Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-03-17
POLITICAL.
LETTER FROM JOHN NJ. BOLTS.
TO THE WINGS OF VIRGINIA.

The undersigned, a member OF the conveniian
lately held in he city OF Richmond ior Inc p'f-
pose OF considering The pToprlety OF hoidrns d
National Convention and nominating d wing
Candidate 10 that body, differing win a majority
of the Convention, in the conclusions 10 @hicn
they came, leels impeIled, by Inc strongest sense
IT oblisa,ion 10 himself, and 10 those whose views
he renresen,ed. TO make The Glowing statement,
of facts, which he trusts will be done in a spirit
and temper becoming his own position, and with
all The respect fairly due 10 that body.
One of the chief objects Of a convention Is 10
ascertain and Ieaec, The views Of a majority u
those who are 10 be represented IN The conventions;
and all conventions must lail Cl tier putpose,
and in their usefulness, when such rules shaii ne
adopted as shall serve rather 10 prevent, Than ell
cit a toll expression oil public sen'i,denl. we
hold that nothing can BE- more clear, man lnat
when members OF The same political laml!y ATE
collected together for The purpose oil common
communion and interchange OF sentiment, with a
view. not of making, bu, ascer,aining The opinions
of The majority OF those Represented, That The
adoption Of no rule can belu$tIhed that viii serve
10 smother rather Than draw lofth The public mini
or that will furnish Inc opportunity Tor a m'noi''
w 10 control the action Of a majority.
II is understood thai The iaie Wing Convention
was invited By a resolution adopted by me wing
members OF Tie Legislature, IN The month al
December last, chiefly with the view 81 ascer-
tanning whether the Wing party OF Virginia
would endorse the recommendation oil General
Taylor.
Il might naturally have been expected, thai
when thus invitation had been responded 70, oy 50
large a portion OF lac people, that those VINO IN
viled il would have been among The hrs! TO see
lha, their voice shonlt b. heard, and their
views carried ou,, a> they had been expressed in
their primary assemblies whether they did so or
not. vii! form The subjeci OF This paper in par.
Ii had heen broadly represented, By The Wings
in the Legislature, that General Taylor would te
q most acce p,able candidate 10 The Wing parry OF
The Stale; and they had invoked the judgment OF
the people upon their own act, b. asking lhera
10 send up delegates 10 a convection y li'hy ~
disclaim what they had done.
Among the first acts OF the Convention was
the appointment Of a committee Tor The purpose
OF recommen ling rules, &c, i"r IS s~o"'inn""';
which committee propose! e give 70 each Goth
", civ, and election disiric; IN m state, ne saac
representation ;ha. il had in the House 81 Dele
gates. !,
This proposition appeared 10 the undersigned
so obviously imperfect and Dc usire, That he !sit
constrained 10 oppose it; he not only Undertook
10 show its inequality, bat that tlai very inequa,
lily mus, Of ilseil misicad he judgment, ami
bring The convention 10 a ia.se CONCLUSION; or, IN
other words, defeat The object Pro.essed, of asccr-
tanning the true condition OF The public mind.
II was urged, in opposition TO the resolution,
that the ratio Of representation, as established 10y
the Constitution Tor lha House OF Delegates,
could bear no affinity 10 ne convention. because
that representation was based on the entire popu-
la ion # each county, including as veil those
who wur'. = fc7resen,ed in the Democroic cen
vention, With was soon 10 assemble, as our
n,yn many ,.hlrh was alone fpDT- Sentpl IN the
Wing conventions; and that therefore the ratio ol
representation should be changed, ii II was iht
pnrphsr OF The convention 10 ascertain correctly
and r,h t; iruly The sentiment OF the Wing parry
OF Virginia.
THE VOTES OF COUNTIES c~oNTRAsTED.
