Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1830-04-01
lra3 aAAHgRSo
n 1RriNsRURG, ArsfL /, 1859.

flo Dle1 OIL O0f fffCbQ uSCdfOT& &OE tuo
new Constitution in the shape Of commeat-
airy open some hasty remarks Of oar own,
& given IN our last number. He has judged
& rightly in supposiag tnat our columns were
s open to thu free, fair aud deeoroas discussion
8 Of the important question now before the
8 people. He objects to our statement OF the
s. question, viz: "Sha we adopt reject the
proposed Constitution, and says that with
3 The seopLs this is not tho question, and with
S-,nt stating what it really is, draws upon ans
;n,,gi, atom for case that wall slucidate ms
d idea Of it, aud of the unhappy dilemma OF ire
Il GOOD people of Virginia, caught between the
81 two horns of the Dew Constitution, confessed
a " bad, aud the odd one, according 10 ans
Il views, infinitely worse
However well the ease supposed OF the
.,n(ortunate mas with the freezing river IN
81 froat. the etomahawk' and ''scalping knife
s in the rear, and no escape iaserally or by
8 flank movement, May serve to illustrate our
8 friends zeal f,- the new Constitution, 1t VIII
not go far to eiuc,,iate tae real question be-
81 fore the people. However happily Ims Snsd
81 as an ornament, IL is far too sti>Slg LOT ueih.
The people of Virginia have hSed under
Il The shadow and protection OF the Old consul
tuition. the thsine OF so mach reproaca. Tor
ii upwards of half century. and with all It's
e admitted faults, (for We DO not desy them)
we would thank our friend Tuscarora" to
u point out any nation or people, out oi the u.
q States. ancient or modern, any where upon
81 the face of the earth, who have lived for the
81 same length of time more prosperousiy and
~ happily, under any constitution or form OF gov
81 eminent, that ever was devised by the wit of
q man. If the application Of the s'tomahawk
- and scalping knife" by an infuriated and
& ruthless barbarian, be, as an Illustration Of
this state Of things, either true or fair, we
will give up the whole matter in dispute.
The present constitution oil Virginia was
formed at a time when there were 'sgiants
in the land 1t is the work Of Virglpia's
#syisest and best. Its trainers constituted a
part of that immortal band Of true patriots &
real statesmen, the cid Congress of Philadel-
phia, who by the firm sagacity of their meas
ures. and the naatclless ability of their state
papers, extorted from the greatLsrd Chatham
the ioftiest eulogium that was ever earned by
anv set Of men on earth. To the eircum
stances existing at the time it first went Into
operation, it was well adapted--aye, and
] better than tbs proposed constitution IS to
Il those that exist now. its defects are not so
n much original and inherent, as the result OF
those changes in property aud population.
which time. the greatest of all innorators,
ID is constantly producing every where. which
va it is impossible fully to foresee, ard difficult
E# HutQudttiN 10 iiieCt anu PiO'ttN t'i'
How iong does our friend '.Tuscarora''
So think it could have lasted, bad the men OF 20
81 divided their country into two or IL sec
! tions or grand divisions, and allotted SO
much political power IN perpeiuity to saeh'--
S# The East might, under the circumstances
& then existing, have secured themselves am
ply. But the grand discovery of the ge-
cgraphieai basis was not a discovery OF
Z those men or those times; and we greatly
M doubt, had a Gen. Gordon arisen among
them, whether he would have passed for 8
S Solomon. The thing is entirely too much
s8 cut of the sphere of common sense to have
been at all 70 their liking With them the
watch word was unioa; their motto. tnsitet
/ zoe stas,d, diridsa sss fall
# But our friend sTTuscarora" saws IN answe
s# to our objection to the new constitution tina
81 it wants a provision for the future appsrtion
~ rnent Of representation upon some just ant
81 recognized principle in the dis tribuhon o
@ political power, that "there is such an o~sn-
| Now we have looked diligently through thu
| "thing," as Randolph called it, which thel
are coaxing us to accept as the supreme Law
s# of the land, for that same provision, and WI
2% have been so unlucky as not to find 1T, o
3 any thing like it But he finds it, it seems
in clause of the constitution, which W.
took to be the veriest mockery and insult tina
Is ever was offered By the overweening AFRO
IS gsnce and insolence ofpower TO the fFes-borl
and the brave.
We find, indeed, in the new constitution
the state divided into two parts by the line o
81 the Blue Ridge, and thirteen Senators alot
ted to the people on the westerns side OF tina
Il line. whilst to those on the eastern side, nine
teen are given; making, in favor oil the East
q ma iority of six ia the Senate. In the aP
portionment of members of the lower hous
u these two great divisions are again sub divi
q ded into smaller sections or districts, making
four in all; that is to say, two on the eastern
& side of the Ridge, viz: the section on tld'
water, and the section between tds-wstc
and the Blue Ridge, and two on the western
side of the Ridge, consisting of the Vale.
and tho extreme west or trans-AileghanI
section In the apportionment Of Delegates
thirty are given to the tide water sec
ton, aad forty two to the section between
tids-water and the Ridge; that is to say, t.
the East seventy eight. To the trans Allegha
ny section are allotted thirty-one members
and TO the Valley twenty five; that is TO say
to the West fifty-six, giving to the East |
majority of twenty two.
Then follows provision, art 8. sestio'
4, Of the new constitution which we giv'
word for word. sit shall be the duty OF thu
i rgislature to reapportion oncein ten years
10 wit; in the year iS4l, and every ten year
thereafter. the representation of the counties
cities, towns, and boroughs OF this Common
lsl 4 a.. n