Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-02

: on carth Tor u Register or the isnns
Office? II has been more than fort,
! years, yea. more than sixty years, sine
there has been any vacant public land Il
Virginia. Now that we have funded tn
} century bonds. what use on earth have
| we for the office OF Second Auditor? Ans
above all. what use have we for the sine
cure office Of Railroad Commissioner, wh'
} Is entirely paid by the railroads? / sa,
, nothing against Major James c. Hill, thu
incumbent. He Is q gentleman In ever,
sense. and Is well qualified. but the Law
under which he acts Is the veriest farce
that could be imagined. Let any mar
read IL. 1t Is so grotesque as TO be-
amusing. What good has II ever done
the people? What good can 1t do? A
combination OF railroad presidents, IL they
would sit down and study for week,
could not make better law for railroads
The idea Of having the Commissioner paid
by the railroads Is wholly wrong upon
principle To those who wish TO study
this subject intelligently, ] refer them to
the railroad laws OF Massachusetts
which are a model of perspicuity and real
benefit to the people. That very dlstin-
guished and rather uppish individual,
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, has some
ground In his writings for the covert
sneers he makes at the present inhab-
tants OF Virginia I'm comparison with the
past generation. His satire hurts, be-
cause il is I'm part true.
But coming back TO my subject let me
| proceed with my examination. In addi-
| ton to cutting down our expenses. we i'm
| peratively need new Constitution be-
cause we want the right OF suffrage
changed. 1t should be so changed that
| no man in Virginia can vote unless he
can read the Virginia Constitution. or
! unless he pays taxes on 500 worth OF
| property. personal or real. This Is all
we want. and is liberal. just. and right.
| Confederate soldiers should be except
| ed from the operation Of this clause.
| 1t Is needless to descant upon the i'm
mense benefit which will arise from the
operation OF this clause. II must occur
at once 10 the mind OF every rejecting
man. AS the law now stands. the real
people OF Virginia are not I'm office. They
are unwilling to submit to the degrade
ton and expense OF a political canvass
Who wants to have thrust before him four
lists of voters? First. the good second,
doubtful third. purchasable whites;
fourth, purchasable blacks. l am writing
plainly under my own signature, and in
teliligent people know what | state Is
true. The effect of the present system Of
voting has been TO degrade the official
standard and many men hold and have
held office under IL who without It,
would forever have lived i'm the obscurity
which is their proper domain. | do not
mean to say anything against the present
Legislature. which is a good body Of men.
j sympathize with them. for they are be-
tween "the devil and the deep sea-" and
many a political graveyard is opening for
them i'm spite of their best efforts. Let
us come back again to the new Consti-
tuition. Another clause which We impe-
ratively need is the election of all judges
by the people and the shortening Of their |
terms of office. With some two or three !
exceptions. in all the States of this |
Union the judges are elected by the |
people, and ii is right 1t is impossible |
to imagine worse manner of electing |
them than by the Legislature. 1t is |
known to all lawyers that the best judges |
have always been elected by the people. |
The late Judge e. c. Burks was. per-
haps, the most gifted and eminent lawyer |
ever raised in America, with the single |
exception Of Chief-Justice John Marshall,
and all his life he advocated the election /
of judges by the people l may say Of
him, as Washington Irving said of oliver
Goldsmith, 'He wrote nothing which did
not have the CLEAN of the gold and the
glitter of the diamond" And | say of |
him again, mil tetigit quod non orna-
Wit" The election of judges by the peo-
pie has passed from the domain of eX-
pertinent. We tried II in Virginia before
the war WIN Sucn results as IudhlnB VIII
liam ]. Robertson. the peerless and gifted
lawyer. who is the Nestor of the Vir-
ginia Bar, a member Of the Supreme
Court Of Appeals of Virginia, and Hunter
III. Marshall a circuit judge. Where can
their superiors be found? There is again
another clause of deep and commanding
importance. IL is a change in the school
laws so as to give the money Of the
white people exclusively to the education
Ill IL.
negroes exclusively to the education Of
negro children. / advocate with all my
heart the school system with the fore
going important change. Without raising
the taxes a single dollar we can by this
means enlarge white schools; give them
better teachers. and make the system far
more effective. We have done our full
duty to the negro i'm this respect. We
have paid millions of dollars for his edu
cation in the past thirty years: having
become a citizen he must bear the bur-
dens Of civilization. These are some Of
the imperative reforms that are needed
II will be seen that II is impossible for
them to be accomplished by legislative
/ heard the eloquent and
distinguished senator, Mr.. Eugene With
ars when / served I'm the Legislature
with him, make an unanswerable address
In favor Of a new Constitution. / upheld
effort. He is right. You might as well
attempt Ito dam up James river with bull
'ushes" as to attempt TO successfully
)atch the Underwood Constitution by
legislative amendments. There is a feel
ng of unrest in the land upon which
thoughtful men should carefully reflect. ,
Il is confined to no one section, but per-
,ades the whole State. II will soon take
orm in action. The grand old Demo-
ratio party can now guide II if 1t will,
,ut delay is dangerous. There is one I
more clause that should be added to the :
lew Constitution. The maximum limit I
# taxes for State purposes should never
xceed so cents on the 800, and the
county levy. for county purposes. should
lot be permitted to exceed the State
evy. These constitutional limits would :
e a great safeguard. 1t seems to me
hat these suggestions deserve the con- {
Iteration of prudent and thoughtful c
men. l am satisfied that if put into effect, '
hey will save the State more than .
200 900 a year and give us a better gov
not only more economical, but I
he administration will be better than
n the past. 1t will put us forward at
East ten years in progress. There APP
ears to be no escape from the cOncu-
ion that there must be constitutional Y
invention. CAMM PATERSON.
Place. Buckingham county,
Va, February 1, 1898
Where W Retrench. =
o the Editor of tne Dispatch:
VIII you please say to the Legislature OF