Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1832-08-23

an act authorising an election by n plu-
rality. An election by a plurality was
forbid by the settled usage of the State,
and that derived from, and required by,
the charter itself The Legislature,
therefore, had no alternative left, but Ell
l:.er to pass this act, or to leave the State
exposed to the hazard, indeed to the mo-
raj certainty of the failure orthe exis-
tence Of the government itself, and all its
concomitant evils. The event has shown,
that they were not actuatcd by ground
less fears, nor guarding against imagina-
ry dangers. They have saved the State
by their prudent legislation.
1t is easy to imputc the best of acts to
the worst Of motives; their motives ac-
cordingly have been eprcsentcd and
illuminated; the act has been imputed
to the selfish ambition Of fpcrpetuating ex-
isting power. Now, the act itself and the
whole tenor Of its provisions contradict
and disprove'the caluInnious imputation;
and prove that the proiessed was its real
object and none other And what ought
to leave no doubt Of the singleness and
sincerity Of its intention is the fact, that
it was concurred in by members, and
leading members too, who were and are
opposed to the existing power of the
State. COMMENTATORS.
The last r. 1. Republican publishes
the Memorial Of Henry Bull and others
to the General Assembly at its session
lately held in this town.-Also copy of
Il deed Of bargain and sale, in fec sim
pie, Of certain real estate, valued in
said deed at four hundred dollars, from
Mary Taggart to Henry Y. Cranston:
and lastly, paper purporting to have
been molten in writing made by said
Bull, in our late July town meeting, a.
gainst the reception Of said Cranston's
vote.
The remarks which follow these docu-
ments, in the same paper, although stain
ed by few coarse and illiberal express
sions, which the autho, (if we are not
mistaken in him, will himself be asham-
ed Of, are, ,otherwise,in i'm point of language,
far less offensive and cxceptionablc than
could have been expected, and probably
came from a different hand from those
usually employed in such work. The
article alluded to would therefore re quire
no further animadvcrsions, were but the
assertions and statements made in it, in
any reasonable degree, correct. But,
unfortunately, this cannot, with truth, be
said either of the memorial or the re-
marks.
The charges brought before Mr..
Cranston MS moderator of the Frecmen's
meeting in July last were, lst. "Mat he
had no estate, The eridence Of mhich ras on
record" Cd. "That The decd IN his name
on fle an tic torn-clerk's office, ,oas girem
'c'fhomt consideration except that Of free
monship, and in The ,cords ofthe lam fraud
ulent." AS to the first objection we all
know that whenever an inhabitant has
once been regularly propounded and nd-
mitted freeman in any town in this
State, he can never afterwards be called
upon in town-meeting, in that town, to
produce the deed of his freehold, wheth-
er it be the same freehold on which he
was first admitted, or one subsequently or
previously acquired. II any other free
man challenge his vote for want of a
competent freehold, all he has to do is to
make oath, according to the sixth sec
ton of the election law, that he is truly
possessed of such an estate; and. having
done so, the moderator is bound abso-
lutely by the law to receive his vote;
and his qualification as a voter and free
man is wholly unaffected by any ques-
tion whether the deed ofhs freehold has
or has not ever been recorded; or lodged
to be recorded; or placed on file in the
clerks office. The only question being
whether he is or is not bona fdc possess.
ed of sufficient freehold estate. This
objection therefore, will be considered
by every candid man to have been both
frivolous and cdptious one.
But whatever censure this first obiec-
ton may merit, the second and only 9TH
a ohioci ion - NJ