The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-02-02
The Rights of,Msnorities.


representation. This measure was intro
duced into the Senate by Mr.. Buck ALEw,
the philosopher and statesman from Penn
sylvania. The Worlds Washington tele-
gram ssys: .'f&@2s ~ 90
{ 7"The cornwittee. comprising. among others.
Mr. BuckaIew, chairman, and Messrs Mor'o"
md wade, met In Senator Norton's parlors on
Thursday night and had n thorough and aRIes.
ting comparison of views, which en- n hnse
the unanimous recommendation OF Ole ga
purport IL that in nj? elections LOT eiecso an1
rer,resen tatiyes earh voter shall cast 10 i.'aay
ballots ne there are candidates. all for one OF
one for each. which viii MAKE .'n ~ %,
propor.ionateiy represent maloIlIss aIle M
roritsez is the measure OF tneir reai 81 Iens. n
This hin will not be hurried. nor Is IL expected
to DO nut through this session. but 1t VIII OF
pa ssed. II is believed. before the forty.second
Congress and the next President are chosen.
It Is regarded as the most Just and thorough
measure ever sought to be grafted on onr
system 1t Is dine to say that the leaders OF
each party cordially favor Its provisions. 49,
We do not hesitate to pronounce this the
most important subject to the country at
large which can claim the attention OF Con-
grees. On the Sd day Of April, 1857 we
declared that nothing else than such Y a
, measure could preserve the Republican in
situations of this country. When we first
called attention to the subject lin 1866, we
Think it was because Of the efforts of dis
tinguished reformers in England to procure
the adoption by Parliament of some law
fer the protection of the rights Of minori-
ties in that country. Our article Of April
Sd, 1867, was suggested by law which had
Just been passed by the New York Leglsla-
ture securing to the Democrats in the con-
vention to amend the constitution one half
OF the members that we're, TO be elected at
large. This object was secured BY simply
providing that DO one man should vote for
more than half the number to be chosen,
plan which succeeded in that instance,
and such as which would always infallibly
secure half the delegation to whatever
party Is next to the largest in q State. ...'.
u AS the subject is now before Congress
wo then had no idea that itwould 80 soon
meet with q favorable reception in that
body-we reproduce rs appropriate to the
occasion our editorial Of 1867, We said
MAJoRrTIEs AND M,NoRITTs.-Has re-
publican government proved to be failure
in this country Unquestionably it seems
80. We have reached point where we
may we'll ask ourselves the question whether
we should not be better off if our fathers
had left the country under British rule.
Where, then, are the weak points in the
machinery Of republican institutions 7 One
is the unreasonable and irresponsible ma
ture Of majorities. Corporations are said
to have no souls; not because they are
corporations, but because masses, Of men
do not hold themselves accountable as units
for the acts of the whole body, and the con-
sequence is that corporation, or dozen,
or hundred men, will be guilty Of hard,
grinding acts of injustice and oppression
which no one man Of the number would
himself perform. 1t is On old saying that
no one man in mob is quite as malignant
and devilish as the mob itself. And SO 1t
may be said Of the worst Radical in Con.
gress or in the country, that he is not quite
as bad as the soulless monster called O
majority" GA minority has no rights
"which the majority is bound to re-
aspect" Is the only article Of the popular
creed. Constitutions, laws, courts, prece-
dents, all these go for nothing when they
come in conflict with the will of an insane
"majority." aa.a..-. a...
Many statesmen have attempted to de-
wise some means by which the voice of q
minority would become more influential
and their rights more secure. Up to the
present time no SUCCESS has followed these
efforts. Our own country presents the re-
markable and unprecedented spectacle Of
q minority, or, at any rate, q very small
majority, Of the people ruling with rod o.
iron the rest of their fellow-citizens, and
doing it under the forms prescribed by ths
= Constitution and laws. New York givet
say four hundred thousand Democratic
votes and four hundred and ten thousand
Radical votes but these are SO distribu:
ted as to throw, all the offices and depart.
ments Of the government-executive, legis.
lative, and judicial-into the hands Of the
Radicals. Nearly one-haf of the voters
being Democrats, it would seem to be na.
tural that nearly half Of the congressman
I, from that State should be Democrats but
a the delegation Tin the two Houses) stands
twenty-five to eleven. 1t ought to be shout
sixteen to seventeen-that is, if the voter,
were fairly represented So nil through the
North. There are thousands and hundreds
o Of thousands of voters whose influence il
never felt upon the politics Of the country
The moment they have voted, and their can.
didates been defeated, they are lost sight Of
The Radical legislator, or officer, or con.
gresham, represents only those who voted
a for him. The Radical Senate thinks il
presumption in the President to nominate
Democrats for even ne-fifthI of the Of.
fees, and scorns the idea of confirming
any such nominees. In word, the
Democratic voters of the North, whs
are numbered by the million, are praoti,
cally as much out Of their proper relations
to the Government as are the people Of the
late Confederate States. And all because
msjorities are reckless, blind, wilful, ire
sponsible, and soulless. '2 .ita
Is there any remedy for this state Of
things' II not, republican governme
must be pronounced not simply failure,
but delusion and cbeat.-a humbug,
We have never seen any practicable plan
suggested for giving it's proper weight in