II was shown. that while Shenandoah with her
fifteen hundred votes was entitled 10 two repre-
senta,ives in The House Of Delegates, that she
was by no means entitled 10 81 large a vote IN inc
convention, 10 represent only ITO Wing voters
while the county al Augusta would exercise NJ
larger influence. in N" denomination Q: any
question, with 1893 Wing voters.
lie, us take the poll Of The Presidential election
in 1874, when the largest Wing VOC eyer cast IL
The State was given To- Mr.. Clay, and see how
Il would operate. On thai, occasion, Loudonr
gave / sos Wing votes, Augusta ! 1893 and IA
ma wha 9s3, masins in al 1856; which number
by the rule pr,raset, would be entitled 10 sia
votes; while, in he same election. Madison ha,
given 65, Gfeen>viiie So, Page 80, Pocahonta'
81 Isle vi Wright 90 ami Surry lIS-makine il
all 400; and these SIX counties, icing represented
BY one delegate each in the Legislature, WON'T !,
entitled 10 as many votes in The convention a
those counties which gave 1855 Wing votes; :,
thar, when the question Of Graiia6ilty or prefer
ence between the two candidates came uf, u tn
three counties Of LoGdoun, Augus'a and Kama
wha should vote Tor Mr.. Clav, as they probably
would, and the other six for Gen. Taylor, ,heI
400 men would be permitted to neutraliZs The vot'
oil 1856, and The voice of 1896 voters would b.
unheeded and unheard in that body.
Again, while Richmond, with her | 600 Whil
votes, might express her preference fer Mr.. Clay
by one vote in Convention, Shenandoah nigh
give her two votes for Gen. Taylor, aad thus
would appear that General Taylor was d"cilc,
BY two 10 one 10 be the choice OF Vir.inia, G'ri
1000 had voted for Mr.. Clay and only ~ =
General Taylor. In regard 10 The Richmon.
electoral dislric'. composed Of Gocchland, han
over, H"nrico, Richmond, King and Queen, an
King William nov represented by a Taylor dc
lsg4le To the National Convention, We hazart
nothing in saying The vote would be TWENTY
10 one FIR Mr.. Clay. Yet his is called a repre-
s~en,a;ioa OF public sentiment.
II is useless TO pursue this course OF invest
galion %tartner, as the dnllcst comprehension can
MOI fai! to understand lis NANTES, inequality an
injustice.
To obviaie this difficulty, il was proposed L
seals the vote, and give 10 each county, city, &c
a voice in the convention equal 10 lis Viii!
strength, as nearly as we could approximate i
that is 10 say, taking the vote OF 1874, that bein!
the fulies, and larses, ever given, as The guide, 4
give one vote for every hundred Wing, 10 th
county, and another Tor every fraction over tilty
but that each county should be entitled 10 ont
vote. By the adoption OF this rule, the fifteen hun
bred Wings Of Loudoun would have been emil
tied 10 ofset | 500 Wings wherever else 10 b
found; and so Wings in Page should balance M
more than so Wings elsewhere; By this meant
the full voice of The Wing party 10 the State nigh
be ascerta,ned; but, so far from its being adopted
rather a bal split was betrayed at lis bare sus
geslion. !; was voted down by an overwhelming
majority, and TIE resolution oil the committee wa:
adopted. From that momen: lh- uleI impraciI
caoiiity OF arriving al a Just conclusion on any
subject about which We might differ, became sc
apparent iha:-fpT that if GO other reason existed
inc undersigned lei, i; 10 be his dl,y 10 res,s,
the expression OF a preference for either Of the
candidates; and he feels called upon now 10
PROTEST asains, The preference expressed, as
10 his belief not corresponding with The preie.
renee OF The Wing party Of the Stale.
But, while the principle is objected 10, he IN
dersigned is free 10 admit that the adoption OF nc
rule al that time, represented as The counties were
with a Ioregone conclusion TO nominate Genera
Taylor, would have changed the practical resul
whether the people were represented or misrepre-
sealed will be for them TO determine in their own
way. Richmond has already spoken TO- herself.
i, is 10 be hoped other %soun;ies will follow her e1-
ample.
EXPRESSION Of PUBLIC SENTIMENT.
Again, by the undersigned AN examination had
been made OF the proceedings OF The dif.ien,
counties in their primary assemblies; and it was
ascertained, and STA ed TO the convention, that "a
counties, containing a Wing voting population OF