Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1831-01-13
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
HOUSE OF DELEGAT.ES.
MONDAY, Jsnuary 10.
HENRfcO I'll ECJInN

s'o'lhy OF the member from the county of Henrico 4
seat IN the House of Delegate was taken no., 4
On motion OF Mr.. Leigh, the preamble oil he ropof
| was verbally amended.
Mr. Newton said he rosewithou intending the slis IA
est disrespect to the gentleman from eDrco rb
inc indefinite posponement OF this subject. He coz
dered 1t as involving question of very great imp
lance, and he saw no necessity Tor the House heng
hurried into its consideration Had been prese
in shape in which il could not be avoided n IL tsust
now be acted upon member would shrink frop L.
he al least, would not But there we're many ges s-
men who entertained doubts the subject, ,,ud wei
wish it delayed There was individual confess, ~
Tor the seat; and the people Of Henrco gsners "
satisfied as matters stood. There another
son. They here to organize a govornulen
to remedy abuses discuss great practical questions s.
not to settle abstract constitutional questions Wsrs II ey
thus to spend their tme would they perform their tu-
ty TO their constituents, when there other business
to be acted upon' They had had enough OF con,es I'd
elections OF late, and likely to have more; butfe
hoped this report would be indefinitely postponed.
Mr.. Leigh trusted the motion would Tot prevail II
might be considered morbid feeling i'm hin--bpt he
did not think il so-when he stated that he should look
upon himself as in state OF disgrace he 10 hold BE
seat in any way by the favor of the House. He eaf'e
here by the will OF the people of Henrico
depended on him. he would not consent TO have tis
question OF his eligibility sunk. He was Determined il
he were rejected, TO return to the people and say, that
his eligibility had been denied by the House He stoDd
here as the representative OF the peoplo-take away
that character, and he stood here cypher Hs hop
ed the motion would not be agreed TO.
MIR. Chamberlayne said he had raised this question
The House, by an unanimous vote, had declared that
they would decide it, He brought IL here tbR. fs
House might decide il; and ia the OF his re
marks he would explain why he had brought At to this
House in preference TO any other In tho course oil his
remarks he would endeavor to set two members r'gt
in their views oil this subject One Of them I
stranger to him-the other he had known foT, many
long day He had no objection TO their rcmsrks, aud
believed they had been made in the discharge OF their
duty He begged TO assure the House and them, that
he did not atte himself that he could aid them much
in arriving at a conclusion this subject lie would
not hold up his farhing candle in the blaze OF the
midday sun. But he believed that plain man could
sometimes assist those far above him in talents he
had for revolved the subject in his mind, he
might strike ont light upon it, that would provo
useful he might give soe hints which had not occurred
TO others. He had true personal interest in this
contest But there two kinds OF interest, OF very
different character. The selfish, merely selfish
the other extended beyond SELF and included others,
being shared by whole community. lie was laboring
here establish principle which he believed
senal TO the interests of the people and the principles of
the Constitution HI had deep interest in the subject
far related to himself a member of the commu-
nifty and propecdvely, as interested his posterity
These his views, and with these preliminary
marks, which he had made to shew the gentlemen TO
whom he had alluded that he did not misconsrue their
remarks, no would proceed the argument the sub
jec Were he TO discuss this question he thought
ought TO be discussed he should begin with the present
Constitution, and lay aside every thing relating il of
previous date But he knew that he, like all inven-
tors innovators if such he consdered-must
the rubbish that had been accumulang for years
and combat the preudices that had grown with their
growth and strengthened with their strength He knew
the difficulty OF removing pre-conceived opinions al
though the base on which they were founded might
have slipped from under them, without those who
terained them, being aware OF it. Ii therefore
necessary go far beyond the present day. and his la
bors consequently much increased. Ii they look
ed to the time when colony of a far distant
country they should find the right of representation
very different from the present. Then il only
cessary TO possess certain qualifications and reside with
The officers of the mother country held station the
floor of one House or the other. But when the Con-
vention of 76, at the head OF which the great Henry
might be placed although surrounded by so many c.
quals, that he could scarcely be called its head-took
place, it became their duty TO remove the rubbish
which had collected around the government and divide
it into separate and distinct branches They divided it
into three branchesfor the first time, for the idea had
before entered into the minds OF men, The doctrine
of self government seemed to have guided them-and
it might have been scoed at, and opposed with OBJ
stinacy proporoned to the strength of eived
opinions EMr c. here read from the old Constitution,
the clause in the 9th section, in which it is declared,
that zone House shall be called the House OF Dele
gates, to be composed of members elected from the
counties Sc" who shall reside in the same Sc 'or
such duly qualified by law.'l Some of these
words were capable of illustration. The State was
then laid out into counties, with two representatives
from each, and from the borough OF Norfolk, aud
from the town OF Williamsburg. Richmond was
not mentioned He had often read those words cor
such duly qualified by aw; and the question
suggested bythem whether the legislature could admit Of
qualifications different from those pointed out by theCon.
siuon, and if they could whether they had the autho
rlty 10 nuify theConsnti0n tie considered That MEM
bers should sit under INSTRUMENTATION and the strict letter
of the law here made remarks relative to the
power of the Legislature to disquaiiy members, viii ch
escaped the reporter. Afterwards two other towns
were separated from the counties, and elected their
members-Rchmond and Petersburg--and by law the
members in the cities to be elected by city free
holders, those OF the counties were by county free
holders. On the broad question: there was doubt
When you separate county from county, there no
doubt about il. The question is, when city is invest
ed with independent powers, and separated from a
county, does il still remain part OF the county? In de-
Gliding this ii necessary to examine the fact rcla
tive the severing Of the city OF Richmond from the
county of HenTiCo. He found that the city Of Rich
mond the time OF the adoption of the old Constitution,
only existed a part OF the county of Henrico and
that in 1882 separated from the county For all
purposes until that time ii united to the coun y
and at that time il separated. II given court
Of its own, and powers Of its Until then, citl-
Of Richmond could represent the county on his
town property But afterwards he could only repre-
sent the city city property. The moment The tight Of
the county Court TO tax the citizens 81 Richmond
taken away, and by that the county Court was dis
used then hs said, insidnter tho town was sep.
ara'e1 from the county. Why WAS II, that the tax
ceased 10 onerso-why wa y, hat local Courts we're
established Because the CRY was separated from
the Couoty H would al nit that the County Court
House was removed aud situated a, X chmond-and
that the County Mags,raes acted IN concert with The
Magisiratss of thu Cry He admitted alo, that ~ G
taxes Of Richmond were collected by tbs S iG Of
the County. tie fou"d also, that the lot which the
Courthouse was erected, was given by gertlemao oi
the name Of Cox, for pubic pufp H bal said,
some time ago, that the Richmond Courthouse had
been built by means Of tax; but very oiA genls-
msn had convinced him. tha IL hull by subscriP
willing to acknowledge bi, error. The result was
tie sane. When the City wss ssplfatrd, the righ
gwen IL TO tax tie peops Tor the erection OF
Courthouse, so not to take from the County Ia