Daily Richmond times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1849-1850, 1850-05-03
REFORM CONVENTION.

jorty, that Convention shall be called, under the
act passed by the Legislature on the 4th of March
last, to revise the State constitution. 1t appears
that the counties of the two Eastern divisions
have demanded the call by vote of something
like ten TO one, and the voice of the Valley is
scarcely less decided whilst, in the Translate
ghany Division, and even in the North West. it
seems that public sentiment is to some extent d.
vided.
1t being certain then, that the Convention is to
be held, itnext becomes every man, who holds the
good of the Commonwealth at heart, to prepare
himself for the election of wise and discreet men
as delegates. The election will take place on the
fourth Thursday in August. and the Convention
will meet, in Richmond, on the second Monday
in October. 1t is fact worthy of attention, that
whilst the act provides that the electors must have
the same qualifications that are required to entite
citizen to vote for members of the House of De-
legates, it does not prescribe any qualification in
the persons to be elected. This will appear from
the seventh section which is in these Words
T. Be it further enacted That the persons qualified
according to law to vote for members of the House of
Delegates in each county, city, town and borough in
this commonwealth shall assemble at their respective
or other places appointed by law for hold
ing elections of members of the General Assembly, on
the fourth Thursday in August next and then and there
vote tor an many discreet and proper persons
bers OF the said convention designated in the sixth
section OF this act, for their respective districts No
person shall be permitted to vote than once her
IN the same county or In different countless and any
son who shall violate this provision that contained in
the last clause OF the LIST section OF this act shall forfeit
and pay TO the commonwealth, for the of the Lite
sary Fund.- sum OF one hundred dollars to be recover
ed as other penalties and forfeitures.
The suggestion has already been thrown out,
that in the selection of delegates to the Conven-
ton, party politics should be made the principal
issue Nothing, in our apprehension would more
certainly tend to prevent the Convention from &C.
compshing any good result. If the prevailing
party, however, choose to put forward candidates
on party grounds their opponents will be con-
strained to adopt the same policy. But we trust
that such spectacle will not be presented i, Viz
gina. The people have declared, without refer
ence to political issues, that they wish the con-
stituton to be amended. Why cannot the two par
ties unite and elect the best men of everv dis
trict, whether Wings or Democrats, to perform
this important duty? We venture to predict that
the Wing party will not be the first to commence
the unworthy business of attempting to make par
ty capital from the Convention movement. In
rejecting upon the perversion of the great ends
OF tine Convention, which would undoubtedly en-
sue from its becoming a political engine, we
have taken occasion to examine, with some scru-
tiny, the arrangement of the districts adopted in
the act of the Legislature, to see whether the
shrewd patron of the measure took any pains to
assure his party strong majority in the Conven-
ton, should the election turn on party issues
We find that Mr. Stovall proved his title to be re-
garded the Cerberus of Democracy not less than
the Cerberus of the Treasury. The following
is the sixth section of the act:
6. The apportonment and districts shall be as pre-
scrbed in this section The districts composed of the
gates as follows Accomac and Northampton, two de-
legates; Norfolk City, Norfolk county and Princess
Anne, five delegates; southampton, Nansemond, Isle
OF Wight SUSSEX sarry and Geensve, four delegates;
gates Richmond City, Henrico, Charles City and New
Kent, six delegates; Williamsburg, James City, Glou-
ceser, Warwick York and Elizabeth City, two dele
gates Essex, King and Queen, Middlesex, and Ma
theWs, three delegates; Caroline, Sposyvania King
William and Hanover, five delegates; Richmond West
moreand, kng, George Lancaster and Northum-
Fairfax and Stafford four delegates; Henry, Franklin
and Patrick, three delegates; Halifax, Pittsylvania and
Meeklenburg, six delegates; Prince Edward, Char
ot'e and Appomattox, four delegates; Brunswick,
Lunenburg, Notoway and Dinwidde, three delegates
Cumberland, Amelia, Powhatan and Buckingham, three
delegates; Campbell and Bedford, four delegates Mel
land, Fuvanna and Louisa three delegates; Cupeper,
Greene, Madison and Orange, three delegates Lou
doun, three delegates; Fauqqier and Rappahannock,
three delegates Aussaa AND AND
Highland, five delegates; Rockingham. Pendleton and
Page, four delegates; Shenandoah. Hardy and Warren,
four delegates Jefferson Berkeley and Clarke four de-
gates; Doddridge, Wezel, Tyler, Harrison Wood and
Richie, four delegates; Marion, Preston, Monongaa
and Taylor four delegates; Lewis Randolph Barbour,
Cabell, Mason Putnam, Wayne, Boone, Wyoming
and Logan three delegates; Greenbrier Pocahontas
Fayette, Nicholas Raleigh and Kanawha, four dele
gates; Carroll, Grayson, Floyd, Montgomery and Pu-
aski, three delegates; Mercer, Giles, Tazewell and
Monroe, three delegates; Smythe, Wyhe and Washing
ngton three delegates; Scott, Russell and Lee three
delegates
Now, accordingto what we take to have been
Democratic calculations, there are at least hoenu-
one of these districts, electing rs delegates, which
were reckoned to be certainly Democratic; and
only ten districts, electing 80 delegates, thought
to be certainly Wing; whilst seven (the Accomac,
Norfolk, Richmond county, Prince William. JEFF
ferson, Frederick and Ohio districts) electine 81
delegates, were probably considered disputabe.-I
But political sums of this sort often fail of work.
ing right in practice, and if it should be necessa-
ry to draw party lines in electing delegates to the
Convention, we should, by no means, despair of
the Wings carrying the day, notwithstanding
the odds against them OF the late defeat and the
gerrymandering law.
Numerous thrilling incidents related which oc.
Cured the burning OF the Belle of the West
on the Ohio river The Louisville Journal gives the fol-
lowing;
"A fine brave boy, 70 years old eaped into the river,
and whilst swimming towards the shore saw his mo-
ther struggling to make her escape overburdened by the
weight OF two little children Lifting his right hand |
from the water ne beckoned her throw one OF the
children to him, and she did So He swan with the
child to shols snd the mother escaped with the
nther and thus tina hola |