. Both the severe pruning in the governor's expense 
 estimates-* and the actual figures of the next year-^ 
 indicate that Mahone was very nearly correct. Certainly 
 the margin was narrow. 
 
 The Conservative platform of two years before had 
 declared that there must be no increase of taxes, and 
 the elections following had decidedly supported this 
 
 22 In effect, these certificates would be tax-receipts discounted twenty- 
 five per cent for cash. They were to be issued in denominations of one 
 dollar and above, and offered for sale in each county. 
 
 23 Whig, February 26, 1879. Mahone believed the state would pay three 
 per cent on $32,000,000 provided there were no exemptions, monopoly, etc., 
 and no future increase in the rate. Below, p. 99. 
 
 2* Message, December 3, 1879. For example, the governor estimated 
 $30,000 as the cost of the legislature annually, as compared with $100,000 
 from 1850 to 1860, $187,000 from 1869 to 1875, and $120,000 for 1878- 
 1879. Also, he put "extraordinary" expenses at the improbably low sum 
 of $74,000. Cf. above, p. 54. 
 
 25 Below, p. 144. 
 
THE ^'McCULLOCH ACT" 91 
 
 view.^^ But the foregoing analysis seems to show very 
 clearly that under the new legislation there must be such 
 an increase or the schools would remain stationary and 
 the needs of the impoverished and afflicted remain 
 unmet. Could Virginia stand additional taxation? 
 
 Careful study of a mass of evidence indicates that the 
 state, as a whole, had gained decidedly in both popu- 
 lation and intrinsic value of property during the decade 
 just ending.^^ The debt of counties and municipalities^^ 
 was but $13,000,000, of which $10,000,000 was owed by 
 towns. Though taxes had increased ten per cent, the 
 ratio of taxation to true wealth, if the census may be 
 trusted, was but .67 as compared with .70 and .62 for 
 the average state and the average Southern state 
 respectively; and the burden per capita, though half 
 that of the former, was but little larger than that of the 
 latter.^^ 
 
 It had been a great decade for the towns. Thither, 
 with the fall of slavery, had shifted the center of social 
 life. The distribution of supplies to laborers and small 
 farmers through country merchants; the comparatively 
 settled labor and social conditions inviting men and 
 money from within and without; the concentrating 
 tendency of the federal tax on tobacco manufacturing; 
 
 26 Above, p. 78. 
 
 27 Population increased twenty-three per cent according to the tenth 
 census. Eeassessment of realty in 1880 showed a decrease of 43 
 millions, currency, which would be a small increase in gold value. This, 
 owing to popular depression and politics (below, p. 144), was probably too 
 small. The tenth census figures of 693 and 409 millions (currency) for 
 the "true wealth" in 1870 and 1880 respectively are probably worthless. 
 See C. D. Wright, History and Growth of the TJ. S. Census, pp. 53, 57 
 (note), 58, 162, 173. 
 
 28 Tenth Census. 
 
 29 Governor, Message, March 27, 1874; Auditor, Beport, 1880; Tenth 
 Census, VII, pp. 18, 20. The census estimate apparently fails to include 
 $700,000 derived from license taxes. 
 
92 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 consolidation of railroad management and the develop- 
 ment of shipping terminals for through traffic — all these 
 tended to make the town the business center also. Only 
 Petersburg and Fredericksburg of the old towns failed 
 to show gains, and many new ones had sprung into 
 existence.^" 
 
 By selling off piece after piece of his estate and 
 mortgaging the remainder at high rates of interest, the 
 large farmer had been able to repair war losses and 
 secure improved equipment."^ Through such sales, 
 usually for a small cash payment and a promissory note, 
 the number of farms increased 44,668,^" or 60 per cent, 
 which meant that this number of "poor whites" and 
 ex-slaves had become independent farmers. Gradually 
 the negro had settled dow^n to something like steady 
 work. So production increased markedly.^^ But only 
 a beginning in adaptation to the new conditions was 
 made. Leaders of public thought were too busy with 
 race politics, and legislators with railroad wars and 
 state finance to provide good roads or agricultural 
 schools or even a respectable department of agriculture 
 to enable the farmer to meet the competition which rail- 
 so p. A. Bruce, in The South in the Building of the Nation, X, ch. 1 ; 
 Arnold, Tobacco Industry, ch. 2; Buffiier Papers. Manufacturing capital 
 increased from 15 to 27 millions (gold), output from 30 to 51, Tenth 
 Census, II, p. xii. For value of figures see Twelfth Census, VII, pt. 1, p. 
 xcvii. For influence of tobacco tax see Dispatch, January 15, 1879. Eich- 
 mond's exports increased $300,000 from 1878 to 1879. They were chiefly 
 tobacco and flour, the latter for South America, il)id., January 1. Norfolk 
 had been continually growing, chiefly through shipping and trucking, 
 Landmark, January, 1879. Danville and Lynchburg showed an increase 
 in realty values of one hundred per cent. Yet all were small towns, Rich- 
 mond (the largest) having only some 30,000 inhabitants. 
 
 31 Above, pp. 8, 25, 44. County "land books" and court records are 
 eloquent of the process. 
 
 32 Twelfth Census, V, pt. 1, p. 699. Lots under three acres not included 
 in the census would probably offset the speculative investments. 
 
 S3 Ibid., pp. 90, 694; Vol. VI, pp. 80, 90. 
 
THE '^Mcculloch act" 93 
 
 road extension made inevitable. And so profits were 
 possible only when the general level of prices was high. 
 But coincidently with these processes came a general 
 drop in prices, heavy, long-continued, greater in what 
 the farmer could sell than in what he must buy.^^ 
 Gradually profits disappeared.^^ Laborers were under- 
 paid. Few immigrants came to counterbalance the 
 fearful drain, especially of young men, to the towns or 
 to other states.^'' Land depreciated in value." But the 
 mortgage and the promissory note remained the same, 
 the interest never failed to accrue. In some places taxes 
 were very high,'^ and there was no money to pay them. 
 And so the courts were busy ordering sales and the news- 
 papers printed columns of delinquent tax payers.^^ Thus 
 the market for land almost disappeared, and the new 
 farmer was driven to the wall along with the old. 
 
 Now any increase in state taxation would fall pri- 
 
 34 Averages ^vere: 1867-1871, corn 146, wheat 145, tobacco 163; 1877- 
 1880, 76, 105, 135, respectively, Aldrich Eeport (52 Cong., 2 sess., S. E. 
 Ill, pp. 36, 104 ff.) ; cf. above, p. 59. 
 
 35 The value of total production was eleven per cent less (gold) in 1880 
 than in 1870, Twelfth Census, V, pt. 1, p. 703, See Whig, January 6, 
 February 25; Dispatch, February 25, June 13, 1879. 
 
 36 Since the census figures for 1870 include West Virginia, the exact 
 changes cannot be given. In 1880, 683,000 natives lived in other states, 
 62,000 born outside lived in Virginia. The tenth census (I, pt. 3, p. 479) 
 notes the ' ' remarkable tendency ' ' toward outside cities. 
 
 37 Whig, July 8; Dispatch, August 14, 1879; Commissioner of Agricul- 
 ture, Beports (especially 1880); "Personal Eecollections. " The sales 
 books of James Eoach, auctioneer of Fredericksburg, show that the most 
 frequent price in several counties was $2.50 per acre. For areas of greater 
 depreciation in 1875 see Map III. 
 
 38 The Whig (August 8, 1879) enumerated the taxes of a man in Pitt- 
 sylvania, owning property assessed at $1,000 but worth $500, as follows: 
 state tax, $5; county and railroad debt, $6; county and district schools, $2; 
 state poll, $1; county poll, 50 cents; total, $14.50. 
 
 39 Whig, July-November, 1879, passim; House Jour., 1878-1879, Doc. 6. 
 The Norfolk Landmark had fifteen columns of local delinquents in October, 
 the Portsmouth Enterprise {Whig, September 15), four columns. 
 
94 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 marily on the farmer, for after ten years of experiment 
 two-thirds of the state's revenue came directly from the 
 counties. Any attempt to raise the rate, therefore, 
 would probably have led to evasion or to hardships in 
 very many individual cases. In either event, the debt 
 question would have been as far from settled as ever. 
 
 As a result, therefore, of the fiscal situation and of 
 the movements described in the preceding chapter, 
 bondholders and leaders of the Conservative party 
 united to frame and pass in early 1879 the McCulloch 
 and Henkel Acts. The Henkel Act was designed partly 
 to protect the schools. But while the McCulloch Act gave 
 promise of materially lightening the fiscal burden, there 
 was grave doubt whether its terms would be complied 
 with by all of the creditors. Moreover, the state could 
 hardly have met these terms without serious injury to 
 many individuals and continued neglect of important 
 economic and social interests already suffering and rest- 
 less. The leading classes, however, school men included, 
 gave the act remarkably consistent support. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 THE '' READJUSTEE" CONVENTION, 1879 
 
 At the very time of the enactment of the McCulloch 
 bill, the elenients of dissent were forming a new political 
 party for the purpose of defeating that measure. 
 
 On the assembling of the legislature in December, 
 1878, it appeared that the defeats already suffered and 
 the compromising proposals of creditors had rendered 
 some readjusters apathetic: Allen, Moffett, and Fowler, 
 in the opinion of Colonel Pulkerson, were "morose, sore- 
 headed, offish, ill tempered."^ But among the rest, 
 opinion was unanimous that public sentiment still 
 favored the principles of the Barbour bill and ought to 
 be organized in its behalf. So on motion of Senator 
 John Paul, of the Valley, the drafting of a call for a 
 state convention was tentatively authorized.^ Then, dis- 
 persing for the holidays, the readjusters quickly ob- 
 tained from local mass meetings, especially in the west, 
 an endorsement of the convention idea.^ Returning, in 
 two final conferences, Col. A. Fulkerson presiding as 
 usual, they adopted an ''Address" drafted by James 
 Barbour, chairman of the executive committee.* Assert- 
 ing that the debt-paying association was "an organized 
 party, openly proclaimed," and that its purpose was 
 
 1 Memorandum of Col. A. Fulkerson, dated "January, 1879," in FulJcer- 
 son Papers. See above, pp. 81, 85. 
 
 2 Whig, December 13, 19, 1878. 
 
 3 Whig, January 3, 6, 13 (quoting Bristol News, Salem Begister, Eock- 
 bridge Begister), 16 (for action of Central Greenback Club of Marion). 
 
 * Fulkerson Papers. 
 
96 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 to conduct a "crusade against the people" and force 
 them to pay six per cent interest on the whole debt 
 while starving their free schools, this address urged 
 supporters of the principles of the Barbour bill to 
 choose delegates ''by county, district, and ward meetings 
 as you may see fit to attend a convention of Readjusters" 
 in Richmond, February 25, and there "take such 
 measures as may seem to you proper to protect your 
 imperilled rights and interests as citizens and tax- 
 payers."^ 
 
 About one-fourth of the legislature favored this 
 action.*' The "Southwest" furnished 13 of its 26; the 
 Valley, 6 of its 20; the rest of the state, 24 out of 129. 
 The Republicans numbered 4, the Independents, 11. 
 Judged on this basis the group had behind it neither 
 geographical nor political solidarity. Party ties and 
 the possibility of compromise with creditors were too 
 strong. But the Whig, assisted by a few small papers, 
 labored earnestly in its behalf, emphasizing the social 
 note as well as the fiscal.'^ And behind the Whig, but 
 
 5 Whig, January 14, 17; Dispatch, January 17, 1879. Fowler and 
 Moffett opposed specific reference to the Barbour bill, FulTcerson Papers, 
 op. cit. 
 
 6 Those italicized below voted against the McCulloch Act, those marked 
 (n. V.) did not vote on it. For the convention. Senators Bliss, Chiles, 
 FulTcerson, Norton, Paul, Powell (n. v.), Slemp, Ward, Wood; Delegates 
 Akers, Bariour, J. R. Carter, Chase, Coleman, Cranlc, Davidson, DicTcerson, 
 Evans, Fauntleroy, Ficklin, Frazier, FulTcerson, Hamilton (n. v.), S. H. 
 Harrison, Harvie, W. T. James, Kelley, Lady, Lee, McCaul, McConnell, 
 McDaniel, J. H. Smith, Spessard, A. J. Taylor, J. WalTcer, Walsh, J. E. 
 White, Witten, Young. Against the convention: Senator Massey ; Dele- 
 gates Adams, Bernard, Dance, Fowler, Fry, Fulton, Goode, R. N. Harrison, 
 Henkel, Keyser, McMullan, Moffett, Oglesby, Popham, Wright, Speaker 
 Allen, Dispatch, January 17; Sen. Jour., p. 463; House Jour., 1878-1879, 
 p. 546. 
 
 7 The following program illustrates the Whig 's position at this time : 
 abolition of the suifrage prerequisite and the whipping post; reduction 
 of the burden of taxation, including the excise tax; bitter arraignment of 
 the ' ' debt-paying association, ' ' especially its " D. D. " members, as 
 
THE ''READJUSTEE" CONVENTION 97 
 
 never showing his hand, was Mahone with the remnants 
 of his railroad following, to whose fiscal views "original 
 readjusters" were already disposed to yield.^ 
 
 The election of delegates began forthwith and con- 
 tinued almost np to convention day, the Whig acting as 
 a bureau of information and Samuel Goode as corre- 
 sponding secretary of the executive committee. The 
 process was necessarily irregular: informal communi- 
 cation among local leaders, a mass-meeting on the 
 monthly "court-day," and the selection of desirable 
 men from each district. Regular party officials appeared 
 only in their private capacity. Negroes played little 
 part. No rule as to numbers was observed. The Whig 
 (promptly reducing its semi-weekly subscription rates) 
 desired "a mighty out-pouring of the people." Reso- 
 lutions reflecting at once the local situation and the 
 editorials of the Whig were generally adopted. Some 
 counties deputed members of the legislature; quite a 
 number attempted no action.'' 
 
 This process encountered many difficulties." With 
 few exceptions the leading newspapers were bitterly 
 
 ' ' Pharisees ' ' ; defence of the schools against Bourbon writers and the debt- 
 paying policy. 
 
 »Cf. below, January 5, 1878 [1879]. Fulkerson wrote: "I hope you 
 will find time at a very early day to write out your idea as to the form of 
 that call. If we attempt an organization, it ought to be made a success, 
 and if successful, it will lead to an early settlement of the debt, for which 
 the people will feel more indebted to you than to any other man in the 
 state," Whig, October 15, 1882. In a letter to the Abingdon Standard, 
 in Whig, January 13, 1879, Colonel Fulkerson expressed a willingness to 
 pay three per cent on a recognized debt of $30,000,000 instead of six per 
 cent on $15,000,000, which was his original idea. 
 
 9 Whig, Dispatch, January, February, passim. Private papers, now 
 inaccessible, would probably show a more extensive central direction and 
 so lessen the appearance of spontaneity. 
 
 10 Op. cit. 
 
98 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 hostile,^^ and behind these papers (though as yet silent) 
 were the regular party central organizations. Ridicule 
 was heaped upon the move as the work of chronic bolters 
 and agitators, intended to prevent a settlement of the 
 debt and to advance their own interests, but likely to 
 prove a mere ''flash in the pan." The Dispatch main- 
 tained, with sudden and undignified changes, a veritable 
 black list.^- Great parade was made of former read- 
 justers now supporting the pending fiscal legislation. 
 These influences led in some places to apathy, in others 
 to "trickery and bull-dozing." Many elected as dele- 
 gates refused to serve. In one county, Punders^^ (led 
 by the judge of the court, it was said) captured the mass- 
 meeting and deputed its Funder legislators. In another, 
 the "court-house clique" broke up the meeting. In 
 another, negroes were chosen through the efforts of the 
 Funder senator, the Richmond opposition proposing the 
 plan and furnishing the necessary funds." 
 
 On February 25 and 26, some one hundred and 
 seventy-five delegates assembled in Mozart Hall, Rich- 
 mond.^^ They came from three cities and fifty-nine 
 counties, the proportion varying from west to east and 
 according to the strength of local leaders. Politically, 
 
 11 The Landmark and a few smaller papers insisted upon according the 
 convention the respect due honest men and old allies. 
 
 12 Later separately printed; also printed as an honor roll by the Whig. 
 
 13 This name was first used for supporters of the Funding Act, but now 
 for supporters of the McCulloch bill, and in general for the opposition to 
 the readjuster move. 
 
 'i^^Whig, March 1; "Personal Eecollections " (William L. Eoyall). 
 
 15 Dispatch, Whig, February 26, 27, These figures are estimates. Only 
 a dozen counties whose legislators favored the move were unrepresented; 
 22 counties whose legislators were opposed sent delegates. Albermarle, 
 home of Massey, sent 23 ; Petersburg, where Mahone and Cameron lived, 13 ; 
 New Kent, under the influence of Major V. Vaiden and B. W. Lacy, 13 ; 
 Barbour's county, Culpeper, 6; while one unaccredited delegate from 
 Portsmouth spoke for all the populous Norfolk region, and one for the four 
 counties of the ' ' Northern Neck. ' ' 
 
THE ''READJUSTEE" CONVENTION 99 
 
 Conservatives of the liberal brand predominated, with 
 a striking admixture of Republicans, Greenbackers, and 
 Independents of every shade. Socially, there were self- 
 made men, aristocrats, country preachers and doctors, 
 and politicians of the usual types.^® From Halifax and 
 New Kent came a few negroes. It was a very loquacious 
 body ; and the more obscure members did their full share 
 of the talking. Opinion differed on the terms of debt 
 settlement: Mahone favored three per cent on thirty- 
 two millions, some negroes absolute repudiation. But 
 the dominant note was unmistakable: it was a ''people's 
 convention" assembled in response to a "wail from the 
 people " to " crystallize the sentiments of the people and 
 enforce them" against the "rings and court-house 
 cliques," "brokers and the broker press." The interests 
 of the white masses and the negroes were one ; and they 
 would brook no opposition from treacherous governor 
 or hide-bound courts. 
 
 Without serious dissent, a vigorous "Address to the 
 People of Virginia" presented by Senator Riddleberger 
 was adopted. It declared that the people had always 
 desired a definite settlement upon terms as liberal to 
 creditors as conditions permitted. To this end they had 
 accepted the Conservative pledge of 1877 only to find 
 themselves thwarted by the governor. Then arose the 
 
 ifi For leaders see below, ch. 9. The following were among those 
 reported as present: Albermarle, J. A. Michie, J. H. Smith, W. H. Wood, 
 K. G. Crank; Augusta, D. N. VanLear, Jas. H. Hamilton; Caroline, Thos. 
 A. Welsh, S. J. E. White, Dr. Wright; Culpeper, J. W. Bell; Floyd, A. M. 
 Dickenson; Giles, W. G. Baine; Highland, John Paul; Hanover, W. M. 
 Newman; Henrico, William Taylor; King William, S. D. Gregory; King 
 George, Lawrence Taliaferro; Lee, L. S. Fulkerson, H. C. Slemp; Louisa, 
 Dr. F. F. Brook; Montgomery, E. Esbridge; New Kent, Dr. J. H. Garlick; 
 Nottoway, G. A. Overton; Washington, D. F. Bailey, I. C. Fowler; Warren, 
 John Paul; Wise, H. C. Slemp, Eev. Morgan Lipps; Petersburg, A. Eogers, 
 Jr., S. Boiling; Eoanoke, Dr. A. B. McConnell, Lee Willson; Stafford, 
 Duff Green; Smith, F. M. McMullin, George W. Hubble. 
 
100 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 "Debt-paying Association" *'to take charge of the 
 honor of Virginia, educate yon up to the point of virtue 
 from which you have back-slided, " and to increase 
 taxes so as ''to pay six per cent on the whole debt." 
 Present conditions, fiscal and economic, "certify your 
 inability to assume a higher rate than three per cent, 
 either now or at any future date that can be fixed by a 
 prudent forecast." The agitation ever since the passage 
 of "the iniquitous Funding Bill" shows that to deceive 
 the people again, or to over-estimate their capacity 
 "would be fatal to that repose by which every consid- 
 eration should be secured." Yet, under the McCulloch 
 bill, ' ' the attempt is made to deprive you of all real relief 
 by a delusive measure, which by exceptions, exemptions 
 and discriminations takes back with one hand what it 
 purports to yield with the other," perpetuates the most 
 objectionable features of the Funding Act and ad(is 
 others, "all cloaked, veiled and tendered under a pre- 
 tense of charity." Then the Address, without suggest- 
 ing any specific niethod of settlement, laid down as 
 principles the following points : no liability whatever 
 for West Virginia's share ;• interest on "Virginia's 
 fair proportion" within the revenue derived from the 
 existing rate of taxation after deducting expenses of 
 government and charitable institutions economically 
 administered and liberal appropriations to public 
 schools; no tax-receivable coupons, exemption from 
 taxation, discrimination between creditors, or funding 
 through agencies not under the state's control; and 
 finally, ratification by popular vote, the settlement 
 .thereafter being subject to legislative alteration. Not 
 prominent, but very noteworthy, was the charge that the 
 McCulloch bill' ' ' stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the 
 necessity to our state of fitting for their exercise those 
 
THE '' READJUSTEE" CONVENTION 101 
 
 whom the Federal Government invested with all the 
 rights, privileges and immunities of citizenship," 
 
 An elaborate plan for permanent organization, like- 
 wise presented by Senator Riddleberger, was adopted.^^ 
 Avoiding the too obvious concentration of power under 
 the early Conservative plan and the divided responsi- 
 bility under the later,^^ this plan retained the strong- 
 features of both. For each Congressional district a 
 chairman was to be chosen by the delegates representing 
 it in the convention, and these chairmen (vested with 
 considerable power in local matters) were to constitute 
 the state committee. An executive committee of three 
 was to be named by the president of the convention, and 
 its chairman was to be {ex officio) chairman of the state 
 committee. The plan thus outlined was duly carried 
 out and to the important office of chairman of the 
 executive committee, the president. Major V. Vaiden, 
 appointed General Mahone. 
 
 The Readjuster convention of February, 1879, was 
 called for the immediate purpose of opposing the 
 McCuUoch bill. Care was taken that both the call and 
 the proceedings of the convention should appear spon- 
 taneous. In membership, it was representative of all 
 classes, the great majority being Conservatives, either 
 unknown or noted for party irregularity. The Address 
 denounced the McCulloch bill as an attempt at deception 
 and fraud, declared for no higher taxes, and favored 
 public education and charities, partial repudiation, no 
 
 17 Eiddleberger was chairman of the committee on business, which 
 handled all important matters except the permanent organization of the 
 convention (c/. Bourbon plan, above, p. 20). For president, Mahone 
 reported Major V. Vaiden, of New Kent. The temporary officers were 
 Capt. Frank S. Blair and Capt, J. H. McCaul. 
 
 18 Above, pp. 20, 39, 49. 
 
102 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 exemptions or special privileges, and a popular refer- 
 endum. A careful organization after the manner of 
 political parties was provided for, and General Mahone 
 was appointed chairman of the executive committee and 
 thus became the permanent head of the movement. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 
 
 Thus, under stress of economic and political condi- 
 tions, the factions which had arisen among the Conserv- 
 atives gradually lost their identity, until in February, 
 1879, the old party differences gave way before a clash 
 between ''Readjusters" and ''Funders."^ Both in the 
 inception and in the results of the Readjuster Movement, 
 however, one feels the weight of a force that was not 
 altogether due to either business or politics. It may be 
 well, therefore, to pause at this point for a rapid survey 
 of social and political conditions as manifested in each 
 of the ''sections" into which the state had long been 
 divided, and in the attitude and policy of the leaders 
 whom these sections followed. 
 
 Beyond the Alleghanies lies a triangular group of 
 counties known as the "Southwest."^ Mountainous and 
 possessed of a strong Scotch-Irish element,^ this section 
 was democratic in its habits and was drawn toward 
 eastern Tennessee rather than toward eastern Virginia.* 
 Before the war, it had never been largely given to slave- 
 holding and in politics it had been always Democratic, 
 
 1 The capitalized term "Eeadjuster" is here used for the organized 
 party, its members, views, etc. The uncapitalized form, ' ' readjuster, ' ' 
 represents the movement in general. The same distinction is maintained 
 between ' ' Funder ' ' and ' ' f under. ' ' 
 
 - Ambler, Sectionalism ; L. P. Summers, History of Southwest Virginia; 
 ' ' Personal EecoUections. ' ' 
 
 3 There is a smaller German strain. 
 
 4 Slaves constituted sixteen per cent of the population according to the 
 census of 1860; negroes approximately the same in 1880. 
 
