Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-02-16
lt'ron the National Iaitaigencer.
EXTRACTS FROM THE
PRO OF CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TnURspAY, JANuARY SI.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 81.
The House having resumed the considera-
ton of the superintendent bill and the ques-
ton being upon Mr.. RASDoLPH's motion to
iix the ratio at S0,eG0-
Mr. HARDIN said, there were some FEATURES
IN our government Of national, and Others of
coniederated character. OF the former
class was the operation of the public laws; of
the latter WAS the election of the Senate IL
had been matter of some question to which
class belonged the election of the representa-
| lion of this house. He was inclined to believe.
II appertained to tiie latter, and the more es-
pccially as he found il coupled in the constitu-
tion with the subject of appnrouiDg direct
taxation among the states, which was undoui,t-
ediy of the latter description. Indeed he
considered i.e question Ia have been decided
| as long ago rs 1892 for which he referred TO
the Journa! of the House, and rpad from that
journal President Washington Message, as
follows:
"UEIrgp STATES, April 5, 1872.
| Gstieaen ofHe HcHse Of Representatives.
have m',iurely considered The act passed y the
two Houses, cutiilc'I g An an superintendent
oil Representatives among The several states accord
ing II The first enumeration " and elurn il To your
tIonse, wherein II originated, with the following OBJ
| jectons
FIRST. The Constitution has prescribed thar repre-
senin'ires shall he app"riioncd among the several
STATES. according 10 their respective numbers and
there IS M one proportion or dvisor which, applied 10
the respective numbers of the sIales, will Weld The
number aud allotment OF REPRESENTATIVES, ,ronosed Inv
| the bill
Second. The Constitution has also provided tina,
the number OF representatives shall not exceed one
for thirty thousand which restriction je Iv tho
contest, and Ivy fair and Obvious construc,ioo 10 I've
appie'i To the separate and respective numbers of
the states: And the hill has allotted to eight OF the
states more than one ion esrry thirty ,,ou<aa'l
| e. WASHINGTON"
Mr.. Hardin remarked, that the practice of
the government had ever since corresponded
with that decision. So much for the observa-
tons OF tie gentleman from Massachusetts
! (Mr. Rped.)
| In apporbonlng the representation, gentle
men had expressed great diversity Of opin-
ioi's. He would agree that the representation
ought 10 he sufficiently large as to bring into
the house the wishes, the feelings, and the in
terests of the people, and at the same time to
give il sufficient weight and authority TO cheek
and countcrpoise any ovcr-bearing influence
| ofthe other branch of the government. Yet
there were rules nf convenience aud inconve-
nIencc that ought not 10 be overlooked. There
WAS daily practical lesson that there were
members enough in this house To give inform
alIOn Of the in ercsts and CONCERNS ufthe various
parts Of the Union. He did not wish that the
number should he SO Increased as to become
unwicldy and unmanagcable. When that
was the case, the public business was neccssa-
rily PrOtracted ; and even the item of expense
was not to be overlooked But he Thought
some convenient number, between i80 and
40, would he proper, and he was not very
sohcltous respecting the precise limit, if thos,
EXTREMES were not passed. One argument
On which much reliance seemed To have been
placed, was, that a large number would Gil
! the house in such u manner liat the corrrpt
stream of Executive influence could not hnw
into it and that the numbers in the house
should be SO great that, To corrupt n najOrit,
would more than exhaust the means of IN,
Executive. For his part, he should nc VERY
! happy to bc assured that there was no cor.
I rnpt stream flowing out of il. But he did moi
wish to legislate on this principle. He was
unwilling 10 allow force to any argument thai
vas predicated on the position, that The mem
hers Of that body were such villains as to be
capable Of being corrupted and the resolu-
tons that had both formerly and recently beer
introduced into that house, purporting tc
guard against such influence, by rendering
members incapable Of holding Offices until 2
! period If probation after their c0ngression
term had elapsed, had never received his sane
ton or bis vote. Nor did he feed alarmed b,
the apprehensions that seemed to affect III,
gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr.. Baldwin,
Chat It was necessary to tx the ratio low, tina
4 each state might have two members in thu
i House 9f Representatives because IL eve