Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1841-08-19


= RS and 6reqnen,ly experiences tho evils APP
pr 'hended by the committee, Of Legislative
int ,rierrnce ~ respect to the elective tran
ehise. And what IS the objection offered 10
:. 'wsIt,cn consu,nIiVn. the express oct ot the
pcupe themselves, to spcuk their VIII nnd
pleasure, aud In dehns thcm own rights
such. We are sorry Ia be constrained To say.
us are both futile and oyaslve.
The cu,na,ice sny That constitutions nre
often miscopslru.d. &r. And what sort of
reason !. fbis, 10 b. offered by n lawyer and n
staicsmnn Are not individual contracts
aud acts ol incorporation often miscoDs,rued?
Aud shall we therefore reject every species
OF. legal instrument How Idle. On the
contrary, they arc considered necessary To
ibceecurity of properly and when miscon.
situed by enher party, ihe resort rs to legal
tribunal for decision. Contributions mny
bo deicclvc--thrir provisions may be nile
construed. What then? The people who
nndc them, soon learn whether their views
are carried ouI by them or not nnd II their
Will be executed or set inside. In the one
caso they will sustain them. In Tie other
case they will amend them. And ihey are
the proper iilbuDa, 10 try The question. Such
has been The Gaze with The people of tins
CniuD relative 10 our rational coIp'itu'ion ,
aud such the Gaze with the people Of every
s;aio but. Rhode Island, ,clalne 10 their local
constitutions; aud n was ict, for n committee
al tie Rhode Island General Assembly TO
discover The important principle, that the
people ui England did very foolish thing IN
demanding and obtaining Magma tharia Of
King Julu, that the people OF the United
States acted quite MS fUOlishly IN establish
Ing n wrwen constitution, and that twenty.
A. .,l hIl con IA
our repubc, have been unwiso in framing
and adopting constitutions, because their
provisions NAY be violated or misconstrucd !;
,leaving Rhode Island 10 all The glory OF 81
pcrior wisdom, bright and shining example
of political sagscily and the love %. right, ~
consequence OF having entrusted the right
of franchise. tho basis of every free govern
Hcni. and The custody OF her fundamental
Inw-, 10 HE entire Keeping and disposal ot
''gienrY PouR" representatives OF the peo-
pie. chosen for ordinary purposes! Such a
proposItlon requires no comment.
A gain, we fully agree with the Commit
tee, when they say "the rights of the people
'nre not derived from con,tltutlons"--nn we
are happy 10 find thus an occasional glcam OF
.liyht bursting out from the dark cloud with
q. r hich they ob scurcd the snjlac. oi their IN
vrstignilnn. Bot il now belongs 10 us to
learn from thnm, from what source those
rights are derived. The FIRST hint on this
sutieci, IL contained in the following sen
tcncc. "lhe earliest acts OF every society
necessarily mark out tho true limits of The
elective franchise, and designate those who
arc qualified 10 take part IN the conduct oi
tbeir affairs" That these "earlest act"
con.titute the true source whence "the rights
OF The people are derived" at least IN the
view Of IN" committee, ~ very evident from
ihr fact that this proposition makes the basis
of tine doctrine carried out from 1t, that ,hn
colony Of Rhode Island was self consti,u-
ted body polite, that the members had tle
r,.ht 10 adopt what rules they pleased; and
furthermore, to bind al, future generations
to their Observance, un'css those OF their
successors who Nigh, possess the qnaIiiica-
lions required by the original corporators,
might think proper, by their subsequent
'.octs," TO extend the right Of the elective
franchise TO others Such is the drift and
conclusion Of the whole argument, and the
premi, ,es on which it rests. IL any other
proof WIRE uuu,iug that We are correct ~
making this deduction, II will be found abun-
Gnnt IN The following paragraph, aud others
which succeed 1t. And us this IS the princl-
pal point at issue, Tor IT ~, FRIGHT r'-NATuR-
Al RIGHT Tor which we contend, IN contra
distinction from expedency, to 1t we sba
particularly direct our inquiry.
The Committee say, "i'hcre are some who
pretend TO consider the right OF suffrage rs
an inherent. natural right, which overy man
ought to enjoy. a man's absolute, inherent
rights. are, or ought to be common to all
without distinction Of nge sex or color: such |
f,r instance Is the right Of private property.
IA r,yIt Ia A
not, on the contrary. one OF those political
rights which we derive from the society to
Which we belong and which, OF course, can
only exist as q right, according 10 the exist
in, lnslitulons of that society ?"
AgoiD--"'rhus our ancestors, the purcha-
sers. proprietors, aud settlers Of the State,
upon their arrival here, by their own act in
cofp,raf-d themselves into body polite !;
elected at 6rs, their Judge and Elders, md
Afterwards their Governors aud assistants,
snd other oilicer-." 1
How "our ancestors" the original coonists
Of Rhode Island, incorporated themselves"
strictly spcaklng, "by their own act, into a
body poli,c," we are absolutely at loss to
discover. Certainly they came here as sub
j"cts Of the British crown. and amenablc to
British laws. Consequently they constituted
portion of the British body polite, with
every civil and political right limited and de-
tined by the British constitution, not pro-
vision of which, they dared violate. More
over, they seated themselves on lands, over
which the British crown already claimed Ju.
risdiction, 0nd had Incorporated within the
limits of the empire, over which, her laws
Ind her constitution must extend themselves.
The colonis,s had therefore not original rights
to exercise, bat such as were guaranteed by n
the constitution OF the empire. They were 1
CT liberty simply To- form a society, and this
they did but they could not incorporate
themselves os o body polite; and even
dared not yIoioic the constitution and the
Jaws. The idea therefore Of self lncorpora.
tiun is extremely absurd; aud though, inl
another place, it is attempted to be shown
that the charter Of Charles H., was sort OF
g ,niroct between hlm and the people, be-
cause the chatter was drawn up aud agreed
upon by The people, that ground Is equally
untenabe.
No matter how the Charter originated, II
was ultimately the sole act OF the King s.
AID was dlvested Of all the features OF mn.
I ,al contract or covenant, il 1t ever had any.
Chcre was no interchange Of seals or sigma.
tires, aud nothing claimed or stipulated by
the people. Ii was and rcmnins, an er pdrfe
d"cumeht--an absolute grant on the "lnerc
vii. 'rd motion and grace" Of the KING.