Virginia advocate. [volume] (Charlottesville, Va.) 1827-1860, 1829-11-06

poor TO plumber the rich-that al! men
are governed by the sense Of their own
interests, and therefore the poor will COM
init rapine upon tho wealthy Mr. G. con-
tended, that this doctrine was not correct
that it was not supported by the History
of this State that men were governed,
not merely by interest, hut by higher mo-
tives That the power Of this slave ho!-
ders-and their interest was to throw the
burdens of the government upon the
Western borders ofthc state, to lay the
taxes as much as possible on the cattle,
and on the slaves lightly as possible.
But they were controlled by a higher priu-
ciple than interest by sense of eXpedi
ency ; and by a sense Of honor. They
did not Cypress the citizens of the from
! tiers and thus put the sea! of Reproduction
upon the doctrines now avowed.
But look abroad into the other States.
1t is said, if YOU give power to numbers,
the power will cnsnc. But in 10, other
States, no sor, of provision is made in IA.
vor Of property, and yet where was the
oppression So much for the general ar
gument in favor of giving power to pro-
| perry t. pro ect Itself He said that pro-
perty could always protect itself aud that
| ia this State, no abuse lad ever arisen
| from it.
MIR. G. then attempted TO show, that
| there was no just foundation for the fears
| that gentleman seem to entertain viz {:
mat numbers we're going to the west, that
the West was not a slave-holding section
and that they would abuse this power
and therefore it might be argued that this
provision is necessary for the protection
of the East. MIR. Cook attempted to show,
that the slave population had been pushed
to the very base of the Mountans-that
East of the Ridge, the country contains
ma ority Of $4,000 whites over the coun-
try to the West of it. So that if you pto.
portion the representation to the popula-
ton of the whites, yer have The weight nj
representation in the proportion Of 800,
900 to about $4,000 BIT that the
slaves were not limited to TO the East of
the Blue Ridge they have passed into
the valley-and by adding them together,
you have about 400, 0G0 shareholders in
fear Of being oppressed by 272 600 whites
beyond the Allegheny He contended
from these circumstances that there was
no danger Of passion, and never would
b..
| Mr. Green rose to address The Commit
tee-in support of his amendment lie
SAID thst they were now appriscd of the
principles on which the claims of these
gentleman rest that they refer to the
pi ,ci:,les Of the Bill of Rights But we
are told, all men are equally free Mr.
| q. insisted, shat this might be true Of ma
b,,, =,
rights. 1t was also said, that all power is
derived from the people-and that the
! majority of the community should govern.
re admitted, that where the circumstances
OF each part Of The society are alike, and
| no part can Cypress another, the primer.
| pie wonli hold good.~- Brit the very rea-
SON why this principle is correct, is that
the majority of the people have the same
| interest with the minority. Blu; how is it
| in the peculiar circumstances of Virginia
WAS not the population Of the State made
up OF very different r:ateriaIs--and sec.
tons having different interests He re-
| lerreJ Ia the documents from the Audi
! tors Office, to show how much faster the
white population on the other side Of the
Ridge WAS increasing beyond tba: on this
|
SIDE, was much greater He then produ.
ced to examine the system uf taxation,
and 20 show how much greater the ratio
of taxes has been in Eastern than in Yves
tern Virginia. This inequality proceeds.
not merely from slaves, but every subject
OF taxatioE has been greater-Even land.
on this side the Ridge, iftaken by itself,
pays about 50 TO every white man, for
every 81 they pay on the West The
taxes on the cattle LEVIED during the war
were greater on the East per c0Dita than
IN The West. So that ii may be asserted
with confidence, the taxes will always he
greater to the East. But. have not the
people Of the West n great interest to a.
bue their power They want roads and
| canals and it has become almost an en-
thu:i s. c passion with them The i'm
prnyement of the James River has been
conducted on much greater scale than
was required by the people on this side
of the mountains. Some fears ago.
proposition TO borrow some millions of mo-
ney to carry on such improvements was
advocated by almost every member from
the West. Mr.. G.. attempted to show
that the arguments of gentlemen, who adj
vocated different doctrine, were incor-
rect-that property could not in all cases
protect itself and that it was too true.
tbat.men would generally pursue their
own interests. He attempted to show that
the situation of the Valley did not pre-
cIudc it from joining in the over taxing
OF the slaves; FOR their white population
exceeded the slaves at least t!Iree-foId
He attempted to show, that withiut COM
pound basis, the East would always be in
danger and in apprehension of oppression
and that there could be no guarantee a.
gainst it not even in the Senate he