Southern banner. (Athens, Ga.) 1832-1872, October 05, 1833, Image 1

Previous Issue Next Issue

Clip Visible Area View Page Text View PDF

Newspaper Page Text(fThe ferment of t free, is preferable to the torpor of a despotic, Government,” VOL. II. ATHENS, GEORGIA, OCTOBER 5, 1833. NO. 29. llottvn . From “ Potms by II. F. Oould." MARY DOW. “ Como in, little stranger,” I said, As she tnppc! at my half open door; ■While the blanket pinned over her head, Just reached to the basket she bore. A look full of innocence fell From her modest and pretty blue eye, And she said, “ I have matches to sell, And hope you arc willing to buy. •' A penny a bunch is the price ; I think you’ll not tiiui it too much ; They’re tied up so even and nice, And ready to light with a touch.” I asked, “ what’s your name little girl ?” “ ’Tis Mary," she said, “ Mary Dow,” And carlessly tossed off a curl That played o’er her delicate brow’. “ My father was lost in the deep— The ship never got to the shore— My mother is sad, and will weep, When she hears the wind blow and sea roar— “She sits there at home without food. Reside onr poor sick Willie’s bed ; She paid all her money for wood. And so I sell matches for bread. “ Eor every time that she tries, , Soino things she’d he prid for, to make. And lays down the baby, it cries, And that makes my sick brother wake. “ I’d go to tho yard and get chips. Dot thru it will make me so sad ; To sea men there building ships, And tiiiuk they had made one so bad. “ I’ve ono ol'.cr gown, and with care, Wc think it may decently pass, With my honnett that’s putupto wear To Meeting and Sunday-School class. “ I love to go there, where I’am taught Of One, who’s so wise and so good ; He knows every action and thought, And gives e’en the raven his food. “ For lie, I am sure who can take Such fatherly care of a bird, Will never forget nor forsake Tho children who trust in his word. “ And now, if I only can sell The matches I brought out to-day, • I think I shall do very well. Ami mother’ll rejoice at the pay.” “ Fly homo little bird,” then I thou "lit, “ Fly home with jdy to your nest,” For I took all the matches she brought— And Mary may tell you the rest. H. F. G. jpauscrUrtU?*. at work to find “ n hole in a’ our coats.” It will do us good. We are, as a nation, much too expansive in our benevolence. We are a people of cosmopolities. It may be laid down as a rule, that our country should be our first love—that her history, her heroes, her statesmen, her writers, her institutions, her merits—ay, and even her faults, should have the first place iu our hearts. Where the centre of our affections is not sound, the circumference must be defective. The man who leaves the shores of his native land for objects of pride and admiration, is not worthy of the title of American. This disposition has been for some time on the increase. Ever}’ tiling native has become vulgar. Our, aris tocracy are wild in their admiration of for eign law’s, foreign literature, foreign talent, foreign sentiment, and foreign manners.— They are Englishmen in America.; and no- thing that has its birth this side the Atlantic, is regarded without sneering and contempt. This class is, we are sorry to say it, the ma jority in our cities: and we rejoice when we jtco their foreign airs ridiculed, and their lofty pretensions caricatured. Let the English tourists make free use of the lash—let them lay bare our silly mimicry of foreign man ners, and our contemptible idolatry of every thing English, and they will confer upon us real and permanent benefit. Ilolfticftl. From the Philadelphia Daily Intelligencer. ENGLISH TOURISTS. We have often heard it asked, « Why is it that English tourists cannot speak truth of this country ? The solution of this mystery is by no means difficult. All tilings consid ered, we are only surprised that they handle us so tenderly. With whom should John Hull—with all iiis national pride and national prejudice, his indomitable selfishness, nndcon- stitution.il habit of grumbling—be in so ill an humor, as with Brother Jonathan ? In manufactures, who has crippled him ? Brother Jonathan. In commerce, who has rivalled him'? Brother Jonathan. In war, who lias grappled with his conquest Hushed legions, breast to breast, and retired from the field his equal—n ay, his victor 1 Brother Jonathan. Upon the ocean, who has met him “ on his field of fame,” wrested the boasted « sea scep tre from his grasp, and gave him one of the lessons he had so long been giving others ? Brother Jonathan. Who has been, for the last ten years, teaching him his A B C’s in political philosophy—forcing down his throat, like a nurse feeds her infant, our “notions ” of government? Why the same “tin ped lar”—“wooden nutmeg manufacturer”— “ long-headed,” “ drawling-toned,” “ barba rian,” Brother Jonathan! The American eagle flaps its triumphant wings over many a vallev once red wih the banners of Britain ; and the humble «striped hunting" floats over more than one gallant ship that bore, in for mer times, another ensign. We have done more than allied Europe could effect to hum ble the pretensions, thwart the ambition, mor- i tify the pride, reform the morals, and correct . the manners of John Bull, and yet we are so unreasonable as to expect him to be sweet- tempered ! It is not at all marvellous that the old cod ger feels a little sore, when after, looking " nd expressive face. Female Education.