Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1829-11-26

fusion At the pole, such As had been mrnl lone d
on this floor. lie had never Witnessed II any
where in the State Of Virginia nor Did he ap
prehend any from such an extension o suffrage
Who had ever seen any riot ~ Virginia 7 Any
confusion ri the polls But If there WIRE any
such danger, was il not cay TO remedy il, by
dividing the counties into smaller election dis
uicis, aud preventing large assemblies OF peo-
pie meeting at any one point
lie alluded To the esrnts which had iranspir.
ed IN the French Revolution and denied thai
they proved the 'mpropriety Of = more extend
ed suffrage. But why was II, that Mr. Jeffer.
son, VIM saw these revolutionary scenes IN
France, came back the friend OF liberal sui.
hage' Why doe. the venerable member
from Loudoun, M. .Monrorl who witnessed
the same scenes, advocate the change
lie referred 10 the opinions which prev allied
among the Western people of our own State
They have seen the effects Of an extended
snfas IN the neiehboring States, OF Quo,
Kentucky, Prnnsy lsania, &c. and YET with
these examples before tlieir eyps. they were ia
favor OF the change. They were not aiara,ed
by The effects oi such institutions. They know
well, thai This IS not a new Experimental ba
ALREADY been tired Ia these other States.--He
alluded TO The state OF Internal Improvement in
Nngnia-saying he had always advocated
himself such spirit OF Improvement, because
he had seen with regret the declension Of Va.
TO the rank Of the thIrd or fourth.rate Stale
And he thought that such Improvements were
e'ssnlialelf sn"ng to ,sasf ale 10 our nst
tulions.-IHe asked Why it was that we did not
require any qualification ofireehold from our
Governors, our Judges, etc, and yet why was
!, that We denied the right oil voting 10 any citi.
zen who did not own freehold Mr.. 3. rrler
A
from Richmond Mr.. Nicholas That gem
iIeman had referred to his services as Attorney
General ofthe Commonwealth ortwenty years,
aud is that any reason why the people should
be DISTINGUISHED He had voted for that gen
teman as Attorney General when he himself
was bur D years OF age mol because he knew
hun. bit because he Mas the son of K bbeIt Car
ter Nicholas, that good old whig-the gentle
man hom Richmond no longer serves the
) ate and whom does he now serve That
gentleman had aiso SAID. that he did not value
bank stock. AS much AS he did the soil Itself.
And Mr. Il, thought The same thing. Mr..
b made several other remarks on Banks
comparing the paper money they issued, with
the hard money, IN dollars, guineas bits aud
half bits, which used to br paid out Of the old
Treasury, while X. I. Nicholas held tue keys,
&c ec.
MI ID, SAlu tDaI Ihp non-HctnOluefS III MS
county did moi comp am Of the hardships of the
road laws, as had been done by other gentle.
meu, for they rcqui. ed only half DAYS labor
to keep them a order, and they we've the best
"o4d. in III u States. Bm 'hry complained,
n general pI,nciplps, Il the defects OF tie
81 escni Cnn.u attn ion. He curcudcd with hon.
Iug that The proposition On the table would
prevail; and that Other gentlemen o. this Il or
who we've not in thr habit OF speaking, would
bear It's lmouy ~ the WISHES OF tie Poop on
this SUBJECT
Mr. NJ Coy sal that under the presr IT
state of things he won d not vote for this 81.
mendment. tIe would not say he would no,
'ute for 1t under another state of things It
would Depend upon what basis OF representa-
non would he adopted II the whi.e popuia
ton should be taken. he would be willing 20
''7rlcl the Right of Suffrage: Bu, il the b IS is
ot property br taken, then he would be " ny
TO- extend the RICH, Of voting to more persons,
tor The purpose OF balancing that inllaence OF
wealth which might he infused into our syslem.
He made this remark,to olyiate any charge oI
III, consistency which mighi be hereafter brough'
~ anst him.
Mr.. scott requested an explanation from Mr..
" 'Ison OF the mclnlns of part of his amend.
mcnt Mr. W. replied.
Mr. Morgan begged leave to offer few re-
marks IN conGi nation OF those OF his colleague
M. Wilson. The question related TO the
sovereign rights Of The people the right of vo.
ting bein. one OF the most essential privileges
IN Il republican government He commended
one ofihr g,ra' Objects OF government was not
TO limit, oul 10 enlarge the natural rights of
min. Man was made for society he was only
known n socisiy
The gentleman from Richmond Mr. Nicho.
ms. n,aIt l,,,L h.., A
er could love the State nf Virginia. IL may be
true thata uoulreeholder, who owns bank
't"ck, may 60 10 an Office, sell it, and move of
to Maryland Bat nigh not the ieeholder
40 the 'ame-by gong 10 another oiiioe-the
clerk Office
Mr. NJ said. that he himself had had the
honor OF submitting p'oposulnn similar 10
that of his colleague-wIlh the difference, ina
his col eague required longer residence than
he did. &c.
Mr., NJ. estimated the number Of fteehold RS
in Virginia al 10 900; and take the .umber of
white persons Ivy the census OF 1921, with the
probable increase since that time, you ha c
10000 of free white men-lpavrug % 900 not
entitled ~ voted rducting Is 900 for paupe,s.
&c. aud you have $4,000 persons dislranchso d
And may not government, which dist an-
chlses at Leaf two thirds OF ITS people be called
NJ ls'oCFHuCt Us III wise 10 Deprive so large a
proportion OF the people OF the dearest political
righ This feature was confined he believed,
20 Virginia, and perhaps 10 Noun Carolina
For the purpose of showing tbs, he entered in.
10 an analysis Of the provisions in the various
constitutions, relative to the right of suffrage
lie proceeded u make this ANALYSIS going
through tn various Cons buttons He COO.
cluded from this -chpilulation, tn twelve of
the States required no other qualification than
age and residence six only some little tax, in
addition 10 those two qualifications &c Il then
we have confidence in the people OF these u.
States, and SO tar rs precedent has any wei hit
with the members Of this body ,Qt had certainly
weigh, with the people) ii ne may argue from
these facts, the con clusion is that "a general
sutfl age, founded on age, residence. and per.
maps small tax. were the only qualltica tons
necessary, The gentleman from Southampton
(Mr' lrezfant had SAID that no government
had ever been founded on universal suffrage.
which had not veropd into de potsm Am A 70,