Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1829-01-10
AN EARNEST APPEAL
I0'he Friends Of Reform III :lc Legislature Of
pTg,nid.
T.-Ns

lcoNCLUpEp.1
i his, you admit, would be great evil But
You hope that matters will not be carried to that
extremity. Ii is not the part Of true wisdom, Won
say, any more than that oil magnanini,v, 10 insist
pcrtinaciously on every lot and little of ones
rights. Some allowance should be made for the
prcJudlces OF those whose PTetensions, however
Eroundless, conflict with rights, however
clear. Conflicting claims and prcten sions can ne.
yer be adjusted, unless the parties concerned are
acuated by spirit of mutual Cancellation.
All these ADM. TO he correct, general ,'uIcs
Tor the government Of the conduct OF men [ adj.
nit that Cancellation. pr Sc, is 4 rooi thing But
when any given scheme Of Cancellation involves in
itself an abandonment and surrender OF admitted
tights, The man, Or the body OF men 10 whom it is
proposed, should critically examine before IL is =
dopted, the ertcnt Of the Abandonment of right
proposed, the ertent Of the eriis which are likely
to- he produced by insisting on the strict enforce
Inent OF the Ilgh', and the circumstances under
which the scheme OF cancellation is proposcd
First, then, as to the erteHk Of the abandonment
and surrender OF rights, proposed by the cunven-
tlon-committee 10 certain portions OF the peonle of
Nirgina.ht the very thrcs hold Of ibis inquiry,
meet with topic OF some s1oreity (s,raDoe asLrt
may seem, when the nature cfthe tonic is re-
garded,) and OF considerable interest. / mean the
origin and cause o! the grossly unequal represen-
talon OF the free white population OF Virginia in
Che popular branch Of The United States. How
ntus At hNTpcn hai. while the ssioDaI dis.
frIct composed OF Monongaheia county SC &
contains II ,3l3 free white inhabitants and the dis
trict composed ot Renhawa county &c &c
39;733, and the district COMPOSED o Wash;r,fc,,
comfy, exc. &C 81, 40, the tGcwatcr district Of
Sussex,'sic. &c. contains only - OC3, and that
composed OF York, &c. Sc. only 2II43; Here !
am met, at once. by an exclamation o; surprise al
my ignorance You forget that the state is diyid.
edinto districts, on the basis Of federal NUMBERS
That, by the constitution of the United States.
eeJYthS 0fHie Si1peS are entitled 10 reprase,,
talon in Congress, and that the districts YOU men
tioff, as containing Che smaller numbers make IN
the deficiency by the enumeration of three -GCtbs
oil their slave population; while those containing
TIE larger have scarcely any slaves to cnuInerate
answer that was not aware Of the existence Of
~ singular provision in the constitution Of The
ouited States, and refer 20 the Instrument itself
70 settle the question.
" The House of Keprcsen taiivrs y saws tho con.
sliiution Of the U. States, " shall consist OF mem
oers chosen every second year BIZ the prole NJ f6e
sertTut STATES; and the electors each state shall
nave the qualifications requisite Tor electors of
the most numerous braucii Of the State I,egi~s-
ture."
And again Representatives, and direct taxes
snail be apportloned among The sereydf SiuLes ac-
cord'ng TO their respective numbers, which shall
be determined by adding 70 the whole number OF
Tree persons including those bound 10 service for
term OF years, and excluding Indians no, taxed
three: fills IF all ether Persons."
perceive, at single glance ;hat it IS ,ny in.
eiructer, and not myself that has formed an erro.
neous conception Of the meaning of the constitu-
ton. In the first Of the clauses above quoted the
trainers Of the constitution have designated the
fountain from which the stream Of representation
shall How, aud we see nothing there about the
representation Of slaves, either direct or virtual
but exactly the contrary. The epresentaiiyc.
shali be chosen by the electors who choose the
members Of the most numerous branch of the state
legislature.
1t is equally clear that the intent OF the second
clause is, to fix the relative weight r.o, of tho diff
terent parts Of state, but Of the different states
IN the House Of RepreseutatiYea-It has been
said thousand times and it is not the less true
Tor having been said so often, that the constitution
oithe United States is 10 be regarded, quodd ma.
ny OF its provisions, treaty Of confederation a..
inong sovereign and independent states who had
right 10 stipUate, and did stpuiate the conditions
on which they would enter into the league One
OF The spulati ons made by the slayeholding states
waa, that they should respectively have as much
weight IN the House Of Represent aiiycs Of the
United States. 0sH thrcefifths Of th cir slaves had
been Tree white people; and they agreed. in return
90 pay direct tdXesu proportion 10 the federal num-
oers bus asCertanCd. Representation is amor
toned among the states IN proportion % those fed
eral numbers. But when the inquiry is how the
representatives Of any one state are 10 be appor-
toned among the different parts Of that state the
constitution Is silent Unless indeed tyc infer
from the first clause above quoted, which defines
the qualification of the electors and from another
which % Guarantees % evety state IN the Union
dTePubfcdn firm Il goUeJRme7t" that the fra
sneTj OF the Constitution intended That ;he mem.
befs Of the House ~ Representatives should rep
resent eqltni Portions, 40 nearly az circum.
Stances would permit, Of The qualified electors
But il Is enough that tho con stitu ion has been
silent on the subject i leaves The question:
Sbat is the proper rule Of apporGonment Of pou-
al power, OF weight IN the House of REPRESENTA-
D7es, among The people Of each sta,e--io he re-
cided by the principles which have olresdy been
discussed? How completely these principles have
been dlsregarled, in the spportionment ac'uslly
ussie by the Legislature Of Virginia. has been al
ready shown. Returning, then, 10 the immedi.
afe subject Of inquiry which is, tie ext nj Of the
abandonment and sure nder cf nights proposed nv
ra t0nrpnTtu. comm tee 20 ~pr'4ir COZ, o~e 81