The Illinois free trader. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1840-1841, 1840-10-09
! O i " 0 r K
Mr.. Van Bnrcu against thc Property Qunli-
Acnti0n for the Right of Suffrage.

Mr.. Van Bnrcu against the Property Quail.
hcntion for the Right Of Suffrage.
The State Central Committee of the De-
mocracy of New York, Messrs. A. G..
Flagg, E. Corning, John A. Dix, and p.
Cagger, have given full expose of Mr..
Van Buren's labors to extend the right of
suffrage in the Convention of New York,
which framed the present liberal Consti-
tuition.
Mr.. Van Buren, took decided stand
against property qualifc alton, except as
to free blacks, in whose case he insisted
on considerable amount, as a practical
exclusion. The Federal leaders insisted
on freehold property qualification for the
whites, and failing in this, proposed to
put the blacks on perfect equality acih
the whites. Against this sort of universal
suffrage, confounding white and black,
Mr.. Van Buren, spoke and voted. His
views in regard to the basis of the right
suffrage in regard to whites, is shown by
the Central Committee, in contrast with
the ground assumed by the Federal lead
er, Elisha Williams.
Extract from the Address Of the New
York Democratic Central Committee.
Mr.. Elisha Williams, one of the ablest
men of the old Federal school of politi-
ticians, and the antagonist of Mr.. Van
Buren, in all the political contests of Co.
lumbia county, from the days of Jefferson
to the time when Mr.. Van Buren, removed
from the county, also made speech in
favor of the property qualification. He
thus described the large class of electors
who were excluded by the property qua
lificaticn, and whom it was proposed to
admit to the right of suffrage by militia
service, or by taxation. or by labor on the
highway.
ave are called upon to confer this pow
er on those who may exercise it discreet
ly. Do the ireeholders wish to partci-
pate with those who merely do no hurt
Cui bono? For what end introduce them!
If they vote with the freeholders they are
not wanted if they vote against them,
their power will be injurious to freehold
rights. And who are those people who
are to aid the freeholders in elec,ing their
Senator! On this subject, sir, know |
am liable to be misrepresented, and have
already been SO by anticipation by those
who have The people ever on their
tongues, but who, | fear, have seldom
carried them much lower. Who are they
who will protect the landed interest of this
state, better than its owners or better
determine when direct tax is necessary
and proper to be imposed on their farms,
and better Judges what laws are calculated
to advance the agricultural interests of the
state Sir, they are the ring-streaked and
speckled population of our large towns
and cities, comprising people of every
kindred and tongue. They bring with
them the habits, vices, political creeds,
and nationalties of every section of the
globe they have fled from oppression, if
you please, and have habitually regarded
sovereignty and tyranny as identified /;
they are men whose wants, if not whose
vices, have sent them from other states
and countries to seek bread by service, if
not by plumber; whose means and habits,
whose best kind of ambition, and only
sort of industry, all forbid their purchasing
in the country and tlling the soil. Would
the state be better governed-would the
landed interest be better protected by the
suffrages Of such men, than by the ballots
of freeholders -
On the 25th Of September, Mr.. Van
Buren, took the floor in opposition to the
two hundred and fifty dollar qualification
and in favor Of the liberal extension of the
elective franchise, which was finally adop-
ted. The speech occupies nearly ten
pages of the debates Of the convention,
and is an able exposition of the right Of
every citizen who shares the burdens of
government, to participate in the election
of those who are to govern. Notwith-
standing the labored efforts and powerful
arguments of Chancellor Kent, Chief JUS
tice Spencer, Abraham Van Vechten, Eli
sha Williams. and Judge Van Ness, the
ablest men in the state on the Federal side,
vet the mass of the convention voted with
Mike srvu uY y1jSillst the freehold QUA