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''Virginia v. West Virginia'', , is a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the state of West Virginia was bound by its constitution to pay one-third of the outstanding debt of the commonwealth of Virginia as of January 1, 1861. In its ruling, the Supreme Court concluded that the geographic narrowness of the port and road improvements made by Virginia (most of which occurred outside West Virginia's current borders) were incurred by the people of the entire state and did not discharge West Virginia's duty to pay. The Court also held that Virginia's attempts to discharge its debts while its negotiations with West Virginia continued did not absolve West Virginia of its duty to pay. Although both states had already agreed on the amount to be paid, the Court ordered them to negotiate over interest computation. ==Background== At the beginning of the American Civil War, Virginia seceded from the United States in 1861. But many of the northwestern counties of Virginia were decidedly pro-union.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 112.〕〔McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,'' 1988, p. 298.〕 At a convention duly called by the governor and authorized by the legislature, delegates voted on April 17, 1861, to approve Virginia's secession from the United States.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 116.〕 Although the resolution required approval from voters (at an election scheduled for May 23, 1861), Virginia's governor entered into a treaty of alliance with the Confederate States of America on April 24, elected delegates to the Confederate Congress on April 29, and formally entered the Confederacy on May 7.〔〔For President Lincoln, these actions proved that rebels had taken over the state and turned the machinery of the state toward insurrection. These individuals had not acted with popular support, and thus Lincoln felt justified later in recognizing the Reorganized Government. See: Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 311-312.〕 Unionist sentiment was so high in the northwestern counties that civil government began to disintegrate, and the ''Wheeling Intelligencer'' newspaper called for a convention of delegates to meet in the city of Wheeling to consider secession from the state of Virginia.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 117-118.〕 Delegates duly assembled, and at the First Wheeling Convention (also known as the May Convention), held May 13 to 15, the delegates voted to hold off on secession from Virginia until Virginia formally seceded from the United States.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 118-120.〕〔Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 438-439.〕 Concerned that the irregular nature of the First Wheeling Convention might not democratically represent the will of the people, elections were scheduled for June 4 to formally elect delegates to a second convention, if necessary.〔〔 Virginians voted to approve secession on May 23. On June 4, elections were held and delegates to a Second Wheeling Convention elected. These elections were irregular as well: Some were held under military pressure, some counties sent no delegates, some delegates never appeared, and voter turnout varied significantly.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 121.〕〔Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 441.〕 On June 19, the Second Wheeling Convention declared the offices of all government officials who had voted for secession vacant, and reconstituted the executive and legislative branches of the Virginia government from their own ranks.〔〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 121-122; Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 443-444.〕 The Second Wheeling Convention adjourned on June 25 with the intent of reconvening on August 6.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 122.〕 The new Reorganized Governor, Francis Harrison Pierpont, asked President Abraham Lincoln for military assistance,〔〔Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 312.〕 and Lincoln recognized the new government.〔〔Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 300.〕 The region elected new U.S. Senators and its two existing Representatives took their old seats in the House, effectively giving Congressional recognition to the Reorganized Government as well.〔〔〔Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 453.〕 After reconvening on August 6, the Second Wheeling Convention again debated secession from Virginia. The delegates adopted a resolution authorizing the secession of 39 counties, with additional counties to be added if their voters approved, and authorizing any contiguous counties with these to join the new state if they so voted as well.〔〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 123.〕 On October 24, 1861, voters in 41 counties approved seceding from the commonwealth of Virginia.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 140; McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,'' 1988, p. 298-299; Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 451-452.〕 The ballot also allowed voters to choose delegates to a constitutional convention, which met from November 26, 1861, to February 18, 1862.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 140-141.〕 The constitutional convention chose the name "West Virginia" for the new state, and agreed to include a provision in the state constitution which provided for the new state to assume "an equitable portion" of the debt incurred by Virginia in developing and improving the counties which now formed the new state.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 141-144.〕 The constitution required the state legislature to establish a sinking fund to repay the debt "as soon as practicable" but within at least 34 years (including interest).〔 Article 8, §8 of the constitution read:〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 25.〕 :An equitable proportion of the public debt of the Commonwealth of Virginia prior to the first day of January in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one shall be assumed by this state, and the legislature shall ascertain the same as soon as may be practicable, and provide for the liquidation thereof by a sinking fund sufficient to pay the accruing interest, and redeem the principal within thirty-four years. The convention adopted the new constitution on February 18, 1862, and the constitution was approved by voters about two months later on April 4.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 143, 146.〕 Reorganized Governor Pierpont recalled the Reorganized state legislature, which voted on May 13 to approve the secession.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 146; Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 452.〕 After much debate over whether Virginia had truly given its consent to the formation of the new state,〔Davis and Robertson, ''Virginia at War,'' 2005, p. 151.〕〔Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 301, 314-319.〕 the United States Congress adopted a statehood bill on July 14, 1862.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 147; McPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,'' 1988, p. 303-304; Randall, ''Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln,'' 1951, p. 460-461; Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 319.〕 President Lincoln was unsure of the bill's constitutionality, but pressed by Northern senators he signed the legislation on December 31, 1862.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 149-150; Kesavan and Paulsen, "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?", ''California Law Review,'' March 2002, p. 319-325.〕 Luckily, the West Virginia constitutional convention had not adjourned ''sine die'', and was called back into session on February 12, 1863, to amend the state's constitution to bring it in line with changes required by the federal statehood bill.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 112, 150.〕 The convention amended the state's constitution on February 17 and adjourned ''sine die'' on February 20.〔Rice and Brown, ''West Virginia: A History,'' 1993, p. 151.〕 The state's voters ratified the amended constitution on March 26, 1863.〔 On April 20, President Lincoln announced that West Virginia would become a state in 60 days.〔 In 1871, Virginia enacted legislation exchanging two-thirds of its outstanding bonds for new debt, and issuing certificates for the remaining one-third of the debt (which the state assumed would be paid by West Virginia) guaranteeing payment once the state's debt dispute with West Virginia was resolved.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 31.〕 Virginia enacted legislation in 1879 reducing the interest rate on the outstanding one-third of the debt, but was unable to discharge the debt due to bondholder resistance.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 31-32.〕 A second sale in 1882 also failed, and in 1892 Virginia issued new bonds to pay off the old one-third debt.〔 Virginia established a commission in 1894 to negotiate with West Virginia over the debt, and in 1900 authorized the commission to accept the 1871 certificates from bondholders with the promise to pay once negotiations with West Virginia concluded.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 32.〕 After years of negotiations over the proper amount of debt, Virginia brought suit before the U.S. Supreme Court (which, under Article Three of the United States Constitution has original jurisdiction over suits in which a state is a party). Admitting the secession of West Virginia and the transfer of property and debt as proper, Virginia sued to recover one-third the worth of its 1861 debt (or about $33 million).〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 22-24.〕 For its part, West Virginia asserted that the one-third accounting was inaccurate, for it was based on the fact that West Virginia constituted one-third of the geographic size of the original state of Virginia and that most of the debt was incurred to improve areas now outside the boundaries of West Virginia.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 24.〕 West Virginia claimed that under its constitution, only its state legislature could determine the amount of debt that was appropriate, and that Virginia's settlement with its bondholders was a bar to any suit.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 24-25.〕 Furthermore, West Virginia refused to pay for the new certificates and bonds issued by Virginia or for stock purchases made by Virginia.〔Virginia v. West Virginia, 220 U.S. 1, 30.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Virginia v. West Virginia (1911)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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