The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-12-07
Virginia Returning 10 sarbarIs,n.

Virginia Returning TO Barbarian.
The Richmond Enquirer, of Nov. 90, con
tains the report of the Committee appointed by
the Virginia State Convention, to report on
amendments to Constitution. The document is
| long and very curious.
The Co nmittee set out with an assertion of
| the old distractions Of the Virginia school, and
| then proceed to discuss the amendments
which they deem essential to erect the State into
an oligarchy. The people, they say, must be
distranchized, labor must be depressed, and free
schools abolished. We give some extracts from
| the report below. Let the freemen of the
North note the tendencies of society in the slave
States:
REBEL VIEWS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Governments are instituted for the protection
OF the rights of persons and property; and any
system must lie radically defective which does
not give ample security to both. The great in
terests of every community may be classed I'M
der the heads Of labor and capital, and it is es-
sential to the well being OF society that the
proper equilibrium should be established be-
tween these il portant elements. The undue
predominance of either must, eventually, prove
destructive of the social system. Capital be
| longs to the few-labor to the many. Il those
| systems in which capital has the ascendancy,
the government must, to some extent, partake of
the charactet Of an oligarchy, whilst in those in
which labor is predominant, the tendency is to
what Mr.. John Randolph graphically described
as "the despotism of king numbers" 1t is the
office Of enlightened craftsmanship to secure to
each Its appropriate influence, but to give the
absolute control to neither.
TIE REBELS THINK NORTHERN LABOR TOO pow
ERFUL. .G
The political condition of the Northern States
presents striking illustration of the evils Incl.
dent to the preponderanc. of the element of Ia
Dor. In the carly periods of their history these
evils were not so apparent rs they have since
become. Their population was sparse, and the
Western territories afforded convenient outIet
for their restless citizens; labor WIS in demand,
at high wages; property was easily acquired, and
consequently the line of demarcation between
labor and capital was not strictly drawn, be-
cause the laborer Of to day might readily be-
come the capitalist Of tomorrow But within
the last twenty years marked change has ia
ken place in the North. Population has become
dense, and the salety-valve afforded by emigra-
ton to Western territories, has been g.eatly OBJ.
s;ructed. Wages have not kept pace with tbs
cost of substance, aud the difficulty of acauir.
ing property has increased. The tendency cfl
this new condition of things has been to divide
society into two distinct classes, and to arr az
the one against the other.
FREE SCHOOLS DENOUNCED.
This tendency to a conflict between labor and |
capital has already manifested itself in many
forms, comparatively harmless tits true, but new
ertheless clearly Indicative of spirit of lice,..
tioasness which must, in the end, ripen into agra
rianism Nmdy be seen III lie system of free |
schools, by which the children of the poor are |
educated at the expense of the rich; in the va |
rious forms of exemption and homestead bills; |
in the popular cry of Glands for the landless,n
and "homes for the lomeless;" in Fourierism |
and communism; in the habitual disregard Of |
the ordinances of religion and of the institution
of matrimony; and moro distinctly in the form |
of abolitionism. s
FREE SUFFRAGE NOT TO BE PERMITTED.
In the opinion of your committee no sysieHa |
Of government afford permanent and e5tetual
security to life, liberty and prosperity ,olich rests
on me basis Of u'atinited suffrage and the election
OF officers of every department of the govern
ment by the direct vote of the people The |
tendency of such system is to demeralize the |
masses; to encourage the habit of office-seekinp:
to foster corruption at the polls, aud to Llace /
unworthy and incompetent men in positions of |
trust and responsibility. These, however. are
the vital principles of the social organization of
the North, and, as before stated, thei. bitter
fruits are already in course of rapid develop
ment.
In the Southern States more conservative and
mainly to the institution Of slavery, which con-
stitutes partial restriction on the right of suf
frage. In the North, men Of every class and
condition Of life are entitled to vote, In the
South, all who are In condition of seryitude
are necessarily excluded from the exercise of no.
iiticai privileges, and the power of the country
IS welded by the more intelligent classes. wbo
nave permanent interest in the well being of
society
Saaosry also constitutes as tfsctaal barrier aoa;ust
uaat tendency TO dhtagonsm beioeen labor and Carl.
.H ~a'cA er'sts IN the NORTH. There, capitai ia
the casual employer Of labor, aud is intcrested
IN diminishing its wages Here, capital ia the
owner OF labor, and naturally seeks to enhance
its rewards
THE PEOPLE, MUST BE DIsyRAScHIsrp,
Aa'esiai changes, seem, also, to be necessary
- .esafa 70 the selection Of various classes Of
puDhc oincers. Under the constitution, as II
10. s'ands' no discrimination 10 made in the
mooe OF choosing public agents. founded on 4
they have to perform. A mistaken desire :"
propitiate public favor, rather than : visa .nS
wen considered purpose to give securitv N ;na;-
viduai rights, and stability and dignity 10 tho gov
eminent, seems to have controlled the sc,;or 81
the convention In 1880. The selection ~ al
Moss every oHcef has been referred to the neo.
PIE, ana py shortening the Official torn as far
hs possible, the officers are made dependent on
.he people. In determining the mode of select.
'ng omcers, It seems to your committee thstd
some regard ought TO be had to the nature Of
Inc duties they will be required to dIschsrce.-
NO rule can be prescribed which win be free
rom gu objection, but your committee believe
lns' would De safe TO assume that all legisla
y. i've omcers should b elected BY the people, but
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