The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1849-02-24
WooDsFIELl, OHIO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY "a, 1as.

the number Of representatives amour,
to twenty. five, after which the number
and proportion ofrepresentaiises shall
be regulated by the Legislature"
From this it would appenr that the
tgreat men Of the Continental Congress
neither approved city and borough rep
resentalion, nor representation by SIN
gle districts. OF the effects and object
Idf the former, they could not be igno
RANT. II had prevailed in the eases Of
Ph'lpdeIphia, Baltimore, and Richmond
(all cities Incorporated under the pro.
prietary and colonial g''vernmenD
where ever larger part Of the popuIa.
qon was likely 10 be agricultural, and
bttie residue commercial, IN tile southsr rn
states. 1t was a continuation of the
borough system OF representation in
England, and they we'll enough knew
that the very. .fart stated by Sir William
Blackstone (''lrade is Of a fuctua,ing
nature, and seldom long fixed in a
place,'') would bring into the govern.
ment, under such system, the utmost
corruption and rottenness. They al,
lowed the people Of the NorIh Wesl
Territory, !heret"re, a choice between
The io,onship system ui representation,
then aud now prevalen. in New Eng.
land, and the county system.
Representation by sing'e districts
never occurred To Them, however. or
was not considered advisable. The
did constitution oi Ln,,isi ina. adopted
t,oelue years after ours had bren adopted
was The first & re.ogn re that system
oi representation in HE least degree
That provided (spc'mn fourth and sec-
ond arlicle) for residence. as quaIifca
lion Of the candidate, one year in the
county Of which he nav lie chosen, OF
in the district for which he Is elected in
case the sail Counties may be divided
into separate districts of election; thus
leaving the matter to future legislation.
But the reason Of lhls undoubtedly was
The diverse characters Of the TWO races
I-French and Saxnns (which settled
the state. Be that as il may, the mat
4 ter remained in imbibus-for separate
representative districts were never ac
lually created.
] To the convention which assembled
to frame q constitution for Ohio. two
modes only presented (as the Onbinance
Of 1887 was in fall fnrce) namely: Rep.
ressntation by entire tovaships,and rep.
rsssntation by entire counties. The lai.
Ter was chosen, and into the third sec
lion and first. article Of the constitution
was Thus specifically .incorporated.y -
"The Representatives shall he chosen
annually, By the citizens of each county
respectively, on the second Tuesday in
Ocloher." o...o;t,n..-'.
We have already seen that one Of the
very purposes for which county, organ.
izations were originally adopted, was
the the formation Of electoral districts.
The Representatives was as, clearly an
officer of The county as, well as the
Sheriff himself. Let me read few
passages from Lord Coke's comm entary
upon Littleton. n 'g'a lq-a!1a"a. iia30
es'ltrappears by the laws. Of Edward
the Confesshr, that this realm was divi.
dedrinto ishires and counties. and those
shires into cities, .bormghs. and towns.
hy the Britons; So that sKingpAHred's
division Of shires and,coun,ies was fbut
a renovation, or moreexacl description
ofYthe same.n- Go. LnL, 1853, a. m zee.
"a co uniy is,fctched from the French
and shire'lrum The Saxon. Fotsayuan
in the Saxon tongue, signifeth partiri,
because. every 'couniy,or shire is .divi-
ded and parted by certain sme,es and
bnunds flnm another. and in l.aiin is
called c1mitaius q comitando, inr accom-.
panying together, Aud 'forasmucll rs
the men Of one cnunty do nnt acrom-
pany together with men Of another
county at county courts, towns, leets.
and nlhrr courts. therefore, in Judgment
Of law, they shall take no notice of a
livery in one. county to pass away lands
in their own county. Bot OF this more
shallbe said hereafter."- LiM SO. a.
Here let me inlerpose a passage
from Blackstone (2 Comm. 3l5,) ger.
name, as think. TO the last paragraph:
"lf the conveyance, or feofment be
of divers lands, lying scattered in one
and thelsama county, then in the fenr
for's possession, livery Of seisin al any
parceI. in the name of the crest. snfficeih
ior all;I bnt IL they be In seeeral roen
,ies. there must he as many live1ies as
there are counties. For if the title a.
these lands c"'ne 10 be disputed. there
must be rs many trials as There are
counties, and tlir jhfv Of one cnunn
are'h" judges'of the no,orieiy Of fact
h, 4. h Al, Z r. 80 sfjpffyIfi Dr. = q 9.i