Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-04-27
=TlE RIlHM 0ND ENQUIRER.

NV 81
GORNJNG. APRIL ~, 1855
FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
william L. JACKSON.
Election ,ak..fplace on Thursday. May %th' 1898
AGRARlANISM.
No buebear Of modern times has been more fire.
ousntly resortsd TO for the defence of the shams and
mockeries Of artificial r. strictions on popular rights
than has the single word, egrarianism. Modern agra
tianism ,s the meres, phantom of an abstraction 90
impossible of any approach to realization tnst .ne
attempt to place il among the actual dangers "nieh
might result from the iercest turmoil OF disoroereu
revolution, 10 simply ludicrous, The vestins OF a"
landed property In a political community 10 DC
rented to citizens by equal apPortionment' mas
never been Effected, even in those aonorma'
t~nstances where adventures have lett their
homes, sbiured all the results OF their own and
The exneriencs of their forefathers, and assem-
b,sd In a wilderness. where a superabpndance Of un.
appropriated land offered no opportunity of disturb
Ing pre- established individual proprietorship. We:
In spite Of resson and experience. whenever, even
In free countries, it is attempted to remove the feu-
dsl barriers of privilege which surround landed pro-
psrty, many intelligent men will commence prat'nR
about this 80 called agrarianism. as If 1t were q pos
sibls evil to be guarded against by stringent legisla.
ton. TOTS, We believe, is partly attributable to the
general ignorance which prevails concerning the real
nature of those epeoies Of agrariapism which have.
OF necessity, found a place in governmental reguia-
ton. The term itself is derived from Roman history,
where II describes a conservative reform effected for
the sake of enforcing just and rational popular rights.
and restraining the arbitrary enoroachments of a
wealthy sristooracy.
The Roman aver puGlicus was very similar TO what
the public lands of the United States now are. Du'
ring the time Of the kings We find that there was a
public domain unsppropriated to Individual proprie-
torshIp, held by the State for the common benefit
Part of this was reserved for common pasturage, an.
other part cultivated, or otherwise employed, for State
purposes, but the larger portion wac psrceled ont
among tenants, sometimes gratuitoaslyi but, a. a gene.
raj rule, 10 consideration OF a fixed rent or tax toecta.
sal) Every Roman conquest added new territory
to this domain, until the dger pxbhcEs extended
throughout the known world.
The sncroachments Of the patricisps gave rise to
those ~asrarian laws which are so much talked Of by
all toe world, aud go frequently misrepresented by ig.
norant twaddlers. In u. Ortoian'a admirable Hi'tory
Of Roman Legislation, we find this subject graph.
oallv set forth. 10 a short chapter, of which the fol
lowing 4, little more than an imperfect TRANSLATION:
The Graccbi were terrible adversaries of that
senatorial sristocracy Of birth or of fortune, which
then domlneered over the plebeisns, no longer by the
ancient privileges of caste, but by the crushing Gu,
premscy Of wealth. Pupils of stole philosophy, De-
mocretic tribunes, popular ~agitators, defending their
electoral candidacy or their propositions of laws by
insurrectiou and violence, they both persbed by the
same means, and their attempts at reform have re.
NAMED In hietory under the name Of %seditions.
Tho conquered territory, which was reserved ss
public property, exempt from individual proprietor
ship, augmented necessarily nv the Roman nims, aud
which should have been cultivated or iarmed out IN
the name, and for the profit of the State-,hese feids
had from the begioning. been subjected to the Fro.
gressivs usurpatiope, 6nt of the entire patrician
caste, finally of the rich and powerful senatorial fami.
lies
These could not obtain the proprietorship, since ii
was a public domain; but under the title possessones,
they disposed of the. puhlio dnm.in o.. ei ---. 80
lriu,vuy, transmitted II by hereditary descent, finally
ceased to pay any rent whatever. and cultivated the
Geld. with gangs Of slaves, conquered in war, who
we're not the servsnta Of the Republ @. The long
poesession of this property, the sale and other changes
to which it was subjected, formed SO many titles
for those to whom il was successfully transmitted and
Whenever an attempt Wac made 10 reform the abuse,
the present rosse.scre cried ont against spoliation.
This furnished a perpetual subject for those agrari
an laws. which have been aud are still 90 much mis-
understood. when they are discussed in connection
with private property. More than once, in the time
OF the Republic. attempts we're made and laws pro.
po.ed to limit the abuse Of these possessions. tc
reetore them to the State, 10 provide for their
PARTITION among the citiaens generally. The pie
b.isps roee In arms and demanded, as Of right
the Partial restoration Of what they called theil
usurped property. Several times, during the reigr
Of the pl.b.ian king, Serviue Tullius, and at
terwards. q f-r+nt distributions Of some portiops o.
The oyer pu6tiexs had been made among the people
Already the lee L,c1a'a agra-ia, introduced and for
q long time urged with grea, perseverance by the
tribunes. {. Linus Stolo and l. SeItius, adopted A
q. c. Ss7. had prohibited every individual from pos
ssssing more than 800 juFera of the aeer pu6iicus.
and distributed the surplus. How imperfectly il was
observed, may be gathered from the fact that one Of
the authors was subjected to a heavy fine for having
possessed l000jGgera, In contravention ofhis own law.
The old grievance had been entirely renewed, partly
oy reason Of new conques's. aud the evil was at its
height, when the hrs' of the Gracchi tTiberius Sem
pr onius Gracchus,) being raissd (" m" tribunatetook
Up and mod fed the work Of the Lr Liciaia. No
cirisen should be- permitted 10 possess more than 800
juesra Of the osr p4bl,cus besides $50 for each OF
HE %childreo; persons holding more should b. dispose
s-ss-d, but unidentified n public expense; and the
domain thus restored to the public, should b. distri
bufed TO poor citixsns, Who were to pay a yearly rent
for the use of the came. Such was the pl b.sc,txm
which he dictated tiez Sempronia agraria, A. Q. C.
62l.
This 10 q specimen of the Just and necessary legis.
Iation, for tho initiation and execution of which, the
Graochi we're mastered. Eqraly unjust is the
blundor of modern civi.is stiun which perverts the
word agrarianim. to q synonym or political lunacy
Other practical reflections may Do developed by a
s'udy Of the agrarian laws. We. too. have an
aSsy pSblicus, As extensive and valuable as that
Of ancient Rome The profit and common
benefit which should result from it, is constantly
intercepted by a class hardly as reputable as
were the Roman pafriciane. fssoo schemere, raj,
road speculators. land iobbers and a host of unnamea.
bic REGULATORS, are continually ~usurping the property
which belongs to rs, poor oitiBens as WI are. And
the fever 10 30 prevalent, that We are induced to
tremble for the fate Of our own Gracohi. We fear
that the Gracious who shall venture to ~restrict the
s~r.spiugs of q Pacific Rail Road to a modicum of
dvs hundred jsaera, will be- Obliged TO run the gsunt.
lei, of political mar:yrdom Whoever he MAJ be. wa
are ready to vote him a triumph for any such "sedi
siou."
Editorial Correspondence of the Enquirer.
FASp l4TH STREET
WA.HIyoros, april 25ht, 1858
, have only time TO cay, that l have heard with
much crsti6cs,ion, aud on very good authority, that
Ass.rs. Quitman Of Missssippi. Shorter and Stall.
worth of Alabama, and Bonham Of South Carolina