The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-02-15

tslking about removing the tax from
tobacco, and yet they wanted tne oys.e.
to be taxed. He would like TO take Insm
down the river and Introduce them 70 mi.
Oyster and before they knew him Q Week
they would run away from him < o nolse
in the night scared at something "nite'
He knew Mr.. Oyster and all the fanny.
It was a strange thing TO him that these
gentlemen had suddenly been strucK
smart. and knew more abou. Mr. Oyster
than he who had been an oystern1an nearly
all his life. They were behind the times.
They wanted to tax the oyster to drive
the negro away from the river, and MAKE
him pay 1925 on his tongs ana ooas' . nne
gentleman from Amherst was very smart
about the oyster, though he didn't live In
the oyster country. He'd Ike 70 taKe hin
down there.
Mr.. WILLIAMS thanked the gentleman
for his invitation. He hoped to nave an
opportunity Of accepting it before tne
question was settled, so hat ne. couio Vose
un~derstandingly on it.
Mr.. PARR "Well, sir, l think III nave
pair Of tongs made, and take you down the
river. sir; and by the time, sir, you eaten
a half a dozen, sir, you will be satisneo.
I'd like to ask the gentleman from Am
herst a question, sir Are you a Virglnian'
sir 2" .ho
Mr.. WILLIAMS: "No, sir, have not the
honor of being a Virginian."
Mr.. PARR: well, then, I won't recog-
nize him as such until he votes for my In
stitution." . g
he continued to show the injustice OF
the oyster tax. and to explain the modus
operandi of catching them, concluding
after this style: -:
"The oyster, sir, is a short-liVed anil
NAL, sir, but he has more sense than l, SIT,
or many men on this floor, sir, because his
sense or his instinct, sir, or whatever you
call it, makes him smart enough to know
J when to shut his mouth. What talking
against Mr.. Oyster; and you don't know
nothing about it. Why, I never heard OF
! such a thing since God Almighty made
me. I hope, gentlemen, I have shown this
thing to your satisfaction, and that you
will treat Mr.. Oyster and his family
kindly"
The Convention then took recess.
SUFFRAGE.
The reports on suffrage will be taken up
on Monday. We have already given the
majority report. The following is an abb
stract of the minority report:
The minority report is signed by Messrs.
MARYE, L1GGATT, E. GIBSON, and WILSON.
It is an able document, but too long for
our space. We present its leading points
It objects to the majority report-tirst, thai
it confers the right of suffrage on all adult
negroes after six months residence, not
excepting paupers second, that it dis
franchises all white citizens of Virginia
who are excluded from voting under the
reconstruction acts; third, that negroes
will be competent to act as jurors, while
none of the whites ~disfranchised can
! fourth, that all negroes as aforesaid will
be eligible to Office fifth, that the voting
will be by ballot; and sixth, that an oath
| is prescribed which requires all officers to
! swear to recognize the civil and political
equality of all men before the law.
! The committee first examine the ques.
ton of the authority of the Convention to
make this revolutionary change of the Vir-
GINA Constitution, and contend that the
laws under which it assembled are uncon.
I stitutional, assuming that Congress had
only power to put down resistance and
having done that, the State was, as it was
] before the war, with restored order, andthe
laws extended over her unresisting people
and THAT there was nothing more in the
status of Virginia which warranted Con.
gress in %abrogatipg her State government
; than there was for exercising q similar
! power in Maine or Ohio. The revolution
! giving the negro control of the power OF
the State is to be contaminated by sum
moning him to enforce it.
The committee take a view of the rela-
tive strength of the whites and blacks, and
exhibit the consequence of black predomi-
nance in a large part of the South. They
proceed to discuss the qualifications of
negroes for this responsible relation to the
southern communities. They lay down
the propositions that-1st, they have not
| intelligence I'd, they have not the moral
culture /; Sd, they have not the property
Stdke.
These points are argued with clearness
and force. The injurious effects that will
| ensue to the general welfare and peace of
the country are strongly represented. The
! committee sustain their argument with the
| following quotation from President Lin
coins address to o large audience Of ne
groes assembled at the White House in
August, 1862:
"Having been seated, the President, az
ter a few preliminary observations, in
formed them that a sum of money had
! been appropriated by Congress, and placed
at his disposal, for the purpose of aiding
, the colonization, in some country, of the
| people of African descent, thereby making
it his duty, as it had for a long time been
his inclination, to favor that cause. Aud
why, he asked, should the people of your
race be colonized? Why should you leave
this country?. This is the first question
for confederation. You and ae are different
races. We haze betueen as q broader diff
| ference than exists between almost any
other two races. Whether it is right or
wrong I need not discuss; but this physi-
cal difference is a great disadvantage to us
both, L think. Your race suffer greatly by
living among US, while ours suffer from
your presence. IF this is admitted, it af-
fords a reason why we should be separated,
y y i = The aspiration of men is to
enjoy equality with the best when free
but on this broad continent not a single
man of your race is made the equal of a
single man of ours. I do not propose to
discuss this I cannot alter IL if I would.
It is a fact about which we all think and
81 o1,~a X * y TT 10 hnffar T&~