The southern press., 1851-08-06
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When the constitution Of Virginia wss amend.
cd in 1880. JoMS RAEDoLrH. tlssu . member al
the convention, declared, thxt no eonstitu'iou
would last twenty iye years. HIS prediction
was fulfilled almost to the very letter. At thai
time as now, there was stsuggle between the eas-
tern and western sections Of the State, In which
slavery was involved, and there was then ofcourss
u compromise. That compromise is now OF
course overthrown. BY the constitution OF
1880, the right Of suffrage was limited to free
holders, and lease holders and heads of families.
and an apportionment of representation was
made that gave the property OF the State share
of power with the population. Now, suffrage
is substantially universal, and an apportionment
ia made to last until 1865, which gives eastern
Virginia a majority of ten in the Senate and
western Virginia majority of fourteen in the
House. The avowed object of the arrangement
was to divide the power. of the State between
the two sections on the ground that in some re-
spects their interests were different. But the
governor is elected by the people; and hence
The executive power Is given to western Virgil
MIA, which preponderates in population. II there
fore ar member Of the Legislature from eastern
Virginia should aspire to the first Office Of the
State, he must understand that he cannot oppose
the interest Of western Virginia. This ridicu-
lous pretence of creating balance of power in
the Legislative department between the two Sec
tions, and then destroying it by the executive
is SO flimsy and silly that we wonder at the as
surance. that attempts to impose it on the COM
mon sense of the people.
The arguments advanced in behalf of an ad-
vantage for western Virginia, were as shallow
and absurd as the arrangement itself. The
western members said their people could not
endure the indignity of having less power, in
proportion to their numbers, than eastern men.
Well, how does Virginia then endure the in
dignity of having no more United States sena-
tors than Delaware or Rhode leland? And
how can the western people of Virginia endure
the thought that they are inflicting an indignity
BY the slave representation in Congress, on the
people Of non-slaveholdng States? The truth
is, no such indignity is felt or felt only by very
foolish men.
Another pretence was, that the people Of wes-
tern Virginia loved the eastern 80 we'll, that there
was no danger or possibility of depressing them
But If this were so, the same thing must have
been equally true of the east towards the west,
and hence there was no use in changing the con-
stitution.
The truth is, that where State is divided like
Virginia, into two regions, differing not only in
the proportion of their property, but in the kind
of it, each ought to have power in their gov
ernment of self defence against the other.
Hence it would perhaps have been we'll to es-
tablish each house on different basis, 80 that
each section would have predominated in one
house. But, in that event, the governor, and all
other State officers, ought to have been equally
the choice of both sections. They ought to
have been elected either by a concurrent vote of
both houses, or by concurrent majorities of
both regions of the State
The whole judiciary system of the State has
been made elective--a most disastrous change
Every body knows that State officers are now
all elected on federal politcs-and to elect
Judge, supreme judge of Virginia, on his
Presidential preferences, is to give up that las,
department of State authority to party and to
centraism.
All this has been done under the notion of in
creasing popular power-but it is great mis-
take. These officers will hereafter be selected
by caucus, the most irresponsible and corrupt
and the least popular mode of selection known
to our whole system.
About half the States have been engaged of
late years in changing their constitutions. The
principles of these changes, if true, indicate the
propriety of changing the federal Constitution
in its essential elements. In fact they are al
ready practically applied to its administration
and nothing but the large vote of States re-
qured to change the instrument itself, prevents
1T.