104 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 in contrast to the slave-holding and Whiggish tendencies 
 of the Tidewater. Personal and party connections, 
 however, together with the influence of slave-ownership 
 upon its valley leaders and the satisfactory internal 
 improvement policy of the state, had tied it strongly 
 to the ' ' East. ' ' And so, though unwilling to go out of the 
 Union, in 1861, it had declined to unite with West 
 Virginia and had heartily supported the Southern cause. 
 After the war, the weight of old influences again began 
 to be felt. The large old Whig minority, disgusted at 
 the prospect of an alliance with its former political foe, 
 afforded the Republican party a very considerable 
 native white nucleus.^ The "Southwest" had no worn- 
 out lands to be marketed through immigration schemes 
 at the state's expense, and no influential moneyed 
 centers. It had no ever present negro problem. It 
 wanted schools and unrestricted suffrage. It wanted 
 money to build railroads and to develop its untouched 
 resources of minerals and timber, and it saw that 
 this money must come from the North. Self-confident, 
 aggressive, and suspicious, it had over and over again 
 registered its protest in the legislature against the 
 prevailing fiscal policy.*^ But the "East" was diplo- 
 matic and generous in the distribution of offices, and 
 the "Southwest" remained loyal. Upon the failure 
 of the Republican party, however, party ties had 
 loosened and the clannish disposition of the mountain 
 people asserted itself in personal politics. '^ Dissatisfied, 
 
 5 In a total vote of 21,000 in the eighth Congressional district in 1869 
 the Kepublicans received 6,260. Only 4,888 negroes were registered. See 
 Abingdon, Virginian, in Whig, March 8, 1870, for the feeling as to parties. 
 
 6 Note its vote against the Funding Act and for its repeal, against 
 appropriations for debt interest and for Fulkerson 's anti-coupon bill ; and 
 its demand for asylums. Sen. Jour., 1871-1872, p. 88; House Jour., 1874, 
 p. 451; ibid., 1874-1875, p. 367; Dispatch, March 18, 1875. 
 
 7 Cf. p. 82. 
 
Parties, 1873 and 1876 
 
 Conservative 
 
 Republican 
 
 Fluctuating; 
 
 Towns 
 
 Sections (ch. ix «nd n. 33) aaaAAA 
 
 Small capitals are abbreviations 
 of county names 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 105 
 
 democratic, and self-assertive, this section was clearly 
 a fit soil for the new party. 
 
 Best known among the Readjusters in this section was 
 Col. Abram Fulkerson.^ Of a family long prominent in 
 Washington County affairs, he had been educated at the 
 Virginia Military Institute and, having fought through 
 the war, had then read law under John W. Johnston.® 
 On the recommendation of Hughes, Mahone had made 
 him one of the "incorporators" of the A. M. & 0., and 
 thenceforth they had been intimate. Entering the 
 legislature in 1871, Fulkerson had forthwith become an 
 opponent of the Funding Act and of the makeshift 
 policies by which it was supported.^" To him, as much 
 as to Massey, was due the ceaseless agitation for read- 
 justment and the "conversion" of Mahone; and it was 
 he who engineered the preliminary moves in the organi- 
 zation of the new party.^^ He was prepossessing in 
 personal appearance, good-natured, witty, hard-working, 
 and, above all, shrewd and determined. Mahone called 
 him the finest politician in the state; the Dispatch, a 
 "dangerous demagogue." To the people of his section 
 he now preached, with great effect, of hard times, the 
 decaying schools, the lunatics in jail; and of the "proud 
 old funders who are tickled by the Yankee bond-holders, 
 by the phrase 'honor and credit of the state,' who don't 
 pay any taxes, and don't care a damn who does." 
 
 Between the Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge lies the 
 "Valley."^- The upper part contained a notable Scotch- 
 
 sEichmond Tobacco Plant, May 3, 1879; Dispatch, July 9, 1878, October 
 23, 1879; Culpeper Times, in Whig, January 24, 1879; Whig, October 15, 
 1882; Summers, History of Southwest Virginia; Fulherson Papers. 
 
 9 Below. 
 
 3 But he advocated abolition of the township system. Cf. p. 50. 
 
 11 Above, p. 80; also ch. 8. 
 
 12 Wayland, German Element in the Shenandoah Valley; J. A. Waddell, 
 Annals of Augusta County ; Buffner Papers. 
 
106 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 Irish element; the lower, an important German strain. 
 Physiographically, the former looked toward the 
 *' Southwest, " and the latter toward Maryland and 
 Pennsylvania ; mountain passes encouraged both to com- 
 municate with the "East." Like the ''East," the Valley 
 contained an aristocracy of landowners and office- 
 holders, backed by an increasingly important slave 
 system^^ but modified by intellectual traditions in the 
 upper region and by racial characteristics in the lower. 
 Along the mountain sides flourished a social and eco- 
 nomic democracy like that of the ' ' Southwest. ' ' Though 
 opposed to secession in 1861, no part of the state had 
 more valiantly supported the Southern arms or come 
 out of the war with greater loss of men and property. 
 Heretofore almost solidly Democratic," it now, during 
 Reconstruction days, became solidly Conservative; the 
 Republicans could not poll even the full negro vote. 
 Already, however, the upper classes had begun to leave 
 their country homes and to settle in the little towns. 
 Here they formed oases of intelligence and sound 
 thinking. But their political strength was lessened. 
 Taking advantage of this situation, the Independents 
 grew in numbers,^^ and flourished on the vote of the 
 negroes and the ''odds and ends" of the mountain sides 
 and the little towns. The strength of the Valley 
 remained, however, in its middle-class farmers. No 
 longer confronted by the slave system, these farmers 
 were beginning to display again the "homely habits and 
 unconquerable industry" which would "gradually 
 restore prosperity and intelligence "^° to the country 
 
 13 In 1860, twenty per cent of the population was black. 
 1* With the striking exception of the strongly Scotch-Irish county of 
 Augusta. 
 
 15 Above, p. 38. 
 
 16 W. H. Euffner, "Sketches of the Lyle Family," in Washington and 
 Lee Historical Papers, No. 3. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 107 
 
 districts. Though they had no negro problem, were 
 suspicious of the eastern towns, despised the land-poor 
 planters, and were much afraid of high taxes, they were 
 honest, comfortable, and slow to move. Hence the vote 
 of the Valley in the legislature had never been decided 
 on the chief fiscal issues, and its leaders had often shown 
 an uncertain attitude." But Mahone thought that here 
 and in the '^ Southwest" would begin a ''ground swell" 
 that would sweep the rest of the state.^^ 
 
 In this region Harrison Holt Riddleberger was the 
 conspicuous Readjuster leader.^^ Having served well as 
 a Confederate soldier and as editor of the staunchly 
 Democratic Tenth Legion Banner, he had entered the 
 House in 1871, and at thirty-two had become state 
 Senator and elector on the Tilden ticket. So far from 
 being an ''original readjuster," he had opposed the 
 attempted repeal of the Funding Act in 1872. But his 
 origin, habits, and ambition threw him into opposition 
 to the ruling groups and made him champion of the 
 masses in his section. Thus we find him fighting the 
 Conservative organization and the administration of the 
 schools under Ruffner, Conservative and friend of 
 public education though he was, apparently because he 
 believed that both were too much in the interest of the 
 privileged classes. This attitude soon led him to attack 
 the fiscal policy which the state had adopted both before 
 the war and after, and to endorse the radical doctrine 
 that a decision of the courts against the constitutionality 
 of a law was not binding unless it was unanimous. 
 
 IT Governor Kemper, Congressman Harris, Speaker Allen, Senator 
 Henkel, and to a slighter degree Col. Charles T, O'Ferrall and Governor 
 Holliday, illustrate this tendency. 
 
 18 Harvie Papers. 
 
 ^^ National Cyclopedia of American Biography; Enquirer, March 31, 
 1875; Whig, December 3, 1874; "Personal Eecollections"; Eujfner 
 Tapers. 
 
108 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIROINIA 
 
 Next in importance was John Paiil,^° of Rockingham, 
 now just forty years of age. Senator Paul boasted that 
 he had been "raised between two corn rows,"^^ and 
 Funders were fond of pointing to his ''well-known 
 rampancy and extravagance." But he possessed, 
 according to his closest political foe, Col. Charles T. 
 O'Ferrall, ''all the elements of popularity, strong and 
 magnetic as a speaker, with a splendid record as a 
 soldier and untiring energy." Both of these men had 
 studied law,-^ and now Paul was to become Congressman 
 and federal district judge; Riddleberger, United States 
 Senator. 
 
 East of the Blue Ridge lie the Piedmont, Southside, 
 and Tidewater sections."^ Together they contained two- 
 thirds of the state's population, of which one-half was 
 black. They differed in soil, climate, and products ; and 
 before the war they had often differed in politics. The 
 spread of slavery, however, together with the develop- 
 ment of inter-communicating trade routes, had knit them 
 firmly together under an aristocratic regime. After the 
 war these sections remained united because their funda- 
 mental problems were the same. Of these problems, 
 race adjustment took precedence; and the views of this 
 region became the policy of the state. These views were 
 
 ^'^ Congressional Directory, 47 Congress; O'Ferrall, Forty Years; Elam, 
 Mahone and Virginia. 
 
 21 The reply said to have been made to this assertion of Paul is quite in 
 harmony with the rough and ready discussions of the time : "A pumpkin- 
 head, by G— d!" 
 
 22 Paul studied law at the University of Virginia after the war. 
 
 23 For distribution of the races see map. The ' ' Southside ' ' is 
 the section south of the James. ' ' Piedmont ' ' is often applied to the 
 counties along the Blue Eidge exclusively, the others being called "Mid- 
 land. ' ' As the description of these sections is largely a re-survey of 
 previous chapters, references have been deemed unnecessary. Much help 
 has been derived from ' ' Personal EecoUections. ' ' Cf. Nation, September 
 13, 1877. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADEES, 1879 109 
 
 as follows : Economically, the negro must work out his 
 own salvation, unhelped and unhindered; socially, he 
 must remain in a rigidly separate sphere; politically, 
 he might hold office rarely and vote to a limited extent. 
 The rigor of this scheme, however, was modified in many 
 a practical way, for the negro's taxes were light, his 
 schools reasonably good, his teachers often white, and 
 his personal freedom little restrained. His farm lay side 
 by side with the white man's; he traded at the same 
 store as the white man, drank at the same bar, travelled 
 by the same railroad and steamer. When he was accused 
 of crime, white lawyers defended him. His own church 
 and public ''hall" rose in every neighborhood, always 
 with white assistance. Grievances the negro undoubt- 
 edly had. Punishment by whipping and chains he 
 deemed ''class legislation" and "degrading"; and he 
 resented the fact that his insane were thrust into the 
 jails and that jury-service, which he deemed a privilege, 
 was denied him. But for all this, he was fairly content 
 with his position as a whole; only the practical loss of 
 political privileges rankled. 
 
 Not less important was the social situation among the 
 whites of the "East." Many of the old plantation class, 
 realizing that the prestige of the plantation was gone, 
 had quickly moved to the near-by towns, making these, 
 as in the Valley, the new intellectual centers. Under the 
 exigencies of reconstruction politics, political leadership, 
 too, passed from the counties and the old leaders gave 
 place to a compromising and practical body of men 
 residing chiefly in the towns — men with strong Northern 
 connections, intent upon the material development of 
 the state, and caring little for "dead issues." Then 
 came the Confederate reaction, bringing prominence and 
 power to "war heroes." While adhering to the views 
 of the old leaders these men deemed themselves prac- 
 
110 EEADJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 tical, and soon formed alliances with the '' interests," 
 by conceding to the latter the shaping of economic and 
 fiscal policies though reserving the offices for themselves. 
 Thus "honor" and the "credit of the state" were com- 
 bined in a new party watchword. Meantime a stronger 
 middle class was forming. To the numerous small 
 farmers were added new landowners, saloon-keepers, 
 small manufacturers, truckers, oyster-planters, cattle- 
 dealers, merchants, self-made lawyers, and not a few 
 solid adventurers from the North. The towns felt their 
 presence : even in Richmond political recognition was 
 accorded the German and Irish elements, and a "bone 
 and sinew" candidate now and again opposed a "Frank- 
 lin Street man." Still more important were the men 
 of this class in the counties from which the old leaders 
 were departing. Here they rose to prominence in the 
 churches and the numerous fraternal and benevolent 
 associations, shared local political leadership, and even 
 broke into the family circles of the weakened upper 
 classes. As yet, however, their opportunities were 
 greatly restricted; for energy, initiative, and equipment 
 were valued but lightly in comparison with "expe- 
 rience, ' ' and in public life offices were deemed ' ' honors. ' ' 
 Finally, turning to the lowest classes, we find conditions 
 very bad and very slow to improve. Never had illiteracy 
 been so great or knowledge of public affairs so slight.^* 
 Obsessed by race prejudice, the lower classes followed 
 party leaders almost as blindly as did the negroes. The 
 abolition of slavery, together with the breaking up of 
 the plantations and the establishment of public schools, 
 unquestionably meant their ultimate emancipation, but 
 only after they had learned to labor intelligently and 
 to save. Meanwhile hard times and competition with 
 
 24 The "pauper" system of schools (eh. II) was discontinued during 
 the war and was never revived. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 111 
 
 the freedmen kept tliem literally bowed to the ground. 
 The more serious minded found solace in the churches, 
 where a Puritan-like religion was preached; others, in 
 the saloons, where drunkenness and brawls were fre- 
 quent. In the public schools, indeed, they dimly recog- 
 nized their children's chance for better things. But it 
 was difficult both to pay taxes and to spare the child's 
 labor and the money for his books and clothes. Besides, 
 in some places the schools were closing. Could these 
 masses be aroused so that they would throw off the 
 leadership of the aristocrats and the towns'? Before 
 1877 efforts to this end had been rarely successful and 
 only when disguised by some minor issue. Now, in 1879, 
 Mahone was hopeful, but not sanguine, that the masses 
 might be stirred to a livelier interest in the affairs of 
 the government. 
 
 The list of leading Readjusters in the ^^East" was 
 short but significant. Foremost in the ridge counties was 
 the plebeian farmer and parson, John E. Massey; in the 
 Midland, James Barbour led. Of a family long promi- 
 nent in the affairs of state and nation, Barbour had 
 battled independently and fearlessly for a more repre- 
 sentative party management and against the fiscal policy 
 embodied in the Funding Act.^^ In Richmond, the Whig 
 fought almost alone ; for the course of John S. Wise was 
 as yet unannounced. In the ''Southside," where the 
 densest negro population lay, the self-made Mahone 
 found a powerful ally in his aristocratic fellow towns- 
 man, William E. Cameron. An editorial writer of 
 uncommon power, Cameron was also a successful poli- 
 tician, and was now serving his third term as mayor of 
 Petersburg despite its large negro majority. He and 
 John S. Wise, both young, eager, and brilliant, with 
 perhaps a touch of unsteadiness, were destined to be 
 
 25 Barbour had been anti-Mahone in the railroad war. 
 
112 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 viewed in the North as excellent examples of the anti- 
 Bourbon forces in the movement. From Williamsburg, 
 Dr. Richard Wise, of the well-known Virginia family 
 of that name, co-operated with V. D. Groner,^^ the self- 
 made manager of a great Norfolk steamship line, himself 
 no believer in Readjustment but a friend of Mahone." 
 While the leading Readjusters of the "East" were 
 thus evenly divided as regards the class from which they 
 sprang, the three most conspicuous and powerful of 
 them were, and claimed to be, "men of the people." 
 William E. Massey-^ called himself "the father of the 
 Readjuster movement. ' ' The son of a small farmer and 
 mechanic of Spottsylvania County, he had managed to 
 secure a good education, and having drifted about in 
 Piedmont and the Valley, as teacher, lawyer, and itiner- 
 ant and regular preacher in turn, he had finally settled 
 as a farmer in Albemarle. Forced repudiation of Con- 
 federate bonds (some of which he owned), increased 
 taxes for interest on the compounded state debt, the high 
 private interest rate, and the general suspicion of one 
 who lives remote from the center of things combined 
 to convince him that the interests of the "people" were 
 not being represented at Richmond. Therefore, though 
 sharing the traditional Virginia opposition to a min- 
 ister's participating in politics, he felt that the situation 
 imposed upon him a moral duty. And so, in 1873, he 
 entered the House to undo the Funding Act. Here, 
 impressed by the indolent and slipshod methods of 
 handling the state's securities, he hit upon the plan of 
 killing the act by creating difficulties in the use of 
 coupons, on the ostensible ground of preventing fraud. 
 
 2«See Dispatch, November 15, 1879, June 2, 1881; State, 1881. 
 
 27 Whig, June 3, 1881. 
 
 28 Maasey, Autobiography ; Contemporary press ; ' ' Personal EecoUec- 
 tions ' ' ; above, p. 63. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 113 
 
 The morality of this appeared perfect, for he was an 
 ''original readjuster. " From the genial simplicity of 
 his looks and the apparent harmlessness of his efforts, 
 the capital city reporters soon dubbed him ''Parson." 
 But when, in 1877, the state treasury became empty and 
 the lawyer-farmer urged in a vigorous pamphlet that 
 the affairs of the state be settled as would those of a 
 private bankrupt, men began to say that he would be 
 a strong independent candidate for governor. Save for 
 his fiscal views, however, Massey was a genuine Conserv- 
 ative; only with considerable reluctance did he enter 
 the convention of 1879. But once committed, he acted 
 with remarkable energy. Wandering about the state, 
 he drew large crowds, especially among the farmers. 
 Thoroughly understanding the shallower aspects of 
 finance and the deep feelings of the people, with a 
 marvellous memory for figures and a lack of scruple in 
 using them, full of homely anecdotes and Biblical 
 quotations, occasionally caustic, always imperturbable, 
 he had no peer as a stump-speaker in his own party and 
 rarely met his match among his opponents. 
 
 Through its long opposition to policies approved by 
 the leading classes, the Richmond Whig had become by 
 1877 theoretically a democratic paper. In the shaping of 
 this attitude well-born men had played a leading part — 
 Mosely and Meade as editors, Cameron, Rufiin, and 
 Ruffner as contributors. None the less the belief gained 
 ground that for certain purposes at least the Whig was 
 but the "personal organ" of General Mahone; and as 
 Mahone and democracy were both unpopular in Rich- 
 mond, it had ceased to be read in the "best homes" there. 
 Its editor now was W. C. Elam, a plain man of North 
 Carolina and as good a school man "as ever put pen to 
 paper. "^^ With Elam the social note was ever promi- 
 
 29 W. H. Euffner to Elam, Buffner Papers. 
 
114 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 nent — "the Brokers and the Broker press," the ''Scribe 
 and Pharisee" parsons, the office-holding set who "gen- 
 erally train with the court-house clique and always 
 believe that money and position are stronger than the 
 people. ' ' In lucid explanation of figures, often combined 
 with unwarranted distortion of them, in etfective reitera- 
 tion of a leading idea in striking language, and in arous- 
 ing suspicion of his adversaries' motives through insin- 
 uation, virulent personal attacks, and often deliberate 
 misrepresentation, he was unexcelled. And for all such 
 utterances of the Whig, though a recluse by habit and 
 physically unfit, he held himself strictly accountable, 
 according to the honor code of the "Bourbons" whom 
 he so much affected to despise.^" 
 
 Quite different from the rest was Gen. William 
 Mahone.®^ In him a varied career as soldier, railroad 
 president, and political wire-puller had developed 
 remarkable capacity for intrigue, organization, and 
 command; and an extraordinary energy rendered these 
 powers always available. Possessed of a peculiar per- 
 sonal appearance, a high-pitched voice, and many 
 idiosyncrasies of manner, he presented to the observer 
 few of the characteristics of an orator or party leader. 
 Though he quickly learned the language of the reformer 
 and spoke easily of "the cause" which he came later to 
 interpret as the "regeneration of Virginia," he lacked 
 magnetism and was never genuinely popular with the 
 rank and file. Lieutenants, however, he won easily, espe- 
 cially among young men, and these he inspired with 
 
 30 See Dispatch, June 24, July 3; Whig, February 9, 1880. The 
 Northern Neck News, June 11, 1880, has an account of his duel with Col. 
 Thomas Smith, of Fauquier, caused by an editorial assertion (June 1, 
 1880) that on the collapse of the Confederacy, "the President, Governor, 
 and whole bomb-proof corps grabbed the remaining swag and sneaked 
 away." It is said that Elam after the duel denied the authorship of this. 
 
 31 Above, p. 68. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 115 
 
 confidence and aggressiveness. In the campaign of 
 1879, we hear little of headquarters of committeemen. 
 Mahone was everywhere — planning, speaking, bargain- 
 ing. It was a new type of leadership, and one with 
 which Funders for four years were utterly unable to 
 cope. 
 
 The Funders accorded to none of their number such 
 precedence as was enjoyed among Readjusters by the 
 leaders just described. Of most distinguished ante- 
 bellum services was R. M. T. Hunter, state treasurer, 
 who had been opposed to the tax-receivable coupons and 
 had favored a readjustment of the debt in the interest of 
 ''peelers," but now deprecated party divisions because, 
 he thought, ' ' the political warfare upon the South has not 
 yet ceased."^- Although a Confederate of distinguished 
 Virginia family and educated in the school of Calhoun 
 and McDuffie, John W. Johnston had accepted federal 
 appointment as judge in 1869, and from this position 
 had been advanced to the federal Senate by the com- 
 promising legislature of 1869-1870. Conducting him- 
 self with quiet dignity, however, he managed to escape 
 serious suspicion as to his party integrity, and having 
 become rooted in the regard of the business men of the 
 ''East" and of the entire western section, he was now 
 serving his third term.^^ The family and business con- 
 nections of Robert E. Withers, together with a certain 
 personal charm, political aggressiveness, and the glam- 
 our of military service, had caused him to be elected 
 over Hunter in 1874, as the colleague of Johnston.^* An 
 intense interest in public education led Dr. William H. 
 Ruffner, of Lexington, at first to favor readjustment ; but 
 
 32 Letter in Dispatch, October 4, 1879. 
 
 33 He was elected twice by the legislature chosen in 1869, see above, p. 
 22, The third time John W. Daniel was his chief opponent. 
 
 34 Withers, AutohiograpJiy, p. 317. 
 
116 EEADJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 upon the passage of the Henkel Act, he began to throw 
 the weight of his strong personality and the prestige of 
 his office into the Funder scale.^^ All of the Congress- 
 men supported the Funders. Of these, John Randolph 
 Tucker, of Lexington,^^ was probably the ablest and had 
 the clearest record for sound fiscal views ; John Goode, of 
 Norfolk, was deemed the most eloquent and popular. 
 The Whig hated Tucker most bitterly for his opinions, 
 and despised Goode for having broken from his old 
 alliance with Mahone.^^ A war hero, young, eloquent, 
 popular, and with a personal defeat chargeable to 
 Mahone,^® John W. Daniel, of Lynchburg, was most 
 active in stumping the state, and successful beyond all 
 others in uncovering Readjuster plans. An asset of 
 great moral worth was the eloquent preacher and 
 future ambassador to Madrid, J. L. M. Curry, professor 
 in Richmond College.^'' Gen. T. M. Logan, now a rail- 
 road promoter of Richmond, and Senator John T. 
 Lovell, editor of the Warren Sentinel, shared the com- 
 mittee leadership; J. Bell Bigger, formerly of Lynch- 
 burg, was secretary. Among the newspapers may be 
 mentioned the Richmond State, which inherited the 
 Bourbon clientage of the Enquirer, the Norfolk Land- 
 marJc, which had but recently broken with Mahone and 
 still insisted upon a discriminating liberalism, and the 
 Richmond Dispatch, now nearing the height of its power 
 as party organ par excellence. To these should be added 
 the Baptist Religious Herald and the Methodist Chris- 
 tian Advocate, whose occasional entrance into campaign 
 controversy, contrary to their usual custom, serves to 
 
 s5Whig, January 31; Dispatch, October 17, 21, 1879. 
 
