Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1829-11-12

. srs,st,diosaI b@s7er7 in fhe shape ~ p
privileges So snuoh fer the general oo,,-.
whetherprvPerty is endangered by h..
the people in possession of their iiatssal
equal rigiis.
But know, sir, incidentally, fhst n.
yer Of this Amendment entertains tt, o,,;,;a'
that the case of Virginia il, from pea-,T.
circumstances, q case sui genera His on
ion is that the comparatively non -slaye-bai
ing population of Virginia must ere lonq e.
stitute, If it does not now constitute, a dec;d'
majority of the people, and that majority !,
habltlng particular section of the state n
enated from their slave holding fellow citizen.
by distance, localities and disamilar vie,vs
questions of general polcy-Thatit will h"
or what amounts TO the same thing. that ~
viii suppose it to be, their interest to law Il!
burthens of government almost exelusvelv ~
the slave property of their eastern bretbra"
And that it is, therefore, necessary IN nv.
the slave holding minority with fciitio,,s ~.
er, under the new Constitution, TO enaIie !,
to protect itself against the injustice and a.
precision of the comparatively non slaye-bols
ing majority.
5upposing the facts which have rust st.,
ed 10 De as he imagincs them TO be, do ~,
sec any thing in the case stated, which taLo'
it oct Of the operation of the principles of 60
curly which have supposed 10 exist in RI.
gard TO property IN general. He pW not con
tend that the people OF the west are less one.
ated OH by the principle Of honor, by sent
a1ents Of Justice, and by a sense of their reo,
interests, than the people Of the East-And
lltliis be SO, lis Fears are groundless. For the
people of the east under similar circ,3,stan
ccs, have repelied the base suggestions of
sordid and Slyert-sigssted interest and bavs
been governed by noblcr and more enlarped
views of eSpediencv and right But, sir. HI,
promises fail him.--Look at the map of Vir-
gnia, and at the tables of population which
have this day been reported by the Auditor
He estimates the white population east of the
Blue Ridge of Mountains, at 562,745 and the
white population west of those mountains at
-519,5l5. The people of the east have, there
fore, a majority OF 1929 over those of the
west need scarcely, sir, tell this assembly,
that the whole white population east of the
Ridge is 3 slayc-holding population The
black population is even more dense along the
eastern base of the Ridge, than along the
shore of the Atlantic For while the two Sc
natoriai districts, bordering ON the ocean,
contained, by the census of 1920, one OF them
but i1,4l6, and the other but 10 1858, three of
the districts along the eastern base of the
Ridge contained, one of them IAN, anoth-
er % Sid, and the third 3G,62l. Thus YOU
perceive, sir, that the slave population i.
crowded up TO the very foot of the mountain
But thiss not all. The slave holding papula-
ton extends beyoad the Ridge. The district
which have the honour in part to represent,
contains about IL 600 slaves. The four wes-
e Tn
lex and Botetourt contain, II ,070. They are
therefore, fairly to be considered as siave-hol-
ding counties, TO the practical intent of being
interested in exempting slaves from undue
taxation. These four counties are estimated
TO contain, at present, white population Of
a70IS. Add this slave-holding population,
west ofthe mountain, Ito say nothing Of other
western counties which contain slaves to the
amount of several thousands more) to the
holding population east of theinountains,
and you have an aggregate of 400, 1853. The
comparatively non-slaYe holding population
In all the remaining counties of Virginia, is but
27e ,503. There Is, therefore, majority Of
slave holding population amounting to l57 ,255
And yet, strange to tell, an apprehensionis
entertained, thstif representation be equally
app0rtioncd among the white population, slave
property wih be burthened by unequal and
oppressive taxes.-If the resolution of the
Committee be adopted, the slaFe-hoding
population will possess, in the House of Dele
gates, majority of representatives, in the pro-
portion Of 409,758 TO 1903; and yet
fear is entertained, that the representatives of
the 272 500 non slave holders viii oyertax the
property Of the 409, 1888 shareholders! And
to avert this imminent peril and fragrant in
justice, you are asked TO invest The 409,755
fictitious constitutional poces--to destroy the
great landmarks of natural right, established
Ut the era ofthe revolution--to repudiate all
the principles of government which have been,
until now, held sacred and inviolable. Such,
sir, is the argument by which the proposed a.
mendment IS supported
[DEsArE 70 BE CONTINUED.