Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-11-26

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pease their anxiety will be vented blasted up SP
cannot make the government suit those who ~
,equ'reo u ana not come To the conclusion Thai so
nunoer OF the people as are justly entitled To
suffrage, should he excluded from voting ~
The gentleman from Chesterfield seemed 10 ,s
tion some OF the facts. which had been stated by his
colleagues, as from their knowledge and partic
ularly those of the gentleman from Mononu.Ia
They had stated the eff ct of the moro cx,endcJ
suffrage gwen IN Pennsylvania aud Ohio upon Ibose
citizens of Virginia, " no were as thry believed nm
Justly deoarrcd from the exercise of the rrht of suf
trage as TO the elections in the other Siatcs- be
had never witnessed elect ion in the Sato of Obo.
he had seen IVY" IN Pennsylvania; but h. never saw
u'ore con'uSr'n at any election, than he Witnessed
hre' IN tSIs, when members of Congress were
elected lie did NOT mean to saw that there was not
generally more order preserved nj the elections in
Virginia, thnn those which he had witnessed in penn
'yivania' close on the borders of Virginia where
| old men and their descendants, who are Nirrinans
constituted considerable portion of the population
and their habits and examples were favorable To Gen
cral order. The gentleman from Chesterfield had
alleged That ms attachment, 10 Virginia, was the at
tnclmcnl of the heart, and he had no doubt tina, tho
statement was correct; nor had he Cnv doubt tbnt
every man feels that attachment whether he has any
olrcct interest IN The soil of the Commonwealth or
not luOt, would the gentleman be wllinr t,, r,st
any man to whom he deuies the right of suifrarr to
bear arms IN defence Of the Commonwealth Ir
there was nothing better than the mere reasun or
policy Ut allegiance, to secure the attachment of
men To tie 81 ate, how could we trust anv man -
4
feeling towards the State in which his intcress ,a
affections are To be found
II the Committee should concur in the resolution
to extend the right of suffrage To those who paw rev
cnne taxes, he hoped that would also be extended
TO those who pay county taxes. There are
thousands who pay no revenue taxes who
are yet assessed for county rates. md
these not iacluted, although they constitute vnl
liable class Of citizens. There hundrcds-thou
sands of the sons of frechol6ers who pay taxes 70,
are navy excluded ircn the exercise OF the rgh, ri
suffrage. They re settled on their fathers, I,nds
aud are following heir craft, and they have a rirb,
to be- heard at the polls. s"'
Mr.. DoDDRIpGE concluded with an ,po1oo,, r |
having detained the Committee so long. on s,;b;sc,
already so fully discussed, and SO we'll considered
MIR. STAN 'Rp rose to offer an amendment by wav
OF extending the resolution of the gentleman from
Chesterfield. lie wished it to be received no snrI
gcstcd IN spirit Of comprsmisc. For tho prrnoso /
OF furnishing some ground for compromise bc sborll
propose To- extend the right of suffrage to Two OH
classes. Such gentlemen rs are still ief.-..,;,oI
abide LEdesio'y by thr freehold qualification. NAV
vote for the first of his propositions but vrould moi
sustain the second. He then moved TO amend rho
amendment offered by Mr.. Leigh, by adding the fol-
lowing
And every such citizen who shall be a lessee of y
tenement ofthe yearly value of dollars, for
term OF or more years, by deed dnly recorded
three months before tho time he may offer to vote
'"o OF whicn lease al least years shall be I'M
expired at the time he offers TO vote.
And every such citizen who shall within. ore wear
before he may offer to vote have or taxes to the
amount o. assessed ON property, whether
real or personal, owned by him, aud shall have actu
ally paid such tax or taxes at least three months he
ore he hail 50 offer L. vote"
On the sugggstoH OF Mr.. p. p. B,nnoun, who
'ad he night be disposed Tor the first promo
'Itl"n only, Mr.. SrANARD agreed to divide the two
Propositions
Mr. DornrroGr suggested that il might p,rhars
be better - take the sense orr Committee frs, ON
me atnehHmrnt' which lie had given notice ofhIs in
'cntun 10 offer.
Mr. SrANARp decllncdto withdraw his proposition.
not perceving thai could tnd 10 any ENHANCEMENT
il es-cd at this time
MI. e.. JOHNSON objected TO the amen1rnon, bo
cause u introduced the tenant while the owner of
The Tee might be excluded. lie also supgesi ed that
there could be frauds perpetra cd under this provi
sion. lie suggested the proprlc:y of conininy tho
guaHhcation to lessess for The condition Of the
lease, with view to fraud, might be that the lease
shaiI DC renewable, ON payment of fine which the
tenant could not paw.
Mr.. LEIGH said that if the proposition should be
adopted, IT would then be necessary n,rbsns o.
modify lis phraseoogy.
Mr.: SrANARn stated that, if adopted. it mlrht b.
su"filuonS TO rciain thar feature but It was moi
considered necessary to give the precise form of I'm,
limitation until the committee should have deci
died on the principle. The reason of his 6xing
three mon hs for the limitation Of the record. was
because deeds generally take date on the LIST Of Ian
uary' and as the elections take place in April if
longer time were required, IL would nmount In n,
exclusion for fifteen months.
Mr.. NicHoLAs wished to have the blank for the
Hp
should vote. If the term required was lony enourh
10 give TIC evidence that the lessee had permanent
common interest in, and attachment to the common
"e'l.h ne should have no object ION 10 the pro, iou
nut n was proposed To limit the term to five wears
he would prefer the proposition Of the gentleman
from Chesterfield. lie referred to a statement
when nc had just read III the newspapers Of meet
ing oil The tenantry Of the Duke Of New Castle. --
IT nppeurs that The Duke had about 1000 tenants
ana ne had said that u thcy did not vote for The per
son he had nominated th"y must leave their farms.
br tenants called meeting IN order to resist this
dIctatIon. They give notice 10 no Duke Of their IN
tenii"h ohoid this ~ 'etIng. He replied to- them
IN very caval like manner. Informing them that
nc wast the owner OF the cstnte, aud would exercise
ilIs rights as such. THIS Showed the kind of influence
winch landlord could eX"rcisr over a tenant. Uni
nc knew the extent Of the losses therefore he coulI
rot vote Tor the proposition lie cond not pive n
pledge Of hls vote, because he thought the proposi
ton OF the gentleman from Chesterfield winch riyes
ihe lessee some option Is preferable
Mr.. SrANAUp replied that hc hid with prctocd
ItatlOu offered this amendment in blink H. Lno,,