 36 Above, p. 81. Mr. Tucker founded the law department of Washington 
 College just after the Civil War and lectured there for years. 
 
 37 ' ' New Virginia. ' ' 
 
 38 Above, p. 74. 
 
 39 Alderman and Gordon, J. L. M. Curry, p. 246. 
 
SECTIONS AND LEADERS, 1879 117 
 
 show how dangerous to moral and social order leaders 
 of the upper middle class deemed the new movement. 
 In Gen. W. C. Wickham, of Hanover and Richmond, the 
 Funders had a Republican ally of much influence in his 
 party and of unquestioned business and social standing.*" 
 This brief survey of the geographical sections of Vir- 
 ginia at this time shows that the ^'West," especially the 
 ''Southwest," being democratic and unencumbered with 
 a negro problem, was ready to follow the Readjusters, 
 and that in the "East" where the negro though of great 
 importance was an uncertain factor, their chief hope lay 
 in winning ambitious young men or self-made men of the 
 middle class, who were barred from political advance- 
 ment by the prevailing preference for "experienced" 
 men or war heroes, and who might be counted on to 
 arouse the lower classes of whites. It shows also that 
 though the leaders of the new party were about equally 
 divided between the well-born and the self-made, the two 
 most conspicuous Readjusters were both "men of the 
 people. ' ' 
 
 40 Wickham won the rank of brigadier-general in the Confederate army. 
 As a member of the Confederate Congress he advocated a cessation of 
 hostilities in 1864-1865. Because of the friendship of Grant he was useful 
 in the movement of 1869. He was successively president, vice-president, 
 and second vice-president of the C. & O. Eailway. See memorial, ' ' A type 
 of the Southern Civilization," by Thomas Nelson Page. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 THE READJUSTEE CAMPAIGN, 1879 
 
 The contest for control of the legislature of 1879-1880 
 began with the Readjuster Convention/ 
 
 To prevent the enactment of the McCulloch bill,^ Read- 
 justers of the legislature had already begun to filibuster. 
 But, supported by the bulk of the press and some expres- 
 sions from the public mass-meetings. Governor Holliday 
 called an extra session. The Conservative state com- 
 mittee met quietly on the night after the call and 
 endorsed the bill.^ Then the debt-paying association 
 became dormant. Black-lists of the opposition began to 
 appear. And after some three weeks the Funders had 
 secured the great advantage of ime fait accompli.* 
 
 Interest centered next on the spring elections for 
 local offices. Control of these through ''rings," Read- 
 justers said, formed the very basis of "Bourbon" and 
 "Broker" power. Accordingly, candidates sprang up 
 "as plentiful as the locusts of Egypt." In some places 
 ability to write was the only requisite required. ' ' Hand- 
 shaking" on county court-days was widely complained 
 of. Incumbents usually won ; for in many eastern coun- 
 ties the possibility of Republican success kept the organ- 
 
 1 Ch. 9. 
 
 2 Above, p. 85. 
 
 3 Below. 
 
 * Dispatch, March 5, 6. W. E. Eoyall took the stump for the Funders 
 and in 1880 established the Commonwealth in their interests; Bradley T. 
 Johnson returned to Maryland; C. U. Williams became financial agent for 
 the funding syndicate. Cf. p. 81. 
 
READJUSTEE CAMPAIGN, 1879 119 
 
 izations intact, and in others party regularity was still 
 esteemed. But the increased number of the disap- 
 pointed, the acceptance of Readjustment by many of 
 them, and the bitterness of feeling developed — these 
 were all favorable to the new move.^ 
 
 Local organization in the interest of the Readjusters 
 had begun during the convention days when some county 
 chairmen were appointed by the Congressional district 
 committees.® Early mass-meetings especially in the 
 democratic ''West," had enthusiastically assumed to 
 endorse, revise, or supplement these appointments, the 
 standard being usually good community standing. 
 But soon a dearth of material was met, and mass- 
 meetings and committees ceased to be reported. Save 
 for the peripatetic Massey, Readjuster speakers also 
 became quiet. Encouraged by this and by the appar- 
 ently successful operation of the McCulloch act, the 
 Funders exultantly asserted that the move was ' ' dead. ' ' 
 On July 4, however, the Whig briefly stated that 
 the organizing was going on ''with vigor." This 
 was true. Through his power as party chairman, 
 Mahone had been quietly selecting his men, and late in 
 July the Funders, to their surprise, faced a compact and 
 widely extended organization.^ For these later selec- 
 tions, the qualifications were generally shrewdness and 
 availability. 
 
 The Funders, meantime, were planning to use the 
 name and organization of the Conservative party. But 
 
 5 C/. above, p. 76. Dispatch, Whig (news and editorial columns), 
 April, May, especially election returns (May 24 ff.); Virginia Star, August 
 23; Northern Neck News, June 13. 
 
 6 Above, p. 101, The county (or town) chairman named three associates 
 from each magisterial district, these smaller groups constituted precinct 
 or ward committees. 
 
 T Whig, February 27 (list of county chairmen) ; March 22, 24; April 24; 
 May 20. The difficulty was admitted by Eeadjusters, Whig, July 23, 
 October 30 (New York Herald interview with Elam). 
 
120 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 the Conservative state committee hesitated to take 
 vigorous action. A half-hearted attempt at checking 
 the move early in March had met only derision.® The 
 Readjusters, clinging to their place in the old organiza- 
 tion,^ refused to admit that they had left the party ;^° 
 they asserted that the committee held by usurpation and 
 represented rejected principles,^^ and they challenged it 
 to call a state convention.^" It was, indeed, no slight 
 matter to ''read men out of the party"; and the final 
 decision was taken in the face of the vigorous protest 
 of two members and by one less than a majority of the 
 whole committee. On August 6, by a vote of 13 to 2, 
 the McCulloch Act was declared ' ' a great public measure 
 devised and accomplished by the will and judgment of 
 the Conservative party," and support of it was made 
 the test to be applied in local organization and nomina- 
 tions.^^ 
 
 Public discussion formed a striking" and important 
 feature of the campaign. In March, prominent Read- 
 justers began to invade the precincts of Funder legisla- 
 
 8 By the vote of nine members the Eeadjusters were declared a "party" 
 and local reorganization in the interests of the McCulloch bill was urged. 
 The Whig, March 6 ff ., dubbed this ' ' Lord Lovell 's lament ' ' from John 
 T. Lovell, over whose signature as chairman the address was published. 
 For unsuccessful attempts at local reorganization see Whig, March 22, 24, 26 
 (quoting Fredericksburg Becorder and Southern Intelligencer). 
 
 9 For disorganization in consequence, see Dispatch, October 23 ; Virginia 
 Star, October 25. 
 
 1*^ Cf. Bourbons in 1869 and debt payers in 1877, above, pp. 21, 36, 73. 
 
 11 "If Eeadjusters have gone out of the party, where in the devil did 
 the Funders go when they formed an association with Wickham, Eives, and 
 Hughes ... ?" Abingdon, Virginian, in Whig, March 11. Cf. above, 
 p. 83. 
 
 12 E'.^., Whig, March 11. 
 
 13 Dispatch, Whig, August 7. John L. Marye drew the report. Groner 
 and Wise (above) protested. For two later addresses, see Dispatch, August 
 9, 20. Some Funders regretted this action, notably the LandmarTc and the 
 Petersburg Index-Appeal. 
 
 14 Cf. above, pp. 41, 49. 
 
READJUSTEE CAMPAIGN, 1879 121 
 
 tors, compelling tliem to defend themselves and some- 
 times to call in their more eloquent friends. This attack 
 lasted through May. In August, the Funders ''took 
 the stump" in force. Debate then became general and 
 continued until November. The Readjusters used their 
 half dozen strong speakers to great advantage. Begin- 
 ning in the ''Southwest," in the Valley, and in the ridge 
 counties of Piedmont, where discontent was unrestrained 
 by the negro problem, they advanced gradually east- 
 ward, singly, by twos, threes, or even fours, as occasion 
 demanded, through the discontented tobacco counties 
 into Tidewater and thence back into the fairly pros- 
 perous counties along the upper Potomac, often suddenly 
 returning to some strategic point threatened by the 
 Funders' more numerous artillery. Although new party 
 organs were established and the circulation of the old 
 ones increased, these discussions, often joint and lasting 
 from four to six hours, largely took the place of cam- 
 paign literature. ^^ 
 
 At first the Funders assumed a haughty attitude, and 
 relied too much on appeals to sentiment. But the Read- 
 justers asked questions, read figures, and took the offen- 
 sive; and soon detailed and serious discussions became 
 common. These discussions centered upon three points : 
 the validity of the debt, the McCulloch "settlement," 
 and the purposes of Readjuster party.^" 
 
 15 For convenient list of newspapers, see Dispatch, August 21 ; Whig, 
 January 4, August 5. Ten thousand copies of General Mahone's convention 
 speech were ordered printed. The address of the Eeadjuster members of 
 the legislature could be had for five dollars per 1000, net. Funders printed 
 the Petersburg address of J. W. Johnston. Examples of new papers are 
 the Giles True Issue (Eeadjuster), and the Northern Neck Netvs (Funder). 
 
 16 Among the best reported speeches are those of J. W. Johnston in 
 Norfolk and Petersburg (Dispatch, October 2, 11); Ean Tucker in the 
 "Southwest" (Abingdon Standard, October 16); Mahone in Eichmond 
 (Whig, February 25); Blair at Wytheville (Whig, May 20); and Massey 
 as collected in his Autobiography. See also Conservative committee ad- 
 
122 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 The Funders would begin by showing how the debt 
 was originally contracted honorably and for public utili- 
 ties which still served their purpose." Admitting this, 
 the Readjusters told of how interest had accumulated 
 during war and reconstruction, and of how this had been 
 assumed as an obligation and compounded, under the 
 Funding Act, contrary to every principle of law and 
 equity." But, said the Funders, we are bound for the 
 debt as it stands (less West Virginia's share) : legally, 
 even to the extent of our private property, because of 
 our contract; morally, because we are forbidden to 
 steal — the state's honor is that of the individual; com- 
 mercially, because Wall Street opinion '^controls the 
 influx of capital."" No state, replied the Readjusters, 
 has ever been compelled to pay against its will. Other 
 states have repudiated without loss of credit or blame 
 from Funders.^" Are not many of you private bank- 
 rupts ! Is it not rather cowardly to cater to the opinion 
 of those who "having stripped us, think it rascally that 
 we should not submit to be skinned 'T^ "Honor won't 
 buy a breakfast."" 
 
 dresses (above). Important Funder campaigners not mentioned above 
 were: A. A. Phlegar, called by the Eeadjvisters the "brains of his party 
 in the Southwest"; W. W. Walker, minister and lawyer; C. W. String- 
 fellow; W. E, Eoyall (above); Gen. J. A. Walker, commander of the 
 Stonewall Brigade; J. H. Tyler, C. H. O'Ferrall, and P. H. McKinney, 
 later governors; ex-Speaker Allen; Attorney-General J. G. Field, elected as 
 a Eeadjuster; E. A. Coghill; A. M. Keiley, mayor of Eiehmond. 
 
 i''^ This argument was used in the "West" especially. Dispatch, July 29 
 (editorial), August 13 (letters); Whig, September 6 (editorial). 
 
 18 While Eeadjuster opinion continued to differ on the amount the state 
 was not properly bound for, this was always excluded. Cf. above, p. 62. 
 Funders urged that emancipation was not an absolute loss to the state, 
 Whig, September 5 (W. W. Walker) ; Dispatch, October 2 (J. W. Johnston). 
 
 19 Norfolk LandmarTc, in Dispatch, October 17. 
 
 20 Whig, October 23, November 3. 
 
 21 Whig, February 28. 
 
 22 This phrase, first used by Blair, was much distorted in its applications 
 by the Funders. 
 
EEADJUSTER CAMPAIGN, 1879 123 
 
 The McCulloch Act, asserted the Funders, will settle 
 the question. It gives to creditors even less than does 
 the Barbour bill. Its acceptance by them is clear from 
 the amounts already funded. It brings the debt within 
 the capacity of the state. Even Mahone has admitted,-^ 
 and the auditor's figures clearly demonstrate,^* that 
 three per cent interest can be paid now without increase 
 of taxes, and before the higher rate begins conditions 
 will so improve that the ten-forties can be replaced by 
 three per cent bonds. Under the Henkel Act, they con- 
 tinued, the schools will receive more than the Barbour 
 bill allowed them; therefore, the leading school officials 
 advocate the new settlement.'^ Through exemptions and 
 special privileges, replied the Readjusters, the ten- 
 forties are equivalent to six per cent bonds. Moreover, 
 the creditors of the state, under this act, would receive 
 only fourteen of the thirty-two millions that the state 
 would have to pay; brokers would get the rest.^® Com- 
 parison cannot be made with the Barbour bill as that was 
 but the first part of the program of 1877-1878."^ The 
 Funders ' estimates are deceptive as usual, the fraud now 
 consisting in making a division between '' ordinary" and 
 ''extraordinary" expenses and excluding in the process 
 whatever is inconvenient. Actually, there would prob- 
 ably be a deficit of $600,000 yearly for the first ten years 
 under the proposed ''settlement.""^ Did not Johnston 
 
 23 Above, p. 99. 
 
 21 Address of Conservative state committee, above, p. 120. 
 
 25 LandmarTc, July 9 (speech of Supt. William F. Fox, president of the 
 Educational Association of Virginia). 
 
 26 See the Godwin-Eoyall debate at Surry Court House, Dispatch, August 
 28; Whig, September 1, October 3. 
 
 27 Whig, October 3. 
 
 28 The chief trick in the juggling by vphieh this was obtained lay in 
 confusing the special embarrassments of the funding period (above, p. 90) 
 with permanent conditions. The confusion was very thoroughgoing. See 
 Massey, Autobiography, ch. XIV; Whig, August 11. 
 
124 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 and Phlegar originally admit this? And is not McCul- 
 loch reported to have already "given the order" for 
 an issue of certificates under the "Allen amendment" 
 which will cost the state five and a half per cent a month"® 
 and paralyze the schools! Just wherein lies the justifi- 
 cation for believing that ten years will enable us to pay 
 a state tax of ninety cents f^'' Shall the state be thus 
 ' ' bound for forty years ' ' ? Shall the people never know 
 anything but debts and taxes and unsatisfied wants ? 
 
 Questioned as to their political intentions, the Read- 
 justers asserted that this was not a "party fight"; men 
 would next year vote their old tickets.^^ Here, however, 
 they were on the defensive. The Funders were, indeed, 
 forced by campaign exigencies to modify their early 
 emphasis upon the heinousness of "deserting" the Con- 
 servative party for an alliance with the Republicans.^^ 
 None the less, they thoroughly ventilated the ' ' records ' ' 
 of the new party leaders.''^ "Look at them all. From 
 leader to corporal, what has any one of them ever done! 
 Absolutely nothing. ' ' Massey was a ' ' political parson ' ' ; 
 Paul, a "ranter"; Fayette McMullin, "an ignorant, 
 uneducated old man"^* — all were "disappointed politi- 
 cians" seeking to "get possession of the state, rob her, 
 and blacken her fair name. ' '^^ And Mahone ! had he not 
 virtually robbed the state of assets equivalent to ten 
 millions of state bonds !'^ Did he not, during the last 
 legislature, father a scheme for using the sinking fund 
 
 29 IMd., September 17. Certificates could be sold at seventy -five and 
 redeemed six months later at par. 
 
 30 Report, in Dispatch, September 2, of Mahone 's Charlottesville speech. 
 
 31 For example, Whig, September 10; Blair at Wytheville, Wytheville 
 Dispatch, in Whig, May 20. 
 
 32 See Dispatch, August 28, for a recent local use of this. 
 s^ Dispatch, July 10 (editorial). 
 
 34 Dispatch, July 23. 
 
 ^5 Dispatch, July 19; August 8 (quoting Hillsville Virginian). 
 
 36Eoyall in Dispatch, October 11, and Abingdon Standard, October 16. 
 
READJUSTEE CAMPAIGN, 1879 125 
 
 to purchase a railroad and make himself president?" 
 Now compare with these our leaders, they said, both 
 Senators, all the Congressmen, four ex-governors, the 
 leading clergymen, nearly all the newspapers at home 
 and abroad !^^ And what will the Readjusters do if they 
 win? Pack the state courts"'' and attempt to repudiate? 
 Then we shall have among us federal tax gatherers, 
 backed by federal troops/^ The day, replied the Read- 
 justers, when great names carried weight is past." As 
 for the press, ''McCulloch's Republican organs in New 
 York and his Conservative organs in Virginia play the 
 same tune. . . . in hoc signo vinces — $ is borne on all 
 the banners of the many against the few. ' '*^ Office-seek- 
 ing! How dare the Funders reproach us for this? Has 
 not Daniel run for ''every office in sight," and at last 
 had a town created that it might bear his name and elect 
 him mayor ?*^ The debt can be readjusted, without any 
 packing of the courts, by using pressure such as the 
 Funders are now using upon consol holders.** 
 
 From their dull talk of sickness and hard times the 
 people turned to these discussions as to an intellectual 
 treat, plodding miles, and standing hours in the sum- 
 mer's heat. But they were largely a crude, unread 
 people, untaught by reconstruction politics to differ 
 philosophically. Coarse jokes, rude interruptions, sting- 
 ing personal attacks were relished. Feelings usually ran 
 high. Among the spectators fights were not infrequent. 
 
 s"! Dispatch, September 5 (editorial on authority of Daniel). 
 ^s Dispatch, July 28. 
 
 39 Cf. above, p. 46. 
 
 40 Argument used by Eoyall and Goode and endorsed by the Dispatch. 
 *i Whig, September 10 (on candidacy of W. W. Henry) ; Virginia Star, 
 
 ■October 11. 
 
 42 Whig, February 28. 
 
 43 Massey, Autobiography, ch. XIV. 
 
 4* Elam, New York Herald, in Whig, October 30. 
 
126 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 Often a general "row" seemed imminent. Back to the 
 crossroads store went a vague impression that we did 
 or didn't owe a debt, and a vivid recollection of how 
 some speaker "eat up" his opponent.*^ 
 
 Nominations for the one hundred and forty seats*® in 
 the legislature began early in August. In the "West," 
 Readjusters and Funders conducted themselves like well- 
 established parties of nearly equal quality.*^ In the 
 "East," however, chaos reigned. The Funders had 
 much trouble. Their "Conservative" meetings were 
 often attended by Readjusters — sometimes in good faith, 
 often to force an adjournment or even to dictate the 
 nomination. Many refused to enter the "modem 
 scramble for office. ' ' Sometimes faction and the strength 
 of the debt feeling compelled them to postpone nomina- 
 tions, set aside old favorites, and honor converted Read- 
 justers.*^ But, on the whole, their selections were 
 decidedly representative of the successful upper classes. 
 In Readjuster conventions, on the other hand, one could 
 note an unusual proportion of new men and ruined rep- 
 resentatives of old ruling families, and many Independ- 
 ents and Republicans. Here some excellent nominations 
 
 45 "Personal Kecolleetions " ; Dispatch, August 28 (Surry); Virginia 
 Star, November 1; Whig, June 12 (Grayson Clipper); October 18 (Eock- 
 ingham). At least two were shot in quarrels. For duelling later, see above, 
 p. 114. 
 
 4« The full number of both houses under constitutional amendment of 
 1876, Thorpe, VII, 3902. 
 
 47 The Funders were somewhat superior socially and in past political 
 honors especially in the Valley. In six counties of the "Southwest" and 
 one of the Valley there were Independents. 
 
 *8 Whig, October 1 (Grayson) ; Dispatch, October 8 (King William) ; 
 Whig, March 22, 24, 26, April 19, and Virginia Star, August 13 (Stafford) ; 
 Whig, September 6, and Dispatch, September 15 (Patrick-Henry) ; Virginia 
 Star, August 23, October 1 (Frederieksburg-Spottsylvania) ; Dispatch, 
 October 6 (Prince George-Surry). 
 
EEADJUSTER CAMPAIGN, 1879 127 
 
 were made" and some exceedingly bad ones.^'' The 
 latter were due in part to the dearth of suitable mate- 
 rial and in part to the attempt to win the colored vote. 
 
 Influenced by the opposition of President Hayes to 
 repudiation in any form, the Republican state leaders 
 early expressed their personal approval of the McCul- 
 loch Act. On the other hand, they hoped that the negro 
 would be kept out of the campaign, lest, perhaps, he 
 learn to follow other leaders.^^ With this the Funders 
 were, of course, content." The negroes, however, as far 
 as they had any opinion on the subject, were opposed to 
 paying the debt. It had been created by their old 
 masters, it interfered with schools and asylums, and it 
 necessitated a tax on whiskey. Moreover, it was gener- 
 ally supported by their political opponents and opposed 
 by the local Independent and Republican leaders whom 
 they were wont to follow. Still, fear of estranging the 
 whites and, in many cases, the habit of years impelled 
 the Readjusters to seek this vote very cautiously. True, 
 the negroes who had come to their convention had been 
 received courteously, and had been accorded in the 
 address a vague recognition of their desires as to 
 schools, suffrage, and taxes. But, taunted with these 
 facts, the Readjusters half apologized; sa}dng that to 
 break the color line had been originally one of the aims 
 of the Conservative party; that the debt question must 
 be settled by votes, and they preferred the ''honest 
 
 ^^E.g., the "Gallant" Col. Bob Mayo, of Westmoreland, and J. T. 
 Stovall, formerly Conservative chairman in Patrick-Henry. 
 
 50 This analysis is based on a detailed study of two Tidewater and two 
 Piedmont counties and the returns for the House (Dispatch, November 16), 
 supplemented by a mass of press notes. 
 
 51 C/. above, pp. 50, 83. Whig, March 3 (views of President Hayes), 
 July 12, 30 (quoting Eockbridge Enterprise) ; August 20 (Southern Intel- 
 ligencer); below, p. 135 (purported Mahone-Cameron arrangement). 
 
 ^2 Whig, March 22; Dispatch, August 9, November 15 (quoting). 
 
128 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 negro" to ''Bourbon Republicans"; that the Funders 
 had counted upon "bagging them all" through their 
 association with ''Rives and Co."; and that it was due 
 to Bourbon trickery and broker money that negro 
 delegates had come to their convention at all.^^ Accord- 
 ingly, confused by divided leadership and little sought 
 by either side, the negroes were generally apathetic.^* 
 But with September the situation changed sharply. 
 Beginning, apparently, with an insinuating speech of 
 Massey's in Petersburg, the Readjusters spread rumors 
 that they would grant the colored men more "rights" 
 and that the Funders meant to increase the poll tax to 
 three dollars and ' ' bind ' ' them for forty years. Churches 
 and societies were called in to spread and enforce these 
 rumors. ^^ Republicans, some of them negroes, were 
 supported for the legislature in at least twelve counties 
 and one town. The Funders at once countered by 
 appeals to the negro pride in their "best men" and by 
 confusing local situations. They spoke from the same 
 platform with hired negro speakers, established clubs, 
 ran Republican candidates to split the vote of the Read- 
 justers, and in at least six counties voted themselves for 
 Republicans, two of whom were negroes. Moreover, 
 private citizens pledged themselves to pay any increase 
 in the poll tax. Rumor had it that "Broker money" was 
 plentiful,^*' and both state and national Republican 
 leaders now lent their active assistance to the unusual 
 attempt to save the negro from unscrupulous and 
 designing men." 
 
 53 Above, pp. 83, 99. 
 
 ^'^ LandmarTc, September 10 (quoting Southern Intelligencer). 
 
 ^"^ Dispatch, September 17, 30, October 8, 10, 14; Virginia Star, Septem- 
 ber 13; Dispatch, November 15 (quoting Cameron in New York Herald). 
 
