Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-04-30

parental and nriShhObrby kindness SEEN an,
i.it IN The administration Of all their powers
that rndear these tribunals 10 the people, an,
1ronmand universal rrspptt.
! THIS meeting is persuaded, moreover, tina
every attentive observer of practical politics
must haze perceived in this system anothe
principle of the highest utility, not pei hap
afiainablc, in cnuulry like Virginia, in an,
other conceivable method. These courts
have the effect nf assembling the peopl,
inonhly, and of disseminating all kinds o
Information Among them. The value Of tn,
. institution, in general political point Of view
is incalculablr.
5rd. The objection to the want Of a provis
ion in the existing constitution, for the reno
val of superannuaIed judges, is, $50 far as thi.
meeting is iniormed,) now raised cor the frs,
time in this commonwealth.
This meeiing.distrusts all merely Meoretica
reasonOgs and schemes in politics nor does
II Know any thing like experience, to which il
can have recourse, as guide for its opinion on
this point, except the example of the state oil
New York. And looking to her example, it is
seriously apprehended, that the principle a.
dopted in that state, does there, and would
every where,Oltener remove matured wisdom
from the bench, than imbecile dotage. In n
York, III is believed, it has removed no Judge
who was not as well or better fitted for the
Judicial station, when elected, than when frs
appointed: II has removed, among others, a
LANSING, SPENCER, and KeNT. If il had
prevailed in England, MANSFIELD would have
been removed as early as 1766, who continu-
ed to preside for more than twenty years af-
forwards, an honor TO the bench and TO human
nature. lit had prevailed in Virginia, il
would have removed WYTHE and PENDLEroN
about 1896, and it would have anticipated the
hand OF death, in removing RoANE:
Virginia has hitherto done well, without any
such prnciple; and the only example Of its
application that we are acquainted with, has
not been attended with any such good con,e-
quences as inspire the desire of imitation.
Ill. 10 the constitution of the Legislature,
ms meeting has heard four objections, two of
Them vital, the others of no very material inn
portance.; |. The inequality of the representa-
ton OF the counties g. The freehold oualifca.
ton of suffrage: s. The number of The house
OF delegates: 4. The union of executive and
judicial powers with the Legislative.
Isl. The objection TO the inequality in the
representation Of the counties, is subject so
large, that this meeting must content itself
with selecting and presenting such views as
appear hitherto to have escaped general atten.
ton.
lfthe wisdom Of political institutions ought
OF political expedency, or by the thee of
philosophers instead of practical results of
good or evil IT the Law-giver could conquer
the ohstuiacy of circumstances, bend them To
ms Will, and square them with his purposes
TINS objection might be admitted 70 be unan-
swerable. But no future convention, any
more than the convention Of I71G, can level
the mountains Of the West, or drain the marsh
es or fertiiize the sands of the East the
statesman cannot distribute the free popuIa-
ton OF the state, equally over every part of
our territory, or make every portion of terri
tory equally capable of sustaining the same
population he cannot distribute even the STARE
population equally among the different por-
tiohs OF the country he cannot annihilate all
conflicts of interest, arising from natural or
moral causes, between different portions ofthe
people he cannot safely take away rights
vested and long enjoyed. He must take things
as ne finds them, and do the hest he can.
inere are three great divisions Of Virginia.
which are not to be obliterated the Eastern.
the Middle, and the Western counties.
Iicenty1eight counties in the En- stern, part
of the state, and the two towns of Norfolk and
Williamsburg, with an aggregate population
of 34e,677 souls, send .tifiy-eight dele gates to
the Assembly. Iicenty fire counties west of
the Allegheny, with population Of 1879
souls, send fifty delegates: The aggregate
population OF, the ficeaiy eight Eastern, and
twenty-five Western counties, is 488, 4I6 souls !;
and their aggregate representation one hundred
ana eigM delegates. The Middle counties and.
the towns ct Richmond and Petersburg, with
an aggregate population Of CSC, T89 souls. send
ninetysir delegates.
III is obvious, at The Frat glance, that the ex-
cess oi representation is in favor of the Easte,
and VeSfern counties; and that comparing the
representation Of the Eastern with that Of the
WeStern counties, the excess is in G;fyor of the
WeSfeni
All the counties are of very various terrific
rial extent, having been laid off chiefly with
view 10 the more convenient administration
Vi justice and police. The counties are also
very various IN the number of their population.
ne eastern Counties are generally of small
territorial extent. The Western counties, On
The other hand, embrace large extepts of terri
Tory their population is very sparse, and SO is
ilkeIy to continue fora very long time, perhaps
forever. But the proportion sfiheir free TO their
Stare population, is much greater, than that
oi the other counties. All the counties have
enjoyed an equal representation, coevally with
the commencement of this system of subdi-
VISION: And the people, especially of the older
counties, are now just as completely subdiyid-
ed, as the territory. An attentive observer
VIII ave dlscerned in the people of every couD-
iy, peculiar county character.
10 this state OF things, it is gravely complained,
that, as population Of 488 ,4t6 souls has ~.
presentation ofone hundred and eight delegates,
ana population OF GSG 789 has reptpsen-
taiIon OF only ninety-sir delegates, the re-
representatives. OF a minority of the people, may
override those of the majority, aud go, ern the
Republic. IL such combination had ever oc-
CURED, between The representatives Of the
small, against those Of the large countlps--be-
tween the representatives Of the extreme