Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-06-05
TWENTIETH VOTE.


ed that business be transacted the delegation from
the State of Virginia wished retire for the purpose of
consultation. After short interval the delegation
turned, and the State was called
Judge BARBOUR and said that at meeting of the
Virginia delegation resolution was passed by its unan
nous vote that majority Of districts in that
delegation should cast the vote of Virginia as unit As
the organ Of that delegation in its communications with
this body he regarded that resolution the only rule of
action which was the law Of the At the time the
resolution was adopted although adopted unan
mousy certain members of the delegation made protest.
for he might designate it, indicating that time might
arrive in which they would claim the right to cast the
several votes of their districts their goodwill duty
and pleasure might seem proper AS the organ of the
Virginia delegation and recognising the usage of Virginia
from the election of old John Adams down to the present
time and taking the line of his duty the resolutions
adopted two days ago by his delegation he felt bound to
cast the fifteen votes of Virginia for James Buchanan, of
Pennsylvania. Loud appause.]
Gov FLOYD, of Virginia, regretted exceedingly that
Of duty compelled him, o member of the Virginia
delegation to before the Convention the attitude
which he now occupied It had been truly said that the
usage Of Virgins heretofore had been to cast the vote of
that commonwealth as unit After he came into the
Convention upon the first organization Of their party in
the Virginia delegation he subscribed to the usage of the
party with protest against the right of that delegation
to prescribe rule adopt law because he derived
power from the Virginia delegation havine derived the
power that he welded from the constituency Of little
Tennessee He derived the power which he exercised
here from constituency that had been throughout all
time purely and wholly Democratic. [Applause] As
thousand feemen against
the nomination which had just been made and was in
sructedby his colleagues the of the thirteenth
disfr Of forS
Loud and long-continued applause He deeply regret
ted the effort had been made sae the voice of the
people he represented and that he compelled as,
before the Convention the attitude of voting
cord the thirteenth Congressional district of Virginia
the privilege which exercised by every Democrat
throughout the widespread boundaries of the United
Statesthe privilege of voting the sentiments of the
whom they preferred.
Mr. WISE Of Virginia, called for the reading of the rule
adopted in 184S in relation this subject and which had
also been adopted for the of this Convention
1t is as follows
Resolved That in voting upon any question which may
arise in the proceedings of this Convention the shall
be taken by States at the request Of any State each
State being entitled n the number of votes to which said
State is entitled in the Electoral College, without regard
to the number of delegates in attendance the manner
in which said vote is be to be decided by the
delegation of each State for itself
Mr. WISE said that this was the law of this body and
this the law upon which the delegation from Virginia
stood The State Of Virginia had never been known
since the formation Of the Federal Constitution to give
but Federal during the whole period Of her State
existence [Appause He desired this Convention, for
the sake of so venerable model of Democracy, under
stand the true position Of Virginia In the election Of old
John Adams, Federast from the district Of Loudoun
cast his vote for the Federal party So determined
the indignation Of the Democracy of Virginia that vote
that they made it part of her statute law and by her
Legislature that her voice in future should be
voice. Applause He relied upon that statute book
Mr.. W. then referred to the course of Mr.. FLOYD in
reference to this subject both in the Virginia Convention
and in the delegation this Convention show that in
neither body did the gentleman oppose the resolution d
recting that the vote of the State should be unit
Gov FLOYD said that it was not factious spirit which
caused him to assume this position. He came before
the Convention to ask that the voice Of three dis
trcts of Virginia might be heard in its deliberations.
There other districts in the State Of Virginia which
occupied the same position he occupied, and there
nothing whatever he submitted the Convention in the
position which had been assumed by his colleague Did
the gentleman pretend say that because the Virginia
delegation decided that should cast its vote as unit
with protest against it the part Of Of the dele
CATION it precluded part of the Democracy of the old
Democratic Commonwealth Was it not obvious that
RUE Oh THIS knu WOuu throw virginia into the hands OF
the Wings? AL he asked was, that when, in the judy
men Of the delegates from the district which he repre-
sened rule which they had entered into with protest
was wrong, and not really eicacious il should be
dsregarded so that they might be allowed vote the
voice of the Democracy Of the Commonwealth.
Mr. CLAIBORNE rose to protest against act which he
believed would be unjust to his constituents He repre-
scented in part the Democracy of the third electoral dis
ric Of Virginia, different one from the district repre-
sented BY Gov Floyd The majority of the delegation of
Virginia had never been in favor first choice of the
gentleman for whom they had been casting their vote
Appause He had another fact to state and he wished
it to go deep into the hearts of the friends Of Presidential
asprans The fact he wished to state was this: That
the Democracy Of Virginia who had given the vote Of the
State for the last fifty years for Democratic Presidents
was now staed by gentlemen representing Wing districts
They might trammel him here they might tie up the
Democratic vote Of Virginia here but some gentlemen
would find il exceedingly hard to carry that State for
person whose nomination had been secured by an impos
ton upon the freemen of the State. [Applause.l
Mr.. McMULLES, of Virginia, demanded to know how
the vote Of that State had been recorded
The PRESIDENT replied il was recorded fifteen for
Mr. Buchanan.
Mr. McMULLKs entered his protest against that vote
The PRESIDENT stated that the gentleman had rich
to do so.
The result Of the twentieth vote was as follows:
State. Ida lZI.