I profess, however, Mr. Chairman, to pay but little respect to any of the examples from the Constitutions of our sister States, quoted on the one side or the other. None of them can be very well understood by us; all of them have been subjected to the test of but a span of time, compared with the life of nations; and all of them are taken from the infancy of our institutions, where our sparse population, the facility of acquiring property, and our agricultural pursuits, secure to us more virtue, and more freedom from temptation, than, in future times, we can reasonably hope to enjoy. Having disposed of the precedents which are supposed to bear on the question in debate, let us consider the two propositions with reference to their practical operation-and in approaching this subject, I must express my deep regret at the appeal which has been made to the spirit of party politics. We are told by the gentleman from Chesterfield, that one of the objects of this Convention is to change the policy of this State in reference to the measures of the General Government; and he has endeavored to alarm the party politician, with the apprehension that his favorite doctrine of State Rights would be endangered, by a transfer of power from the East to the West. Mr. Chairman, has not the subject under consideration intrinsic difficulties enough? Are there not prejudices, naturally, perhaps inseparably belonging to it, which present almost insuperable obstacles to candid discussion, to just and wise conclusions respecting it? Shall we, by invoking the demon of party spirit, multiply these difficulties, inflame these prejudices, bring discord into our ranks, and confusion to our councils? Has it come to this-that public opinion is to be controlled, by retaining political power in the hands of the minority? Do our brethren of the East mean to deny us freedom of opinion respecting the affairs of the General Government? Do they insist upon the privilege of thinking for us, as well as legislating for us? The generous feelings of my friend from Chesterfield, when the excitement of ardent debate has subsided, will diselaim, I am sure, all aid from blind party zeal; and I trust that this Committee will not for a moment subunit to its influence. It has been objected to the resolution of the Select Committee, that by transferring the power to the West, it will endanger the basis of representation in the House of Representatives of the United States; that is to say, that if the basis of white popu lation should be established for the House of Delegates, the people of the West, following the precedent, will insist on arranging the Congressional districts in this State upon the same basis, instead of the basis of Federal numbers, upon which they have heretofore been arranged. I do not believe, Sir, that any such danger exists; the propriety of arranging the Congressional districts upon the Federal basis is so obvious, and has been so long practised, that I do not believe the change would ever be attempted. But if you fear it, provide against it in the Constitution, by an express declaration that the Federal number shall forever govern in arranging these districts. But the gentleman from Fauquier tells us, he does not know that such a provision would be regarded as obligatory; he does not know but that the Constitution of the United States would be appealed to as paramount to the authority of the State Constitution on this subject. Does the gentleman from Fauquier entertain the least doubt that such a provision in our Constitution would be obligatory? Can he doubt that the State Legislature is imperiously bound by the State Constitution, in all things not contrary to the Federal Constitution? And can he find any thing in the Constitution of the United States upon which to rest a doubt, that it is lawful to prescribe that the districts for electing members to Congress, shall be formed upon the basis which the Constitution of the United States itself has established for the whole representation of the State. If we are to be driven from the path of duty by such scepticism, our labours are at an end; for, why prescribe a qualification of suffrage? The gentleman from Fauquier does not know that in this age of metaphysical abstraction, it will be held obligatory upon the people. Why prescribe any basis of representation at all? The gentleman from Fauquier does not know that the Legislature will hold it obligatory upon them. Let us not, Sir, deliver ourselves up to the blind guidance of what we do not know; but rather let us be governed by what we do know or might know, if we would consult our reason. We ought to know, that it is our duty to settle this question of representation without influence from imaginary dangers. We ought to know that the Legislature of Virginia would never incur the risk of losing its whole representation in Congress, by electing all its members in direct violation of the State Constitution; that they would never incur the reproach of mankind by so palpable a violation of duty. We are threatened with another danger, in relation to the Federal Government, from adopting the basis of white population. We are told that if Virginia, the largest Southern State, disregards her slave population, in apportioning representation in the State Legislature, it will weaken the argument, by which the Southern States sup port their right to representation for that property, in the Government of the United States, and may endanger the loss of power, which that representation gives us. It should be recollected, that the power which this population gives us, in the General Government, does not rest upon argument, but upon compact-was not al. lowed us upon principle, but upon compromise-and cannot be taken away from us, but by a total departure from the spirit of the compromise and an amendment of the compact agreed to by three-fourths of the States, in the Union-and the gentleman from Loudoun (Mr. Mercer) has shown how utterly impracticable any such amend. ment would be. But, Sir, this argument, that the slave population was not regarded in the representation of those States where slavery existed, was in full force when the Constitution of the United States was adopted-it was then urged and repelled, The argument is noticed, in the fifty-fourth number of