Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1851-04-29


the constitution and the law Misrepresentation ought
to be fairly and equally possible apportioned among
the legal Uoters of the State those who endowed by
the Creator with reason, tree will and conscience, and
by the Constitution with political entity and the fran
chse OF Suffrage. That the will Of the majority OF le-
gal voters subject only to the Constitutional guarantees
OF protection to norties Of persons and to property
ought to give the law to the State. That mnorit1es
OF persons represented and property unrepesened
entitled to Constitutional guarantees of protection,
and the majority in Convention is bound TO provide
them. That they can be easily provided and can be
made ample and certain securities against all unequal
burthens and oppression upon minority or upon pro-
perrtyy;; . .,,. ...
they want we want-that the public money, fit must
and pU be expended, that the and burthens OF
debts it they must be borne, it shall be for the mutual
benefit OF our people, to enrich them Individually, TO
enhance the price OF our lands raise the rewards OF
our labor to the sales of produce to give
ready new, and certain market, magnify our trade
to increase capital and population, to enable our
State in IFS relative importance in this glorious Union
OF States, to revive restore, reanmate the good old
| mother of US a"-the "loved but orn" commonwealth
OF Virginia.! This can all be obtained, in my opinion,
by exchanging the present unequal apportonment OF
| representation tor the constitutional guarantee: That
no t0an TAG or appropriation bill shall be enacted by
the Legislature icthout the of cote OF
o.thdrds or tMee-tourths of the ohole number OF
each house Abolish the mixed basis give us this guar
in the Constitution and our representation will be
free and equal, State will be united and raterna
extravaganza in legislation will be arrested the public
moneys will cease TO be msapped, public works OF gen.
era and State Importance and value will be constructed
to aid taxation in paying off the public deb tide
Virginia will have city; the West will have its shortest
and best avenue to the ocean, and find here its most
inviting depot of trade, and the glory of the Common
wealth will be restored, Shining more and more into
the perfect day" Give US this, and we will not only
be certain to be and remain least third
than fourth of the State and thus of ourselves be
enabled to check unequal and burthensome taxation
upon ourselves, and all Others; but rerly belieue
that our section aciH rapidly increase in popula
tton oedth and political oper as to become mjori-
| fy in the State This is all owland Virginia wants
deveope ts vast resources and TO make it in fact
abe most thckly populated portion ofthe North Amer
can Continent.
"Iwould, finally, hold on to the linked bass only
as consideration with which to obtain from the
West the exchange of it for the constitutional qua
rantee." The West am sure. would willingly make
the exchange But if they will not and con.
sent to be generous according to the justice rule things
will have to remain where hey are, basis neither
republican in the abstract nor Just to them safe
to ourselves, and Virginia will have to stand still and
vegetate another decade OF stagnation and de-
cay"
The reader will see that three distinct PROPOSE
tons are here announced, viz:
lst That the Suffrage basis shall be assented
to by the East, provided the West will give suf-
| ficient constitutional guaranty of projections:
3D. That the guaranty to be required is pro-
vision, that no apportionment bill shall become
law without receiving the concurrent vete oil too-
thirds, or h,reejoarths, Of each House;
3dly. That without this guaranty, the East
must hold on to the mixed basis.
1t there be the smallest force in Mr.. Wise's
assumption that the influence of the Eastern ma
jority under the present Constitution has had the
effect of retarding the great East and West lines
OF Improvement, how, we beg to know, will his
scheme OF State government remedy the evil?
Under the mixed basis, without restriction an al
most unanimous Eastern vote would be necessary
to defeat any improvement which the West might
desire; but according to his plan, fifty Eastern
votes, in House of $50 Tor thirty-eight, if his
three-fourhs guaranty be adopted) would defeat
such measure. We fear the wisdom of our
future legislation would make but poor figure,
IN the eyes of an internal improvement neophyte
IKE MIR. Wise, should his theories be engrafted
upon the new Constitution; Norfolk and Rich
mond would never see sack of salt from the
kanawha, or barrel of flour from the Ohio, for
anything they would gain by his system.
1t it were true (and we are by no means dis
posed to deny) that the East has used its majority
unwisely, that would be no good reason for its
yielding what it believes to be a sound principle of
government. Mr.. Wise gives the advocates Of
the mixed basis great advantage in the argu-
ment, by declaring that though in itself ant-re-
publican, he will adhere to it, if he cannot secure
Constitutional provision which will allow one
third OF the voters of the State to thwart and de-
feat the will of the other two-thirds He is the
peculiar supporter of the absolute divine right of
the voting majority, but he acknowledges that right
only, in the same breath, to take it away His is
indeed, notable plan for putting it out of the
power of Eastern constituencies to delay our
Western Improvements
Mr. Summers, of Kanawha, yesterday, present.
ed in the Convention proposition, which may
be regarded as indicating the position of the ad-
vocaes of the suffrage basis. 1t proposes, no mat
ter what basis may be agreed upon by the Con-
venion, TO submit to the people, alon with the
question of ratifying or rejecting the new const-
tuition, the further question whetherthey will have
representation upon the suffrage or the mixed ba-
sls. This, we believe, is something entirely new
in the history Of Conventions called to revise State
Constitutions. The law authorizing the call of a
Convention, and which was accepted without quail
ification by an immense majority of the people,
coniemplates nothing of the kind, and provides
merely that when tine Convention shall have
framed constitution, it shall submit to the people
the question whether they will ratify Or reject it
If majority of the voters accept the constitution,
il becomes fnSO f1cjo The fundamartol Io,, or,L.
Commonwealth; ifa majority vote against it. it is
mere nulity. We cannot suppose it possible
that any Eastern member will be msled by the
TO do what would be worse than d.
rectly voting for the white basis; for besides sur
rendering the claim which the East makes to re-
taininu the unyernrnnntal