Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1829-05-12

TO be durable ,must have the concurrence of ma
lority oil the people. Your memorialists can easi-
" conceive that Government formed il the man |
ner that ours is about be, may 20 into opsratioa
without the sanction of one fourth Of the conmu-
NIFTY The ireeholders, above the age of 81 years
nave been estimated at less than one half OF the
mee white males above that age. slight msjori-
~ oil these may accept the Constitution, and ex-
hb't the irghful spectacle of three fourths OF the
community disaffectsd with their Government
Your memorialists believe that the State of
virginia, SO celebrated among its sister States for
ITS republican feelings and principles, has been
the first to shew symptoms of retrogradng to that
stale OF aristocratio servity, which, So years ago
it acquired the immortal glory OF being the first
to shake OIL They cannot but view this act OF
particular class of individuals as ESTABLISHING n
precedent dangerous alike to the non eholders
and large majority Of the freeholders Owners
of 20 acres of land, take upon themselves the au
thority to remodel the very instrument which
Created i'm their favour, certain political distinctions
and privileges They elect delegates for that
purpose. Those delegates, who are men of pro-
perty, influence and standing, limit the right of
suffrage TO owners OF greater number OF acres
.nan -, say loU acres-embracing, however, a
majority OF landholders-to legalize as it were
this hrst step towards ogarchy. The Const-
tuition Is submitted for acceptance or rejection to
all who before enjoyed the right Of suffrage
Inc owners oil less than 100 acres, are out-num.
! bered by the rest. The Constitution is passed
Owners OF 100 acres Of land, at subsequent peri
OIL. acting upon authority Of the former precedent
(of which the Possessors Of less than 100 acres
cannot complain, for they first set the example)
call Convention of their own body, to alter the
Constitutions: The Convention composed as before
OF men OF wealth and influence. They limit the
right OF suffrage to owners OF 200 acres of land,
always including majority Of the privileged
class lot the Time being. The Constitution is
either submitted and accepted as before or the
consolidators emboldened by success, ordain the
Constitution, without the announcement formality OF
submitting It, During the progress of this usur-
L all hncn tatI.n Ill
cipation in the Government, debased in feeling
bred up in ignorance OF their rights, to which il
the policy of those the he al of affairs to con-
tribute, condemned by the arstocracy, they final
y sink into that state mo al ctvty and careless
submission, upon which despotism delights % look
as Its favorite support The privileged class, now
| comparatively few, feeling that confidence from
success, which, at first, their numbers gave them,
go on as before condensing themselves, until an
oigarchy is regularly Installed. Your memorial
lists will suppose, for moment, that the good peo-
pie OF Virginia, in the formation OF their present
Constitution, had (as in the exercise of their sove-
reignty, they had right to dog confined the right
oil suffrage to owners OF 1000 acres of land; could
an attempt have been made with impunity, by
those owners, to alter the Constitution of the
state! SUCH an attempt at usurpstion their
part, would have differed in degree only, not in
/ kind, from that OF which your memorialists now
complain. Injustice would have been done, in
deed, TO greater number, and retrbuton would
have been the immediate consequence. But
should rights be unjustly withheld, because their
recovery involves longer and more desperate
struggle, or, because they perchance may be for
awhile successfully resisted,
The political distinction between the freehold
er and non-freehoder is creature of the Constitu-
ton, in the same manner as are the several de-
partments of Government, Legislative, Execu-
live and Judiciary. The creating power rests with
the people, and, in this instance, made known
through their Constitution. The freeholder un
der the present Constitution, is entrusted with the
| administration of the erisfing Government not
with the formation of a new one. Either depart
ment OF Government, could, with as much pro-
to alter the present Constitution
as the freeholders the attempt on the part of Ell
thor, would be politically self-destroying act
| A division OF trades, employments and profess
sions results, matter of course from a state OF
| society; it is the evidence of its existence. The
Agrculturist, Mechanic, Merchant &c. are each
| dependant upon one another, for the uecessaries
comforts and convenences of life; they are bound
to one another by common tie. They are equal
Iy interested in the faithful administration of the
Government which protects them; neither can
with truth boast superior attachment 10 his coun-
try. All, therefore, should have a proportionate
influence in the Government. Confine tina, in
nuence TO either, and you do injustice TO the rest.
me limitation OF the right OF suffrage, to rs
oo acres oil land excludes, practically, nearly all
who do not make agriculture their pursuit. II is,
moreover, nearly tantamount conferrng il to or
3OO acres; for few agrculuriss in this section of
virginia have under that number; much less
|
| OF voting. Numbers OF hard working, industrious
| citizens, the profits of whose labours cannot be
spared from themselves and families to purchase
ireencld, are debarred OF this noble s. dearest pry-
lege oil Freemen. No recurring election rouses in
| their breast the proud consciousness OF natural
lequaity. 1t is true the blood which their Fathers
split to ensure this privilege, flows before their
imagnations-but 1t is only to remind them that
some bilious entail has deprived them of their
birth rights If the possession of land, be the
only evidence man give. OF permanent,
common interest with, and attachment to- the
community, it must be in consideration alone OF
its value These % so acres does afford that
evidence; IFS value is too small to create indie
pendently, permanent attachment. The ease
with which freehold may be acquired, Gil cum
stance strongly insisted on by the friends of the
| freehold system (and which, f true would only
| prove that it was a useless appendage,) argues
nothing in favour Of the system To effect its
object, therefore, the right Of suffrage shoui either
! be limited in so many words 10 owners of vaIua
bile freehods, or the practical operation OF the sys-
tenn must have that tendency. Its operation 10
this sectisn of the State has been stated The
most decided arstocrat could not desire a more
| cOngenial system.
| That some qualification. as it regards the age,
sex, and condition Of the individual, should be an
| neXed to the right of voting, your m-morial;sts
will mo- deny; and this concession has bean seized
upon by the subtle advocates Of the freehold sys-
tenn, to Justify the total exclusion Of the non. free
holders, and the committing TO the hands of a mi
nority, the desnes of whole republic. Your
memorialists view il as miserable evasion Of the
Bill OF Rights 10 say, that the doctrine of natural
right and equality, involves the sbsurditv Of per-
uniting women aud children TO vote. A iifficuty
IS pretended TO BE felt this subject, which in
council OF the widest tribe of Indian savapes
would scarcely engage momanfs attention A
mans wife, when nature has made dependant on
bis will; his daughters, or sisters whose weakness
throws them upon his projections; his infant SOD
whose period of emancipation from parental an
| thority has not arrived, but which the comm on