Publius. The fact on which it rests is admitted, and the argument ably repelled by a clear exposition of "the compromising expedient of the Constitution""-" which regards the slave as divested of two-fifths of the man." By adopting the basis of white population, then, we fur. nish to our adversaries no new and fearful argument-but we leave the old refu ted argument in the quiet grave which has covered it for forty years. We come now to consider this question, with reference to the protection of pro perty. By adopting the basis of white population, shall we expose to danger that pe culiar property, in which the Eastern districts have so deep an interest? I am perfectly satisfied, Mr. Chairman, that you would more effectually protect this property by granting us the simple basis, than by imposing on us the compound basis, proposed by the gentleman from Culpeper. Let us attentively and impartially examine this question. The whole danger apprehended, rests upon the supposition, that the basis of white population will carry the power of the Government into the hands of those, who will be, comparatively, but little interested in this property: And if it can be shown, that this supposition is not correct, then it must be admitted, that the danger is unreal. I do not believe that it is correct-and will submit to your candid consideration, the reason of that opinion. I have already shown you, that taking the Auditor's estimates of the present pepu lation, and apportioning the representation according to the whole white population, there would be a majority of eight members in the House of Delegates, on the East of the Blue Ridge; and apportioning it according to the qualified voters, there would probably be a majority of twenty. If the basis of qualified voters should be adepted, there is no definite period of time, within the present century or the next, at which any person could say, with confidence, that this majority of twenty would be over, come, by the increasing population of the West. Indeed, it is very doubtful whether the majority of qualified voters will ever be West of the Blue Ridge. Any one, who will carefully examine this subject, in his closet, with reference to the tables of population; the number of square miles in each district; the quantity of mountain and arable land in each; their capacity to sustain population; their distance from mar, ket; the probable growth of their towns; the pursuits of their people, whether commercial, manufacturing, or agricultural; planting, farming, or grazing; will, I think, be satisfied, that if that time should ever come, it is too distant to have the least influence on our deliberations. The period is not so distant when the majority of the white population, will probably be West of the Blue Ridge; but when that period will arrive, is exceedingly uncer tain. The tables of population show us, that the relative increase of the different districts, heretofore, has been very irregular; and we shall find our calculations of their future increase, in a great measure conjectural. The ratio of increase of the white population, from the year 1790 to the present time, appears by these tables, ta be as follows: In the first district, from 1790 to 1800 Thus you see, 1810 to 1820 1820 to 1829 83 3-4 per cent. 3-4 per cent. 2 that in the Western district, the ratio having decreased between the years 1790, and 1820, from 833 per cent. to 27-appears by the Auditor's estimate to have risen in the last nine years, to 36 1-5 per cent. which is equivalent to 40 per cent. for ten years-this may be owing to some error in the Auditor's estimate, or it may perhaps be accounted for, upon the supposition that emigration from that district diminished, within the last nine years, and migration to it increased. It is certainly, however, not according to the usual course of things, that the ratio of increase in a newly settled country should rise, as the population becomes more dense. You will observe, that the Valley district having remained nearly stationary for ten years from 1800 to 1-10, increased 113 per cent. for the next ten years, and 14 2-5 per cent. for the last nine: that the middle district remaining ne rly stationary for twenty years, from 1800 to 1820, appears to have increased upwards of 5 per cent. for the last nine; and that the tide-water district being nearly stationary for twenty years from 17JJ to 1810, increased in the next ten years 54 per cent., and in the last nine, about 24 per cent. There can be no doubt, that these irregularities proceed in a great degree from the difference of emigration from all the districts in the State, fast diminishing, as the Western States and territories are becoming populous, and Western lands rising in price. The time, therefore, is probably not distant when the increase of our population will be left chiefly to its natural causes, and when the ratio in each district will be nearly the same. I have made a calculation of the probable white population of the several districts, in the year 1850, upon the supposition, that the Auditor's estimates are correct, that the Western district will increase 20 per cent. for the next ten years, and 10 per cent. for the succeeding ten; that the Valley district will increase 10 per cent. for each period of ten years; and that the two Eastern districts will increase 5 per cent. for each period of ten years. The result of this calculation is, that in the year 1850, the white population of the Western district, would be about 234,000-that of the Valley 167,000 of the middle district 217,000-and the tide-water district 178,000-giving to the West of the Blue Ridge, about 406,000, and to the East, about 395,000. This I ain persuaded is a calculation more liberal to the West than they are entitled to, and it results in giving them a small majority of white population in 1850. From thenceforward they can have no reason to expect that their population would increase more rapidly than that of the East. Look for a moment at the comparative extent of the two districts, and at some of the causes which would affect the increase of their population. The two districts West of the Blue Ridge, contain 38,896 square miles:-the two East of the Ridge, contain 26,774 square miles. Considering the vast extent of mountains beyond the Blue Ridge, it