The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-03-13

barians and thieves, and Philadelphia invite
South Carolina to join her in the cenlennla
of liberty and independence F.! .,...
General Assembly Of Virginia.
THURSDAY, March IL, 1874.
SENATE.
The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in the chair.
PRAYER by Rev. DR.. Minpigerode.
The Senate concurred in the action OF tn
House relative to the appointment Of a com
mittce to consider certain special matter
relating to the bonds, &C., exchanged undc
the funding bill.
LAID BEFORE THE SENATE.
The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate
communication from the Auditor OF Puo,i'
Accounts in response to resolution Oh Tux
Senate calling for information as 10 tue mum
her of lunatics confined in the seVerai !unat't
asylums W hose estates are sllncIent 10 lllee'
the expenses of their care ana maintenance
The Auditor says that having no lnior
nation upon the subject himself he address
ed inouIries to the superintendent of the
AsylrIms and received the following Informal
tion.-Wescrn Lunatic Asylum: "No pa
ticnt in this Institution supported at the
Duhlic expense who is not entitled to such
sunnort under existing laws" Eastern Lu.
natic ASYLUM "There are eight patients
who have estates sufficient to meet the ex,
peuses of their care and maintenance, anu
one patient whose expenses are about one
half paid
The communication was laid on the table
opd nrfIprp6 to bp Drintel ......
THE PETERSBURG CHARTER VETOED.
The PRESIDENT laid before the Senate q
communication from the Governor, as fol-
lows: ......-.- s..
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.
GovERNoR's OFFICE,
RICHMOND, 18th March, 1874. }
To the Honorable The Senate:
With reluctance am constrained by my
convictions Of constitutional duty to dis.
sent for the first time from the action of the
General Assembly. disapprove the bill
entitled San act to provide charter for the
city of Petersburg" and now return it with
my objections to the house in which it ORR
ginated. ------~.-.-.--.--
The provisions of the bill are, In my
opinion, such as would subvert the princi-
piles of popular government In their applica-
ton to the municipality of Petersburg. Its
enforcement would withdraw from the SUIT
fragans of that city great proportion of the
power to control It's government, and lodge
it in the hands of appointees to be created by
legislative act. 1t proposes to transfer such
power from the people to board Of commits
sioners deriving their authority solely from
the bill itself. While the bill spares the ex-
istence of the usual city offices, it strips many
of them Of most important and essential
functions, and dwarfs them into insignifi-
canoe. The Board Is proposed to be made
one Of the permanent institutions of the city.
Besides exercising many other powers, it is
to appoint and govern all officers, police
men, and patrolmen of the police depart
menr, and the chief engineer and assistants
of the fire department; to dispense other
and extensive official patronage; to disburse
public moneys through its own orders drawn
directly upon the city treasury, and substan-
tally to dominate the administration Of the
city government. Most of the city officers
would necessarily be the dependents as well
as subordnateS of the Board Of Commits
sioners, for even their salaries are to be fixed
or. In other words, increased or cut down at
the bidding or caprice Of the Board. Such
q measure seems to me conspicuous in
stance of government being instituted for
people without and against their consent.
Waving discussion of the questions, whe-
Their or not the bill infriuges the particular
clauses of the Constitution which provide
for the government OF cities and towns; and
whether or not the trainers of that lnstru-
ment, hostile as they were to the now pre-
n
tended to empower their own partisans to
govern all cities and towns in disregard OF
the popular will; yet, looking beyond such
INQUIRIES to the fundamental principles IN.
derlylng all free government, am met by
objections to the bill which impress me as
The great cornerstone on which republic
eau liberty rests is the principle that all 60
vernment derives its just powers from the
consent of the governed. This fundamental
truth, conceived and promulgated by the
illustrious minds Virginia gave to
the country in its infancy, is deeper
and more sacred than constitutions,
controls their construction, and checks
and confines legislative power. 1t con.
stitutes great Evolutionary article
of liberty, which will be held sacred as long
as ves:ige of free government shall remain.
1t cannot be maintained that the Legislature
may exercise at its discretion any and all
such powers az are not delegated to the
Federal Government and not expressly pro.
hibited by the terms OF our own Constitu.
ton. Neither the Legislature nor the Gov
eminent is sovereign. Sovereignty resides
alone and inseparably with the people, and
legislators have no arbitrary power. "rhey
are the trustees and not the owners of the
estate. The iee.simple is in the people
They 1.-THE trustees) cannot alienate-they
cannot waste" While the Legislature may
be said to be supreme within its allotted
sphere, yet its supremacy is limited and
ruled by the fundamental and indefeasible
principles of right and justice commonly
called the bill of rights, which control MOI
only legislatures and governments, bu
constitutions. Among the foremost o.
these the just right of self-government per
meates the whole people, extends to every
member OF the body polite, and must guide
and control US 10 organizing local govern
ment for particular subdivisions OF the com
munity as we'll rs in eDactiDg general law:
for the whole Commonwealth. TO infrac
the least Of the articles of right Is to destroy
the sanctity of the whole. We cannot in
wade the liberties of single city or a single
citizen without breaking down the mum
ments which secure the rights, Of all. In The
present unsettled state Of our political rela
tons we cannot but hold TO this fundamen
tai right as the sheetanchor Of our safety
The complete political and material restora
ton of our State depends upon her undaunt
ed adherence to the principles and traditions
of Jetersonian republlcanism which she hal
ever maintained. Unmoved by her mlsfor
tunes, and standing amid the wreck Of hel