Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1842-04-25
RICHMOND WHIG
MONDAY MORNING.. APRu. n,
Re appOriiOnmeni Of Representatives.

he vote is by no decisive Of the ,ep.. nj H.
tiouse-so members being absent We ,rus, :,
Will be reversed in the House, and much ,m,I,,
NUMBER agreed upon, so as to give larger rept..
lsentation. '@P'e-
Inns s'ncomparably the most importan, sub;.c,
"hleh VIII engage the deliberations nj Con.r...
during It's present session. IL affects IN.
daton OF our institutions, and determine. 49,.
one ha',-and possibly majority, Of the peonI. =,
the coniedoracy shall have Represen,a,;v. - ~.
popular branch of the National Legislature T.,
tue larger the ratio, the greater must he the
IN each district, unrefrcsen,ed; and il NAV w.Ilh,n
pen 'ha' thcse m'nores, in connexon Win m,io,;
ues IN lew Districts. may constitute n mnio,;,v =,
inc people oil the Union. And then we shall me-.
sen' the anomalous aspect ora Representative 60
no voice. Pe'P'e nave
Inc nam objections urged against a nnro,ou.
'iouse OF representatives are, the additional .x.
f'"'s ""u u'sofuer which 1t will occasion. Iftb.,o
necessarily result-which we by no means
''ue-uey are neverIheless as nothing, in COM
parson with the immense Importance Of = C,,,,
- " Tue "ho'e people. The House of
representatives should bc the true expon.n, r,n,o.
the Consttuton) of every inters., ., 49,. ,1s''
sp'e'u country or II fails OF the Object oS ~. &C..
tion-and had better cea,e IN .xi.,
'opfesehta''on is worse than no Representation =,
lal P''e"'a'oh AT
nu' 'he'e is no necessity for the alleeed owls
The present pay of members is loo b;shP.n,,
win every other expense of the Federal Govo,,
men', ought to be curtOi ed full one half Tn.
PIE pay too much for such Government n. ,h.,
have. and indeed more than is necessary for a..
BEST conduct of public affairs. Ir salaries were -.
OuCc1 to half their 81.
no dearIh OF talents and honesty in the pub,c ser.
vice. We have never yet heard of any public em.
p'oyment-howevor small the compensation-soin,
begging. For every vacancy, there j, unon 90
average some dozen applicants-and there ,vonld
still he enough, Whatever reduction mich, h..
IN the salaries II the pay Of members vas aboI
Ished altogether, and each one had to relv ON tho
voluntary contributions oil his constituents Wa
should still have able and pure men in the public
oolncis' as we have had, are likely to have
under the existing system. Where the people we're
very Democratic, and wanted a very poor man TO
represent them, they would contribute bonnt;f,llv
70 procure his servces-where they were arisocretic
they would be content with rich Representative
who could afford, and would he content, TO serve
them for the honour and glory of the thing. In
any event, the people would remunera,e their re-
lar from being the case now-when the veriest ass
receives the compensation Of the most laborous and
proioundest statesman But whether there be
more cost or not from a numerous representatio,
cents and dollars cannot he weighed against full
representation and the benefits it may confer.
As To the increased disorder OF a large House
we humbly conceive, 1t cannot go beyond the nitch
it has already attained. An assembly of so OF 500
| vsnuld la ,lerproue nj 81 II.
self respeo. would restrain and the last from the very
necessity OF the thing. An intermediate number.
is fully shown by the present House, is lust tho
one for hues and blnCk-guards TO indulge their
vicious propcnsitios and dspott themselves with I'M
punitY.
| In tho debate in the House on this subject. we
find The following views in confirmation ofthose we
have advanced. We attach much consequence to
the opinion OF so wise a man tpracticllly) as MIR
| Pope, of Kentucky.
| "Mr HOLMES WAS in favor Of increasing rather
Than diminishing the number OF Representatives -
Every man, who phiosophically looked into the
| workings of our political system must bc convinced
o the fact. that this House "ipso facto" the Go
vernmeni; for there was other Government IN
this Union than the Congress OF the United States
The attempt OF our fathers to make the Executive
counterpoIse the influence of the House of Represen-
tativcs had signay failed. The attempt to make
the judiciary countervailing part OF the Govern.
ment had failed. This being the case, was il not
then, OF great importance that this body should he
placed beyond the reach Of corruption Depend
upon il, said MIR H., that in the multitude Of Re
prescn1tyes in this body, you alone find safety.
Look nj the past history Of the country. IL had
been asserted that, eight years rgo, the powers of
this Government centred IN one man. How
did the power OF one man become so great as to
WELD the destlnes Of this mighty republic IL
was through this House. lie iorcibly struck
| with the wisdom NJ the elder AIamq ho m
framing OF the Constitution, Of his State, declared
that the danger was, that or two men would
control the Legislature; and he was, therefore, Tor
making the number great to place II beyond
the reach Of corruption. Following out practically
the principles OF the Constitution Ec would increase
the number of Representatives; and thereby increase
the dihculty OF corruption IN times when corruption
was too prevalent throughout the land.
"Mr POPE said he had once been in favor Of n
diminished number Of Representatives, as a means
OF avoiding the confusion and delay which now too
much prevailed; but, further reflection and after
more experience, he had come to the belief that,
for the preservation Of liberty, the larger the num-
her Of Representatives Of the people the better.
lie referred ~ support Of a delegation.
to the course Of General Washington, who had
proposed, IN convention, 10 make the restriction IN
the Constitution rs low as $4,000. IL was the OPP
MON OF many Of the greatest OF the Virginia states
men, that, you increased tho number Of the peo-
pies Representatives in the Legislature you IN
creased the actual power Of the people. Mr.
advocated a comparatively small Congressional dis
trIc better enabling the Representative to have
a personal acquaintance with his constituents, and
rendering him independent Of tho misrepresen
tations Of party press. IL would be harder to
PROSTATE honest man in a smaller than in a very
large district. The power ofweath, too, would be
less felt lie believed n House with five hundred
members would preserve moro order IN It's proceed
ings, and would have a smaller number Of debaters.
than one Of the present size.
"Mf DAVIS, Of New York, very warmly OPP
posed tho number now under consideration and
contonded Zoe small average and a numerous
House Of the people. As 10 the objection from IN
creased expense, he had n ready mode Of meeting
that's which was. to reduce the per diem Of mem
bers to -, md abolish their Thanking privilege
lie ovowcd u ne his earnest desire TO got moro Of
the people into the House, and fewer gentlemen.--
lie recognised such class IN the community, he
wanted 10 sec the hard handed mechanics and
farmers that floor. lie, too, bcieyeda House OF
five hundred members would be orderly, and
J would 10 business more expediuously. The nc
oessty q each mans making speech to satisfy the
| expectation Of his constituents would m such q
House, bo superseded. tho members would be ac-
ting, voting men, not talking men. Mr. -. wanted
10 change the tone Of and feelings in this
| metropolis lilo felt himself n stranger here, and
| wanted an atmosphere around him more congenial
| to those he represented. The House ought 10 DO
| a living acting emanaton from the people. and
| sboufd be composed 81 materials nf the sono sort