The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-04-01
A Defiance


The Whig declares that the State VIII DC
r.6,.tr;cted for circuit courts notwitli-
standing the failure Of the House blu IN
the seus,c on Thursday. II adds
"There never would have been ReAd-
s,,~tsr marty. A Rekdjuster victory, heau-
s,,stcr tinted States senator, Rcai1uster
1svernor. nor reimbursement OF the state
slebt. II these had depended for their nap.
pcninc or existence upon certain men anu
heir folly. No! But all these nave come
IN mass. nevertheless; and 50 VIII the re-
Arrangement Of the circuit courts OF the
aafe This Encouragement. with It's con-
ssuueut removal OF Funder partisans from
r,ossession OF our judiciary, Is necessary
A the government OF Virginia by her peo-
ME: and, by the Eternal, 1t will be done IL
We suppose that Messrs. HALE, NEW
MERRY. WILLIAMS, and LYBRooK are the
.eertain men" whose folly the Wig
speaks Of. But Just how the State Is to be
redisricied without their consent, we Tor
enc cannot imagine. Nor can we guess
what sort Of influence can be brought 10
hear upon those men which will induce
them 20 vote differently from the way In
which they voted on Thursday. They had
fully considered the subject, and had had
The benefit Of all the light which either side
could throw upon the subject; and yet
they declined TO declare by Tn 'ir votes
that constitutional provision authorizing
a ARRANGEMENT ofthe judicial circuits au'
fborizes the General Assembly to leSishte
out OF Office every two years judges eiec'eo
soreigbt years. OF course, II the Resdjusiers
can turn out all the judges this year. the
Democrats will have the same power Two
years hence il they then control the General
Assembly, as they almost certainly VIII;
and then two years afterwards the Repub-
licans can again turn out all the judges, II
they should control the Legislature. But
that Is not all. II the Legislature has the
power 10 do such an act al all, 1t has the
power to redistrict the State twice or OIL
tener of every session Of the Legislature.
II, contending against minority OF
more than two ffths In the Senate, and
against minority Of more than third in
The House Of Delegates, the Readiusters
can now frame, introduce, and pass such
bill as the Whiq threatens will be passed,
then they will prove themselves to be the
most skilful of parliamentary strategists !;
for we cannot understand how any bill can
be forced through the House OF Dele
gates by majority constituting less
than two thirds of the members present,
when Rule 65tb expressly provides that
1.-TWO thirds Of the members present shall
be required TO order the main question"
As We have said, the Readiusters have not
two thirds OF the members, and therefore
can never order the main question az long
rs the Democrats choose to vote against the
motion 10 order il, there being 40 Demo-
Gratis to 60 Roadjusters in the House, and
81 being two thirds. Surely there ought
not 10 be any Democrats absent or pair
ed; because when a majority al two
thirds is required to pass a party measure,
one Democratic vote Is equal to two Reid
juster votes, and the Democrat who pairs
gives in effect two votes for one. For ex-
ample, il the House is full, and there are
90 Roadiusters and 40 Democrats present,
the latter cannot possibly carry any mea-
sure or motion which requires a majority
81 two thirds; whereas, il there were alb
sent 20 Democrats and 20 Roadjusters, the
latter would have 40 members present out
OF 60, and the Democrats only %; or, in
other words, the absence Of an equal num-
Der Of Democrats and Readiusters would
in the case supposed give to the latter a
majority OF two thirds. This point should
not be overlooked by the Democrats when
pairs are proposed.
In the Senate, q majority can order the
previous question; but that body also has
rules which give to the large minority Of
more than two fiiths power to prevent the
introduction and passage at this late day Of
any such bill as the one which was On
Thursday condemned by the vote OF the
Senate.
1t Is possible that we have over-cstimated
the power Of the minority; or the Demo
Gratis In the two houses may have good rea-
sons for not using the power guaranteed to
them by the rules. We mean to say only
that with our little knowledge OF the sub
iect, to us it appears simply impossible that
the threat OF the Wing can he made good il
the Democrats choose TO make stand in
defence OF the constitutional courts OF the
Commonwealth.