Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-01-08

II, 10 pass law, comforting upon the County Courts,
the uniimtcdpowcr of establishing as MANY precnel
eicclpps 20 - scSuaties they shopld nom time 10
ttna doent pre- ser6'n2 foyernu,en mt
9 s Az Il some q ssn nsr,l;,,a
government that rested upon public ii WAS
not des'rabte aud expedent afford every facility for
.tne expression of the popular will?s and how could
"a ~, be So wei saud etctaally Expressed
Ut tns polls: As many voters should be brourht to
the polls as possible; il the duty of every man 10
vote. Your Legislature hal required that every man
should vote, and had prescribed penalty for tho fall
ue wasn't not therefore Just, us well as'poltic, to
ofinS the place of election near to the home of the
voter as possfbcs To many of them il was inconve.
Meht not impossible, tn attend election at their
Court-houscs. They could not spare the time to 90
so ar-,he money 10 pay expenses during their alb
sence-they could not lose the services of aNlourh
share at busy of the year for ore or two
and they chaneedto be without horse las some yo-
tors were) Il would be hard 10 require then, under
penalty To walk to their Court houses, perhaps 20 or
80 miles, land in counties more) for the purpose
OF exercising their RICH; of suffrage IL was conye-
n,ent II was right, it cXpcdiunt land wha, tho
voters hld right to require ut the hands ofthe Lo-
gslaurc to bring home the elections rly rs pos
sinic TO their own homes, at least TO thcirrespeclve
lneighborlouds "i''
| Alr. L. said, it WAS with him no little rceonnnanla-
Ton 20 the Systenl-tat II was an approximation to
the plan OF ward elections recommended to us by
that great apostle Of human libcriy,-thc ustrious
Jefferson, whose wisdom and forecast he now more
highly appreciated ilIah ever. .-. '.-.. rr
! The gent" man from Stafford fudge Coallerl had
objected 10 separate clectoiis-tha it deprived the
representative oft opportunity respondinB to all
us constituents, ofrcnderng count OF his stew
ardshp of indicating his course and the measures
lie had supported and of auswerin,r rhnrrrs II any
were preferred against him lie had objected also
Iat they Increased the power of dcmagorues ciil
bling them TO WELD the democracy othc country To
ter own purposes, 10 miSinad the people, whose nte-
rests they would bctray; and last thought not lcas,
i'm no tl,f
man, had broken up, and would break up the schools
OF political wisdom, which the good people of the
commonwealth annually attended when they all rs
scmbcd Il, their COurt-houses to hear the speeches
OF their candidates for election or rc-Ccction. RI,
support his frs, obectiun the gentleman had referred
to single cas-" the of his friend from Augusta
which he MIR. T.then heart for the Fl ST mc) which he
supposed had established the utility of Il general as
sembly Of he county enable n representative To-
vndicate his course. lie doubled not that the SELL
tcncc of approval then pronounced, was deserved.
and he as little doubted tho: it had been the same
whether the people, whom the gentleman from Au
gusta represented had been assembled At one or Sc
vcra places. MIR. Il. said there were other times
places and opportunities Of vIudcatiou, besides the
! DAY ana place OF county cleo ion There was all
Inc time between the adjournment of the Legi
and the election. There time and opportunity
enough allowed for personal communication between
the representative and constitue,-and more than a
there was free press, which alords the very best
means OF defence agains, groundlcss accusation Al
these were within the power of the representative,
and BESIDES he would always meet large portion OF
his constituents at the Courthouse the day of eiec
tlon no matter how many separate election districts
are established in the county.
AS to the argument of evil from the power of de-
magogues, Mr.. L. said it was peculiarly rratutous
and unfoundcd He had supposed that the best mode
oil enhancing the power of that class of politicians
to assemble the people i'm as large masses as nos
>Cic. suppus,;u Il Was upon masses ths, pos
ted through The instrumentay of popular cnnt .,
slang, or eoqnence, if you please, appealing 20 tic
passions and pre- JUDGES oflnen which we are told in
large assemblies contagious 1t had been said
IN reference to the popular assemblies of Athens.
H'm ere'y :4hcn"an 'rere n YocrGtes. siIi
every '3utenian assembly tcouId be a 1tob 1t. was
an argument against pure democracy in favour of re-
presentation, IT there any truth i'm H. for any
purpose Certainty for more than to establish
the utility of separate elections. If you wish to lem
per the fierce spirit ofdcmocracy this is precisely the
best mode. If you fear tumults, popular exercises
riots and oil the infinite evils connected i'm tn, ina
glnatons of some gentlemen, with elections this is
the way to cschew them. Mr.. II thought the sepa
rate elections, in their effects on the political body
might without improperly be lkened TO the Franklin
ods-the one disaRed the clouds of their destructive
elements, the other dsarmcd democracy of its In.
NUTS Its riots, It's excuses and excitemens and all
those manifold horrors which present themselves to
the imaginations of gentlemen, "ho ahour uHdor the
Phob"i, II may so speak ofdcmocracy.
The last objections ofthe gentleman from StnlI1rd
coming from him, struck him with the greatest sur
prize There was surely strange inconsistency be-
tween bis argument to-day and his votes heretofore
ii IL were true that assemblies of the people were
such valuable schools for politics. when The noonIc
assembled to elect members ofAssemb!y why Should
they be less SO If tue people permitted to as
sembie and elect their Governor and some other pub
lie fnnctonarics: Why not open as many schools
as possible to the political pupils, the people, As
much as the gentleman seems to estimate these
schools ior political Instruction, lie has voted in this
Convention 70 hdve rs few Of them as possiI,, 49,
There was an Inconsistency in Tins which no could
not reconcile. He mad never before seen on ardent
upfif a.,
Der OF senlnarics, aud diminish tie means of nstrrc
uon Mr.. y repeated that the system of precinct
giecIons winch had received the coun,enanc1 of the
Legislature, and which were becoming every dav
more popular, as their bonefcent operation and eE
iects We're more and more developed by experience.
10 ms opinion, deserved any thing at the hands Of
this Convention, rather than it's rcprobation And
ner aiI' u 1t were obnoxious TO the objections
urged by the gentleman, and devoid of tho paramount
considerations Of advnntagc which Justify it's coitin
uance Is not fit subject for the deliberations Of
tnoso VINO arc dcpstcd 20 fame code offundamen
tAl Avs lie therefore trusted that the amendment
would be reject ed hv tho Cnn,ort;o,,