The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1818-09-23
~lsreitanp.
For tI.e X. 7. Rehu6hean.
THE LAW or sUrFRAGE.-.No 9


This Staio and authorized by law, which, a.
TAR as We have been infor med, is no, knows
IN any other section of the Union. Thar i.
Tor the eldest son of frceholder to be inye 81.
ed with the elective franc chise, in exclusion
oi the younger brothers, merely in conse
quence of his being the eidesf 500. Wholly
destitute Of properly he enjoys the i'm IN uni.
lies OF those who possess large estates. The
younger brothers a,e doomed to a state OF
Passivesess, while they behold The eldest un
reasonably elevated above them, and inves,ed d
with privileges to which they are, by the
sternal laws OF nature, tqnaIiy entitled. IL
properly be made the qualifying principle To-
voting, what claim has the eldest son 10 superi
or''y over the younger !--When this ds,inc
sion between tho brothers w4s frsf establish
cd, there might, perhaps, have been plausi
bic reason offered. The eldest son was lhen
heir 10 tho whole of tho fathers estate, and
therefore tho proper representative. Th,
law ws, congeniaI with the prejudices snd
mode Of linking which then prevsiIed. We
h'ow not precisely The time when th,s singu
10 act was instituted, but presume 1, 10 b.
while we ysro the subjects Of Great D. itsin.
The law issued from the fountain of mon
archie government. II was q twig Of the
feudhl system. As long as we lived under
the inHoence Of British despolism, or as long
o. the cldest son inherited the whole of the
fsther's es,ate, the law might have afforded
specious defence. Blu, when we burs, thr
shacklcs OF tyraDnic power, and established
,he mild reign of republican principles, and
especially when tho tissue Of fcudai descen,
ess abolished, the law prIviles sing the eldest
son became iOproper, unreasonable, incoa.
tor aku
k,"es have gathered no civil iaurels in per-
miiuDg u SO long TO continue. On what
grounds the advocates Of property constitot
iog tbe Qualifying principle will now defend
this law, We A'e unable to- de,er0ine. We
conclude, however, they viii need On uncom-
mon share of sophisucai acumcn to do j, with
any show OF plausibiliy. They will need The
dispna W. powcrs II Hud;bras, to
"Confutc, change hands. and still confu,e"
HE Legislatures OF several Sizes have
deemed prope' ,y unnece ssary TO qualify .
person Tor vpting. They have jos,ly sup
posed "a reasonable term Of residence, lawful
age, discretion, good be havior, and the pay.
ment Of taxes sufficient TO en,itle a man to
the enj 1ymeDt of this inestimable privilege.
Wi,acss New Hampshire, Vermont, Penn.
sylvsnia, Dsiawfie, Suu,h. Carolina, Georgia,
oi steady babils," has, at last, conde .cepdod
to sanction simila.- YpnncipIes- In these.
states the spirit Of repubiicanism is freely re-
cogn zed and made the basis Of elcc lion law
the g,nius Of freedom is not p,ofaned by
hypocri'icsl names degraded msn no longe,
Is 'ompeiled to grasp at an empty shadow,
Instead OF embracing . substantial form.
A bill, authorizing free suff age, was, few
years part, int, oducod before the legislature
OF this state. IL passed the upper house un-
der the fostering principles Of republican lib.
cry IL the lower house il was rejected by
the opposing power OF federalism I, was
ungcnisl with the feelings Of the leaders OF
the federal pa',y--At variance with the views
OF the friends Of arbitrary government. 1t
favored liberty too much il gave too iree an
exp rssion of The public voice. Nothing is
moe terrifying 10 the enemies of liberty
than the free exc efcise Of public opinion The
very hostility exhibited by the feGeralis,s to
this bill, obviously manifests the tendency Of
their political tene,s-n ootorioosiy de mon.
st'ates their friendly disposition towsr dis an
aris'oe'asical orsmonsr chic government.
a coyent argument urged in favor Of this
bill was, that rep escnta,io0 and taxation were
in,eperabis, and hat every person who paid
tsxrs ought to enjoy the privilege Of voting
In ordsr to obviato tho fo,cs OF ,his argu.
meot, quie, the minds Of the credulous, and
cheat vast number out ofthcir JUS, and nat.
ursl rights, tho tede, slists, afterward, IN The
nun 6cencc Of tbeic wisdom, passed a law
ebuilsniug poll taxes But this satisfied none
except the Designing portion OF their own
pity They made small sacrifice Of thei
Own money in order to make a great sacri.
d OF the peoples tigh,s. They made the
man of property pay Hnte moro tax, for the
sake of preventing shc extension Of elective
power, and keeping it confined within its for
me bounds. Indeed they have only waited
for convenien, opportunity to curtail still
more the right Of soHsage, by increasing IN,
amount of properly Necessary to qualify
ifeemsn. The thing has absolutely been IN
contemplation. We have heard II suggested
conf ien,ially by individuals. One has as
serted hat no man ought to be permitted L.
vote unless worth two thousand dollars. Al
other that !, ought to rsquirc ten thcrsand
dollars to qualify a man ; and o third say
twrlve thousand This incon esibly discIos