Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1861-1862, 1861-11-18
,uxr,.,sd Amcndmen,. 60 lha Oon.litutIon.

"a cannot undertake return rejected conmuntcdtons
Suggested Amendments 10 ihs Constitution.
La urging material alterations in organic law, VIC
have not deemed i; ssaty to dcl'm dsrespect for
Or dsrust Of the Peisnt of the Ccn'ed,r The sub
sc scars above any indisiual h but one man, and
hs life in comparison to the Rpubc, which aspires TO
perpetuity, nothing but span. He may be as great
and as good ss Washington, and yet, surrounded by
vicious system prove poweess in stemmng the torrent
Of corruption We hope President Davis will consult
his true glory and the lasting welfare Of his county by
CO operating in stripping our central Government OF all
ia sttrbu.es and ding liberties upon an
iupresuable basis. The Presidency for six years. with
Lincoln as his successor visible in the distance is poorly
worth great and glorious ambition.
We take it tbs. the Southern people men ofsense
that they love liberty for the blessings it btsows and
that they desire not only free institutions but such
be subvertcd, under any chcumSance', BY any
one man. They the fate that has overtaken freedom
under the old Constitution Of the United States. The
trainers of that instrument thought they had provided
ample guarantees for all the rights Of the ctzan. They
imagine that they had secured freedom from arrest,
freedom from search the right TO bear arms, and to be
free from the intrusion Of hired mercenaries But one
disgusting brute has ba ID all their calculations and set
at naught all their labors By one dash Of his pen, he
has suspended the writ Of habeas corpus naugurated
State prisons arbitrary arrests, standing armies spies
and iriornrs and abolished freedom Of speech ard OF
the press and established infamous despotism as
ever existed in the world Before this astounding de-
ysopment We conadiDg in the suficency of the guar
sn;ees in the old Constitution adopted them almost word
for word to protect liberties. We have before u.s.
10 the fate of liberty beyond the Potomac, the proof Of
| their utter insuiciency Lincoln has only to rise
among US to play the trick upon u.s. which the Ba-
boon has pracsed on the Yankee nation. We may dat
ter ourselves that we are better than the Yankees that
no such monster could be engendered among u.s. or II 1t
be possible that we are not the people to subi.to h'
tyranny. There may be more of pride than truth in the
supposiiion vicious system, acting day and night
operating continually charging circles, and appealing
to the sordd passions Of the thousands and teas OF thou
sands place seekers will in time prepare US for seryude
a, it has prepared tbs Northern people. that people
we're not ripe for desposm, Lincoln had never made an
attempt upon their liberties or had made it in vain. The
disgusting rspacity which gee already exhibited in
many departments Of our public service, should admop
i,h us that We are more like the Yankees than are
willing to believe.
II il not worth while to mince words. We must
move fer from US ell Ysnks, systems expect to share
Yankee fate splendid central Government is ircom
oabls with stste sovereignty and political freedom. The
two systems cannot coexst The srst implies vast
psndtuie thousands of high saared ohicers and tens
of thousands of eager ofioe-ssekeis. Prodgaty and
corruption are the inevitable results The pest Of Office
seeking which played inpOrtapt part in undemin
/ ill a I'D daaf In
our new one TIE remedy, or rather the preventive ia
obvious and simple; but it Is one as bitter as aloes to tie
aspiring patriot It is old fashioned, that almost
hesitate to mention 10 brt tho disgust With which will
bs received will serve mark the extent to which the
Yankee virus has nocusted the Southern system It Is
neither more nor les, than the abolioDof all compensa
ton in some cases. and its reduction in all to the limit Of
hare subsistence. We would substitute honor and pat
yio,m for money rs the cardinal principle in
Coafederscy If wepesist in adopting the Yankee star
d.rd of value (the 6olarl in estimating the yisues We
shall become miserable copy Of al execrsble original
/ Tho Virginia Constitution OF George Mason, and tue
old articles Of Confederation together supply mod
of perfect system Of Confederate nsputlic We will
indicate very briefly the leading features, IS We under
st,nd and sTp-oV tbom.
A
signed IS IN rk of iii tie llslfious and
meritorious oi,zoa To appoint Heads of Departments
Foreign Ministers and judges Of the Supreme Ccurt
with the consent and approval of the Senate; and to
! have no other appointments whatever The Heads Of
Departments to appoint only the clerks in their resPec
tive departmens-who TO be immovable during good
behavior. Tho Supreme Judges to appoint District
Judges-these to app'in tic clcers OF their Cours.-
The District Attorneys to appoint Custom Ocers snd
Post Masters within hsr respective Districts The House
of Representatives consist of not less than 300 mem
bers 20 that every interest and pr1dice in the Consd
eracy may be- represeutedeud to receive no pay bu;
the honor OF serving their country. The Gencte to con-
ss of two members from each State alec without pecu
| nlary computation
No officer Of the Confederate Government shall
ceiye more than 81 OO0 salary. He shall hold his Office
during good behavior and be amenable nobody but tie
Ias for the faithful discharge Of its duties.
The Confederate Government shall have neither army
nor navy, and have no authority the militia under
any circumstances Each State, if it chooses may bave
an army and navy bu. that's matter for itself to de-
termine.
We ore aware there Is much in these various propo-
stions to shock the ssns;bIss Of this age deeply
| iauted with Yankee rapaeity and senalty. Whatever
else may be said Of them it cannot be alleged agsitst
them tha. there one speek Of Yankeeism about them
Tho foundation and superstrucure are wholly different
We invoke the brave menthe Tyers Pfestons, Wises,
Capertons Of the Virginia Convention, who took us out
of the house Of bondage to make coed cur dsyerirce
by crushing forever the oorruptDe mania OF ofceeek-
ing among u.s. and Us from the possibility Of falling
as the North has fallen, under military dcspo'ism II
Is net too ste for the Virginia Convention to propose
amendments to tins Corstiption to be submitted to our
sister States By the time they shall have ACTED rpan them
we may hope that the will b. But the ofpor-
tuniy should not be neglected We shall be justly cen
surxs!e to al poserty, IL with the wreck Of liberty at
The North before orr eyes, we hazard our freedom on
he same frail ba,k