 55 Whig, September 30; October 10, 17, 18, 28; Northern Neck News, 
 October 10; Virginia Star, October 29. 
 
 5T Frederick Douglass endorsed the McCulloch Act and President Hayes 
 
Dis 
 
 Mod< 
 Modi 
 Very 
 Very 
 
 Majo 
 
 KY. 
 
 M 
 
 T E 
 
Distribution of tlie Races 
 
 Moderate while majority 
 Moderate negro majority = 
 
 Very large white majority {|||||||ll v. 
 
 Very large negro majority ^ 
 
 Majority of less than lo per cent. ^^ 
 
 JE N K „ 
 
 N . <C 
 
EEADJUSTER CAMPAIGN, 1879 129 
 
 Tlie campaign closed amid great confusion and excite- 
 ment. With three sets of candidates in the field for 
 both House and Senate (as often was the case), bar- 
 gains could be made with lightning rapidity. Peters- 
 burg negroes were wild, their women urging them on, 
 firmly believing that the McCuUoch Act would "place 
 their children in bondage for forty years to pay a debt 
 created to hang John Brown. '"^ The Funder executive 
 committee had suggested "confidentially" that care be 
 taken to have "one reliable person" at each voting 
 place.^^ "Vote or die; and have your vote counted, or 
 give short shift to those who seek to prevent," counselled 
 the Whig.'" 
 
 By a vote of 82,000 to 61,000 the Eeadjusters won 
 fifty-six delegates and twenty-four senators." The sur- 
 prise and mortification of the Funders was intense: 
 rascality had won; the negro was the cause; the world 
 must know that tax payers and real Virginians had 
 voted to pay the debt. In this view the outside press 
 concurred with unusual unanimity.^^ The Eeadjusters 
 
 authorized Judge Hughes to telegraph his endorsement to Colonel Popham 
 (clerk of the federal court and editor of the Southern Intelligencer). But 
 the negroes considered the Douglass letter a forgery and Hayes the sup- 
 planter of Grant. The Eepubliean state executive committee urged support 
 of all "straight-out" Eepubliean candidates, Whig, October 16, 29, 30; 
 November 1. 
 
 58 Petersburg Index-Appeal, in Dispatch, November 11. 
 
 59 Whig, September 30. 
 
 60 Whig, October 27. 
 
 61 In the Senate, of 30 Funders, 5 were re-elected, of 13 Eeadjusters, 7 
 were re-elected and 2 replaced by other Eeadjusters, Whig, November 12. 
 The smallness of the vote (figures are for delegates) was due to poor 
 Funder management, the perplexity of the negro, and to the Eeadjusters' 
 having no candidates in some districts (e.g., Eichmond) owing to lack of 
 time and funds. Whig, October 30. 
 
 62 Dispatch, Whig, Northern Neck News, passim. The New York Tribune 
 was an exception. 
 
130 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 denying all of these assertions claimed a majority of 
 both races. 
 
 Analysis of the returns"'^ — and the much larger vote 
 of 1881 was substantially similar*** — shows that the white 
 and Conservative ^^West"**^ and the negro and Repub- 
 lican districts of the "East" had in the main gone 
 Readjuster; the prevailingly Conservative and white 
 counties of the western and northern Piedmont, Funder. 
 The towns, even the little villages, usually went Funder f^ 
 the districts surrounding them, Readjuster. Several 
 counties of the ''East" distinguished from their neigh- 
 bors by large white majorities and a reputation for 
 "backwardness" were, suggestively, Readjuster." The 
 sectional, racial, and class feeling which thus appear back 
 of the returns, were probably assisted directly by the 
 degree of long continued economic depression ; for while 
 the map shows very mixed results, of twenty counties 
 selected for the heaviness of realty depreciation, four- 
 teen went Readjuster, and in only six of these did the 
 negro predominate numerically.**^ Possibly one-fourth 
 of the negroes and 40,000 whites, for one reason or 
 another, left their regular parties.®'' 
 
 63 Cf. maps. 
 
 64 Seven House districts changed each way. 
 
 65 The "Southwest" elected 18 Eeadjusters to 3 Funders; the Valley, 
 11 Eeadjusters to 6 Funders. 
 
 66 Petersburg and Norfolk were Eeadjuster; Portsmouth, a tie. In 1881 
 Norfolk and Portsmouth were Funder; Danville, Eeadjuster. 
 
 67 E.g., Stafford, Eichmond, Spottsylvania, Fairfax. 
 
 68 The map is for the years from 1860 to 1875; for valuation in 1880, 
 see below, p. 144. Of towns, only Petersburg and Fredericksburg showed 
 losses. 
 
 69 This estimate is based on a study of individual districts. Cf. Whig, 
 Dispatch, November, December, passim. The Eeadjuster vote in the 
 "West" was 23,000. In Norfolk, 169 negroes voted; the Funder white 
 majority was 131, Landmark, in Whig, November 10, 16. From districts 
 with a negro majority of ten per cent or more, 20 Eeadjusters and 12 
 
EEADJUSTER CAMPAIGN, 1879 131 
 
 In their local organization the Readjusters utilized 
 the multifarious factions already existing. On the other 
 hand, the ^'Funders" — as supporters of the McCuUoch 
 Act were called — controlled the old Conservative party 
 organization, and through its central committee soon 
 "read out" all Conservatives who opposed the McCul- 
 loch Act. Public joint-discussions characterized all 
 stages of the campaign, the Funders appealing to 
 ''honor" and "party fidelity"; the Readjusters urging 
 hard times and the sins of brokers and Bourbons. Late 
 in the campaign the Readjusters bid for the negro vote, 
 and obtained it through promises of more "rights," 
 despite the combined efforts of the ' ' Conservatives ' ' and 
 the more prominent Republicans. The election returns 
 indicate that the Readjusters won through the combina- 
 tion of the negroes and the "West," aided by acute and 
 long-continued economic distress. At best, however, the 
 vote was light. 
 
 Funders were returned. Similar white majorities sent 28 Eeadjusters and 
 26 Funders; the rest, 10 and 4 respectively. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 NATIONAL INFLUENCES: THE READJUSTER- 
 REPUBLICAN ALLIANCE, 1880-1881 
 
 Owing to opposition from the governor, the legislature 
 accomplished little during the session of 1879-1880 
 beyond indicating with greater clearness the Readjuster 
 program. Before this program could be completed in 
 1881-1882,^ a policy in national affairs began to appear 
 which, though in many respects not an integral part of 
 the Readjuster Movement, gave it a national importance 
 and profoundly modified its later course. 
 
 From 1869 to 1877 Virginia's touch with the Union 
 had been slight. By carefully maintaining a formal 
 obedience to reconstruction laws, the dominant Conser- 
 vative party had been able to avoid serious interference 
 from Washington, federal supervisors of elections 
 appearing rarely, federal troops but once.^ This was 
 undeniably good. But the persistence with which the 
 Republicans endeavored to regulate the domestic affairs 
 of the South and the manifest partisanship back of it, 
 together with the unending carping of Republican states- 
 men and press,^ had naturally transformed the Demo- 
 
 iSee ch. XII. 
 
 2 At Petersburg, November, 1876, Governor, Message, December, 1876. 
 The Dispatch (October 2, 1881) charged Mahone with responsibility for 
 the conditions which led to their use. 
 
 3 The following editorial from the New York Times (January 5, 1880) 
 is by no means an extreme illustration : ' ' The old slave masters must 
 domineer and tyrannize; they must keep the colored man in subjection 
 and misery; they must raise a barrier of intolerance against enlightened 
 
NATIONAL INFLUENCES 133 
 
 cratic preference of a majority of the whites into a 
 fixed conviction that a decent man conld under no 
 circumstances be a Republican. Because this conviction 
 subserved home rule by the fittest, the leaders of the 
 Conservative party did not hesitate to foster it by every 
 means in their power, often by language and conduct so 
 extreme as to obscure the reasonableness of their main 
 position.* Nor did the quality of the Virginia Repub- 
 licans or the blindness and ineffectiveness with which 
 they followed Grant afford any considerable correction 
 to the excesses of this sentiment. Inevitably, therefore, 
 the Conservative party had gradually abandoned its 
 semi-independent position and become a branch of the 
 national Democratic party — not so much a partner as 
 a handmaid, faithful and unassuming.^ No Virginian 
 influenced either national politics or national legislation : 
 the detested tobacco tax and the un-Virginian office- 
 holders remained, proofs of isolation and impotence. 
 
 ideas, and fight against the incursion of those who would work for free 
 institutions. . . . But one great change they must recognize. They can 
 never again tyrannize over the nation. . . . The civilization of the South 
 is of the past. ... It must go down, and the sooner the better for the 
 South and the better for the nation. ' ' 
 
 4 The following editorial from the Enquirer (July 3, 1877) is by no 
 means extreme : ' ' What was ' treason, ' ' rebellion ' and ' the old secession 
 spirit' a few years ago ... is now ' Bourbonism. ' . . . Let us glance 
 briefly at the history of Southern ' Bourbonism. ' First, What has it done 
 for our own state? ... A steadfast adherence to principles, an imswerving 
 devotion to the constitution, a refusal to kiss the hand that smote us, has 
 built up a pure government and brought us to the threshold of a new era 
 of prosperity. Second, What has it done for the nation? It has vindicated 
 the right to self-government. ... It is Southern 'Bourbonism' that in- 
 spired the cry that now rings out all over the land as a warning to 
 radicalism, ' Thus far shalt thou go and no farther. ' . . . The vanished 
 'Eebel' has stood a bulwark against the treason of the victor." 
 
 5 Greeley was accepted in 1872 on account of the similarity of the 
 Democratic-Liberal union to the Conservative party at that date. The 
 state convention of 1876 neither expressed opinions on national issues 
 (aside from reconsti'uction) nor instructed for presidential nominees. 
 
134 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 Other states followed Virginia's method and example, 
 and by 1876 the South was ''solid" in political thought 
 and action,*^ This solidarity, however commendable its 
 origin may have been,^ was objectionable alike to Liber- 
 als and to Radicals in the North : to the Radicals, because 
 it was a victory of "Rebel Brigadiers" dangerous to 
 both party and Union; to the Liberals, because it meant 
 the perpetuation of sectionalism and race prejudice.^ 
 Accordingly, as the representative of the Liberals, 
 President Hayes attempted in 1877 to break this soli- 
 darity by removing its more obvious causes,** and by 
 offering place to Southern Democrats who would share 
 in his administration. In Virginia conditions were not 
 unfavorable, for ante-bellum leaders were largely gone 
 and old national issues were dormant,^" the Conservative 
 party was overgrown and the Republican discredited, 
 while on tariff and money questions opinion was far 
 from being unanimous. The attempt, however, proved 
 
 6 New York Herald, January 10, October 22, 1869 ; Enquirer, November 
 11, 1877; Nation, August 4, 1876, April 5, 1877; Dunning, Beconstruction, 
 p. 303. 
 
 7 Cf. Nation, 1869, 1873, passim. 
 
 8 An additional objection was the very modern one of Southern influence 
 in the national convention. Cf. Cincinnati Gazette, in Dispatch, January 1, 
 1879. 
 
 9 The presence of federal troops and the active participation of federal 
 officials in politics, Sparks, National Development, ch. 8 ; Dunning, Becon- 
 struction, p. 211. The president's idea was not new, see Dispatch, Enquirer, 
 Landmarl', 1874, passim. "Assessment" of federal employees for partisan 
 purposes seems to have been approved or tolerated by Hayes, Annual Cyc, 
 1882, art. "Congress." 
 
 10 The legislature and the Conservative party sought to make use of the 
 federal treasury. Examples are: joint resolutions for an American univer- 
 sity and an American printing-house for the blind (1870-1871), for 
 assumption of all state debts, and for appropriation of the net public land 
 revenue to education (1879-1880); party requests for completion of the 
 James Eiver and Kanawha Canal (1873); press endorsement of federal 
 aid in the construction of the Texas Pacific Eailroad (Whig, Enquirer, 
 passim) . 
 
NATIONAL INFLUENCES 135 
 
 disastrous. For while the liberal ''outs," largely the 
 Mahone following," maintained an open mind and 
 possibly a receptive disposition, the other wing, to which 
 the president made his appeal, repelled him with hot 
 Bourbon wrath or cold partisan calculation.^^ In other 
 Southern states the result was the same.^^ 
 
 The next attempt to detach Virginia from the solid 
 South was due to influences that President Hayes and 
 the independent opinion of the North would gladly have 
 discredited. Senators Conkling, Cameron, and Logan, 
 highly incensed at the threatened injury to the political 
 machines, were plotting to retain the old system and 
 restore Republican control over Congress by electing 
 Grant for a third term.^* In the fall of 1879, ex-Senator 
 Simon Cameron quietly came to Richmond and made 
 secret arrangements with Mahone. In accordance with 
 these arrangements the Republicans of the legislature 
 helped to elect Mahone to the federal Senate, despite the 
 efforts of the Funders to effect a different combination.^^ 
 
 11 See Whig, LandmarTc, April, 1877, •passim, including quotations from 
 the Petersburg Index-Appeal. Cf. above, ch. 6. 
 
 12 J. L. M. Curry (above) was offered a place in the cabinet, Alderman 
 and Gordon, J. L. M. Curry, ch. 14. The Enquirer demanded that those 
 who took his ' ' pay for treason ' ' be visited with the ' ' social terror, ' ' see 
 February 27, March 10, 24. The Dispatch urged the danger of Eadical 
 rule and the possibilities of an alliance of interest with the West, see 
 especially April 13. Dr. Curry's declination was based on grounds of 
 broad policy. 
 
 13 Cf. Mayes, Lamar, p. 319. 
 
 14 Sparks, National Development, pp. 167 ff. ; Cooper, American Politics, 
 I, 242; Conkling, Eoscoe Conlcling, chs. 29, 30, 31; W. S. Kerr, Senator 
 John Sherman, chs. 45, 46. Don Cameron, son of ex-Senator Simon 
 Cameron, the boss of Pennsylvania, was now Senator and chairman of the 
 Eepublican national committee. He was credited with originating the idea 
 by the Nation, September 7, 1882. 
 
 15 Cooper, American Politics, I, p. 263. Mr. Cooper was chairman of the 
 Pennsylvania state committee, a consistent Eepublican and a ring man. 
 His story is confirmed by Withers, Autobiography, p. 386, and by contem- 
 porary suspicion, e.g., New York Times, April 22, 1880. The Funders sup- 
 
136 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 Soon the old rumor was revived that the Readjusters 
 would support Grant the next year; but this rumor, as 
 late as November 7, was branded by the Whig as a 
 * ' stupendous falsehood. ' ' 
 
 Whether in accordance with the Cameron agreement 
 or not, Mahone in 1880 adopted a curious and tortuous 
 policy. He first suggested, early in the year, that the 
 Readjusters nominate independent Congressional candi- 
 dates and an independent electoral ticket, ''uncommitted 
 to any National party or its candidate, and instructed 
 to vote together in the electoral college as may seem 
 best to them for Virginia, for the South, and for the 
 Union"; to which the Whig added the gloss that '4f the 
 vote should be close between the National parties [as in 
 1876], the Readjuster Electors, if elected, would be in 
 a commanding position well worth striving for."^^ 
 Meantime, however, the North was diligently encouraged 
 to believe that the debt issue was but a pretext under 
 cover of which the color line had been broken and 
 "Bourbonism" was being overthrown;" and this belief 
 was widely held, especially among the friends of Grant.^* 
 When, therefore, after a short but vigorous Sherman 
 campaign," Grant appeared to be the decided choice of 
 the Virginia Republicans, Mahone deliberately advocated 
 
 ported the "Eoss Hamilton" bill proposed by the negro of that name 
 and drawn, it was said, by Congressman Dezendorf and other Eepublicans, 
 Dispatch, February 28, 29, 1880. 
 
 '^^Whig, January 31; Dispatch, February 2, 3 (quoting Mahone inter- 
 views in Philadelphia Press and New York Herald). The Whig recalled 
 the original function of electors. 
 
 17 Op. cit.; Dispatch, November 15, 1879 (Cameron interview). 
 
 18 New York Times, April 22, 28, July 7 ; New York Tribune, February 
 2, 3, April 22 ; Nation, March 3, 4, April 29. 
 
 19 The New York Times (January 24, February 17) charged, giving 
 names and places, that Sherman tried to effect fusion in the Congressional 
 districts and to win votes for himself by extensive use of the treasury 
 patronage. The Tribune denied this. 
 
NATIONAL INFLUENCES 137 
 
 fusion on the basis of six Eeadjuster and five Republican 
 electors pledged to Grant. But, despite tlie strategy of 
 the party chairman,-" and the pleas of the Lewises^^ and 
 the Soutliern Intelligencer (hitherto Funder), the Repub- 
 lican convention, controlled by office-holders and guided 
 by Gen. W. C. Wickham, Mahone's quondam railroad 
 antagonist, voted fusion down, though only by a very 
 narrow majority and after an all-night session, during 
 which, it was said, a stampede for the Malione fusion 
 plan was averted only by a false fire alarm.-^ Undaunted, 
 Mahone then called a Readjuster convention which 
 nominated an electoral ticket pledged to Hancock ;^^ and 
 having attempted unsuccessfully to fuse this with the 
 regular Hancock ticket, he supported it to the end.^* 
 None the less, the Readjuster candidates for Congress 
 took so unhesitating a stand for the upbuilding of the 
 material interests of the commonwealth, through pro- 
 tective tariffs and internal improvements at national 
 expense, and expressed such fervent thanks that the day 
 had come when the proud Bourbon was beneath the feet 
 of the common white man, that the Republican national 
 committee urged their support in several districts.^^ 
 But the ''intense prejudice for maintaining democratic 
 
 20 C. P. Eamsdell and James Brady, chairman and secretary respectively, 
 published their resignation on the issue of Hayes's civil service order 
 (above) but did not call the committee to receive it. Following the prece- 
 dent afforded by the national Eepublican committee, they now resumed 
 their places, and called a convention, small, early, and in the heart of the 
 white and Eeadjuster Valley, Southern Intelligencer, December 17, 1879, 
 January 3, 19, 1880. 
 
 21 Ex-Senator John F. Lewis and his brother, L. L. Lewis, then federal 
 district attorney. 
 
 "^•^ Dispatch, Whig, New York Times, April 23; Nation, April 29, 1880. 
 
 23 Whig, State, New York Times, July 7, 8; Nation, July 15, 1880. 
 
 24 State, October 18, 22, 28, November 1 ; Nation, October 28, November 
 1, 1880. 
 
 ^5 Whig, June 5; State, October, November, passim, 1880; Address of 
 Straight-out Eepublicans, 1884; New Virginia. 
 
138 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 supremacy" and the "solid phalanx in which the colored 
 people were marched to the polls and voted — contributed 
 to produce consternation and a stampede."^® Read- 
 justers polled only 30,000 votes for president. They 
 maintained their organization unimpaired, however, 
 and sent Fulkerson and Paul to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives at Washington. "I can not be dismayed," 
 wrote Mahone, "nor deterred from adherence to prin- 
 ciple. . . . The duty of the hour is organization and 
 preparation for the fight ahead. "^'^ 
 
 At the special session of Congress of March, 1881, 
 Mahone entered the Senate and by his vote gave the 
 Republicans control over its organization.^^ The Repub- 
 licans, in turn, nominated Riddleberger and George C. 
 Gorham-^ for sergeant-at-arms and clerk of the Senate 
 respectively, and gave Mahone the chairmanship of one 
 committee and a commanding position on three others. 
 These acts precipitated prolonged and vigorous discus- 
 sion. Renouncing any obligation to act with the 
 Democratic party because he had been elected as a 
 Readjuster, Mahone declared himself still a Democrat, 
 but utterly opposed to Bourbon control through tyranny 
 of public opinion and suppression of the negro vote. 
 The Democrats sought to show that the Republicans 
 were buying help from a party traitor and repudiator. 
 But the president sent him flowers and Senators Logan, 
 Hoar,^° and Cameron rushed to his defence. A speech 
 
 26 Mahone to Harvie, November 5, 1880. 
 
 27 Op. cit. 
 
 28 Cong. Becord, 47 Cong., Special Sess., pp. 5, 22, 33, 55, 85, 137, 176 
 New York Times, March 7, 10, 15, 16; New York Tribune, March 15 
 Mayes, J. Q. L. Lamar, ch. 25; Hill, Senator B. H. Hill of Georgia 
 Cooper, American Politics, III, p. 207. 
 
 29 Gorham had been serviceable in securing Kepublican co-operation in 
 the legislature of 1879-1880. See also below, p. 154. 
 
 30 Yet Mr. Hoar says (Autobiography, II, p. 160): "With the excep- 
 tion of Eeverdy Johnson, of Maryland, there is no record of a single manly 
 
NATIONAL INFLUENCES 139 
 
 of Cameron's was significant. The desire to elect 
 Eiddleberger, he said, was ''something higher and 
 above ' ' a mere effort to reward party friends and control 
 the organization of the Senate. It concerned the coming 
 political contest in Virginia. It will be the best proof 
 that could be given of the confidence which the Repub- 
 lican party has in all true men who uphold the laws, of 
 its respect for them, and desire to co-operate with them. 
 ''All that we ask is that they shall stand with us in favor 
 of securing to each lawful voter the right to cast one 
 free and unintimidated vote, and to have it honestly 
 counted." If this be done, "the Solid South is a thing 
 of the past." 
 
 The campaign for governor and legislature (1881) 
 had, indeed, already begun. Warned by the streng-th 
 of Democratic sentiment displayed the year before 
 among the Readjusters, Mahone announced in January 
 that the maneuvers of 1880 had been merely incidental^ 
 and that the main issue would be the same as in 1879.^^ 
 The state convention early in June reiterated this 
 announcement, adding to the issues railroad regulation 
 in the interest of the people and a formal condemnation 
 of suffrage restrictions. Significantly enough, however, 
 the convention dared to join to these democratic prin- 
 ciples an endorsement of federal aid in the development 
 of mining and manufacturing. The state ticket, too, 
 presented a nicely calculated balance: "There's Cam- 
 eron, he's for the Democrats; and there's Lewis, he's 
 for the negroes; and there's Blair, he's for the Green- 
 back lunatics," commented the Dispatch.^^ Then was 
 
 remonstrance, or expression of disapproval, from the lips of any prominent 
 Southern man" against election frauds in the South. Nor does he mention 
 Mahone in his autobiography. 
 
 31 Whig, Janua,ry 4, 14, 1881. 
 
 32 June 4. For the elimination of Massey, see below, p. 152. John S. 
 Wise was the choice of Eichmond Eeadjusters for governor. 
 
140 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 seen much running of Republicans to and from Wash- 
 ington, the result of which was that the ''Coalitionist" 
 faction endorsed the "Anti-Bourbon, or Liberal, Party," 
 along with the pajonent of "every dollar [of the debt] 
 honestly due," and the "Straight-outs" soon withdrew 
 the ticket which recollections of the year before had 
 induced them to put into the field without the usual 
 authorization.^^ 
 
 The response of the Funders to these movements was 
 sigTiificant.^* They accepted Readjuster ideas^'^ as to the 
 schools by pledging the payment of all funds appro- 
 priated "by the constitution or otherwise." They 
 promised "equality of right and exact justice to all 
 men," including specifically fair elections and jury 
 service of both races. They coupled the name of James 
 Barbour with that of John W. Daniel on their state 
 ticket, and agreed to use all "lawful and constitutional 
 means in [their] power to secure the settlement of the 
 debt upon the basis of a three per cent bond," with but 
 one class of creditors and without increase of taxes. 
 Having thus minimized the differences between the two 
 factions of the old party, they rang the charge of a cor- 
 rupt Republican alliance, and, as the campaign pro- 
 gressed, cautiously urged, under the leadership of A. M. 
 Keiley, the re-establishment of race lines in politics. 
 The Readjusters countered vigorously: W. E. Cameron 
 boldly talked of carrying ' ' Africa into the war ' ' ; federal 
 appointments favorable to Mahone began to be reported ; 
 and soon, with the succession of Arthur to the presidency, 
 removals took place in his interest,^** and Senator 
 
 33 For full account see Annual Cyc, 1881. 
 
 34 Di.spatch, State, June 2, 1881. Cf. Dispatch, November 15, 1879. 
 The Conservative debt plank was almost identical with that advocated by 
 Mahone in 1879. 
 
