Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-01-17

your legitimate sphere, TO make enquiries which
you have 10 right to institute, thepower TO ar
rest ceases altogether. Mr.. ). then read the
objections made by Mr.. Page, anaiyzing and
enforcing them with great spirit. He contend
ed that the doctrine taken by the witness Was
irresistible that IL was u clear principle, The
courts of justice weuld never compel a witness
10 answer any question which might have The
effect Of eliminating himself that This prncI-
pie was established by that very common law
on which the gentleman from Henrico had so
confidently relied-that the witness was not
bound to give amy Information to the commit
tee concerning the private individual ciarac-
ter, conduct or transaction of amy man what
ever; because the legislature were bound, on
their part, as public men, to coutine their at
tention 10 public officers. After dwelling OH
the objections of MIR. Page, MIR. ). cOntended
that there was some thing i'll the bill of rights
which forbad the pressing of an enquiry III this
form.
MIR. DAVIS (ofHano.er) was sorry To obtrude
himself ON the house On the present occasion,
particular as his state OF health prevented his
doing justice TO the cause he had espoused but
yesterday, when the gentleman from Amelia
had withdrawn his motion tos pos ponement 10
the tot Mdrch,he had felt disposed 10 enew
II. lie had reflected more upon the matter,
and he Was satisfied that tins WIS the best mode
OF disposiDg of Tie business. lie therefore re-
neweu the motion TO postpone the wno,e QueS-
lion till the 3ist of Niarch-bv So doing,
they got clear of the business aitcseth.
er, witnout establishing a precedent one way
or the other; II they prosecuted The discus
sion, they must either be forced TO say 10 The
world, that their committee had erred, or that
Mr.. Page must he punished. cir. ID. contend
ed, that the house had the power to punish
certain offences; aud not only direct attacks
upon them, but indirect attacks upon their
power. But lie saw no necessity, as some ge.l-
lcmen did, TO settle the doctrine i'll the present.
instance, OF set a precedent for future times.
III was best 10 get clear of both resolutions -
one goes TO attach blame TO the conduct of The
a att. q AT
the citizen. For his own part, he thought that
lie committee had transcribed their lowers :;
that they had travelled out Of the record but
lie WAS not willing to make this formal declara-
lion in the face OF the world. He hoped the
House would permit the whole matter 10 pass
away.
MIR. SCOTT rose to say, that the gentleman
from Hanover was mistaken in snpposirg that
the substitute cast any reflection on The com
mlttee-by adopting il, the house " oult merely
dissent from the proceedings OF the commit
tee; Is III not every days practice 10 do so
MIR. OuARLEs said lie had been one of the
committee, but lie should think the substitute
cast no reflection upon them. Forhis own part,
lie wished the question met, and the principle
settled. AT hrst he had strong doubts OF the
propriety OF the course taken by the committee;
but the more he reflected, the more he
satisfied that they had acted wrong. TO re
cord his vote, he should call for the ayes and
noes.
Mr.. BLACKBURN said he had yesterday asked
sorry his indispositiom had prevented his pay
ing that attention 10 the enquiry, which IT'S
Importance deserved.-He attached himself
to no man. He had no doubt the committee
had acted from the most conscientious motives
For lis own part, though lie felt as much as IL
ny man for the liberty of the citizen, yet il was
impossible for him, not to recolect that he was
member OF this body of the legislature of
Virginia. am (said he) member of your
committee. did not ask il, nor did seek it,.
was not even here when l was pat upon ii.
Had been within this house, at the moment
the enquiry was moved for, L should most pro-
Daply nave voted against il. When heard of
II, the first question asked was, If any atfida-
Wit had been made on which to ground your
enquiries, or was ii merely made OH the state
nient OF a member! was placed the second
man on your committee l was made a sort of
pioneer for this HOnse-and in this situation
Will go OH. Ii is not MIR. Page nor is ii any
other man who will stop me. Some men had
said that Mr.. Page had the frmness TO resist
the iDvestatlon--but MIR. b. said, he would RAJ
Their call IL the haTdihood He supposed tho
next thing we should hear OF, was that monu-
meht had been erected in honor OF Mr.. Page.
Was there not some reason for an enquirv9 Even
Mr.. Page had given An affidavit, which by ac-
| quitting one man, proved evidently that others
| were concerned in usury that there was some
| thing rotten. But MIR. Page said lie would
not crlminnate himself-we do not ask him to
criIninate himself, but others who are guilty.
And shall we say this day, that's set men com
| TO make misery itselfmore miserable shall this
honse suffer them to 20 on without investiga.
| ting their deeds? Mr.. B. commended, that on
| iegal grounds witness, situated as MIR. Page
was, might be compelled to answer that p,tI-
| ticeps erintinis may be made a witness that
| crimes would be frequently unpunished, if
| courts did not possess such discretion; that
| 40 man was privileged to refuse testimony in
| sucb cases, and that no man ought TO be that
| In ourgaming lava man was expressly requir-
| ed 10 tell upon those who played with HIM 4;
! that 1t there were such a combination in Rich.
| mond, as had been asserted, to prey upon the
necessities of others, his soul knew them not
! and this house ought not to spare them. He
| asked If Robin Hood should collect despe
| rate band of followers, and retire to the Dis
| NAL Swamp, TO rob, and murder, and ravage
the surrounding country and if we send a
| little army to arrest them. whether our courts
| could not compel one of the party to rive ties.
| tmeny against the rest He knew of no ex,
| ception 10 this general rule, except in the case
OF an attorney entrusted with the secrets of his
| client-in which case, there was that tie and
attachment between the parties which the Law
| respected.-He said that every effort had been
| made TO conceal these usurous transactions
that even the bill of rights had been called up
but he would say, if the bill of rights did
| screen such dark transactions, he for one
would be for changing it.-Mr. Il. ridiculet
the idea OF screening the uSurious conduct o.
director upon the pretext that it was not
| zone pnbiicly at The board-he asked if an in
| cendiary was about to set fire to this Capitol
whether he would publicly proclaim his inten
tion-it was idle to say, that though all the di
rectors had had accommodation of the board
yet u was not the funds which they drew from
the Bank itself, with which they shaved il
was torsooth their own money; their patriniO
ny perhaps Are these men SO pure, that the,
shave only with their own money, and dea
honestly with the funds they have borrowed
from the bank? Mr.. Il. said, that these mel
would shave with their bank accommodations
that their funds to the last cent were concern
ed in shaving that it was a dirty occupation
and that it lawyer were found guilty of it,, h,
should be struck from the lists of honour.-I II