The Arkansas advocate., 1836-01-08
THE ADVOCATE. A
LITTLE ROCK, JANUARY 8, 1886.
''Disest things rightly, touching the wea
 of the Comnom.ss zs


 Representation.-The principal argument used against us Is, that the doctrine which We advocate is anti-republican. It is al. legged that If a district in the North contain ing thousand free white males only sends one senator. while district in the South containing hundred also sends one. the ci- itlzcns of the district in the North are not equally represented with those in the South.
 We think that we have answered this obiec- tlon sufficiently Ill our last number--but since the objection occurs to us here, we will say word more upon it.
 We aver, then, that the doctrine which the agitators in the North support is itself anti republican. We are willing to take this broad ground-aiid can defend it. Republ- canlsm, then, Is not that the majority shall rule Without control and absolutely. 1.-two sections of country, one much weaker than the other, agree to live. under one govern ment, and the contract between them were simply that @the majority should rule''--that government would be anti-republican. One section of country would rule and the other serve, foreVers and instead of possessing equal rights, they would be taskmaster and slave. 1t would be precisely the same as three men Ill the woods together, with huge p ok between them. If the maeritv were to rule, two of them might make the third carry the pack during the whole trip. True it is, that 1t is the first axiom in our political creed that the majority should ru e-but with lini- tations and checks. hus in the General Government, which is certainly republican, the House of Representative is elected on a basis of numbers, but there is a Senate to act as check to 1t. 1.-the principle that the fna- jority shall rule is not to be taken with some reservation and allowance, then onr forefa- thers ought never to have declared them selves independent--for they were greatly the minority in the British Empire.
 A republican government is, on the con- trary, compact between the minority and the majority--the weak and the strong-and more for the benefit ofthe former than of the latter-and the Constitution is the sealed n- strument wherein the compact is recorded. Any plan, therefore, by which, while we hold the principal power in our own hands as the majority, we give a proper protection, and c share of poeoe' to the minority, is strictly re- publican--and by fulfilling the terms of the compact gives stability to the government. Does the pl n by which we propose to form Senatorial Districts do this! f does.
 But these men are not consistent with taair own principles. We have in our minds eye a man opposed to our doctrine, who is eager for our entrance into the Union, and some two years since was q resident in New York. That State contains l 100000 inhabitants, and her representation i'll the United States Senate Is taco Senator's When Arkansas becomes a State, she, with her 48,000 inha- bitants, will have also two Senator's. The amount of his influence in sending Sena- tor from New York may therefore be repre- sented as I-950 ,000h, while here 1t will be 1-2d, ,000th-that IS, he will have 39 times the voice and influence in the Senate that he had there. How did he obtain this sudden accession of influence and powerl Because he is in different district--in a minority and his rights should be protected. Yet when we contend for the same principle, he denies us the name of republicans
 Let us suppose also for illustration, that Little Rock was in course of time to become a great and populons city-contaning hun dred thousand inhabitants. Upon the plan of representation which they propose the ci- ty of Little Rock could rule tue whole of Ar kansas. The district system in Senate would be the only thing which could save the country.
 We were taught in our childhood to rever- ence the Constitution of the United States. Once a month 1t was read in the school where we received our early esiucation---and we learned to regard it as the noblest monument | of human Wisdom-the most enduring and in~ corruptible fabric ever reared by the masters 1 of human mind. We wero taught to believe
 that the world had never witnessed such a
 system of eovernment-such a text book for
 future nations to study political knowledge | in. That Constitution recognizes the prin-
 ciple for which we contend--and if we are
 guided in our course over the sea of politics ] by that polar star, we cannot be far wrong But it is conter ded that we cannot strength
 en our views by arguments derived from the Constitution of the United sstates-Which if I is asserted was formed by separate sovereign ties, stipulating therein for certain rights and powers-one of which IS certain repre-. sertation in the Senate -that we, if forming q Constitution. stand in a different position and the cases are not parallel. It IS difficult to see wherein the difference consists. At this moment the South of Arkansas stands with regard to the North, asking certalr
 rights and powers to be guaranteed to then before they sign the compact of united gov ernment. Where then is the distinction! NIT. MADISON, Mr. JAY and Mr. HAMiL TON wrote a series of numbers, explaining : the Constitution and defending 1t. Their re !!; will N II hardly he questioned: at the views which they held on thls supJec
 were the same as ours are-
 Mr. Hamilton writes thus on the subject: