Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-09-28
lpor 81 IntallI {.
THE BASIS QUESTION.

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noinf ,h;cb - 5ie t'0sN
They oonfSd n cons,
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ranreSentodS, tXVhat Saa.a az
r. III M sum oe represented
the ,Ss.s,,, w o9s0t
IN as - - : ~ ~ Sst7l y q a. y 5sgy
4Asy mus , Ille 5oellatesto CONSIST 0! twenty
lour members, put IlXed no pglncPler by which
Gne opa.e would oe distrlcted Tor their election
Inc article creating the other house of the gem
e l,' asseNoy Is as lolloWS:5 OF these
s.ail ee clleu tue house o. and con-
9lst VI t"o[epresehtaEYes TO oe cnosentor each
county, ana LOT the dlstrlcta ofistHest Augusta,
4hnualy' OF such men as actually reslde IN and
arc 4Eeeholuers Oh the same OF duly qualified
according TO law, and also one delegate or repre-
sentative TO bcchosen annually for the city OF
en and one Tor the borough Of Nor
toih' ana representative tor each OF such other
cues ana ooroughs as may hereafter be allowed
particular representation by the Legislature; but
4 Wheh any city or borough shall SO decrease as
tnas the I, NUMBER OF persons having right OF
suffrage therein shall veHbeen for the space of
seven years successfully less than half the nun
Der OF voters IN some one county in Virginia,
such city or borough thencetorward shall cease
ito send delegate or Representative Such
was the basis OF representation in the House of
Delegates from 1875 till 1880. There was no
sectional feeling in Virginia then, for in the
maps Of that day, the country west of the Al
ieghanles was described asa Wilderness.
In giving to every county the same weightin
the most popular branch of the Legislature they.
followed aycustom reaching as far back as.our
colonial history. In the First Assembly Of
Virginia, which met in 1919, and did the first
legislation on this continent, the House of Bur-
gesses was composed of tsoo members from every
CITY ana plantation.
But the lnlu Justice OF this system became, in
inc course oil years so garlng that the voice of
qlscontent was heard from every part of the
and Some. counties had no,greater influence
tnan others paying not more than one-twentieth
OF the tax and having less than twenty-sixth
part OF the population. tUnder the working of
County representation the number of members
IN the the HousesofeD Delegates increased from 40
70 III majority (l0s) might be supplied by
lSO'Oo0fof the COS, QUO white inhabitants of the
commonwealth thus giving aminority of less
than oIe-third the power of ruling the State
4 glance at Virginia under hesrule of that
old constitution presents her so differently from
map OF modern times, that one pauses to muse
over the mutability of governments. Old maps
nS6 Nl SA