The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-12-04
Proceedi1gs OF tha Virginia state Con.
yentlOu.
Free Schools end Free Suffrage % he
Abolished
A RRMARKApLH REPORT

-
A RRMARKABLE RAPPORT
From the Richmond Enquirer II the ooh
lust We catch . glimpse OF the proceedings
Of The Virgil 10 State Convection, row in ses
lion ir tho rebel capital This body, which,
last spring, betrayed Virginia into Tho tolls
Of the rebels, Is now hard At work destroy.
ing the remaining liberties Of the peol L..
On the lst day Of May, 1861, The Cohven.
lion adopted the following resolu ion:
Resolved That committee Of seven
renbcrs be appointed by the President OF
the Convention, whose dHty it shall! he to con.
slider and report to the Convention, at its
adjourned session, such ainendms cts 10 the
constitution Of Virginia as may be necessary
and proper, under the existing circumstances
The committee appointed under the fore.
going resolution have, according to order,
had the subject referred to them under con-
sideratiOp, and submitted a report from
which tho following arc extracts:
REBEL VIEWS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Governments are instituted for the protec
ton at persons and property and any sys
tenn must be radically detective which does
not give ample security TO both. The erea,
Interests o; every community may be classcd
under the heads Of labor and capital, and II Is
essential to tho well being Of 80 'ie,y that the
proper equilibrium should be established be.
tween these important elements. The undue
predOminance OF either must, eventually,
prove destructive OF III social system. Capt.
ri belongs TO the few, labor to The many.
cendsncy The soyer Ssse sss s has tho as
tent, partake Ofths character of an oliea.chS,
whilst 10 those 10 which labor IL predominant,
the tenden,y Is TO what Mr.. John Randolph
graphically described az "the desp0tism OF
king numbers" 1t is the cftice Of enlieht-
ened statesmanship to secure to each Its up.
propriate influence, but to give the absolute
control TO neither.
TIE RABgLs THINK NORTHERN LABOR TOO
POWERFUL.
The political condition of the Northern
States presents striking illustration Of the
evils incident TO the prepondrrance OF the ele.
ment Of labor. In the early periods OF their
history + ESQ ev lis we're not 10 apparent as
they have since became. Their population
was sparse, and the Western Territories at.
fJrded convenient QUILT for their restless
citixens labor was In demand at high wages
property was easily acquired, and consequent.
ly the line Of demarkation between labor aud
capital was not strictly drawn, because the
laborer OF to-day might readily become the
capitalist Of to. morrow. Hut within the last
twenty years q marked change has Ia, en-
place in the North. Population bas become
dense, end the safety valve afforded by emi.
grafton ~ the Western Territories has been
greatly obstructed. Wages have not kept
mace with the cost of subsistence, and abe df-
hculty Of acquiring property mas incre scd.
Toe tendency Of this new ConditiOn Of things
ha, been ~ divide societies into two distinct
classes, aud to array the Que against the other.
YRRR SCHOOLS DsXoUNcEp.
This tendcucy TO q coLf between labor
aud capital has already manifested Itself In
many forms, comparatively harmless, 1t Is
true, bat ne 'ertheless clearly indicative OF u
spsrtf OF hetneiousnsss, which must, In the
eco, ripeI into agrarianism. IL xsCy b ssc1
in the system Of free schools, by which The
children vi the ps0r are educated at he cx-
perse of the rich In the various forms of
exemption and homestead bills In the pcpu-
lar cry Of "lsrds for the iakdless," and
"homes for the homeless;" In F0urieIism
aud communication in the babitual disregard
If the ordinances Of religion ard OF the IL.
stituiion OF matrimony and more distinctly
In TO form Of A0olitionisu.
yRBg BuyPRAoss not TO Be PERMITTED.
In ire opinion If ysur c.mmittee. no sys-
TEN Of government ca" efmd permanent
aad sftctxal security to l.fe, 10 T'y oWd
property Nhtch rests o. The basis IF wnI.m-
tied snfrage, and the election III officers vi
every department Of the Government by the
direct votes OF the people. The tendency Of
such a tysts N 10 to Gelnoral.ze the masses, to
encourage the habit OF fiioe seeking, u fos.
ter corruption at the polls, and to place un.
worthy aud Incompetent men 10 positions Of
trust aud responsibility. These, however, are
the vital principles VI the T. ciAl organic alton
VI the North, and, as before stated, their ri.
ter fruits are already in Course Of rapid de-
velopnent.
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