Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-05-04

universal suffrage, would not, any more than
The friends of the freehold qualification, make
he right of suffrage universal. All agree, that
The female sex, and all children Of immature
reason, shnuid he excluded from the elective
tr' n"hisr, that is, that the majority of every
3" iety ought To be denied this right y not,
surely because every woman is inferior in in
''iIigedce aud virtue 10 every man I; not be-
cause no boy is equal in capacity u any man
al iudture years; nor yet because women and
children are not subject 10 the laws, or bound
To contribute to tue support Of government.
The reason is, that experience hath cnnyinced
every Republic, and indeed all who have
specnlatrd on The theory of government, that
" IS to,Se and polite, To exclude women and
chiidren, AS wei as men d,has,d by crime,
from The elective franchise: though the dis
qualihcatlon nj each of these classes of cti-
Aens, rests on peculiar and distinct reasons,
wh"lly inapplcable Ia the other
The regulation of the right of suffrage,
therefore, IS an affair of political erpediency
altogether. That some regulation, some linn
iiati"n, may very extensive limitation, is me-
cessary and Just, all admit Aud all must ad
init too, that that regulation ought TO be pre-
lerred which is the most likely, in its effect,
TO make the Legislative body truly represent,
and tn that end he elected by, the experience,
The malured reason, the good sense, the man
y independence, the ucOrruptbe virtue, and
The great, prevailing, enduring interest Of the
commonwealth.
The question, then, resolves itselfinto this {:
Is the freehold qualification that general regu-
lation of the right of suffrage, which is the
best calculated TO accomplish this wise and
just end :?
X is not perfect. II is of the essence of all
regulation, 10 hr fixed and general; and no
regulation could be framed by human wis
nnn' so perfect, as not TO exclude some, who
~ regard could be- had TO their particular
character) ought 10 he admitted, and on the
"thrr Maud, to admit some who ought to be
excluded. Il" object against the present sys.
i"r1. genera! impsrtecton of this kind, is not
10 inject To the freehold qualification only,
but To all regulation. The true question is.
wh ther the freehold qualification be the pre-
ferabe regulation
Ard ON this question, this meeting must
content Itself With selecting out Of the multifa-
ri"rS views that present themselves, the most
simFIe and the mast practical, and, therefore
ia 'f!e sense OF this meeting, the most conclu-
sjse.
4he ireehelders OF Virginia are not a body
oiWeal ny landlords, inclined by interest or
tInpcr,. To Cypress those who are freehoders
1I"v are the Yeomnnry of the country the
dial "wners, and independent cul,iyators,
81 the SOIL for THAR own benefit ; neither in
it'ted by the pride of exorhitant wealth. nor
''''9'" w ''''HIfu ny the QlstreSses and
'scontents OF extren1e poverty that BODY of
fnen, winch const tutrs the strength of every
c1unlry, and the foundation on which eyery
commonwealth must . erected who are
ne most removed from corruption, or tenn
ta'lon TO corruption, and the most incapable
OF any combinations for purposes of mischief:
who caonoi hetray the public liberty or inter
es's, without hetrayiDS their own in whom.
i" ms our Republic, every great permanent
nj n MIN o,l l.
whole weight of all public burtheps.
Now, either the admission of those who are
NOT free holders, TO the ell i've franchise.
Would ptodnce some change in the general
character and spirit Of our Legislation, or it
would produce none.
~ IT would produce none where is the ne
cessity or expcdency, what is the object
what would be the practical effect Of the pro-
posed reform This meeting cannot SUSPECT
the friends of reform, ofthe fuhy of desiring
reform for the mere sake OF novelty or change,
without design or expectation of any pr actical
consequences whatsoever
bUt II the proposed change would work a
chaDgein the general character and spirit of
ouf Legislation, let the landholders, let the
great landed interest of this commonwealth
~ all its ram fica ions, seriously consider the
consequences. So long as the freeholders
compose the constituent of the representative
and legislative body, we NAV all rest in perfect
s. curIty, that N laws will be drsignedly en-
acted, no system OF measures adopted. none
certainly VIII be endured, perniciOns to their
own interests; and, by inevitable consequence,
none pernicinus To the interests of any other
class of ci,iz ms for it is impossible to ron-
crive a law that would be injurious to those
who are not laudhOIders, which would not
affect the iandholdprs themselves, in an equal
If not in greater degree. Suppose general
capiiation tax should he imposed (for exam
pie j such an imposition would bear as heav
!y, indeed far more heavily OH the landhold-
ere, fthe fathers of families and The owners of
slaTesl than On those who are not landhoIdprs
1ut II the government shall ever come To be-
controlled, or materially Influenced bv those
who are not frephnlders, laws may b. enacted
which viii vlfaly aft ct the landhoIders and
me landed ihier' I, without touching the par
icuar interests Of those who enact them
They may impose the heayirst taxation on
lands. and las those rarely hold many slaves
VINO are not landholders) on slaves too, on all
manner of frming stock, and on the grazers
"a lie, to Their own entire exemption, and 10
The gr'evOus oppression of the landhndrrs
This meeting doth really apprphend, TINT
this desire Of abr"galing, the freehold qualif-
eaton, tas no preteoce has been heard Of any
practical Srlrvance, oppre ssion or incunyeni-
cnce, Seen. telt, or unprecedented. from this re-
gnlat,hn OF the right OfsulIrage, lis to be i'm
put'd chiefly to the contagion of the example
OF our sister states MI around U.s. And we
are much mistaken in our estimate Of political
causes and rhrcts, il tha present condition of
~ least ore state in the Uninp, does cot pxhibi,
a. etpTimen'al illustration If n iustiness