 35 Below, p. 160. 
 
 36 Gorham is reported to have said in 1882 that Garfield insisted on 
 
NATIONAL INFLUENCES 141 
 
 Cameron *' passed around the hat" among the revenue 
 officials throughout the country.^'' But the net result 
 was a fuller vote rather than any change from the 
 alignment of 1879; for the issues of that year had not 
 been settled. And the victory was similar to that of 
 1879. 
 
 Thus, before the new and victorious party could do 
 more than indicate clearly its program in state affairs, 
 two external forces began to attract it toward Republi- 
 canism. These forces were the sentiment of liberalism 
 and the exigencies of machine politicians. That the 
 latter would determine its ultimate course was asserted 
 by many thoughtful men. In the second contest for 
 control of the state, however, the Readjusters won on the 
 same issues as in the first: a larger vote indicating 
 greater popular interest and better organization. 
 
 treating Mahone as a Eepublican Senator if he continued to support 
 Eepublieans in the Senate, Dispatch, October 12, 1882. Mahone stated that 
 he received little federal help before Arthur's administration, New York 
 Times, November 20, 1881. Blaine at first opposed him. On September 22 
 the Nation said, ' ' News has been coming in for some time that Federal 
 officers are being removed for refusing to act with Mahone and the Eead- 
 justers, ' ' and gave specific instances. Cf. Sparks, National Development, 
 p. 328. 
 
 37 Cooper, American Politics, I, p. 264; Nation, June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 
 August 18; Annual Cyc, 1881. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 THE READJUSTEES IN POWER, 1879-1883 
 
 The period of Readjuster control over the legislature, 
 from December, 1879, to December, 1883, proved to be 
 a period of Readjuster supremacy in all departments. 
 During the first two years the Readjusters were, indeed, 
 hampered by a Funder governor, and insurgents clogged 
 the machinery for the greater part of the last two 
 years/ Some have claimed, too, that much of what was 
 done was due to influences discussed in the preceding 
 chapter and should be credited to ^'Mahoneism," not to 
 Readjustment, None the less, a great deal was accom- 
 plished during these years, and little of it without the 
 consent of those whom the Readjusters had freely chosen 
 to lead them. 
 
 Of Readjuster legislation, ''An act for the preserva- 
 tion of the credit of the state," commonly called the 
 "Riddleberger bill,"- formed the very heart. Vetoed by 
 Governor Holliday in 1880 as in flat defiance of both 
 state and federal courts and contrary to "the spirit 
 which has ever moved and inspired the traditions of the 
 commonwealth, ' '^ this bill was remodelled and two years 
 later received the signature of Governor Cameron.* 
 One-third of the principal and accrued interest, as of 
 
 1 The governor 's term began with January. 
 
 2 In Whig, February 10, 1880. 
 
 3 Sen. Jcur., 1879-1880, p. 440. 
 
 4 Act of February 14, 1882. For character of amendments, see below. 
 
THE EEADJUSTEES IN POWER 143 
 
 July 1, 1863, was set aside for West Virginia.^ By- 
 deducting from the remaining principal all sums paid 
 through the sinking funds since that date, the debt 
 principal was found to be $16,843,034. The total interest 
 unpaid to July 1, 1863, and since accruing on the 
 corrected principal was $25,743,268; deducting sums 
 paid or assumed in some other form the balance of 
 interest due was $4,192,343. The total debt (including 
 the literary fund)'' was therefore declared to be $21,035,- 
 377,^ as of July 1, 1882. New eighteen-fifty bonds, dated 
 July 1, 1882, and bearing three per cent interest payable 
 in lawful money, were offered in exchange for the 
 various classes of outstanding indebtedness, the ratio of 
 exchange being determined by subtracting from the 
 amount of each class the interest on it already paid.^ 
 Payment of interest on the debt in any other form was 
 forbidden. The new bonds became known as '^Riddle- 
 bergers." 
 
 As a supplement to this act, two ''coupon-killers" had 
 already been passed. These forbade tax collectors, 
 under pain of heavy penalties, to receive coupons except 
 ' ' for verification ' ' before a jury of the county and when 
 accompanied by the amount of the taxes in cash; upon 
 the establishment of their genuineness the cash would 
 be refunded. The remedy offered for the breach of 
 contract" would, it was thought, satisfy the courts; the 
 difficulty and cost of proving the genuineness of coupons, 
 clipped from bonds held abroad perhaps, would prevent 
 
 5 West Virginia entered the Union June 20, 1863. Certificates of indebt- 
 edness "to be accounted for by the state of West Virginia, without recourse 
 upon this commonwealth ' ' were given. 
 
 6 Principal, $1,428,245; interest, $602,016, Second Auditor, Beport, 1881. 
 
 7 Approximately, a sealing of ten millions. 
 
 8 Consols would exchange at 53, ten-forties at 60, peelers at 69, etc. 
 
 9 Above, p. 43. 
 
144 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 their deluging- the treasury and tend to encourage con- 
 version of consols and ten-forties into Riddlebergers/*' 
 Thus the long-desired uniformity and definiteness of 
 obligations, and an adequate reduction in the annual 
 interest burden, seemed assured for the not distant 
 future. 
 
 While readjusting the debt, the legislature also began 
 a readjustment of taxation. In this matter, the wretch- 
 edness of the existing system might well have authorized 
 a thoroughgoing revision. No more serious purpose 
 appears to have been entertained, however, than to 
 lighten for the time the burden of the laborer and the 
 farmer, and to gain some partisan advantage thereby. 
 Thus the new measures declared that the poll tax need 
 no longer be paid before voting, substituted the older 
 and lighter liquor license plan for the Moffett law," 
 reduced the tax rate on general property from fifty to 
 forty cents, and ordered a reassessment of realty under 
 conditions which resulted in a diminution of $13,000,- 
 000.^- To offset the loss in revenue thus entailed, an 
 effort was made to reach corporate wealth; and this 
 effort, it should be recorded, was serious and eventually 
 successful.^^ The energetic measures taken to collect 
 delinquent taxes, to compel county treasurers or their 
 
 10 Acts of January 14 and January 26, 1882. See above, pp. 42, 65, 
 for origin of this method of attack. 
 
 11 Above, p. 57; Acts, 1879-1880, p. 147. Fulkerson introduced the 
 bill at the request of the liquor dealers, Whig, January 16, 1880. 
 
 12 Acts, 1881-1882, p. 497. The old plan was used, but by Eeadjuster 
 appointees and with extended opportunities for local revision, cf. above, 
 p. 91. 
 
 13 Cf. above, p. 56, [Douglas S, Freeman], Report of the Virginia Tax 
 Commission (1911), appendix, ch. 6; Magruder, Becent Administration, 
 p. 175. The taxable value of railroads in 1880 was $9,876,000; in 1885, 
 $35,955,000. 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 145 
 
 sureties to settle," and to adjust old claims of the state 
 against the railroads^^ were of similar importance, for 
 they enabled the Readjusters to punish enemies and 
 reward friends, and produced a temporary abundance 
 of funds. These funds the legislature proceeded to spend 
 with an abandon but little short of recklessness." 
 
 The direction which the liberality of the legislature 
 took was significant. Public education received such 
 generous treatment that some feared the ruin of the 
 denominational schools.^^ The Riddleberger act put the 
 literary fund in the most favored class of creditors and 
 directed that the interest in arrears be paid in cash to the 
 amount of $378,000. The state tax rate for schools was 
 not reduced; local boards were authorized to tax rail- 
 road and telegraph property for their support; and, 
 under the "Granstaff" act, the percentage of the 
 schools' estimated quota of state taxes to be retained by 
 local authorities was increased to ninety.^^ The full 
 claim of the schools to taxes previously ^'diverted" was 
 admitted, and regular quarterly payments of $25,000 and 
 
 14 Auditor, Eeports, 1880, 1881; Acts, 1879-1880, pp. 74, 136, 293, 299. 
 
 T-5Acts, 1881-1882, pp. 76, 400, 490. Thus ended the state's ownership 
 in railroads, with the exception of the E. F. & P. stock, which is still 
 retained and is exceedingly profitable, and some minor properties sold in 
 1882-1883. The A. M. & O. sale (below) was generally conceded a good 
 bargain for the state. The Eichmond and Danville was permitted to redeem 
 an amply secured debt of $420,000, due four years later, with "Eiddle- 
 bergers" worth about 50. The requirement that this road surrender its 
 exemption from taxation appears to have been a condition attached to 
 the issue of new stock, and not a part of the sales bargain. 
 
 16 For contemporary discussion of wastefulness from the Eeadjuster 
 standpoint, see the reply of .John S. Wise to Holmes Conrad, in Whig, 
 September 25, 1883. At that date the treasury contained one and one-half 
 millions. 
 
 17 Eichmond Christian Advocate, January 26, 1882. Colleges were given 
 special privileges later. Acts, 1881-1882, p. 203. 
 
 18 C/. above, p. 87; Acts, 1881-1882, pp. 166, 203, 233. 
 
146 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 a special payment of $400,000 thereon were directed." 
 This $400,000 was secured from the settlement of the 
 A. M. & 0. claims. The remaining $100,000, derived from 
 the same source, was granted, together with a fixed annu- 
 ity, to a negro '^Normal and Collegiate Institute, "-° the 
 construction and operation of which were quickly begun. 
 Altogether, public schools received from the state 
 annually about $600,000, as against less than $400,000 
 annually from 1870 to 1877.-^ For lunatic asylums 
 approximately $250,000 a year was spent, as compared 
 with $190,000 in 1879 (when special attention had been 
 given them), and a new building for the colored insane 
 was virtually completed." Nor did the maimed Confed- 
 erate soldier lose any part of his customary paltry 
 donation.^^ 
 
 If this legislation, while primarily fiscal, had an impor- 
 tant social significance, still more did a multitude of 
 other measures, passed or nearly passed, tend to sub- 
 serve the interests of the masses and to break the power 
 of wealth and established privilege."^ The poll tax, 
 imposed originally for the benefit of schools which should 
 train citizens to vote but converted by Bourbons and 
 debt payers into a restriction on suffrage, was repealed.^^ 
 
 19 C/. above, p. 62; Acts, 1881-1882, pp. 203, 473. 
 
 20 Ihid., p. 286. Apparently this money should have been used to reduce 
 the debt. Above, p. 19. 
 
 21 Auditor, Beports, 1877, 1880 to 1883. The estimates are the author 's. 
 
 22 Auditor, Beports; reports of asylums, in Annual Beports, 1884; Acts, 
 1881-1882, p. 246. The new asylum had been long projected. The South- 
 western Asylum (white) might be credited to Eeadjuster influence. Acts, 
 1883-1884, p. 692. 
 
 23 Auditor, Beports, passim. The total average annual payment was 
 about $10,000. It had been very irregularly made. 
 
 24 There is an excellent, though partisan, summary by B. B. Munford in 
 State, September 13, 1889. 
 
 25 Funders aided in the final stages from party motives and because of 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 147 
 
 The whipping-post was abolished ; mechanics were better 
 secured in their wages ; foreign insurance companies 
 were put under a stricter bond;"*^ and benevolent and 
 fraternal organizations were chartered by the score, 
 among them a "Labor Association of Lynchburg." 
 N. W. Hazelwood, in behalf of the state grange, cham- 
 pioned bills to prevent fraud in the manufacture of fer- 
 tilizers, to establish experiment stations, to provide 
 state supervision over the warehousing and sampling of 
 tobacco, and to regnilate the rates and management of 
 the railroads."" Lady pushed a commissioner-of-sales 
 bill which would have transferred the management of 
 property to be sold under judicial decree from the sup- 
 posedly grasping lawyers to special state officials. Here- 
 tofore, especially in 1877-1879, the legislature had gladly 
 removed disabilities incurred for duelling; henceforth, 
 state officials must make oath that they would never 
 participate, directly or indirectly, in this relic of past 
 customs. ^^ 
 
 The state administrative departments, wrote Massey, 
 just after the victory of 1879, must be put '4n sympathy 
 with the people." ''If I can exert any influence," de- 
 clared Mahone, "not one of them [the present officials] 
 shall go unexpelled — and that quickly. ' '^'^ In this view the 
 
 the corruption to which it gave rise, see below, p. 156; Whig, January 23, 
 1880, September 25, 1883 (John S. Wise); Dispatch, April 7; State, April 
 22, 1882. Fulkerson was patron of the repeal. The vote on ratification 
 was 107,303, to 66,131. 
 
 26 Acts, 1879-1880, pp. 81, 87. 
 
 27 House Bills, 1881-1882. Hazlewood was secretary of the grange and 
 a member of the legislature. Duff Green presented the railroad bill. For 
 ulterior purpose, see below, p. 158. 
 
 zs Acts, 1881-1882, p. 404. Hazlewood favored a more extreme measure, 
 House Bills, 1881-1882, No. 207. 
 
 29 Letters to Colonel Harvie, November 10, 11, 1879, Harvie Papers. 
 For method of selecting officials see below. 
 
148 READJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 legislature unanimously concurred. By common consent 
 Massey became auditor. The energy and ability which 
 he brought to this important office, long slothfully and 
 incompetently administered by an appointee of Governor 
 Peirpoint, justified the selection.^" His successor, S. 
 Brown Allen, however, was a ^'Mahone man," and 
 proved an entirely unsatisfactory official. A scheme 
 devised by Massey for the collection of delinquent taxes 
 became in the hands of both, but especially of Allen, a 
 powerful and sometimes corrupting political asset.^^ 
 C. M. Reynolds and T. T. Fauntleroy, "original read- 
 justers," received the easy places of treasurer and sec- 
 retary of the commonwealth. They served acceptably^^ 
 until 1882, when they were replaced by the "Mahone 
 men, ' ' D. R. Reverly and W. C. Elam. Gen. Asa Rogers, 
 long second auditor and as such directly in charge of 
 the debt and the school funds, became railroad com- 
 missioner, and H. H. Dyson, a Republican, took his place. 
 Despite the protests of even Republican friends of public 
 education. Superintendent Ruffner was replaced at the 
 end of his term by R. R. Farr — a severely ironic com- 
 mentary upon the sincerity or the intelligence of Read- 
 juster interest in the schools. ^^ 
 
 "With startling directness the legislature declared 
 vacant the controlling boards of the several state 
 asylums and colleges; and in some instances even ven- 
 
 30 Massey, Autohiography, ch. 15; House Jour., 1881-1882, December 16; 
 comparison of auditors' reports. Auditor Taylor was in large part the 
 victim of circumstances. 
 
 31 Sen. Jour., 1883-1884, Docs. 27, 30; House Jour., 1883-1884 and 1884, 
 Index. 
 
 32 Sen. Jour., 1881-1882, Doc. 20. The selection of Fauntleroy was 
 criticised by the Dispatch, which had previously commended him. 
 
 33 Massey, Autobiography, p. 204; Euf3fin, Mahoneism ; House Jour., 1883- 
 1884, Index; Buffner Papers (letters of Gen. S. C. Armstrong, president of 
 the Hampton School, to Euffner, 1881). 
 
THE EEADJUSTERS IN POWER 149 
 
 tured to order an immediate reorganization of the insti- 
 tution affected.^* For this the general excuse was '^Bour- 
 bon" inefficiency and lack of sympathy with the masses. 
 There was truth in the charge; but under the new 
 regime the improvement in efficiency was not as notice- 
 able as the amount of petty extravagance and humiliat- 
 ing partisanship.^'^ So, too, the old county and city 
 school superintendents, who had been selected mainly 
 because of their moral and scholastic qualifications, were 
 largely replaced by men of energy in close 'Houch with 
 the people." But as the new appointees used their 
 energies primarily in the service of the party and the 
 superintendent and the county judge controlled the local 
 boards of school trustees, which selected the teachers, 
 the entire school system began to feel, what had been so 
 long feared, the vicious influence of politics unabashed.^® 
 Nor were the courts spared. For a century they had 
 been citadels of conservatism and respectability. They 
 were wont to be affected by politics only remotely. Be- 
 cause of the character of the judges, extra-judicial 
 powers had been given them in matters requiring impar- 
 tial and scrupulously honest attention, such as the 
 appointment of election officials and assessors and the 
 selection of school trustees. Most of them, however, held 
 Funder views ; besides, Readjusters needed the power 
 and prestige of their offices. So the legislature retired 
 all of the supreme court judges and about three-fourths 
 of the county and corporation judges as their terms 
 expired, and was with difficulty prevented from vacating 
 the circuit courts under the pretense of redistricting. 
 The new supreme court judges served full terms without 
 
 Si Acts, March 9, 1880; February 15, March 3, April 7, 14, 1882. 
 
 35 Eeports of superintendents and boards in A^mual Reports; Sen. Jour., 
 1883-1884, Docs. 32, 33. 
 
 36 Sen. and House Journals, 1881-1882, Index; below, p. 167. 
 
150 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 discredit. But the scarcity of Readjuster lawyers, party 
 exigencies, and the refusal of some Funder lawyers to 
 accept Readjuster appointment led to many unsatisfac- 
 tory and some scandalous selections. By 1884, six 
 appointees had resigned under pressure, one had been 
 removed, and six had died. In the opinion of some com- 
 petent observers, no other action of the Readjusters 
 produced such deep dissatisfaction as did this.^^ 
 
 That the legislature sent self-made men to the national 
 senate was perhaps accidental. Through their energy 
 and their willingness to exchange deciding votes for 
 federal patronage, however, these Senators gave to Vir- 
 ginia a prominence and an influence which she had not 
 possessed for more than a generation. Neither Mahone 
 nor Riddleberger spoke frequently, being immersed in 
 state politics most of the time. Both advocated a high 
 protective tariff, Mahone having much to do with the 
 notorious iron schedule in the Tariff Act of 1883. Both 
 advocated liberalism, Mahone to the extent of vilifying 
 a large part of his constituents. But in neither of these 
 positive attitudes did they represent the most intelli- 
 gent and substantial citizens of their state or rise to the 
 level of national statesmanship.^^ 
 
 37 Massey, Autobiography, p. 217; Senate and House Journals, 1879-1880, 
 1881-1882, 1883-1884, Index; Whig and Dispatch, passim; Eovall, Virgijiia 
 State Debt Controversy, cli. 5. Convenient lists may be found in the 
 Warrock-Eichardson Almanaclc. Supreme court judges were: Eobert A. 
 Richardson, T. T. Fauntleroy, L. L. Lewis (below), B. W. Lacy, D. A. 
 Hinton. Prominent among county judges not removed were John W. Bell, 
 Jos. H. Sherrard, William H. Mann. Prominent new appointees were 
 J. E. McDaniel, Jas. M. Gregory, Edmund Waddill, F. S. C. Hunter, William 
 E. Taliaferro, A. M. Lybrook, Eobert Mayo. Prominent as corporation 
 judges were Thos. S. Atkins, A. C. Holliday, D. J. Godwin, N. B. Meade, 
 S. B. French. That some were illegally retired was strongly maintained. 
 
 58 Above, p. 138. Mahone voted on but 7 of the 22 matters deemed 
 worthy of a recorded vote by the Annual Cyc. He was one of the conferees, 
 "placed there at a late hour," who raised the duty on iron ore from 50 
 to 75 cents, Annual Cyc, 1883, art. "Congress." 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 151 
 
 If one views the legislation of this period as a whole, 
 its resemblances to the ultra-democratic ideas imbedded 
 in the constitution is at once apparent. So, too, the com- 
 parative absence of well-known names among the holders 
 of office and the prominence of hitherto obscure men 
 bring to mind the carpet-bagger and scalawag regime. 
 One striking exception, however, presents itself, and that 
 is the attitude toward the negro. Though the needs and 
 wishes of the freedmen now had much more weight than 
 during the preceding decade, no effort was made to 
 ' ' elevate ' ' them by special legislation. Even the election 
 laws remain unchanged. Appointment to office they 
 did indeed receive, but only as ''our faithful allies" and 
 never very frequently.^® If a second democratic revolu- 
 tion was in truth under way, the forces controlling it 
 were the farmers and the poor whites and the aspiring 
 middle class leaders. 
 
 Both the rapidity of legislation and the character and 
 activities of appointees were largely due to the author- 
 ity exercised by Greneral Mahone. The Readjusters had, 
 in fact, been developing a "machine," of which Mahone 
 was by 1882 the absolute ''boss."*° 
 
 The stages of this development are clear. The conven- 
 tion of 1879" lodged party control in a state committee 
 representative of the Congressional district delegations. 
 The legislative caucus that followed emphasized this 
 oligarchical tendency by apportioning the state patron- 
 age to the Congressional districts, the positions to be 
 
 39 Below, p. 163. 
 
 40 "A member of the Legislature" [Holmes Conrad], Mahoneism Un- 
 veiled, in Euffin, Scrap-Boole, II (originally published in the Winchester 
 Times, 1883); A. M. Lybrook's letter in Dispatch, September 12, 1882; 
 Euffin, Mahoneism Unveiled and An Appeal; Munford's letter in State, 
 September 13, 1889, Cf. Massey, Autobiography, ch. 17. 
 
 41 Above, p. 101. 
 
152 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 filled on nomination by tlie legislators therefrom/- Thus 
 a corps of leaders, salaried and uniformly distributed, 
 was assured. As the single chairman of the party, how- 
 ever, as well as its most distinguished member and the 
 owner of the Whig, Mahone from the first exercised 
 unusual influence, to which was added early in 1880 the 
 prestige of a United States Senator-elect. To him, there- 
 fore, was generally conceded the task of "talking over" 
 those who were dissatisfied with the action of the "com- 
 mittee on spoils," as the caucus apportionment com- 
 mittee was aptly termed ; and from this fact it is reason- 
 able to infer that he was consulted in advance of the 
 apportionment. But thus far the authority which he 
 wielded was only such as any capable leader might 
 obtain and was perhaps little greater than that enjoyed 
 by "Parson" Massey, "the most popular man in the 
 party." After his successful debut in the Senate, how- 
 ever, Mahone advanced by bold and rapid strides to 
 complete control. First, by clever manipulation of the 
 state convention, he secured the defeat of Massey 's 
 gubernatorial aspirations, and thereby sidetracked his 
 only rival. Then, strengthened by this victory and by 
 the open and vigorous support of President Arthur, he 
 quietly obtained from the candidates for the legislature 
 a written "pledge," "under seal," to "stand by the 
 Readjuster party" and to go into the party caucus and 
 
 42 Fulkerson presided. Massey, who had been defeated, was made an 
 honorary member. Judge B. W. Lacy, of New Kent, became speaker, and 
 P. H. McCaul, clerk of the House; Gen. W. M. Elliott became president 
 pro tem., and C. H. Causey, of Nansemond, clerk of the Senate; A. J. 
 Taylor and C. M. Webber (editor of the Salem Begister) became sergeants- 
 at-arms. Eiddleberger and Paul were active in patronage arrangements. 
 Much to their annoyance, the Dispatch managed to report these meetings 
 quite fully. 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 153 
 
 abide by its results/^ After the elections, in a prelimi- 
 nary conference of leaders selected by himself, the work 
 of the legislature was mapped out ; and, when the legisla- 
 ture assembled, this program was gradually unfolded for 
 adoption in the caucus under rules of procedure which its 
 members were bluffed into accepting, and which, some 
 of them asserted, they were not allowed even to read. 
 The revolt followed of the ' ' Big Four, ' ' as four members 
 of the caucus who had not given the pledge came to be 
 called ;** and as a result of this revolt most of the meas- 
 ures objectionable to even a few Readjuster legislators 
 failed of passage. But the "Big Four" and their 
 backers were quickly ' ' read out of the party. ' ' Nor was 
 Mahone's supremacy questioned again for two years. 
 This machine, as has been suggested above, rested 
 
 43 Lybrook, op. cit. The procedure followed in obtaining the pledge is 
 illustrative of Mahone's indirect methods. The "Judge" addressed below 
 was Lybrook. ' ' Fernald ' ' was the Eepublican collector of internal revenue 
 at Danville. 
 
