Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-09-18
A pEuAooeuH ANSWERED BY DEMOCRAT.
IRON rur puILApEIpnlA PUBLIC LEDGER,

REPRESENTATION IN CeNGREss.-The Demo
oyatc Repie,c contends for such amendment Of
tstitutions and laws as willpermit Representatives
Ism Congress to be elected without regard to resi-
dence in the districts which they represent 1t
would not have them elected by general ticket II
4 contends for election by districts, because such
elections "preserye the rights of the minority, and
especially give to reformers living in any small
| section of the State chance 70 be heard, which
would not be so under general ticket system
But while it would have each district choose its
own Representative it would not confne the choice of
that district to persons residing within its limits but
would allow it. select candidates from any part of the
State In defence of the practice refers to England
and also to France which made such latitude of choice
provision Of its Constitution in l649 1t gives as one
for this proposition that the people of district
the best Judges Of what they want in Representative
and if they find it at home should be allowed to
seek elsewhere in the State 1t gives as another rea
that great in clusters, and in the North
States at least they appear in cities, where the e1
ertion of the mind is promoted by every snmuant OF
knowledge, rivalry interest, and ambition; and 1t ADDS
that whichever party have the majority only one or two
Of these great men will be elected by the voters Of the
cities, because the machinery Of Conventions which It has
already condemned the election of mediocrty Tor
oil the 1t then adds that if this confinement OF
electors choice in their districts were removed the
districts beyond the cities could elect these identical great
of the cities whom their townsmen had rejected
in favor Of the msdio9ities.
Such the principal of the Democratic Re
view in favor Of this project We regard them as sub
stantia reasons against it, The voters of each district
the best judges of what they want This we admit
and add that those residing among them have the most
sympathies with their wants. and viii labor most earnest
to obtain them One Of the strongest incentives to pa
trotic fidelity in Representative is this social bond Of
union between him and his constituents. Living among
them he knows their wants. and wishes and interests
Living with and around him. they know his character his
principles his feelings, his conduct, and judge how
far they guarantees for his fidelity Representa-
tive In choosing candidate from another district they
must rely entirely upon his reputation abroad, which
only his professional public career and this
putation may be chiefly founded upon the praises and
pus Of newspapers We win suppose that lawyer
in great city, previously little known, makes able or
ingenious defence of somebody indicted for murder and
the newspapers of this city filed with all sorts of sym
patty for the cupr and extrayagant praises of the de-
fesce This is not improbable, for it occurred in New
York in the of the murderer Robinson in Boston,
in the of the murderer and incendiary who
Quilted the ground of somnambusm and in this city,
in the of the who murdered broker at his
counter with dagger which he habtuay carried about
for sabbng any body in any alteration His personal
friends wish get this lawyer into Congress- and, know
ing that he be elected in his city, propose him
the voters of distant district who know him solely
through this newspaper reputation. At his able
speech is circulated through the remote district support
ed by all Of vouchers from the city, for his possess
ing in eminent degree every qualification intellectual
and moral, for seat in Congress Not voter in the
district knows him personally knows any thing Of him
beyond his defence Of criminal and beyond those p,
which may be gross exaggeraons at least. But these
thus fattered, importuned deceived cajoed
huabggcd into electing him. and find that they
betrayed and abandoned for the double pay Of preerment
offered by interests very different from theirs. All this
may happen under this system Of the Democratic Review
And it would much frequently than il
der the present system for reputation abroad does not offer
TO constituency such security for the fidelity efficiency
Of a representative hqoRIedge at home.
But, says the Democratic Review "great come in
clusters and in the Northern States they appear cities
This translated into plain English that if the
system adopted all the Representatives in Congress
from the State Of New York would be chosen from the
city and hen the Saehenqs Of Tammany Hall the Com
mites Of Sq Of Constitution Hall would have glorious
chances Then the great who rejected by the
Conventions for the sake Of the Standardization whenever
left out the rejected great and the accept
ed medocrteswould be elected by the and
intelligent Of the rural districts" How and
intelligent those despsed rural districts" peopled
By country "donkeys," would suddenly become And
how fully the great metropolis Of the Union would OBJ
tain its just influence in the politics Of the country
We should indeed have a political millennium when the
moneyhunting cques Of great city, without idea in
politics beyond the gain be got by them should elect
al the members Of Congress from great State Thank
ye, gentlemen We prefer the present system, under
which the selhshness Of city is neutraEed by
the intelligence and independence Of the country.
We have another objection against this system. II
would induce the intelligent and ambitious seek the
cities the best field for political prefermen and subject
them 70 the demorazing influences Of city politics We
prefer the distribution Of the able men over the country
where they are controlled by the social supervision and
moral influences already described incident the
dent system. Blu. We lcny that great men, especially in
the Northern States found in cities The brightest
political light Of Massachusetts, has come from Boston
Of New York from the Great Metropolis" nor Of
Pennsylvania from Philadelphia And this is not because
Conventions elect medocrtes and reject great men, but
because the great Of the cities much engaged
in private business to spend time for the country and be-
cause the voters Of the city much occupied in pr
business 10 discriminate very accurately between
great men and mediocres Perhaps the Democratic Re
view will refer Daniel Webster. He Is of the country,
and nearly forty years Of age, and had great repu
taton before he went TO Boston Most Of the who
have been great in Boston bred in the rural dis
trcts Of the FIVE New England States which have no
great cities.
The Review refers England and France. The refer
ance is unfortunate England Is governed by ariso