Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-11-12

i ooPnistry, says MT damilton, 'smay reply tina
"soyereigns are equal, and that majority of tn,
"votes of the States will be majority Of
l"ted America" For the words .soverei1ns nnd
state have only to insert the word counties.
~ oena OF those VINO desire no change of the present
Constitution, and for "confederated America the
people of Virginia. wv
close this quotation with Mr. Hamton,s reion.
der, which needs no commentary. "But this kind OF
ogical legerdemain," he adds. sswi never counter
act the PLAIN suggestions of justice g. common sense
ut may happen that anaority ofStates is small mi
nor'ty OF the people of America; two-thirds of the
people OF America could not long be persuaded upon
tine credit of distinctions and syilosist;c sub
eties TO submit their Interests he cement and
disposal of one third. The larger States would
after while, revolt from receiving the lnw from the
smaller TO acquiesce in such privation of their
due Importance in the political scale would be- moi
merely TO be insensible the love OF power. bu,
even to sacrifice the desire Of equality It is neither
TO expect the FIRST, nor Just to require the
last. Considering how peculiarly the safety and
welfare OF the smaller States depend on union thew
ought readily to renounce pretension which if NOT
"reilnquished, would prove fatal to its duration"
lac committee Will readily excuse my substitution
OF the words of this able and eloquent writer for
any language that could invent to express the same
u'iaS oucn course Is the more eXpedicnt for nv
purpose, Since it airms all the truths which iabour
10 sustain, by the appeal of statesman and patriot
OF the revolution to the people of America in sup
port OF the principles, for which he had conteadnd.
as well III arms as in council.
Fhat he did not. any more than his c1aa liz notr
Otto associates, confound taxation, with representa-
ton as has been SO often done in the course of this
debate passage, which beg leave to offer TO the
committee from the preceding number of this able
work sufficiently Iuunifests.
1.-The principle says he ssof reuuatinc tho co,
trbutions of the States to the common treasury Inv
quotas, IS another fundamental error OF the coufsdn
racyI Il speak OF 1t now, solely with n view to
equality among the States BY equality it viii be
SEEN that he does not the payment of coual
sums, by equal numbers. but in eoual or lust nro
portion to the respective abilities of those who are
urodfC tHsp, - 81,
"Thoso who have been accustomed to coa;ernplate
"the circumstances, which produce and constitute
'natIonal wealth must be satisfied that there !. NO
common standard or barometer, By which, the de-
gfees OF 1t can be asceTtained. Neither the yclyD
'2f tho lands nor the tm5erS Of tie people which
"have been successfully proposed as the rnIc Of
Estate contributions, has any prcte,sjon to being
"just representative" Lei VIRGINIA ha 49,, 80, 81
"with North Carolina or Maryland with New Tor
"sey, and we shall be convinced that the respective
liabilities 81 those States, relation to revenue bear
"httle or no analogy to their comparative stock in
LANDS, or to their comparative population 'Yhe
s'posl ion may be equally illustrated by similar nro
''cess between the counties of the sa me Stale No
'Elan acquainted with the State of New York, will
doubt, that the active wealth of Kings county
'bears rnue! greater proportion that of Montoo-
''mery, than 1t would appear to do. if we should
"take either the total value of the lands or the total
''numbers Of the people s criterion
"Ihc wealth ofnatIoDs depends upon an in initn vor
eiy OF causes Situation. soil climate: the nature of
the productions; the nature Of the government: the
'genus of the citizens; the degree of information tbev
possess the state of commerce. of nrts of industry
" these circumstances, and many more too complex
"mnuc, or adventitous, to admit of particular sDe-
cification, occasion differences hardly conceivable
Gin the relative opuence and riches of dfer ent coun-
tiles The consequence is, that there can BIO no
common measure of national wealth; and OF course
no general or stationary rule by which the abita of
"a Slate to pay taxes can be determined. Tho at-
temp therefore to regulate the contributions of the
members Of confederacy, by any such rule cannot
failto be productive ofgca inequality cna c1:yen,e
''There is method of steering clear of this ncon
"venence but by authorizing the National Govern
''ment TO raise It's own revenues in its own way"
''l is signal advantage oftaxes on articles of con
sumption that they contain in their own nature
security against excess Phey prescribe their own
'fmit; which cannot be exceeded without defeating
sthe end proposedthat is extension of the reve-
"nue When applied to this object the saving ia as
ust it is witty, that Sin political arithmetic two
"and two do not always make four"
| May not now affirm without q presuunptuous i'm
parchment ofhe authority of the able authors of this
vindicatioH of the Federal Constitution, that vhate-
yer concessions it may contain of cxpedency or JUS
tice to the Union of the States they have not sane
toned the doctrines Of our adversares that slaves
are regarded as property by laws, and as such
have no other title to representation than any other
description of property nthe Commonwealth
Fhe resolution, which have undertaken to sus-
tain, alike excludes a representation of countes-
Such is the present representation in the House OF
Delegates, and its glazing inequality is one Of the
leading causes of this Convention Although no voice
| has been heard in this Committee to indicate this
inequality and the proposed amendment is as much
at war with It's continuance the resolution itself
yet those who oppUsed to any change of the pre-
sent Constitution must be regarded as disposed to
tolerate and bound to defend it II is equally incuD1-
bent on the advocates of the resolution to advert 10
lis extent and It's operation tile principles for VIII oh
the friends of u Convention have conended
| There are Of present in this Commonwealth f05
counties entitled each to two delegates and four boz
AFT ons;
tied each to one delegate. Pbe House of DELEGATES
consists at present, therefore, Of pa members Of
which O3 arc majority. FiAy-four of the counties
OF Virginia may therefore return such majority
Omitting with all the boroughs WILLIAMSBURG HAVING
o population of only 536 white inhabitants and the
small counties of Logan, Allegheny, and Pocahontas
which have been created since the last census thi.
, majority may be supplied by 10000 of the COZ OOC
knL,i a. IL