 " U. S. Internal Eevenue Office, 
 
 DanvUle, Va., Sept. 14, 1881. 
 Dear Judge. — I send you herewith two 'pledges' to sign one and have 
 the party nominee for your county to sign the other one, and return to me, 
 and I will forward them to Gen. Mahone, who directs me to do this. 
 
 Of course it is nothing for an honest man to do and sign his hand to his 
 faith. Please attend to this promptly. 
 
 Fernald. ' ' 
 
 ''Patrick Co., Virginia, 
 
 , 1881. 
 
 "I hereby pledge myself to stand by the Eeadjuster party and plat- 
 form, and to go into caucus with the Eeadjuster members of the Legislature, 
 and vote for all measures, nominees and candidates to be elected by the 
 Legislature that meets in Eichmond, as the caucus may agree upon. 
 Given under my hand and seal this .... day of Sept., A. D., 1881." 
 
 44 Senators S. H. Newberry, of Bland, and P. G. Hale, of Grayson, 
 formerly Conservatives, and A. M. Lybrook, of Patrick, and B. F. Williams, 
 of Nottoway, formerly Eepublicans. It is the popular opinion in Virginia 
 that these men saved the day. 
 
154 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 primarily upon its control over the patronage, state and 
 national. The extent of state patronage has already 
 been indicated.*^ Equally important was the national 
 patronage. In round numbers, the treasury service 
 employed two hundred men at an annual salary of 
 $400,000, the post-ofSce department, 1,700 postmasters at 
 $150,000. Connected with the federal courts were some 
 seventy men.**' The navy yard at Portsmouth was a 
 large and unfailing employer at critical times. In the 
 prevailing scarcity of money and dearth of business 
 enthusiasm, these positions were all deemed highly 
 desirable, and therefore worth working for. Moreover, 
 their holders could be "assessed" regularly and with 
 confidence. So, too, could Virginia's quota of the 
 employees in Washington.*'^ Aiid to these sources of 
 strength should be added the sympathetic support of 
 the National Republican, of Washington, under the edi- 
 torship of Gorham and Assistant Postmaster General 
 Hatton.''^ 
 
 A second reason for the facility with which Mahone 
 established machine control is found not so much in the 
 character of the Readjuster leaders or in the enthusiasm 
 which their plans aroused, though each of these was con- 
 tributory, as in the possession of the negro vote. Trained 
 by the slave system to unquestioning obedience, the 
 colored men had easily learned to follow political bosses 
 during reconstruction days. Being gregarious by 
 instinct, they almost always moved en masse. And 
 since their ignorance was stupendous and their credulity 
 childlike, flattery, bribery, and threats were sufficient 
 
 45 Above. 
 
 46 Register of U. S. Officials, 1879. 
 
 47 New York Herald, in Dispatch, October 22, 1882. 
 
 48 Above, p. 138; New York Tribime, June 5, 1883. Hatton was later 
 postmaster general. 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 155 
 
 to win them — one was under no necessity of inventing a 
 reason for the course they were advised to take/** There 
 were, indeed, important offsets to these advantages : 
 their inability to move without white leadership, for 
 example, and the perpetual danger of provoking a recru- 
 descence of race politics. But these disadvantages did 
 not become operative until 1883. 
 
 The manner in which Mahone used his control over 
 the machine is striking. Indeed, in the opinion of some 
 it constituted the most important phase of the Read- 
 juster movement. Illustrations abound. Thus, despite 
 the pledges of two state conventions, the Riddleberger 
 Act was not submitted to the people, nor did it directly 
 repudiate war and reconstruction interest on the debt, 
 both of which the Republicans of the North thought 
 unwise. ^° To gerrymander Congressional districts even 
 to the extent of making 187,000 people in a white district 
 equivalent to 132,000 in a black district was perhaps not 
 unusual ; but to avow the partisan motive and to express 
 open regret that only eight ''administration" represen- 
 tatives could be thus assured was rather startling.^^ 
 The second mortgage bond which Mahone himself had 
 executed as president of the A. M. & 0. he induced the 
 
 49 The following was printed by the Dispatch as a speech of W. L. 
 Fernald delivered at Halifax Court House: "It does those Funder over- 
 seers so much good to see a nigger's back whipped. Every time they see 
 a nigger's back cut, they jump up and clap their heels together like game 
 cocks. . . . You will see colored judges and lawyers in that court house, 
 and you will have good schools if the Eeadjusters succeed. . . . When a 
 colored man comes out against the Eeadjuster party, he has sold himself. 
 A man who goes against his race and color is a damned scoundrel. . . . 
 Some will say, what will become of the Eepublican party if we all go over 
 to the Eeadjusters? There is nothing in a name except the smell. . . . 
 My office looks Africa because I have so many colored people in it." 
 
 50 The terms of the debt settlement are, however, in the author's opinion, 
 substantially the same as those of the first Eiddleberger bill, which were 
 endorsed by the people in the election of 1881. 
 
 51 The Whig 's utterances are referred to. 
 
156 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 board of public works to compromise for $500,000 in 
 cash, and the legislature ratified the arrangement, as 
 the schools needed the money.^- Two bank note com- 
 panies, the American and the Kendall, bid for the print- 
 ing of ''Riddlebergers"; the legislature awarded the 
 contract to the lower bidder, but the other contributed 
 $5,000 to the campaign fund and the legislature had to 
 change its decision.^^ During President Arthur's admin- 
 istration some two hundred federal appointments were 
 changed at Mahone's request;^* fear controlled the rest. 
 With entire openness, state employees resident in Rich- 
 mond were "assessed" for campaign purposes at five 
 per cent of their annual salary; federal employees, 
 indirectly, at two per cent of theirs. The auditor 
 appointed collectors of delinquent taxes with power to 
 name their own deputies. To these collectors, receipts 
 for the payment of the poll tax were sent, signed in 
 blank. The Readjuster voter was handed a receipt as he 
 entered the booth and, in 1882, federal supervisors of 
 elections guaranteed its acceptance as a prerequisite 
 for voting. Such voters were supposed to return the 
 receipts; but the collector was not always bonded, and 
 did not always render an account to the auditor.^^ 
 
 Party leaders Mahone paid well : negroes in the Nor- 
 folk region received from $300 to $500 each; men of a 
 higher type were rewarded mth public favors not 
 always of an unquestionable character.^" Activity was 
 
 52 Above. 
 
 53 Dispatch, State, April, 1882. The state was forced to pay the Kendall 
 Company also. In 1885 the second auditor bought the rejected bonds at 
 auction from an express company for $17.75, Sen. Jour., 1885-1886, Doe. 10. 
 
 54 Estimate in ' ' New Virginia, ' ' in Whig, March 28, 1885. 
 
 55 Above; Sen. Jour., 1883-1884, Doe. 27; contested election cases of 
 O'Ferrall v. Paul (House Misc. Docs., 48 Cong., 1 Sess., No. 16), and 
 Massey v. Wise (Hid., No. 27, pts. 1 and 2) ; O'Ferrall, Forty Years. 
 
 56 Ex-Congressman Dezendorf to D. B. Eaton, in New York Tribune, 
 
THE EEADJUSTERS IN POWER 157 
 
 demanded of all office-holders. Thus, the superintend- 
 ent of an insane asylum not only distributed poll tax 
 receipts but also bought the institution's provisions and 
 used its teams in the interest of the party;" and the 
 Norfolk postmaster and his assistant were reported to 
 be usually away on party business. ^^ Mahone bossed 
 rather than guided: men said that he went into the 
 auditor's office and appointed or removed tax collectors 
 as if the auditor were his absent clerk; the sheriff of 
 Pittsylvania made affidavit that Mahone telegraphed 
 his removal;^'' Col. Frank G. Ruffin, long a ''power" in 
 the Conservative party and a staunch supporter of 
 coalition, for protesting against assessment and the 
 ''pledge" lost his clerkship.^" Massey alleges"^ that the 
 gubernatorial nomination was offered him on the con- 
 dition of absolute obedience to Mahone, such as Wise 
 and Cameron had promised. Conventions usually merely 
 registered his will: that of 1881 adopted a platform 
 which he had sent the day before to Wall Street;*'^ in 
 1884, having named the temporary chairman and, 
 through him, the permanent chairman, Mahone reported 
 from a single committee a plan of party organization, a 
 platform, delegates to the national convention, and 
 electors — all of which the convention ratified.*'^ 
 
 Not content with this power, Mahone contemplated 
 vast extensions and a greater concentration of the 
 
 May 14, 1883. Dezendorf was anti-Mahone ; John Goode calls him ' ' able. ' ' 
 For favors see Euffin, Scrap-Boole, II, p. 174; Munford, op. cit. 
 
 57 Unanimous report of bi-partisan committee, Sen. Jour., 1883-1884, 
 Docs. 32, 33. 
 
 58 Dezendorf, op. cit. 
 
 5^ Dispatch, February 8, 1883. 
 
 60 Ibid., July 6, 9, 1882. 
 
 61 Autobiography, ch. 17. 
 ^2 Dispatch, June 8, 1881. 
 
 S3 Ibid., April 24, 1884. Col. William Lamb was temporary chairman. 
 Brown Allen permanent chairman. 
 
158 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 state patronage. Of this purpose the measures defeated 
 by the ''Big Four"*^* give ample proof. To concentrate 
 patronage was one of the aims of the bill creating the 
 office of commissioner of sales in each county and giving 
 him the power virtually of controlling the local news- 
 paper through the advertising business of the office.®^ 
 Such, too, would have been the result of the attempt to 
 create a railroad commission with power not only to 
 examine all books, papers, and employees, and to make 
 rates and enforce them, but also to dismiss for cause 
 any officer or employee.*^*' These proposed offices were 
 to be filled, not by popular election or even by legislative 
 election, but by the governor.''^ Similarly, although the 
 district school trustees were already under Readjuster 
 control through their election by local boards on which 
 Readjusters had an appointive majority, none the less 
 an effort was made to transfer their selection to the state 
 board of education, the members of which all held office 
 in Richmond. Rumor had it that the sheriffs, too, now 
 elective and the most important of the county officers, 
 would soon be named at the state capitol. According to 
 Colonel Ruffin, if these attempts had succeeded, 42,620 
 adults, drawing $18,300,000 yearly, would have become 
 virtually subject to Mahone. 
 
 This concentration of power and its further extension 
 Mahone and those closest to him defended, by insisting 
 that it was necessary to break up the "rings" and to 
 keep them broken in order that ''Bourbon Democrats 
 and Bourbon Republicans ' ' might be overthrown and the 
 "regeneration of Virginia" accomplished. And such 
 
 64 Above. 
 
 65 House Bills, 1881-1882, No. 259. The newspaper provision does not 
 appear in this bill in its first form. 
 
 eGlMd., No. 121. 
 
 67 Scrap-Booh, II, p. 1 74. Sheriffs are not included. 
 
THE READJUSTEES IN POWER 159 
 
 reasoning undoubtedly had its weight, especially at first. 
 But the written evidence, supported by a well-defined 
 tradition among both Democrats and Republicans today, 
 indicates clearly that the main object of Mahone 's ambi- 
 tion was to perpetuate the power of the machine and that 
 this was deemed a sufficient end in itself. 
 
 What, then, are the significant features of the Read- 
 juster period of control? On the one hand, an attempt 
 at democratization through legislation and appoint- 
 ments ; on the other, the development of a new political 
 machine. The legislation was mostly economic and 
 social, intended to subserve the interests of the masses 
 and to break the power of the privileged classes. Much 
 of it was progressive and sound, in line with the best 
 tendencies of the reconstruction period. That it involved 
 repudiation was unfortunate but probably necessary in 
 view of the position taken by the preferred creditors. 
 In appointments, the balance of opportunity between 
 well-known and unknown men was redressed; even the 
 negroes received recognition. But if the conception of 
 offices as "honors" was dead, that of office as oppor- 
 tunity for public service had not been attained; instead, 
 men served the party. That the organization of the 
 party quickly became a machine was due in part to the 
 circumstances of its origin and its possession of the 
 negro vote ; in part, to the skill of General Mahone and 
 his control of the federal patronage. As the machine 
 became perfected, it shaped both appointments and legis- 
 lation more and more to suit its own ends, until it became 
 a very real and a very debasing tyranny. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 THE END OF READJUSTMENT, 1883-1885 
 
 With 1882 tlie character of Readjuster legislation and 
 appointments ceased to be a topic of prime political 
 interest. To put Virginia in the Republican column 
 was now clearly Mahone's chief object; to "redeem the 
 state" gradually became the single aim of the Conserv- 
 ative management. In the struggle Readjuster ideas 
 and tactics were taken over by the victorious Conserv- 
 atives, soon called Democrats, and thus they survived. 
 Simultaneously the improvement in economic conditions 
 became apparent. 
 
 The story need not detain us long. In April, 1882, as 
 the spokesman of the anti-Mahone Readjusters, Massey 
 began to "lay the matter before the people" in charac- 
 teristic fashion.^ His chief contention was that the 
 legitimate work of the Readjuster party had been 
 accomplished and that Mahone's purpose now was to 
 "bind the state and hand her over to the Republicans." 
 Others, including Fulkerson, followed. But the regu- 
 larly constituted Funder leaders in Virginia were in no 
 position to profit by this diversion — their personal 
 interests were too closely involved, their knowledge of 
 the inner workings of the Readjusters too intimate for 
 
 1 Above, p. 152; Massey, Autobiography, chs. 17 to 20; "A. Fulkerson 's 
 Account of his Stewardship as a Congressman delivered at Abingdon," in 
 FulTcerson Tapers; addresses of the "Big Four" and the "Eeadjuster 
 Members of the Legislature" {cf. Lybrook on the accuracy of this claim 
 to authorship) in Annual Cyc, 1882; Lybrook, Mahoneism; Euffin, An 
 Appeal 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 161 
 
 a broad and statesmanlike view. Remote from the 
 cauldron of Richmond politics, however, the Democratic 
 leaders in Washington saw the opportunity. Quietly 
 seizing the party reins, they encouraged Massey to 
 become an independent candidate for Congressman-at- 
 large and then induced the state committee to give their 
 action a passive endorsement. Likewise, under the same 
 influences, several Congressional districts informally 
 adopted conciliatory policies. But the breach in the old 
 party's ranks proved too wide and the workings of the 
 Mahone-Republican machine too powerful, for such 
 spontaneous and irregular methods. Though it was a 
 ''Democratic year," the "Coalitionists" won five of the 
 eight districts, and Wise defeated Massey by 5,000 votes 
 in a total of 193,000 cast. With Mahone in the Senate 
 and Riddleberger about to join him there, the ''Solid 
 South" was unmistakably broken. This result was 
 attained by a combination of boss, patronage, and 
 negroes — a combination that might easily be eifected in 
 almost any Southern state. ^ 
 
 With spirits thoroughly chastened by successive de- 
 feats, Funder congressmen, press, and local leaders 
 now, for the first time, deliberately went to the rank 
 and file for advice. In the widespread discussion that 
 ensued a Conservative policy was gradually shaped for 
 use in the legislative campaign of 1883: first of all, an 
 unequivocal and formal renunciation of the Funder 
 claim to a monopoly of Conservatism ; secondly, a revivi- 
 fying of the issue by which warring factions had so long 
 
 -Cf. ch. 11. Throughout the South, wrote "Vates" m the Boston Post 
 {Whig, July 4), the negroes and the bosses are coming together, and "the 
 hour is big with fate. ' ' The Nation thought the movement ' ' likely to 
 spread through the South," January 12, May 25. The Dispatch feared 
 (July 12) Mahone 's success "will give such an imi^etus to the Coalition 
 movement that the arrest of that movement between now and 1884 may 
 be impossible. ' ' 
 
162 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 been held together ; and, thirdly, a new leadership which 
 should be at once popular and efficient. Accordingly, 
 the state committee early in the year agreed to call a 
 state convention and named as the place, not Richmond, 
 but Staunton, in the heart of the white and Readjuster 
 Valley. In the election of delegates to this convention, 
 the committee announced, ''all Conservative Democrats 
 are equally entitled to participate."^ Fortune aided the 
 venture. For in March came the decision of the highest 
 federal court sustaining "Coupon-Killer, Number One" 
 and thereby the Readjuster debt settlement.* Some 
 Funders, indeed, to whom the decision was almost 
 incredible, sought loopholes in the rather confused 
 reasoning of the court; but others welcomed the oppor- 
 tunity for an honorable retreat, and soon the great 
 majority declared the matter ended.^ Satisfied, many 
 Readjusters now entered the convention and shared 
 its honors with their old, but hitherto preferred, 
 party friends. The platform, formally accepting the 
 Readjuster settlement, rang the emphasis upon 
 "Mahoneism"; and upon the walls of the convention 
 hall one could read "THIS WAY, FREEMEN!" With 
 a word of praise the old leaders were set aside, and a 
 complete reorganization after the Mahone model was 
 
 3 ' ' What Fulkerson did for a convention, ' ' manuscript in the hand- 
 writing of Colonel Fulkerson, Fulkerson Papers; Dispatch, February 15. 
 
 4Antoni v. Greenhow, 17 U. S. Eep. 769; Annual Cyc, 1883, Art. "Obli- 
 gation of Contracts"; Eoyall, Virginia Debt Controversy, ch. 6. The 
 grounds were that the remedy offered by the state for breach of contract 
 was ' ' substantially equivalent to that in force when the coupons were 
 issued, ' ' and that this remedy was the ' ' one which the state has chosen 
 to give, and the only one therefore, which the courts of the United States 
 are authorized to administer. ' ' Chief Justice Waite rested his decision on 
 the first named ground, Justice Matthews on the second. Justices Bradley, 
 Woods, and Gray concurred in both. Justices Field and Harlan dissented. 
 
 5 Dispatch, March 6; Dispatch and State, passim (citations). That a 
 belief in a conspiracy between Mahone and the Eepublican justices had 
 weight (Eoyall, op. cit.) is not evident from the Eichmond press. 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 163 
 
 planned. To the chairmanship of the party, with its 
 enlarged powers and duties, the convention unanimously 
 elected John S. Barbour, a railroad man and a Funder, 
 but one of those who had inspired and directed the new 
 party policy. Before the convention Barbour stated 
 that he ' ' didn 't believe much in still-hunting with a brass 
 band, nor had he much faith in committees. Nor in 
 platforms." In token of the burying of old issues the 
 name ''Democrat" was now, for the first time, formally 
 taken.*' 
 
 Despite the consequent Democratic enthusiasm and 
 activity,^ however, the result of the campaign was still 
 in doubt when the "Danville riot" gave to the Demo- 
 crats a most convincing argument for the overthrow of 
 Mahoneism.® The circumstances were these: Early in 
 1883, Governor Cameron appointed two negroes as school 
 trustees in Richmond, and negro mass-meetings endorsed 
 the act.^ Many Conservatives thereupon urged that 
 race lines be drawn. To this, however, many, especially 
 of the ex-Readjuster following, would not consent." 
 
 <i Dispatch, State, Whig, July 25, 26; above, p. 101; Dispatch, July 28; 
 Whig, November 7. Barbour was a brother of James Barbour, above, p. 111. 
 
 7 The Democrats were aided by the opposition of Straight-outs. Mahone 
 was handicapped by the desertion of lieutenants, see letters of Congressman 
 Dezendorf , also editorials, in New York Tribune, May 14 ff. ; also inter- 
 view of Mahone in same, June 8. Apparently Mahone had to threaten 
 Arthur with the loss of Virginia's vote in the national Eepubliean con- 
 vention next year. Hid., June 5, 13. 
 
 s Dispatch and Whig, November 3-9; "New Virginia"; O'Ferrall, 
 Forty Years, p. 294; "Personal EecoUections. " O'Ferrall gives the year 
 as 1885. 
 
 9 Dispatch, May, June, July, passim. Another negro trustee had been 
 appointed in Lunenburg by Cameron, State, March 8. Kemper had done 
 the same, Whig, October 3. But "Africanization" was not feared under 
 him. 
 
 10 Opposition to drawing the color line was greatest in the Norfolk 
 region, where "fusion" had already begun.- Many favored support of 
 negro schools from funds contributed by negroes only. 
 
164 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 But as the campaign grew warmer, the Democrats 
 resorted to "dividing the crowd" on public occasions, 
 and in many places the negroes were wrought up to a 
 state of extreme excitement by the speeches of Repub- 
 lican leaders. A climax was reached in Danville. In 
 this little ''Southside" town, the whites paid $38,000 
 of the $40,000 taxes. But the negroes were in a majority 
 and, aided by a new town charter which they had 
 obtained from the ''pledged" legislature, they secured 
 a majority of the council, over which a carpet-bagger 
 presided. All the justices of the peace, four of the nine 
 policemen, the health officer, the weigh-master and the 
 clerk of the market, together with twenty of the twenty- 
 four renters of stalls in the market, were negroes. It 
 was just such an ''Africanization" as had been feared 
 in Reconstruction days, and predicted time and again 
 as the necessary outcome of Mahoneism. On the Satur- 
 day night preceding election day (Tuesday), a street 
 brawl led to a "riot," in which a few whites and blacks 
 were killed. The governor called out the militia and 
 order was soon restored. But forthwith flaming posters 
 told the story to the whites of the "Southwest"; and 
 in Lynchburg a mass-meeting unanimously resolved, 
 upon motion of the stern old Bourbon, Gen. Jubal A. 
 Early, that "the negroes must know that they are to 
 behave themselves and keep in their proper places." 
 After this the result of the election was no longer in 
 doubt. The whites turned out as never before, and the 
 Democrats, by a majority of 18,000 in 267,000 counted, 
 won nearly two-thirds of both houses. From all over 
 the South came congratulations, the sincerity of which 
 no one denied." 
 
 11 Two hundred and sixty-seven thousand votes were counted in 1883 ; 
 193,000 in 1882; 213,000 in 1881. The Democratic majority was 18,000 
 as against a Eepublican majority of 13,000 in 1881 and 5,000 in 1882. 
 
THE END OF EEADJUSTMENT 165 
 
 The legislature thus elected quickly demonstrated how 
 completely the old debt issue had ceased to be a matter 
 of political importance. Recalling how for thirteen 
 years this question had "profoundly agitated the people 
 of Virginia . . . resulting in political contests which 
 have convulsed the popular mind, given repeated and 
 ruinous shocks to the business interests of the state, 
 retarded prosperity, and threatened the safety of the 
 people"; how a ''large body of the citizens and tax- 
 payers" had made "persistent, repeated, and earnest 
 but unavailing efforts to effect and carry out a settle- 
 ment, by which a much larger sum would have been 
 recognized and assumed by the state than has been 
 assumed by the ' Riddleberger Bill' "; and how the 
 people had endorsed this bill at three successive elections 
 and the highest courts had declared it valid, the legis- 
 lature resolved that "any expectation that any settle- 
 ment of the debt, upon any other basis, will ever be made 
 or tolerated by the people of Virginia, is absolutely 
 illusory and hopeless," and that the interests of both 
 creditors and the state required its complete acceptance 
 by both. Not a vote was recorded against this resolu- 
 tion. The Readjuster Democrat Newberry introduced 
 it in the Senate, the Funder Democrat William A. 
 Anderson in the House. Among those who voted for 
 it were A. Koiner and W. C. Wickham, ex-chairmen of 
 the Funder wings of the Conservative and Republican 
 parties respectively.^^ Governor Cameron signed it. 
 Moreover, laws suggested by the governor and designed 
 
 There was undoubtedly a great deal of fraud. In most places Mahone 
 controlled the election of judges; and his state board of canvassers refused 
 to go behind the returns. Half the ' ' Southwest, ' ' two-thirds of the Valley, 
 and all the cities but Norfolk and Petersburg went Democratic. 
 ^^ Acts, 1883-1884, p. 7; House and Senate Journals. 
 
166 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 to make the Riddleberger Act and the ' * Coupon Killers ' ' 
 more effective were enacted without difficulty." 
 
