Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1851-04-11

Il
not onIy 10 glsring injustice bul ~ utter
snoSiiesso affect he dEsecs 20 earnestly protested
i ~ lis frsends-yiz: gratessa 70 grsserty How did
| il propose 70 protect properly b limSing the
| clecsiEs Franchise % properly -hcldeFsf st'-shis
idea vas seFaaiaied By all Was il .by dchhaing
the choice u o. Delegates q The peo
ple jnsihe General Assembly 70 ihe holders q pro
| peryl No such qualification vas proposed OF adj
| vocated hY any one How then did i pEo2ose 10
yvoters svspersyA was by arrayng section Of
the Ssste. containing large majority qf The people
against thesoher secion, because ol is superior ag-
gregate rtai4, avewedly upon the gronnd :hat The
nany Noald pGnder The FIR If they were PERMITTED
10 have controlling voice ia The administration Of
the goyefnmeni-when al the same time The right
Of suEftgs was proposed TO be extended d all ut
tery regardless Of their intiyidaal wealth or pos
sessoas-7lhus plaeiag the property q the sssahiy
fas at the mercy as gentlemen termed d, N the
penRylsss many BY whom they were Immediately.
surrouBaed who could elect one Of their ewsl num-
Der in any eodniY Of the East If they saw proper.
pedgedto oppess the teic IN apy manner lheT chose
Such was the situation in which The advocates Of
| the mixed basis placed themselves They could
no, trust With equal political power the people Of
the West among whom properly was lnasi more
generally distributed than ia the E1si--kst. they
could shase il freely with the poorer CLASSES In the
| East composing an overwhelming maiofiiy OF the
community. and who were infinitely less interested
in preserving the rights d property han their dis
franchsea Western brethrkn. How could gentlemen
reconcile fhis inconsisteseyl In Illustrating ne
unequal proportion in whSch taxes were ear .,i,utet
4 in The East, Mr. Faulkner ins,anc. tie county of
! GoqehLand, in which some ssye.,y5ays persons
paid more than half the eur:re 1xes 81 the csunty--
yet they had 20 more political weight than seysn,y-
five voters around then Who paid lille Or uefhing.
How coad g,ntiemen redOpcile this tfacf with their
boosted d3c.rine that taxation and representation
should 81 together = THAI is, that representation
should t. distributed proportion 10 te taxes paid
Oh. THIS was cherished doctrine when applied ia
The aggrsgate tathe East and he West-yet, ii was
utterly repbdiated in the only FORM by which ii
could possibly give protection 10 property Viz: IN
diridual aRPiieatioat Mr.. f. utterly denied. that
The mixed basis could ID any rotee,i6n to pro Fsrty
and affirmed shat there were but TWO mods by
which this protection could be obtaincd, according
TO the arguments Of gentlemen on lie other side
It could be done by limiting the rightof suffrage 10
properly holders by restricting the choice on rep
resetalien 10 theholders Of properly b3,h ofwhich
modes were repudfaied on all sides in tfs Conyen.
ton lie tented most emphatically that the mixed
basis as ADVOCATED here could protect III any degree
the rights Of property, and challenged gentlemen TO
poin' 10 single instance, single Stale or nation
on the globe in which il was relied upon for that
purpose. He here read from The debates in the
saehuseits Convention in 1921 showing that
the basis of taxation was adopted in the Senate Of
that State for very different reasons. He also allu
ded 10 The Constitution of South Carolina, showing
clearly thai the South Cafolinians regarded tseir
property qualifications Tor voters and all the State
officers, from the Governor down toIha mensers
Of the Legislature as the means by which their
property should be protected the Governor Of that
Stale was required TO as many as 500 acres of
land ana Ten slaves, and no man couldbe me- m
Der Of efher branch OF the Legislature unless he is
property holders-Th athat property coUld be
protected Representatives when neiherthe voters
who send them the representatives themselves
are required to. be interested ID property was a
sheer delusioB, and so il would prove to be when
ever il should be tested Sons gentlemen had sup
posed that theAmxed basis originated 10 South Car
DINA, but this was mistake HE could trace its
E,-----4 ..4.4 f-g, Il Lgas
about lie first ofTshoot Of the French Democracy,
who hadbcen so often referred to here by gentlemen
On the Other side. He woulda now commend the |
ehalice 10 theirown lips Here Mr.. r quoted with
great effect The writings ofthe great English states
man, Edmund Burke, in condemnation Of this Sys-
tenn il existed in France, and 10 Inc unequiyocal
admission Of Sir Edward MeIniosh the great aFol-
ogst OF the French Revolution that ilhad pfosen,
a complete failure. Such was the system proposed
in This enlightened day to be incorporated into the
Constitution OF Virginia!
Mr.. Faulkner vindieated with great power the
adyalorem system II was not only the most jus,
and equitable plan oftaxaoh that could be devised
but it was more simple in its details and less ex-
pensive in its practical operation than any other
system. Ii had been in successful operation for
twenty five years in the neighborng State Of Mary
land-a slaye-holding State-and so far as he knew
or believed no one complained ofitthere. Certain
he was that no one proposed to change IL II had
been recently adopted in Ohio, with great success
the rate OF taxes having diminished at once from
seven miiis on the dollar 10 only thfee+less than
still larger amount al revenue was
raised How would-it operate in Virginia The |
aggregate value Of personal and real estate in the
Commonwealth was $767 100000 A tax Of only /
one mill PER dollar upon which would yield $751;, i
900, Target amount than The entire revenue Of the Il
Slate at this time. The great decentralization of II
this system was its equaity--itstperfectleq nahy-
all being required to pay in proportion, 70 their
sPeetve atdhtyit recognised no unjust or odious..
discrimination between the rich and The poor, or
any class or set Of mea--ali being placehsupon The
same comrhan platform of qualify, aud required 70
contribute ID The support Of their government ac-
eorting le.tkeir means and The consequent amount Il
d Pro,eetiaq received al the hands Of The govern
msnt f5F
Mr. Faulkner declared that The best sort Of nro- +
lection y property, was asgovernmeni based upon
The wall aud aasetoas Of the people IiFwas no light
OF Trivial matter to organize government at Tari-
ance with he wishes Of majority OF The people /
and he deprecated the consequences which might 1
follow 50 fatal step Properly could be ptotcrted
--ampy ptotected--by constitutional limitations I
upon the Legislative department of the Govern
meni and without these limitations, The boas,ed
mixed basis would be of no avail. This fact was
iei; BY gentlemen on the oshcr side--lor many Of
Shem in their circulars TO the people ok ground in
favor OF tnese ressrieiionslhps virtually acknowl
edging the iasutiiciency ihe mixed basis 10 aec,
ihs desired eaiectp.oteetseR d property There ara
as many as feurtesa gentlemen from The East. now
members ot this body, whom he coald mention as
having taken this ground during The canvass, and
he doubted aot thcr- were many more. Now, he
woald ask them if Constitutional restrictions were
necessary 10 pro,ec, property upon tho mixed basis
why lheY would not be equally potential upon he
suffrage basisl Why did they il the ole case de-
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