Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-11-20

SIC. He did not pretend that there were
not meritorious men who possessed no
property; but he considered the possession OF
few acres of land as the best qualification
which could be established in country where
lard abounded, and where indeed there was
little else although such a regulation might
not be politic-As TO the Aristocracy OF the
thing, Mr.. R. thought it much better to suffer
that inconvenience .(f it was one than to al
low every vagabond to vote, who might be
bought by any man of wealth. He could ne
yer consent to permit any man to lay "a land
tax, who did not possess an inch of land him.
SETTLE said there was gread deal of talk
about the negroes of the southern states send
ing representatives to Congress; but as long
as Rhode Island sent two Senatorsto Congress,
and had four electors of President and Vice
President, he hoped to hear no complaints on
that subject y-held their stations precise
ly by the same tenure with the members on
this floor, viz the system of compromise on
which the constitution was bottomed.-He
concluded by making some remarks on the
comparative benefits of voting by ballot and
viva voce, the latter of which he considered
by far the most independent, in proof OF which
he stated an occurrence which had taken place
in Virginia during the contestbetween Mes@r'
Adams and Jefferson.
MIR. Rhea also opposed the striking out
that part of the bill.
Mr. Poindexter offered an amendment
which would supercede the motion for strlk-
ing out. He expressed himself in favor OF
extending the right of suffrage. He said he
should not attempt to answer the gentleman
from Virginia (Mr. Randolph who, he be-
lieved, had touched upon every imaginable
subject, except the Embargo and Non-lnter-
course
Mr.. Wright was also in favor of extending
the right of suffrage to every freeman, with
out possessing freehold. The constitution
of the United States did no: require any pro-
perry qualification in the president /; nor did
it REQUIRE a1y in centinel, on whose hdell-
ty the safety Of a whole army might depend
He would inquire of the gentleman from Viz
GINA who paid the blood-tax which accom-
plished the revolution He said they had
tried, the property qualification in Maryland'
and he believed there was as much corruption
then, ar there had been since it was abolished
and he believed it might be so elsewhere
When man, he observed, was required to
possess horse worth 80 pounds to entitle him
to vote, if the horse died in the mean time,
it was difficult to decide whether the right
rested with the man or the horse.
Mr.. Randolph contended that this was not
a contest between the rich and the poor, as it
had been represented: on the contrary, it was
question between the landed interest and the
transient passenger; 70: the richest man in
Virginia Gin money!. stock, SC. would not be
allowed to vote, unless he was freeholder
There had, he said, a fervor prevailed In that
state for short time for altering the constitu-
ton Gov means of conventien) SO as to ex-
tend the right of suffrage; but it had subsid-
ed on reflection; for it was found that the
convention would be nothing more than the old
house of delegates with nick name, AS to
the argument of the gentleman from Maryland
CHR. Wright that man possessing $4,000
acres might parcel them out into different
freeholds in order to enable number OF men
to vote, Mr.. Randolph observed, that it the
gentleman's principle would not prevent him
from doing such thing Gas he believed it
would) there was something else which would
at least prevent hin, (Mr. r. } from doing it,