 Nor did the legislature undo or attempt to undo any 
 of the other economic and social legislation of the 
 Readjusters, the more liberal suffrage, the larger appro- 
 priations for schools and charities, the lower and fairer 
 taxes, and the abolition of the whipping-post. On the 
 contrary, it desired to supplement and extend them all." 
 For such legislation was, unquestionably, the "will of 
 the people." 
 
 If in these matters the legislature followed the Read- 
 juster creed, still more did it acknowledge the influence 
 of the Mahone system in its political activities. Acting 
 upon the pointed advice of the new state committee,^^ 
 individual members forbore to seek offices for them- 
 selves, and the caucus smoothly and equitably appor- 
 tioned the patronage.^*^ Next, by prompt and vigorous 
 efforts, the Democratic majority in each house was 
 increased to two-thirds.^' Then the task of breaking 
 the grip of the machine was begun. The governor's 
 share in the appointment of the commissioner of agri- 
 culture and of the capitol police was taken away." The 
 boards of all the asylums were declared vacant and the 
 appointment of their members was transferred from the 
 
 13 Governor, Message, December, 1883; Acts, 1883-1884, pp. 504, 527; 
 Acts, 1884 (extra session), p. 163. 
 
 14 Above, ch. 12. Cf. the vrhite female normal school in the ' ' South- 
 side" and the lunatic asylum in the "Southwest," Acts, 1883-1884, pp. 
 417, 692. The House directed that a bill for separate negro teachers and 
 trustees for negro schools be reported, but nothing resulted, House 
 Jour., p. 86. 
 
 15 Dispatch, November 23, 25, 1883. 
 
 16 Especially pleasing was the selection of Col. Frank G. Euffin as 
 second auditor, the ofiEicer in charge of public debt operations and of the 
 literary fund and member of the board of public works. 
 
 17 "iVew Virgina" ; Euffin, Scrap-Book, II, p. 224. 
 
 18 House Jour., 1883-1884, pp. 274, 752, 754. 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 167 
 
 governor to the board of public works." Over the heads 
 of the county superintendents of schools was held a 
 threat of fine and loss of office for active participation 
 in politics."" The appointment of school trustees was 
 taken from the boards, composed each of county judge, 
 superintendent, and commonwealth's attorney, and given 
 to new boards elected by the legislature.-^ Registrars, 
 judges, and clerks of elections were treated in a similar 
 fashion, without any adequate provision being made for 
 representation of both parties." The charters of towns 
 were changed so as to require new registration of voters 
 and otherwise to aid Democratic control.^^ The state 
 was redistricted for Congress, not indeed with such 
 disregard of numerical equality as Mahone had shown, 
 but with such obvious political bias that the governor 
 declared the new arrangement would give one party 
 seven or eight of the ten representatives on the basis 
 of the nearly balanced vote at the last Congressional 
 election."* To justify such strenuous and high-handed 
 procedure, and to obtain material for the next campaign, 
 as well as to bring the guilty to bar, partisan investi- 
 gations were made into every cranny of Mahoneite 
 official activity. These investigations brought to light 
 a mass of incompetence, petty graft, and violent partisan- 
 ship, and some gross mismanagement. Yet on the 
 whole it may be said that the tone of the reports was 
 rather judicial than partisan and though the terror of 
 prosecution was held over some, the object in the end 
 seemed to be to prevent and reclaim rather than to 
 punish. Upon the public records, the legislature spread 
 
 ^^Acts, 1883-1884, p. 155; House Jour., pp. 482-513. 
 
 20 Acts, 1883-1884, pp. 684, 698. 
 
 21 Ibid., p. 177; 1884 (special session), p. 119. 
 
 22 Sen. Jour., 1884, p. 23 ; Acts of August 25, November 29, 1884. 
 
 23 Norfolk, Portsmouth, Danville, Petersburg. 
 
 24 House Jour., 1883-1884, p. 556. 
 
168 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 a demand that Mahone, as the instigator of strife between 
 the races, a traitor to the party that had elected him, 
 and a traducer of the state he represented, should resign 
 his seat in the United States Senate. And it sat at this 
 work, at intervals, till past the November elections of 
 
 1884, with no little inconvenience to its members and at 
 the risk of a popular reaction.'^ 
 
 Meantime Mahone fought what was perhaps his most 
 brilliant campaign. In point of intelligence and respecta- 
 bility the "Coalitionist" state convention of April 23, 
 
 1885, was undoubtedly the strongest that he had ever 
 got together. A flag of the United States draped the 
 chairman's platform, and around the arch behind, one 
 could read, "With malice to none, with charity to all." 
 Matters moved with clock-like precision. Governor 
 Cameron's administration was endorsed "like a flash," 
 even though the governor himself pleaded indisposition 
 to the demand for a "speech." Tremendous cheers 
 greeted "Mahone, the black man's friend." "With all 
 the dramatic effect he could bring to bear, ' ' Mahone read 
 the platform. In it for the first time the name Repub- 
 lican was officially taken — "the Republican party of 
 Virginia. ' ' No mention was made of Readjustment ; the 
 emphasis was laid upon liberalism, in state as well as 
 nation. Despite the spirited objection of some who 
 preferred Blaine, the delegates to the national convention 
 were instructed to vote as a unit for Arthur : * ^ We are 
 for Arthur because Arthur is for us" ran the con- 
 vention slogan which the delegation carried to Chicago. 
 In the only important contest which came before the 
 national convention, the Mahone delegates won over the 
 "Straight-out." And when Wise and Riddleberger, so 
 rumor had it, hoped to weaken Mahone by a rather 
 precipitate "break" to Blaine, the successful candidate 
 
 ^5 Dispatch, March 8, July 29; State, March 5, 6, November 29, 1884. 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 169 
 
 sent word that "Arthur could not have been a better 
 friend to General Mahone than he would be. ' ' None the 
 less, at the elections, the Cleveland ticket won by 6,000 
 in 284,000 votes counted. Republicans cried fraud, 
 corruption, intimidation, and claimed the state by 
 15,000. Fraud there undoubtedly was, but by Repub- 
 licans as well as by Democrats. That eighty-five per 
 cent of the total possible vote was counted seems to 
 disprove the charge of extensive intimidation. Accept- 
 ance of Readjuster views by the Democrats, the race 
 line, and the probability of national Democratic success, 
 together with the smoother workings of the new 
 machinery, would seem to account sufficiently for the 
 great increase in the Democratic vote. 
 
 With discriminating firmness the Cleveland adminis- 
 tration at once proceeded to remove or suppress all 
 Republican postmasters and revenue officials who had 
 been unduly active in state politics — one of the things 
 for which Cleveland had been elected, the Nation 
 declared. By the middle of July, 1885, the task was 
 fairly complete in the opinion of even so interested an 
 observer as Chairman Barbour. There remained, 
 accordingly, only the governorship to be "redeemed." 
 For this position the Democrats pitted Fitzhugh Lee 
 against John S. Wise, who still maintained a semi-inde- 
 pendent allegiance to Mahone. So worn out were the 
 old issues that both parties sought new ones, and these 
 were usually ultra-democratic. Thus both endorsed 
 "local option" in the matter of liquor licenses, both 
 advocated increased pensions for Confederate soldiers 
 and free text-books for the public schools, and both 
 promised a variety of things calculated to win the labor 
 vote. National interest was again aroused : because, said 
 the New York Tribune, Virginia was the only Southern 
 state where even a semblance of fair elections was main- 
 
170 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 tained; because, said the Nation, *'the whole nation is 
 humiliated when any state is debased by the domina- 
 tion of such a boss. ' ' For the first time, Republicans of 
 national prominence came down to speak, notably, Sher- 
 man and Foraker. Wise polled only 2,000 fewer votes 
 than Blaine had received the year before. But Barbour 
 and Lee raised the Democratic vote 6,000 above that cast 
 for Cleveland. The legislature, too, was overwhelmingly 
 Democratic. So was its successor. And so Daniel and 
 Barbour soon superseded Mahone and Riddleberger in 
 the Senate. 
 
 A new and happier era had now clearly arrived. Eco- 
 nomic conditions were much better than in 1879. Realty 
 assessments showed an increase of thirty-six millions — 
 more than fifteen per cent, and the tax burden of the 
 farmer was proportionately fairer than of old."® There 
 were no railroads now in the hands of receivers. Char- 
 ters for new and bona fide enterprises were being issued 
 in large numbers. The lower middle class continued to 
 increase in numbers and in wealth; over ninety-six per 
 cent of the 300,000 tithables paid less than twenty-five 
 dollars each in taxes. Newspapers had increased in size, 
 number, and circulation; they no longer abounded in 
 huge lists of delinquent taxpayers or in cries from the 
 distressed. Schools were firmly established. In 1886, 
 the literary fund was converted into more than a million 
 of Riddlebergers. A normal school for the whites and 
 another for the colored, the former presided over by Dr. 
 Ruffner during its first years, were receiving regular, if 
 inadequate, assistance. By an act of 1884, appropria- 
 tions for disabled Confederate soldiers had been 
 increased one-half. There was a disposition to continue 
 
 26 Eealty now contributed thirty-six per cent of the total revenue, as 
 against fifty-nine per cent in 1871. 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 171 
 
 work on the asylum problem until no insane person 
 should be confined with criminals. 
 
 Old sectional antipathies among the upper classes had 
 been greatly modified. Scalawags and carpet-baggers 
 were almost entirely things of the past ; their Mahoneite 
 successors were at last muzzled. For the first time in 
 almost a generation, ''real Virginians" now had a share 
 in the national government. They helped in the making 
 of the laws, and they alone executed the laws within the 
 state. They had the ear of the president. They even 
 represented the nation abroad. With manifest pleas- 
 ure, they saw the independent political opinion of 
 the North approving their political position, and they 
 rejoiced that the commercial world at last understood 
 and applauded the ' ' Bourbon ' ' stand for the fiscal honor 
 of the state. They found parental pride in the applause 
 with which Fitzhugh Lee was welcomed during the 
 presidential inaugural parade, and their press chronicled 
 without unfavorable comment the fact that in the fol- 
 lowing July he spoke at Bunker Hill. Warmed now by 
 the generous attitude of Grant at Appomattox and again 
 in 1869, a Democratic convention paused, on news of his 
 death, to adopt resolutions of respect and sympathy. 
 ''Surely," said the Dispatch, "we have a united coun- 
 try." "Best of all," said the Whig, in summing up 
 Colonel Elam's interpretation of the Readjuster Move- 
 ment, "it gave us that political regeneration which 
 makes us New Virginians indeed, by transforming us 
 from mere Virginians and Southerners into American 
 citizens." 
 
 But the fiscal situation was still serious. All except 
 one of the state's former holdings in internal improve- 
 ment companies were gone. The revenues, even after 
 the reassessment of realty in 1885, showed but little 
 increase over those of 1875. They could scarcely be 
 
172 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 increased. For even if a statesmanlike policy would 
 permit the imposition of a greater burden upon the 
 masses, political conditions would not: Mahone, men 
 said, had *' corrupted the people." Nor could the ten- 
 dency to reach out and tax capital be pursued far; for 
 capital had not entirely forgiven the repudiating state, 
 and, besides, the Democratic party must draw upon capi- 
 tal in order to maintain its control. On the other hand, 
 there were new and increased expenses. Some of these 
 were temporary : the extra legislative expenses, for exam- 
 ple, and possibly the increased criminal expenses. But 
 others were unquestionably permanent: such as those 
 for schools, asylums, and pensions. In general, it was 
 quite clear that any increase, present or prospective, 
 in the revenues of the state, as compared with the period 
 of 1877-1879, was fully offset by present and prospective 
 expenses that, for all practical purposes, could not be 
 avoided. Obviously, the debt was still an important con- 
 sideration. Even under a complete funding into '^Rid- 
 dlebergers" the interest would be hard to meet. So far, 
 however, less than five millions had been funded, and 
 creditors showed no inclination to increase the amount. 
 But public sentiment on this question was almost unani- 
 mous now. When part of the legislation supplement- 
 ing the ' ' Coupon-Killers ' ' was declared unconstitutional, 
 other was contrived. Business men refused to use the 
 old coupons, lawyers to take coupon cases. The bond- 
 holders did, indeed, make a strong and spectacular legal 
 fight, during which attorneys for both sides were in 
 turn sent to prison for contempt.-^ But by degrees it 
 became clear that the state was slowly winning : between 
 1883 and 1890 the maximum amount of coupons received 
 at the treasury for one year was $258,938, the minimum, 
 
 27 For an account by the most energetic and daring of the bondholders ' 
 counsel, see Eoyall, Some Eeminiscences. 
 
THE END OF READJUSTMENT 173 
 
 $40,540, So the holders of consols and ten-forties 
 yielded. By agreeing to the act of February 20, 1892, 
 they accepted the essential principles of the Riddle- 
 berger Act."^ The new bonds were known as "cen- 
 turies"; the act, as ''the settlement." There remained 
 the task of compelling West Virginia to settle with 
 creditors for her share of the old debt ; this was a moral 
 obligation assumed as part of "the settlement." But 
 the economic and fiscal problem of Virginia was at last 
 solved. 
 
 Though Mahone's control over the state was never 
 restored, the Republican party retained its newly won 
 supremacy in over one-half of the "Southwest" and 
 about one-third of the Valley and in the cities of Nor- 
 folk and Petersburg. It was more strongly entrenched 
 than of old in the rest of the "Southwest" and the 
 Valley. In the "East" it once more controlled in most 
 of the counties with large negro majorities and in some 
 cases where the negroes were not in the majority. 
 Improvement in Republican leadership was noteworthy 
 throughout the state. But the quality of its masses 
 improved little in the "East." Over this party 
 Mahone's personal domination continued, though his 
 most trusted lieutenants left him. Defeat did not 
 crush his spirit or destroy his unique prestige in 
 national politics. 
 
 The Democratic party in Virginia did not recede from 
 
 28 See Governor, Message, January 14, 1892, and accompanying docu- 
 ments. The commission representing Virginia consisted of P. W. McKinney, 
 E. H, Cardwell, H. T. Wickham, J. Hoge Tyler, Taylor Berry, W. D. 
 Dabney, and Eobert H. Tyler. F. P. Olcott was chairman of the bond- 
 holders' committee. Grover Cleveland, Thomas F. Bayard, E. J. Phelps, 
 George S. Coe, and George G. Williams constituted an "advisory board for 
 the creditors." Some points which the Eeadjusters had insisted upon were 
 not incorporated in the settlement, e.g., subjection of the new bonds to 
 taxation. 
 
174 EEADJUSTER MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 its newly assumed preference for popular wants as 
 against the interests of the creditors. Nor for fifteen 
 years did it dare again legally to restrict the suffrage 
 though disgust with the negro voter became more and 
 more profound. The new plan of organization and the 
 new methods of conducting campaigns were not aban- 
 doned. The new leaders were not discarded. If in time 
 control became unduly concentrated and dangerously 
 close to large business interests, it was never again dis- 
 tinctly Bourbon or neglectful of the new man and the 
 young man. When the national Populistic movement 
 came, the way had already been prepared for its accept- 
 ance by the Democrats. In short, the Democratic party, 
 as compared with the old Conservative party, its prede- 
 cessor, was new in organization, methods, ideals, and 
 leadership. These changes, constituting a compromise 
 between "Radicalism" and the "Old Regime," would 
 probably have come without the "Readjuster Move- 
 ment." But to tell how they did occur has been the 
 purpose of this study. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 Post-bellum Virginia history may be said to end with 
 1885: the ten or twenty years succeeding constitute an 
 appendix, which may be included or omitted without 
 material difference. 
 
 The task of the period (and its test) was internal 
 readjustment — readjustment of the state's economic and 
 social policies, of private enterprises and ideals, and of 
 the relations of races, classes, and sections. 
 
 Most of these problems were solved with but little 
 friction owing to the domination of Conservatism. For 
 Conservatism was not only a political party, it was also 
 a social code and a state of mind which bound the whites 
 to united and temperate action. The solution was accom- 
 plished, however, under a condition of stress — of poten- 
 tial conflict between aristocratic and democratic forces. 
 The aristocratic forces comprised partisans of the old 
 regime, weakened by emancipation, indeed, but strength- 
 ened by firm alliance with capitalistic interests and by 
 the gradual development of an ''old soldier" cult. The 
 democratic forces were the ''West" and the "new" 
 men whom war and reconstruction had thrust forward in 
 the "East." They included also the "poor whites" and 
 the freedmen; but these groups were usually impotent 
 because of race antagonism. 
 
 The Eadicalism of reconstruction days and the Read- 
 juster Movement a decade later were both democratic 
 protests against the domination of Conservatism. Radi- 
 calism, however, was largely obstructive of genuine dem- 
 ocratic advance because it was exotic and rested upon 
 force, and because it alienated the "West" through its 
 
176 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 attitude toward the negro. The Readjuster Movement, 
 on the other hand, was native in origin, and its democ- 
 racy was meant primarily for the whites, the negroes 
 being considered inferior allies. Each succeeded a well- 
 defined aristocratic movement, and each ended in a com- 
 promise whereby Conservatism became more democratic 
 and more progressive. 
 
 On detailed analysis, the Readjuster Movement exhib- 
 its a political, an economic, and a social phase. Not 
 until the breakdown of reconstruction politics, through 
 the continued defeat of the Republican party and the 
 overgrowth of the Conservative, could independent 
 opinion make headway. Then the union of Conserva- 
 tive ''outs" with the Republican fragments as ''Read- 
 justers" was feasible. This, in turn, paved the way for 
 an enlarged and rejuvenated Republican party and, 
 indirectly, for a Democratic party that was smaller 
 but better organized and more liberally led than its 
 Conservative predecessor. 
 
 It was economic depression that led most directly 
 through the consequent fiscal embarrassment and gen- 
 eral discontent, to the reception of the inciting principle 
 , of the movement. This principle, that the state's 
 creditors should be compelled to share in the general 
 i loss occasioned by war and reconstruction, gave the 
 i movement its name. Other things being equal, it was 
 supported by the hardest-pressed individuals and com- 
 munities. Eventually it became, through general acqui- 
 escence, the basis of debt settlement. Organized just as 
 the lowest point of depression was passed, the movement 
 ended soon after the turn of the tide had become 
 obvious. 
 
 Socially, the movement aimed at a government in 
 closer ''touch with the people." It sought, specifically, 
 taxation according to ability, unrestricted manhood suf- 
 
CONCLUSION 177 
 
 frage, abolition of the special privileges of bondholders, 
 '^brokers," and officeholding ''rings," and equalization 
 of opportunity through elementary state socialism. The 
 leaders were mainly self-made men of the middle class, 
 marked by energy and political shrewdness. Their 
 methods included agitation, disregard of precedent and 
 judicial decisions, a spoils organization, and, eventually, 
 a boss. The response of the white masses was loud and 
 strong in the democratic "West"; in the "East," doubt- 
 ful and hesitating. The end of the movement found 
 many "new" men in prominent places. It also found 
 the "will of the people" accepted as the criterion of 
 public policies, and the discovery and organization of 
 that will recognized as the first duty of party leaders. 
 For a short time the negro seemed about to become a 
 part of this political ' ' people ' ' ; but the habit of implicit 
 obedience to overseers and a boss proved too strong. 
 These results seemed to necessitate, and to anticipate, 
 the elimination of the negro as a voter and a wider 
 extension of the state's social activities, especially in 
 education. 
 
 Lastly, our study affords an illustration of the inter- 
 play of local independent movements and national poli- 
 tics. Undoubtedly Greenbackism aided in the inception 
 of Readjustment, and Readjustment prepared the soil 
 for Populism in Virginia. On the other hand, Repub- 
 lican supporters of the national credit and of the great 
 private "interests" aided repudiation in Virginia; and 
 the combination of ignorance in Virginia and federal 
 patronage under a boss made possible the only political 
 breach yet made in the new "Solid South." 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 
 
 This note indicates the nature of the material used. No 
 attempt is made at a complete enumeration. 
 
 MONOGRAPHS 
 
 C. H. Ambler, Sectionalism in Virginia from 1776 to 1861 
 (1910), H. J. Eckenrode, Political History of Virginia during 
 the Reconstruction (1904), and J. P. McConnell, Negroes and 
 Their Treatment in Virginia, 1865-1867 (1909), furnish the 
 political background subject to the limitations implied in their 
 titles. G. W. Dyer, Democracy in the South before the Civil 
 War (1905) is incomplete but suggestive. For the economic 
 and .social side the above, B. W. Arnold, History of the Tobacco 
 Industry in Virginia from 1860 to 1894 (1897), and the con- 
 tributions of Bruce, Dyer, Clark and others in The South in 
 the Building of the Nation (1909) have been used. William A. 
 Scott, The Repudiation of State Debts (1893) roughly sketches 
 the debt history to 1893. George W. Green in Lalor's Cyclope- 
 dia of Political Science, article "Repudiation," and R. P. 
 Porter in the History of State Debts (Vol. VII of the tenth 
 census) give useful summaries of debatable figures. Semi- 
 historical in its treatment is F. A. Magruder, Recent Adminis- 
 tration in Virginia (1912), which appeared too late to be of 
 any considerable service. A. D. Mayo, Common School Edu- 
 cation in the South (Commissioner of Education, Report, 1901, 
 I, Ch. XI) gives a convenient and suggestive account, largely 
 of the work of Dr. Sears, down to 1876. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHIES, MEMOIRS, ETC. 
 