would be giving to the West a most liberal estimate of its arable lands, to suppose them equal in quality to the arable lands East of the mountains. Reflect, then, on the circumstance, that the whole lands of the East must be always employed in planting and farming, while a very large proportion of those of the West, the whole extens ve district from the North Mountain to the Western boundary, with the exception only of those narrow valleys which lie convenient to the navigable waters, must for ages to come, be in the hands of the grazier :-recollect too, that if we should ever have large towns and extensive manufactories, they will seek the inarts of foreign commerce, and probably be found about the falls of the Eastern rivers-and I think you will find strong reason to believe, that the Eastern side of the mountain will always mintain a greater population than the West, and can never be much inferior to it in white population. I have heard it said, that the Eastern districts contain already, nearly as much population as they could sustain. Nothing can be more erroneous. The middle district, counting all its inhabitants, has a population of about twenty-eight, and the tidewater district, a population of about thirty-two, to the square mile. Compare this with the population of older countries. In 1811, Scotland had a population of about sixty-four-Wales, seventy-nine-England, one hundred and ninety-six, to the square mile-France, about the beginning of this century, had a population of one hundred and seventy-nine, to the square mile. Can any one doubt, that the country between the Blue Ridge and the ocean, is capable of sustaining more population than Scotland or Wales:-and can any good reason be assigned, why it may not be as populous as England or France ? If I am right in my estimate of the future progress of white population, and we can be satisfied, that in the course of twenty years, there will be a few populous coun ties beyond the mountains, essentially slave-holding counties, having a kindred interest with the East, in the good governinent of that property, and its exeniption from unjust burthens, then you have assurance that the basis of white population will not carry the power of the Government, into unfriendly hands. Referring again to our tables, we find that the tide of slave population has been setting strongly to the West, and that it is now swelled to its greatest height, at the very base of the Blue Ridge: That in due time, it will find its level through the passes of that mountain, there can be little reason to doubt. We have seen by how much the slave population exceeds the white population, in the two Eastern districts, and by how much it falls short, in the two Western. Let us now see what has been the ratio of increase, from 1790, to the present time. It stands thus: In the first district, from 1790 to 1800-138 per cent. In the second district, from 1790 to 1800-40 1-2 per cent. 1800 to 1810-31 1-4 per cent. In the third district, from 1790 to 1800-2 1-2 per cent. 1800 to 1810-20 3-4 per cent. In the fourth district, from 1790 to 1800-6 1-4 per cent. 1500 to 1810-4 per cent. 1:10 to 20-1 1-4 per cent. 1820 to 1829-loss of 13-120 of one per cent. You find then, that, while in the tide-water district the slave population is rather decreasing, it is increasing in the middle district by a much smaller ratio than in the Valley and the Western districts. You perceive too, until within the last nine years, the increase in the Valley and Western district has been very rapid. A strong reason why, within that time, the increase has not been so great in those districts, may be found in the depressed prices of agricultural products. For the last ten or twelve years, the products of the farming districts have scarcely been of value sufficient to justify their transportation to distant markets. In consequence of this, farmers of the Valley, and no doubt of other Western districts, have become graziers, and the labour of slaves has been less in demand. The price of tobacco has been better sustained than the price of other agricultural products-it better bears the expense of transportation to market; and this has kept up the demand for the labour of slaves, in the planting districts of the middle country. This too, is fostering the culture of tobacco in some of the Valley counties, where it is grown of fine quality, and to much advantage; and will, no doubt, extend its culture very considerably in the Western districts. As the demand for slaves in the Southern States of the Union diminishes, and their laws restraining the importation of them, become more rigid-as the tobacco lands of the middle district decrease, and the tobacco culture in the Western districts is extended; and as the products of the farming districts shall become more valuable; the demand for the labour of slaves will diminish in the middle districts, and increase in the Western; the price of them will become lower, the Western man will be more able to purchase them, and the Western country will be sure to possess them, in large numbers. In Rockbridge, where the culture of tobacco has been lately introduced, the slave population has increased about 33 1-3 per cent, in the last nine years, and in Botetourt, where the plant has been longer and more extensively cultivated, the slave population has increased more than an hundred per cent in the same time. These two counties together, have a white population of 20,927, and slave population of 7,592. It cannot be doubted, that in twenty years, they will be essentially slave-holding counties; and their white population, added to that of the East, in the year 1850, will cast the balance of power decidedly in its favour But many other counties of the West, and among them, the rich and populous counties of Frederick and Jefferson, under the influence of the causes I have referred to, must, in the course of twenty years, have so strong an interest in the slave population, as to insure their co-operation in its protection. Nearly one-third of the population of these two counties is, at this time, slaves. Their aggregate white population is upwards of 27,000; their aggregate slaves, upwards of 11,000. These are some of the reasons which have satisfied my mind, that the power of the Government, under the influence