Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1841-07-10
R Re cr, NJ ,iS; 4 tho Ratio be
Total members Of House, 2ig

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We believe that if the subject is seriouS'v 70.
hectod upon in all its bearings by the peonIc The
ta'Io square would be put up to 90 900 which
would give compact, proportionate and in every
tespSei, convenient body OF l6i members There
would he no inconvenience IN diyid;nc C,n.,..,;on
al districts, and we think 1--WE may ,osS;LI,, ~,
wrong IN our conclusions) that by rcducins the
number OF representatives in Congress we enhance
,he value ana importance of the office and afford
better prospect OF securing the return ~ the ,,,s,
aoe men icom the several States. Certainly large
"nTieldy body is not required for public nnrpoSrs
and - both expensive and inconvenient While Tho
numbers m each Of our local legislatures are nroner
regulated and the right OF the States duly guard
ca, II does not strike necessary that Congress
should be an immense body, which must I've the re.
sun y The present apporIionmcnt is continued. We
should like to hear the subject discussed fully and
o'O'u'y' and without any reference 10 party.
NJ Y. STAY.
ihe question here mooted, is certainly a grave one
and traught with important consequences to the
American people. We have not reflected closely
upon the subject, and considered its effects in all its
bearings. But as at present advised, we incline To
dissent from the conclusions oTthe S,ar-,hot is We
prefer the smallest ratio and the largest represent,
ton The chief objection to a large House, is that
1t may be unwieldly and disorderly. But this. bv
the increase, will cure ITSELF as in the House of
Commons. Ii there were 500 or GOO members. the
business and the talking would necessarily fall into
the hands OF few OF the ablest men on both sides
anu such borss as MesSrs. Charles Brown, Inser.
soil, &c. would be coughed down, in spite of al;
Their dthances. But conceding that the body might
be unweldy and slow in its motions. and At times
dIsorderly, this disadvantage may be more than
counterbalanced Ivy the benefits auen,lino il
numerous representation has long been regarded by
the most enlightened lberalis,s in England oS con-
ducive to the preservation Of the public liberty.
Five hundred men cannot be so easily seduceS nv
the patronage of the Executive as one hundred.
Ihis Is consideration, which in the settlement of
asreat question oush. not to be overlooked. Again,
by large representation, smaller fractions of the
people are msrepresented, or not represented al nil
by that means, you come more nearly to the
true sentiment of the whole people, and make a
wholesome approximation of the Representative TO
the Democratic system. One individual REPRESENT
ing hundred thousand could not be expected to
Know their wishes, and beable to advance their Pc
euiIir interests so we'll would three or four per-
sons representing the same constituency.
We throw out these suggestions in passing. We
look pen to advert TO an important fact disclosed by
the above table-the direction in which the star Of
empire Is moving. Whichever basis is adopted, the
relative representation Of the various sections will
be the same. lfby 10000, Ohio has but IG. Vir-
GINA has only !; and the same proportion will be
observed, whatever the basis be. Whist the South
has receded, and the North been barely able TO
maintain its own, the Great West has gone ahead
with hundred horse power. In her hands are the
future destnes OF the Republic. In the next Con-
gress she will have greater representation than
either the North or the South, singly and by the
next Census, in 1850, she will exceed them both
combined.
10 contemplating this early transference Of power
from our own to other hands, there is comfort in
the reflection that 1t will fall into the keeping of
those who are worthy of the high trust The peo.
pie OF the West are a noble, hardy, and indepen.
dent race. They love liberty for its own sake, and
for the blessings it dTuses. They are witha sa-
gaciou7, eommon-sense people, and will exert the
power with which they may be invested, to the pro-
ducIIon Of salutary and practical results. Their
habits OF life and modes Of thinking, disqualfy them
for approaching the refined distractions Of the
South. They look upon an abstraction as some
thing worse than mullen. This comes to seed
that comes to nothing. Under their sway, we may
anticipate that all our abstractoniss will pine away
and die. They may linger for a season upon a lit
tie neighborhood notorety but they will certainly
disappear from the national theatre. There, only
men of practical talents, and Of enlarged, states
manlike views will bourgeon and flourish.