The Arkansas advocate., 1832-06-20

the rules of common fsense, given, and such as will be found 10 be justified by the eg:s..iittss.i;; eg:s..iittss.; lc mariner of construing statutes ofthat kind. To find out the true application of donations, of which this statute was one, you mast nccessa- rily look into the prayer of the appli- cants that moved the donors 10 the grant, tihis iit viii be recollccted, was memorial of the Legislalure-it bore Goveraor Popc's signature, and he could not be wholly ignorant ol it's contents, when he had the .'Ten Section Biil' un- der consideration. Net, nevertheless, he e'onbluShiDgly gives lis opinion, that there Is no necessity for public build ings at the present, and recommends plan by which they might be completed in six years; that is, that the lands ought not to De disposed of until their value was aseerained, and the people consul ted on the subject, which would require two years, and four years thereafter for the completion Of lire buildings. If tbe waids Of the Territory lad not person ally come Under .Ee Governors view, his expressed opinion on the subject, might be taken as candid, aud attribu- ted to a want of proper information as to the real state of things; but there is no such excuse for him, and he stands in the strange predicament of having two years previously acknow- ledged {by signing the memorial,) the great and immediate want of public buildings, and subsequently,, at last ses- sion, unpublished !othe world the contrary :; tsstbat there seenied to htu. no necessity for Hscm at pfesent.n Does not this conc!u- sively show, tl3at he relinquished his own judgment, and the independence which should properly belong to a Cllief Magistrate, for the purpose of following that ideal phantom-present popQtari- 'y-- which his artful advisers led him 10 believe was completely withinhis grasp? And so anxious does he appeas 10 "clutcho it by the first breeze, that he throws out his inconsistent opinions (in
 the veto message,) like 50 many strnws.
 He appears particularly solieitous that the Capitol should be erected near the river; his personal and political friends, Fit will be recollected, own the princi- pal part Of the property in that part of town, and their property would be en- hanced in value by the erection ef the public buildings there. Iftle influence of individuals could be supposed to have any effect oa the course of tie Govern or, or majority of the members of the Legislature, on the Ten Section queS- lion, which side, it may be asked, will the presumption lead to, or wto, from the nature of things, might be supposed to be aetuated by that ibiiuence? On the one side there is but one individual, perfectly indifferent of the people con- cened, and unaccountable to them for
 his acts, and cooperate on him, if you judge from the solicitude and course of
 individuals during the pending of the measure, there are jour or frc persons
 who were apparently more deeply inter- ested in the defeat of the bill, than Erittenden in tue passage, and used ali their art and influence for the purpose.
 0nthe other side, there are twenty-nine
 ut of toIty-six persons, selected for
 their tirmness and integrity as represen-
 tatiyes, and strictly accountable to the l persons concerned for their acts, and only
 one individual interested, to operate on
 them. Will not this circumstance con- clusively show that whatever weight the influence of Individuals might have had, il must have been infinitely great CT with the Governor thanit could have been with the majority ofthe members But there are other circumstances that would go to ilnpugn the motives of Governor Pope, more than any that he can bring against the majority of the members ofthe Legislature, and which, if he had paused for reflection before he lent his name to the accusation of the members, might havecon7ineed him, that his best policy in respect to the Ten Sec tons, was to abide by the old adage- "those that live inglass houses ought not 10 throw stenes.0
 Why, it may be asked, has the Gov eruor recommended the commencement of buildings that would require four years to finish them, and greatly exceed in cost the amount that could be realiz- ed from the land, if it was not for the purpose of fostering the interests ofa tfeso lndipiduals m Little Roek, and to in- crease the value of tteir property, at the expense of other sections of the Ter