of the basis of white population, will abide with the slave-holders. But, suppose I should be mistaken; suppose the ratio of white and slave population to continue as it is, and that the basis of white population would transfer the power of the Government to the West, would you secure protection to the interests in the slave property, by rejecting this basis, and imposing on us the compound basis? I think not. If by conceding to the Western people, a right which has been so long, and, as they think, so injuriously withheld from them, by this manifestation of generous confidence in then, by thus acknowledging them really as brethren, equal with you in right, you could not inspire a feeling of affection and sentiment of justice, on which some reliance might be placed; if you could not trust to their general though deep interest, in maintaining the rights of property, and the peace and good order of society; if you could not accept the justice of your own Government, your own forbearance to invade their property for more than fifty years, as evidence, that they too will govern justly, and will respect your property; if you must act upon the distrust, which the known frailty of human nature prompts, upon the apprehension, that large masses of men, acting together, cannot resist the temptation of large masses of property, exposed to their power, then, there are other considerations which deserve your most serious attention. Let it be once openly avowed and adopted as a principle of your Constitution, that the price which the Western people must pay for the protection of your slaves, is the surrender of their power in the Government, and you render that property hateful to them in the extreme, and hold out to them the strongest of all possible temptations to make constant war upon it, to render it of no value to you, and to induce you to part with it. A large district of your country, marked out by a geographical line, containing a large minority of the freemen of the country, and expected soon to contain the majority; having a large representation in both branches of your Legislature, where its voice can be constantly heard, and its complaints will be perpetually poured forth; this district is to be placed under the ban of the Empire, and its people to be told, that your slaves exclude them from the pale of authority. I will not say, you will madden them to acts of violence or disloyalty, by such a measure-1 believe it not-the people of the West, though zealous and persevering in pursuit of their rights, are in general an industrious and contented people, as obedient to the law, as prudent and as loyal as any people under the sun. But will you not make them zealots on that subject, on which your right of property depends, and which is so intimately connected with your domestic peace? Will you not drive them to seek allies among your own people, associates in the measures, which are necessary to remove the obstacle that stands in their road to power? Unless I am deceived, very grossly deceived, Mr. Chairman, they would find many and ardent auxiliaries, in the bosom of your own society. How many are there, who owning none of this property, and doomed to the laborious offices of life, feel a sort of degradation in being compelled to perform them in common with the slave, and a sentiment of envy towards their owners? How many who professing conscientious scruples, are even now continually propagating doctrines, which tend to insubordination? Remember too, Sir, that the Right of Suffrage will be extended. How many of this class of auxiliaries, will be brought to the polls by this extension, remains yet to be known. But I put it to the sober judgment of the Eastern Statesman to say, whether he can feel security against the combined action of the whole Western country, and all the discontented of the East, when you shall have established the compound basis, and materially extended the Right of Suffrage? Sir, nothing in my estimation cau be more unwise, or threaten more serious mischief, than the united operation of these two causes. You cannot with safety extend the Right of Suffrage materially, and force upon us the compound basis. But, if the evil I have hinted at should not follow, what then? Will the people of the West sit down tamely under the privation of even a portion of the power which they now enjoy? Will the majority of the freemen of the country, who share the political power, acquiesce in the rule of the minority, under the persua sion that while the minority would have virtue and wisdom enough to protect the property and secure all the rights of the majority, that majority could not be trusted with power over the property of the minority? This is impossible. A Constitution founded upon such a principle would not last ten years. There would be no rebellion, no civil war, no blood-shed. The peaceful remedy is in the hands of the people, and they will employ it. You do not mean to disavow the doctrine, that the majority may reform the Constitution. You have already, by an unanimous vote, sanctioned this doctrine in agreeing to the resolution, that the Bill of Rights required no alteration. Your new Constitution then is to be sent forth, with a proscription against the majority, and with an invitation to the majority to alter, reform or abolish. Will not this invitation be most certainly accepted? The qualified voters, with the increased power which the extension of the Right of Suffrage will give them, will make themselves heard at the polls, and heard in your halls of legislation. Do not flatter yourself. Sir, that your majorities in the Legislature can resist the petitions of a dreaded majority, earnestly pressed, and long persevered in. Your new voters will sympathise with them and not with you-they will owe their power principally to the people of the West, and they will not regard your power as necessary to their protection. If your own constituents do not take part against you, nevertheless, you will be compelled to yield, as the Legislature has heretofore yielded to the force of public opinion-and another Convention will be called to do that which you now refuse do. The surrender of your power may then come too late, to allay the an mosities which the protracted controversy will have inflamed, heal dissention, soothe |