 As yet works of this character either end with the war or 
 keep as far as possible from Virginian movements and condi- 
 tions. There are some exceptions. Wm. L. Royall, History of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 179 
 
 the Virginia Debt Controversy (1897) is the work of a native 
 attorney for the bondholders; his Some Reminiscences (1909) 
 presents the mature views of an ardent young participant of 
 the old school. Col. R. E. "Withers, Lieutenant-Governor and 
 United States Senator, hated Mahone as much as he could hate 
 anyone, and his delightful Autobiography of an Octogenarian 
 (1907) reflects this as well as some slight lapses of memory. 
 Governor Charles T. O'Ferrall came from west of the Blue 
 Ridge and in the early '70 's was a Readjuster — perhaps this, 
 perhaps his native kindliness, tempered the tone of his Forty 
 Years of Active Service (1904). John Goode, Congressman and 
 president of the last constitutional convention, was in the thick 
 of most of the political fights, but his Recollections of a Life- 
 time (1906) tells little of them. The Autobiography of John 
 E. Massey (1909) is valuable for the spirit of Massey and for 
 his writings and speeches, but it is marred by the failure of the 
 editor to indicate which parts of it are of her composition ; much 
 of it appears to be compiled from the Richmond Whig. Alder- 
 man and Gordon, J. L. M. Curry; T. C. Johnson, Robert L. 
 Dabney; and Memoirs of Gov. William Smith, contain impor- 
 tant material. Of outsiders who touch Virginia affairs, A. K. 
 McClure {Recollections of Half a Century and The South: Its 
 Industrial, Financial and Political Conditions, 1886) and Hugh 
 McCulloch (Men and Measures) are consistently friendly to the 
 anti-Read juster, or Funder, element, with whom they were at 
 times associated in business; T. C. Piatt (Autobiography) saw 
 only Republican machine interests; James G. Blaine (Twenty 
 Years in Congress) and John Sherman (Recollections of Forty 
 Years) changed sides and views according to party exigencies. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY UNOFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 The State press mirrors, but with much concealment and dis- 
 tortion, every feature of the period. To an unusual degree the 
 Richmond newspapers dominated the rest. Long before the 
 war, began the rivalry of the Enquirer and the Whig, both 
 dictators of opinion, while the Dispatch was an humble gatherer 
 of news. After the war, the news capacity, business sense, and 
 
180 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIEGINIA 
 
 political instinct of the Dispatch made it (under the direction 
 of Ellyson and Cowardin) the most prosperous and influential. 
 The Enquirer became the organ of the bondholding and aristo- 
 cratic faction, suspending in 1877. The State, founded in 1875 
 by J. Hampden Chamberlayne and edited by himself and 
 Packard Beirne, succeeded after a fashion to the Enquirer's 
 views and clientage. The Whig identified itself with the Read- 
 juster movement and the fortunes of General Mahone, and ex- 
 pired in 1888. The Virginia State Library has preserved and 
 listed these ; slight gaps may be filled at the Congressional 
 Library, with the apparent exceptions of the Whig of 1875 and 
 the Enquirer of July-November, 1876. Others preserved and 
 listed in the Virginia State Library are : The Southern Planter 
 and Farmer (1872-1876) ; The Commonwealth (Funder, daily, 
 William L. Royal editor, February- July, 1880) ; The Religious 
 Herald (Baptist, weekly, 1870-1882 — other numbers in the 
 library of Richmond College) ; the Southern Churchman (Epis- 
 copalian, weekly, 1880-1882) ; the Educational Journal of Vir- 
 ginia (organ of the Virginia Educational Association after 
 November, 1869, edited by C. H. "Winston, monthly; later the 
 semi-official and then the official organ of the state board of edu- 
 cation). Preserved and listed by the Norfolk public library are : 
 The Norfolk Landmark (Conservative, liberal, daily, James Bar- 
 ron Hope editor, M. Glennan managing editor) and The Nor- 
 folk Ledger (Conservative, daily). Typical town papers are 
 The Virginia Herald (1871) and The Virginia Star (1877-1879), 
 Conservative semi-weekly, Fredericksburg, which were loaned 
 to me by Judge A. T. Embrey of that town. The Northern Neck 
 News (1880, weekly. Conservative, edited in part by Wm. A. 
 Jones, preserved in its office at Warsaw) is representative of the 
 country newspapers. No Republican state papers appear to 
 be extant except the Southern Intelligencer (1880, Richmond, 
 daily, John R. Popham editor, in the Virginia State Library) 
 and the Valley Virginian (1881-1884, Staunton, H. H. Riddle- 
 berger editor, weekly, in the Congressional Library). Of out- 
 side papers the Nation is valuable for the independent (though 
 ill-informed) Northern view. New York dailies followed polit- 
 ical situations closely but not with either accuracy or fairness. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 181 
 
 Even more partisan was the National Bepuhlican (Washing- 
 ton), a "Mahone sheet." The magazine literature (which treats 
 the legal side of the debt question chiefly) is unimportant; it is 
 sufficiently indicated in Scott, Repudiation of State Debts, pp. 
 272-274. Few pamphlets of the earlier period remain; many 
 of the later have recently come to the State Library. The views 
 of Readjusters who refused to follow Mahone into the Repub- 
 lican party are presented with great fullness by Frank G. Ruffin^ 
 and, to a less extent, by A. M. Lybrook,^ the former previously 
 a Democrat, the latter previously a Republican. Gilbert C. 
 Walker and C. U. Williams present early Funder opinions on 
 the debt. "New Virginia" (published originally in the Whig in 
 1885 and probably the work of its editor, W. C. Elam, or of S. B. 
 French) gives a review of the entire period in the light in which 
 Mahone wished the North to see it. This was loaned me by 
 Judge Goolrick, of Fredericksburg. The others are in the Vir- 
 ginia State Library. American Politics (1882) by Thomas V. 
 Cooper and Hector T. Fenton, of Pennsylvania, contains an 
 unusually bold statement of the Camerons' share in the events 
 of the later period. Nine editions of this book were issued by 
 1885 with the account unchanged. For election returns and 
 party affiliations of legislators the Warrock-Bichardson Almanac 
 is invaluable. The Proceedings of the State Grange (State 
 Library, 1874-1876) should be studied in connection with the 
 Southern Planter. 
 
 OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 The usual state publications are practically complete in the 
 State Library. They are often badly digested and partisan. 
 The Annual Reports of Boards, Officers and Institutions con- 
 tain : Reports of the Auditor, the Second Auditor, the Treasurer, 
 
 1 His pamphlets, largely reprints of newspaper articles, are cited as : 
 Mahoneism Unveiled (no date, probably 1882); An Appeal (1883); Facts, 
 etc. (1885, "Facts, Thoughts and Conclusions in regard to the Public Debt 
 of Virginia"). Colonel Euflfin is unusually accurate in his facts and thor- 
 oughly honest. His Scrap-BooTc in five volumes is also in the State Library. 
 
 2 Judge Lybrook's pamphlet (cited as Mahonism Unveiled) is a reprint 
 of his letter to the Dispatch (1882). 
 
182 READJUSTEE MOVEMENT IN VIRGINIA 
 
 the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (also published 
 separately as Virginia School Reports) and the various boards 
 of which the Sinking Fund Commission, the Board of Public 
 Works (continued by the Railroad Commissioner from 1877 
 and published separately), and the trustees of various asylums, 
 colleges, etc., are most important. House Bills, 1881-1882, is 
 incomplete but valuable. There is an Index to the Acts of the 
 Assembly in their manuscript form (in which they are known 
 as "Enrolled Bills"). The House and Senate Journals contain 
 the governor's messages and other documents, usually as an 
 appendix. Major "Jed" Hotchkiss published under authority 
 of the legislature a Summary of Virginia, Geographical and 
 Political, which is valuable for its maps. Contested elections 
 for state officers were occasionally presented as House or Sen- 
 ate documents; those for federal offices are easily accessible 
 through C. H. Rowell's Historical and Legal Digest. The 
 figures given in the returns of the United States census officials 
 cannot be considered more than approximations, as these offi- 
 cials were often untrustworthy. The Ku Klux Committee 
 Report (House Reports, 42 Cong., 2d sess., no. 22, pt. 1) is 
 negatively valuable. 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 The large collection of Rufjner Papers was placed unre- 
 servedly at my disposal by Dr. and Mrs. R. F. Campbell, of 
 Asheville, N. C. For selections from the Fulkerson Papers and 
 the Dickinson Papers, I am indebted to Mr. S. V. Fulkerson, of 
 Bristol, Virginia, and Miss Camilla Dickinson, of Richmond. 
 J. Willcox Brown, of Afton, Virginia, has recently deposited 
 with the Virginia State Library a collection of manuscript arti- 
 cles, in the nature of recollections, by himself. The Harvie 
 Papers, discovered by Prof. C. H. Ambler and deposited in the 
 State Library by Dr. Armistead G. Taylor,^ contain letters from 
 Gen. William Mahone and other Readjusters to Col. Lewis E. 
 Harvie, of Amelia County and Richmond. The large and care- 
 fully preserved collection of Mahone Papers, hitherto inaeces- 
 
 3 See Report of the Virginia State Library for 1913-1914, p. 7. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 183 
 
 sible to students, was, through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. 
 W. L. McGill, placed at my disposal for consultation on 
 crucial points. The state Land Boohs are invaluable for an 
 understanding of economic conditions. Under the enlightened 
 and energetic policy of the State Library's present management 
 other similar material will probably soon be available. 
 
 ''PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS" 
 
 Under this title are entered memoranda of conversations with 
 men who were participants in the situation described but whose 
 names it is not advisable to give at present. 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Agricultural and Mechanical Insti- 
 tute, 44 
 
 Allen Amendment, 86, 90, 124 
 
 Allen, S. B., 148 
 
 Anderson, W. A., 2, note 6, 32, note 
 31, 165 
 
 Arthur, C. A., 140, 156, 168 
 
 Associations, benevolent and frater- 
 nal, 147 
 
 Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Eail- 
 way, 27, 28, note 16, 69, 70, 
 note 7, 146 
 
 Auditor, 62, 148 
 
 Barbour Bill, 78, 79, 80, 95, 123 
 Barbour, James, 22, note 27, 70, 
 
 note 7, 95, 111, 140 
 Barbour, J. S., 163, 169, 170 
 "Big Four," 153, 158 
 Bigger, J. B., 116 
 Blaine, J. G., 140, note 36, 168 
 Blair, 82, 122, 139 
 Bocock-Fowler Act, 79 
 Bourbons, 19-21, 53, 62, 66, 71, 
 
 132, note 3, 133, note 4 
 Branch, James, 11, note 40 
 Brown, J. W., 10, note 34, 14, note 
 
 53 
 
 Cameron, Don, 139, 141 
 
 Cameron, Simon, 33, 134, 135, 138 
 
 Cameron, W. E., 74, 111, 113, 139, 
 
 140, 142, 157, 163, 165, 168 
 Canal, James River and Kanawha, 
 
 3, 7, 22, note 17, 44, 48 
 Christian Advocate, The Richmond, 
 
 116 
 Cities, 91, 130 
 "Civis," 54, note 17, 87, note 9 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, 169 
 
 Colleges, 62 
 
 Confederates, 19, 76, 109, 146, 169, 
 170 
 
 Conservative Party 
 
 Prior to 1879: origin, 19-21; 
 plan of organization, 37, 39, 
 40, 49; dominant issue, 37 
 (1870), 40 (1871), 48 (1873); 
 campaign methods, 37, 39, 41, 
 49, 68; and national affairs, 39, 
 132; factions, 36-38 (1870- 
 1871), 48 (1873), 71-74 (1877), 
 79-82 (1878); negroes and, 22, 
 35, 39; and the state debt, 30, 
 42, 44, 53, 74, 78, 118, 120- 
 140, 160; conventions, 39, 48, 
 73, 133, 140; see Suffrage, 
 Schools, Lunatics, Confederates, 
 Puilic Worlcs, Railroads, Taxes 
 Becomes Funder: 120; see Fund- 
 
 ers 
 Becomes Democratic Party: see 
 Democratic Party 
 
 Consols, 43, 52, 86, 143, 173 
 
 Constitution, makers of, 17; analy- 
 sis of, 17, 18; a campaign 
 issue, 19-23 ; amendment, 50, 
 55; question of new, 50, 80 
 
 Counties, government of, 18, 44; 
 see Economic Conditions 
 
 Coupons, 51, 52, 90, 172; "coupon- 
 killers," 143, 162, 172 
 
 Courts, organization of, 18; de- 
 cisions of, 43, 162, 172; agita- 
 tion against, 46, 81 ; Eead- 
 justers and, 125, 129 
 
 Credit, the Restoration of Policy, 
 24, 26, 27, 29-33, 42-44 
 
188 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Creditors, State, 9, 32, 43 and note 
 
 20, 52, 85, 86, 89 
 Crime, 54, 55 
 Curry, J. L. M., 84, note 57, 116, 
 
 135, note 12 
 
 Daniel, J. W., 30, note 27, 40, note 
 13, 49, note 6, 68, 74, 81, note 
 53, 116, 125, 140, 170 
 
 Daniel, E. T., 20, note 10, 21, note 
 15, 49 
 
 Danville Eiot, 163 
 
 Debt, Local Public, 91 
 
 Debt, Private, 14, 19, 25, 26, 27, 44, 
 92, 93 
 
 Debt, State, ante helium, 2, 3, 6, 
 8-12 (1865), 19 (1867), 24, 26 
 (1870), 29 (1871), 42 (1872), 
 51, 64 (1874), 58, 62, 74 
 (1877), 78, 83 (1878), 85, 100, 
 120, 122 (1879), 142 (1882), 
 162, 165 (1883), 172 (1892) 
 
 Debt Payers, 53-58, 88, 95 
 
 Democratic Party, before Civil War, 
 103, 106; relation of Conserv- 
 ative to, 133 and note; Con- 
 servative succeeded by, 163 
 (1884); and state debt, 162, 
 165, 172; plan of organization, 
 162; dominant issue, 161 
 (1883), 169 (1884); campaign 
 methods, 163, 169; and the 
 "will of the people," 161, 166, 
 174; and the Mahone machine, 
 166; s€fe Schools, Lunatic's, 
 Confederates, Eailroads, Taxes 
 
 Dispatch, The Eichmond, 15, 22, 29, 
 30, 33, 60, 73, 76, 77, 83, 97, 
 116, 171 
 
 Duelling, 71, 114, 147 
 
 Dyson, H. H., 148 
 
 Early, J. A., 39, 164 
 
 ''East," The, characteristics of, 
 
 108-111; vote of, 130, 173 
 Echols, John, 78, note 42, 82 
 
 Economic Conditions, 7, 8, 24-26, 91- 
 
 93, 170 
 Elam, W. C, 113, 114, 148 
 Elections, federal supervision, 134, 
 
 note 9, 132; frauds, 49, 156; 
 
 laws, 157, 164, note 11, 167 
 Emigration, 93 and note 36 
 Enquirer, The Eichmond, 15, 25, 28 
 
 and note 19, 30, 73, 80 
 
 Farmers, 24, 45, 92; see Grangers 
 
 Farr, E. E., 59, note 31, 78, note 42, 
 148 
 
 Fauntleroy, T. T., 148 
 
 Finances, condition of state, 5-7 
 (1861), 7 (1865), 24, 31 (1870- 
 1871), 50-58, 61, 62 (1874), 88- 
 91 (1879), 144 (1882), 171 
 (1885-1892); see Debt, Taxes 
 
 Fulkerson, A., 45, note 29, 63, 64, 
 72, 95, 97, note 8, 105, 138, 
 152, note 42, 160 
 
 Fultz, D,, 48 
 
 Funders, attitude on debt, 98, note 
 13, 118; leaders, 115-117, 126; 
 campaign methods, 98, 140, 161- 
 163; becomes Democratic Party, 
 163; see Conservative Party, 
 Democratic Party 
 
 Funding Act, The, 29, 30; objec- 
 tions to, 31-33, 41, 64, 100; 
 attempt to repeal, 43, 65; de- 
 cision of court, 43 
 
 Goode, John, 29, note 22, 82, note 
 
 54, 116 
 Goode, Samuel, 97 
 Gorham, G. C, 138, 154 
 Grandstaff Act, 145 
 Grangers, 59, 76, 147 
 Grant, U. S., 21, 37 and note 7, 135, 
 
 136, 137, 171 
 Green, Duff, 77 
 Greenbackers, 81 
 Groner, V. D., 22, note 17, 112 
 
INDEX 
 
 189 
 
 Harris, J. T., 82 
 
 Hayes, R. B., 127, 128, note 57, 134, 
 
 135, 138 
 Hazlewood, N. W., 59, note 31, 147 
 Henkel Act, 87 
 Henkel, D. W., 87 
 Hoar, G. F., 138 
 Holliday, F, W. M., 68, 74, 75 and 
 
 note 27, 79, 85, 90, 142 
 Hughes, R. W., 22, note 17, 36, note 
 
 5, 48, 84, note 57 
 Hunter, E. M. T., 52, 56, 64, 115 
 
 Independents, reason for, 38, 75, 
 76; views of, 46; and the debt, 
 78, 88; in the "Southwest" 
 and Valley, 106; in 1877, 76- 
 80; and Eeadjuster Party, 96, 
 126 
 
 Johnson, B. T., 2, note 4, 29, note 
 22, 82, 88, note 12, 118, note 4, 
 120 
 
 Johnston, J. E., 81, note 53, 82 
 
 Johnston, J, W., 115 
 
 Keiley, A. M., 140 
 
 Kemper, J. L., 43, note 21, 49, 50- 
 
 58, 70, note 7 
 Koiner, A., 165 
 
 Labor, 147, 169 
 
 Lacy, J. H., 63, 69, note 6 
 
 Landmark, The Norfolk, 71, 74, note 
 25, 98, note 11, 116 
 
 Lee, Fitzhugh, 68, 74, 169, 171 
 
 Lee, R. E., 60 
 
 Legislature, appointing power, 18, 
 148, 165; number and sessions, 
 55; characteristics of, 9, 24, 45, 
 54, note 17, 55, 79, 85, 126, 151, 
 165, 166 
 
 Letcher, John, 78 
 
 Lewis, John F., 33, note 36, 137, 
 139 
 
 Lewis, L. L., 137 
 
 Literary Fund, 4, 145, 162, 170 
 Logan, T. M., 116 
 Lovell, J. T., 116, 120, note 8 
 Lunatics, care of, 54, 63, note 39, 
 
 146, 166, 171 
 Lybrook, A. M., 63 
 
 Mahone, William, 22, 27, 30, 68-74, 
 80, 90, 97, 99, 101, 102, 114, 
 115, 119, 124, 135-139, 147, 150- 
 158, 168, 169, 170, 173 
 
 Massey, J. E., 63, 64, 77, 111-113, 
 124, 128, 147, 148, 152, 157, 
 160, 161 
 
 McCulloeh Act, enactment and 
 terms, 85-89, 118; feasibility, 
 89-94; operation, 119; attacks 
 on, 100, 123, 124 
 
 McCuUoch, Hugh, 52, 85, note 5, 
 125 
 
 McMullrn, F., 82, 124 
 
 Mann, W. H., 59, note 31, 80, note 
 48, 150, note 37 
 
 Moffett Bill, 57, 76, 144 
 
 Newberry, S., 83, 153, note 44, 163 
 Negroes, legislation on (1865-1866), 
 14; in constitutional convention, 
 17; in legislature, 24, 29; 
 party attitude of, 38, 39, 41; 
 Eeadjusters and, 97, 98, 127-129, 
 130, 138, 146, 151, 154, 163; 
 desires of, 109, 127; as an 
 economic factor, 26, 92; con- 
 dition of, 109; distribution, 
 105, 106, 108, 109; see Dan- 
 ville Riot 
 Newspapers, 97, 118, 121, note 15 
 
 O'Ferrall, C. T., 45, note 29, 107, 
 
 note 17, 108 
 Officials, State, 55 
 
 Parties, see Coalition, Conservative, 
 Democratic, Funder, Eeadjuster, 
 Bepublican 
 
190 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Party Machinery, Conservative, 37, 
 39, 40, 49; Eeadjuster, 101, 
 151-159; Democratic, 162 
 
 Paul, Jolin, 78, note 42, 82, 88, note 
 16, 107, 124, 138, 152, note 42 
 
 Peelers, 43, 45, 58, 86 
 
 Peirpoint, Governor, 9, 71, note 12 
 
 Pennsylvania Central Eailroad, 28 
 
 Phlegar, A. A., 121, note 16, 124 
 
 Piedmont, The, 108 and note 23 
 
 Powell, J. L., 77 
 
 Public Works, state system of, 
 origin, 1-6; condition of, 7, 12 
 (1865) ; disposal of, 13, 22, 26- 
 29, 44, 51, 145, note 15, 171; 
 see Railroads, Canal 
 
 Puryear, B., see "Civis" 
 
 Eadicals, see BepuMican Party 
 
 Eailroads, ante helium, 3, 7, 12, 13 
 1865), 24, 31 (1870); consoli- 
 dation acts, 27-29; in politics, 
 22, 28, 41, 69, 71, 139, 158, 
 172; taxation, 56, 144 and note 
 13 
 
 Eamsdell, C. P., 48, 49, note 6, 137, 
 note 20 
 
 Eeconstruction, Congressional, 17- 
 22; "undoing" of, 50 
 
 Eeadjuster Movement 
 
 Original Beadjusters, 63-66 ; see 
 
 Massey, Fulkerson, Lacy 
 Eeadjuster Conservatives: 72-75, 
 78-82, 88, 120; see Barhour 
 Bill, Democratic Party 
 Beadjuster Party : movements 
 leading to formation, 80, 95- 
 98; leaders of, 99, 105, 107, 
 108, 118, 126, 127; campaigns 
 of, 98-101, 118-130 (1879), 136, 
 137 (1880), 139 (1880); legis- 
 lation, 142-147, 151; appoint- 
 ments, 147-149; and the courts, 
 149-150 ; in national politics, 
 135-139, 150, 154, 156; ma- 
 chine of, 101, 151-159; factions. 
 
 153, 160, 162 ; fusion, see Be- 
 puhlican Party, Coalitionists ; 
 importance of, 146, 151, 169- 
 174, 175-177 
 
 Eeligious Herald, The, 116 
 
 Eepublican Party 
 
 Prior to 1881: composition of, 20, 
 22, 35, 38, 40, 47, 49, 104; 
 policies, 17-19 (1867-1869), 36 
 (1870), 40 (1871), 45 (1872), 
 48 (1873) ; disorganization, 50, 
 68, 75, 137, note 20; and Ee- 
 adjuster Party, 96, 127 
 Coalitionists : origin of idea, 134; 
 Cameron and Mahone for, 135 ; 
 failure of, 136 (1880) ; federal 
 patronage, 138, 154, 156; co- 
 operation with Eeadjusters, 139 
 (1881); campaigns, 161 (1882), 
 162 (1883), 157 (1884); ma- 
 chine broken, 166; becomes Ee- 
 publican Party, 168 
 
 Eepudiation, of State Debt, 11, 45, 
 52, 57, 73, 99, 122, 143, 165, 
 172; of Private Debt, 14, 25, 
 122 
 
 Eeverley, D. E., 148 
 
 Eeynolds, C. M., 148 
 
 Eichmond, J. B., 82 
 
 Eiddleberger, H. H., 39, 45, note 29, 
 65, note 50, 74, 99, 101, 107, 
 138, 150, 161, 168 
 
 Eiddleberger Bill, 142, 155, 165 
 
 "Eiddlebergers," 143, 156' 
 
 Eogers, Asa, 148 
 
 Eoyall, W. L., 84, note 57, 118, note 
 4 
 
 Eufan, F. G., 59, note 31, 64, 113 
 
 Euffner, W. H., 48, 60-63, 113, 115, 
 157 
 
 Schools, ante helium, 4, 5; in con- 
 stitution, 18, 19; Act of 1870, 
 27; progress and difficulties, 
 60-63, 87, 145, 149, .158, 163, 
 170; political parties and, 20, 
 
INDEX 
 
 191 
 
 27, 37, 40, 49, note 6, 62, 72, 
 145, 149, 158, 163, 166, 167, 
 169, 170; see Buffner, W. H., 
 Bariour Bill, Kenkel Act, 
 Grandstaff Act 
 Sections, 103-112, 130; see ''West," 
 "East," "Southwest," Val- 
 ley, Tidewater, Piedmont 
 Settlement, The, 172 (1892) 
 Sherman, John, 136 and note 19, 
 
 169 
 Sinking Fund, 57, 58, 86 
 Smith, William, 7, note 25, 78 
 Social Classes, 109-111, 146 
 Southern Intelligencer, The, 137 
 Southern Planter, The, 59, note 31, 
 
 62 
 Southside, The, 108 and note 23 
 ' ' Southwest, ' ' The, characteristics 
 of, 103-105; vote, 130, note 65, 
 164, 173 
 State, The Eichmond, 83, 116 
 State Journal, The, 36 
 Stearns, Franklin, 22 
 Stuart, A. H. H., 20, note 10, 21, 
 
 note 13, 65 
 Suffrage, constitutional provisions, 
 18; frauds, 49, 156; legal limi- 
 tations, 50, 146; Eeadjusters 
 and, 151 ; Democrats and, 166, 
 174 
 
 Taliaferro, W. B., 68 
 
 Taxes, ante 'bellum, 6; constitution 
 and, 18; Acts imposing, 11, 44, 
 45, 50, 56, 57, 144-146, 166; 
 
 parties and, 40, 53, 75, 144, 
 
 166; collection of, 44, 144, 148; 
 
 burden of, 56, 93, 94, 124, 170; 
 
 see Coupons 
 Ten-forties, 86 
 Terry, W. T., 68 
 Tidewater, The, 108 
 TowTis, relative prosperity of, 91, 
 
 92; vote, 130; charters, 164, 
 
 167 
 Tucker, J. E., 81, note 53, 116 
 
 Vaiden, V., 101 
 
 Valley, The, characteristics of, 105- 
 107; vote, 130, note 65, 173 
 
 Walker, G. C, 21, 22, 26, 28, note 
 
 19, 32, 35, 39, 40, note 13, 42, 
 
 47, 50, note 9, 60 
 West Virginia, and the state debt, 
 
 9 and note 33, 30, note 26, 32, 
 
 86, 122, 143 and note 5 
 Whig, The, 15, 20, 21, 29 and note 
 
 21, 30, 33, 46, 60, 69, 77, 81, 
 
 83, 96, 97, 111, 113, 129, 136, 
 
 171 
 Whigs, party attitude of former, 36, 
 
 37, 104 
 Wise, J. S., 74, 82, 111, 157, 161, 
 
 168, 169 
 Wise, Eichard, 112 
 Wickham, W. C, 36, note 5, 71, 
 
 note 14, 84, note 57, 117, 137, 
 
 165 
 Withers, E. E., 20, note 10, 22, note 
 
 17, 49, 50, 115 
 

 
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