Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1854-04-20
Washington cers,pana.a...

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played by the Virginia delegate to the interests Of NJ
constituents and their objectionable disregard Of the in
sructons ofthe last Legislature have 30 ds,ub.d thar
equsnmiy, that the aid Of the Richmond ENQUIRE,
to DO invoked to counteract far pos.blc the e.c,
OF these unpaasbe revelations. An immaterial err,
which promptly corrected in subsequent elter-vas
grecdy caught at by tho editor OF that paper and n,,.da
to the public complete vludcatou of their renrs.s,
tatve fidelity aud conclusive rcataton of the charge.
preferred stated, that in the face Of the positive in
suetions Of the Legislature not movement In further
anee Of tho object contemplated had been made In the
House. by single member OF the Virginia delegation and
mat only within the last three or four days had tho sub
ecs been properly brought the attention Of tho Senate
The Enquirer not deeming 1t Advisable to notice thu,
latter allegation, confines itself to correction of In, for,
mer, which 1t thus makes "In reply VIC have only to
that sir tek' ago, the resolutions Of tho Legislature
separately presented to the House by member from y
g'na read at tho clerks table, ordered DO printed
erred to the appropriate Committees and that they
now undergoing investigation in tho conmitte Groom -
Wero disposed to initiate the example Of tho Euourcr
might content myself with simply correcting It's eory,e
ton, and consider that full and satisfactory onv. n,
its denial Of the accuracy ofn In mat
ter Of grave character and deeply affecting tho
interests Of the people of Virginia. prefer tina, tho subj
'ecs shall be thoroughly sej aud be len to them TO de-
termne whether not have really mrepresented IN.
facts of the case reiteate the charge that the yr
GINA delegation have neglected and virtually
tho instructions Of the last Legslatureand unless am
mistaken, will demonstrate It. the satisiac-
ton Of the Richmond Enquirer Before however do;n,
SO, would simply state that the resolutions were NOT or
dcred to be printed by the House, though they were sem
arately read and referred to appropriate Committees
The four Joint Resolutions of the Legislature emh,.
cling four distinct demands for remedial action by Con-
gress were respectively adopted on the 18th Dec 1883
and the lsh 2Sd and cath Of January 1854 Copies of
them were promptly forwarded by the Clerk Of the House
Of Delegates to both Of the Senators and to every one Of
the Representatives Ga the eth Of February nearly
one month after their receipt Mr. Mason presented them
to the Senate and his motion they were ordered n, Lin
on the table and be printed On the Sd of April Mr. Mason
introduced bill embracing the subject matter of two of
the resolutions which referred to the Committee ON
claims, aud Is still pending before them. But no bill or
other instrument Of legislation has yet been introduced
by either of the Va Senators which embraces the subec,
matter OF tue other two and by far the mos, important
resolutions, viz: those which contemplated repeal of
the "rerison" principle in the Scrip act and gran, Of
additional land to the soldiers hcir wives and minor chill
dren) who served In the of 1912.
So much for tho Senate;-now as TO the Houso IN
the Gath Feb three days earlier than any action was ia
which were read and referred different Committees
There they Sleep for not only have no bills been in
PRODUCED uto the House. but in three ou of the four ca
ses, have not even been agreed upon in Committee The
resolution. urging an amendment the Scrip act was TO-
ferrel to the Committee Public Lind aud according 10
the customary arrangement placed in the hands OF
one OF its members for examidaton and report have
been Informed by that gentleman that the subject was
new one TO him. and required careful he
had 1t still under adviseent and had been able to
arrive at satisfactory conclusion He further informed
me that no member of the Virginia delegation had ever
appeared before the Committee explain the Of
the application and that prior TO yesterday Of
them had ever spoken to him ON the subject
These simple yet stubborn facts will probably convince
even the Enquirer that the elect" Of the Virginia De-
mocacy have not to say the least exhibited any remark
able ZEAL in either obeying the consulting the
interests OF their constituents Others will be apt think
that they afford evidence of very papabe and
able neglect
1t is well known to every familiar with the course
OF proceedings in Congress- that pomptness of
and energetic and continuous cxertion are absolutely in
dpensbe to favorable action upon any proposed
measure. mere presentation Of the subject of the
House and its reference to Committee amounts to lete
nothing This takes about minutes time and costs
as much labor as would serve to brush away fly con.
ceve that proper discharge Of representative duty in
wolves the necessity OF little eyertion than mere
motion requires. When sovereign state deems certain
matters OF sufficient Importance to authose solemn ex
preston oil its wishes in the form of Instructions it ap
pears to that the members of the delegation should at
dcqHdnt Memseices oM the subject confer one with
another aud promptly agree upon definite line of
action cannot say postueiy that such has not been
the course OF the Virginia delegation. but doubt e1-
tremey whether any Of them will the contrary
At all events the result OF their action reflects little credit
upon their diligence and though they may have performed
hetculean feas Of industry, they have little to show
for It.
AT this late day in the session. there Ia little or no hope
that any one of the asked for by the Legislature
can be carried through Congress There has been too
much delay to justify any such expectation. II the
luons had been presented they were received
and prompt action been urged with ordinary zeal on the
Committees bills might have been long since introduced
and placed in such position the Calendar as to en-
sure, atea't, some action by Congress- But In all proba
bity ii is late II bills were introduced to-
morrow they would be placed low on the House calcn
d, as to render it extremely doubtful whether they would
ever DO reached ia the regular order OF business The
necessity for early action In all intatory movements is
apparen, even in tho Virginia Legislature but in the
House oil Representatives it Is Important.
The Scrip Bill as it is generally termed passed in
August 1882 and contained provso which ought never
to have been sanctioned by the Virginia delega
on IL authorised federal officer to revise aud dishonor
the Judicial decisions of the sta,e-an authority which
he has not been Glow to exercise So unjust and so de-
grading was this provision, that the Commissioner Of the
General Land 0;e, 10 annual report
its repei Here WAS opportunity, which the Virginia
d eglion would promptly have sized upon If they had
e any real concern for the interests OF their constituents
They must have known that the execution of the law as
1t then stood aud now stands great dissatisfaction IN
Virginia, and tina, thousands who we're Interested ardent
" desired lie amendment But they allowed the last ses
sion Of Congress to pass by without making the Sigh test
attempt TO effect objec, OF this vital importance l.
was probably owing to this supincnes that the LeRsa
uro deemed it advisable to quicken their lazy energies BY
plainly inructing them their proper duty How for
these srpctons have awaited, the public can readily
determine from tho facts already stated.
the EnqnIsr may probably regard these unwecono
dsc1'ures vague aud meaningless ceusure" and as
altogether too cosby for is fisiidous taste The peop'e
Of Virginia will however, be apt view them in yery
different light, and 10 consider them quite M anptonrs,