Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-05-22
THE VIRGINIAN.
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A. w. G. TERRY, EDITOR.
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LYNCHRURG, MAY 22, 1851.
The Basis Question.

hitherto dull and monotonous, 4yIrh more
than ordinary interest; and we therefore give
copious extracts in to-day's paper tronthe
interesting proceedings Of Friday and Sat
urday 1t viii be seen that after having
rejected the compromise report otthe Com
mittee of eight which we gave in our last,
the Convention has since adopted it, with
an immatcrial amendment offered by Mr..
Chiffon Of auquier. The effect of this plan,
the reader will remember,is to give the West
the organization Of the House Of Delegates
on the principle of the suffrage basis, with
a majority of IA members; and the East,
the control ofthc Senate, on the principle
Of the Mixed Basis with a majority Of 10;
so that on joint ballot OF the two Houses,
the West will have clear majority of
four. This apportionment is to continue
until 1865, when the Legislature shall re-
apportion the State; but in the event of the
inability Of the two Houses to agree on tie
principle of representation, the question is
to be submitted to the people, for them to
decide which basis of representation, pre-
scribcd in the report, they will elect to
have. To this feature of the report, Mr..
Bocock has proposed an amendment to
the effect that the Legislature shall be left
free to prescribe the plans Of representa-
ton on which the sense of the people shall
be taken.
OF the various plans of adjustment that
have been proposed, we are inclined to
favour least the proposition of the Com
mittee of Eight. 1t is total surrender Of
the mixed basis principle, and that too by a
majority who was pledged to its support
and who had the power to redeem the
pledge so unequivocally made to their con-
stituents. But in an evil hour, some of
the Eastern members have seen fit to a.
bandon the position they occupied before
their constituents at the election, and the
result is, the East has been misreprcsented
The Eastern men who have thus voted to
engraft the proposition of the Committee
upon the Constitution, are Mcssrs. Arthur
and Wingfeld of this district, Bowden of
Williamsburg, Chiffon Of Fauquier, Ran
dolph of Albemarle, Claiborne of Frank
lin, and Martin of Henry. That these
gentlemen have misrepresented their con-
stitucnts, we have not the slightest doubt;
and how Messrs. Arthur and Wingheld
can satisfactorily explain their course to
them we are at loss to conjecture. Nor
is Dir. Saunders blameess for this unto
ward result. He bad it in his power to
retain tie mircd basis in the constitution,
by his single vote, but at the very moment
when that vote was most valuable to the
East, he gave it against the East Thus
every delegate from this District, except
Mr.. Lynch, has separated himself from the
mixed basis majority, with which he was
understood by his constituents to be pledg-
ed cordially to unite; and the East there
by has been abandoned to the fate, they
were elected to avert This is RESPONSE
bility to which our delegates have not only
TO answer to their constituents, but, togeth-
er with the other Eastern members who
so largely contributed to defeat the mixed
basis, they ought justly to be held respon-
siblc to the whole East for this inglorious
surrender of her rights Than this, there
can scarcely be found, in the annals of de
Lucrative bodies, more uncalled for, and
ridiculous abandonment, By the representa-
tire, of cause the candidate had so hear
tily espoused. The East had an undoubt-
ed majority of members, that is, at the G.
lection; and yet without confessing any
change of sentiment in regard to the prin-
pie OF representation, few members al
low her to be beaten from her vantage
ground, and without solitary excuse, ex-
cept the assumed necessity for compromise
which their own conduct has created, alb
solutely compel the majority to surrender
at the discretion of the minority If they
had acknowledged a change of opinion as
to the correctness of the principle they
had espoused, there would have been some
excuse for this otherwise extraordinary
proceeding. in that event, they could
have resigned, or could have solicited in
structions from their constituents, which,
we are sure, would have been as peremp-
tory as those they gave on the day of E.
lection. But instead of that, they have a.
dopted the strange policy of uniting with
their opponents, to defeat what they them
selves counseled
Whether the people will deem 1t neces-
sary now to instruct these erratic repre-
sentativcs we cannot say perhaps it is
too late. The evil is already entailed upon
us. The East is PROSTATE at the feet Of
the victorious West. 1t might be some
consolation, however, to an injured con-
sttuency to make known their sense of
the injury they have received, but we fear
it is too late to repair the injury. We un-
dcrstand anlndignation meeting was spoken
of at Campbell Court, but was finally a
bandoncd, partly because it was thought
too late to effect any good by instructing
their delegates and partly because, Gt is
suspected) party brought its influence to
bear against it. There are reasons to
suspect that some of the Democratic lea
ders who favoured the meeting nthe morn
ing, rather discouraged it in the evening,
after it was found that, formal dcclara-
ton Of the well known principles of the
county, would place some of the White
Basis democrats rho are leaders IN their
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