Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/215

VIRGINIA. the State was readmitted January 26, 1870, and at once came under control of the native born whites. Trouble began, however, with legislation regarding the State debt. In 1871 a bill was passed funding two-thirds of the State debt into bonds, the coupons of which should be receivable for taxes. The other third of the debt was considered to be the share of West Virginia, which share that State refused to acknowledge. The Legislature of 1872 repealed the tax coupon feature, but it was held by the courts that as $17,000,000 had already been funded in these bonds, the State was bound to receive them, even if their receipts kept the State treasury in chronic bankruptcy. Many offers of compromise were made, and many attempts to prevent the presentation of the coupons for taxes, leading to conflicts of jurisdiction between the State and the United States courts. Certain State officers in exercise of the duties ordered by the Legislature were punished for contempt of court by the United States judge. In 1890 the decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court favored the State on the whole, and in 1891-92 a final settlement was made with the bondholders, chiefly English, who received $19,000,000 in new century bonds for bunds and unpaid coupons amounting to $23,000,000. The question entered politics and Governors, Congressmen, and Senators were elected on the issue of the readjustment of the State debt. William Mahone became a leading figure in Virginia politics. The Readjuster Party, however, coöperated with the Republicans, and its major adherents were finally absorbed by them. The question, while a vital issue, had the effect of dividing the negro vote. In 1901-02 a constitutional convention was held, having for its chief objects retrenchment and suffrage restriction. The new Constitution was proclaimed without submission to the people, May 19, 1902. One result was largely to suppress the negro vote. From the beginning the State has been Democratic in national politics. The hold was never broken until 1860, when the vote was cast for the Constitutional Union candidate, John Bell. Since its readmission the vote has been steadily cast for the Democratic national candidates, with the exception of 1872, when the Republican candidate, Grant, was preferred to his opponent, Greeley, an old abolitionist.