—Let your first care be to give your little girls a good physical ed ucation. Let their early years be passed, if possible, in the country, gathering flowers in the fields, and partaking of all the free exer cises in which they delight. When they groiv older, do not condemn them to sit eight listless hours a day over their books, their work, their maps, and their music. Be as sured that half the number of hours passed in real attention to well-ordered studies will make them more accomplished and more agree able companions than those commonly are who have been most elaborately finished, in the modern acceptation of the term. The sys terns by which young ladies are taught to move their limbs according to the rules of art, to come into a room with studied diffidence, and to step into a a carriage with measured action and premeditated grace, are only cal culated to ke$p the degrading idea perpetu ally present, that they are preparing for the great market of the world. Real elegance of demeanour springs from the mind ; fash ionable schools do but teach its imitation, whilst their rules forbid to be ingenuous.— Philosophers never conceived the idea of so perfect a vacuum as is found to exist in the minds of young women supposed to have fin ished their education in such establishments. If they marry husbands as uninformed as themselves, they fall into habits of insignifi cance without much pain; if they marry per sons more accomplished, they can retain no hold of their affections. Hence many mat rimonial miseries, in the midst of which the wife finds it a consolation, to be always com plaining of her health and n ined nerves. In the education of young women we would say —let them be secured from all the trappings iuuil jty. and manacles of such a system : let them partake of every active exercise not absolute ly unfemininc, and trust to their being able to get into or out of a carriage with a light and graceful step, which no drilling can accom plish. Let them rise early and retire early to rest, and trust that their beauty Will not need to be coined into artificial srnfles in or der to secure a welcome, wiiatever room they enter. Let them ride, walk, run, dance, in the open air. A LETTER FROM RICHARD H. WILDE, Esq. To a gentleman of the Up Country on the .pro posed amendment of the Constitution. Augusta, 21st Sept. 1833. Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure to ac knowledge the receipt of your letter, which my engagements have hitherto prevented me from answering. Be pleased to accept my thanks for the many expressions of good will it contains; to deny a request thus urged would make me undeserving of them. It cannot have escaped you, that comply, ing may subject me to much misrepresentation and obloquy; but these never have and never will deter me from any public duty, or make me willing, in a good cause, to be njore care ful of myself than my best friends desire. Not to have formed some opinion on a matter of such moment, would prove me incapable of exercising the ordinary privileges of a free man. Entertaining one which I did not dare to avow, would prove me unworthy of them. The value and influence of that opinion you greatly overrate. These will depend solely on the reasons which support it. For its integrity my friends will require, and my opponents perhaps accept, no voucher; the indifferent may suppose it in some degree Wealth, merely as such, has no preten sions. Its strongest claim is the presumptive, evidence it affords of good sense aud integri ty. But if you reject the direct test, why admit a presumption ? Wealth, considered as indicative of education' and morality, is de- lusive; for the rich are often worse and sillier than the poor; and besides, if wealth only is to be regarded, an Aristocracy,.not a Repub lic, would be founded. Wealth and numbers combined have been supposed to possess numerous advantages. The union of nearly all the strength, with most of the wisdom o£ the community—of them who fight the battles, with those who pay the taxes—of all in short, ''who have a stake in the country, is at least plausible. The propriety of requiring this stake, and the justice of excluding mere vagrants, seems to be recognized by the most popular institu tions ; since the payment of some tax, how. ever small, and a fixed residence for some time, however short, are generally among the legal qualifications of a voter. The practical difficulty of settling and main taining a direct property qualification, in a Representative Republic is very great indeed. If a large number of persons are excluded, the danger and discontent are serious ; if small one, the advantage is rifling. The cause of the excluded, is’ espoused by the class of the priviledged next to them, and sooner or later the barrier is broken down. This is proved by the fact, that the direct guaranteed, by the absence of all personal interest, and the pledge of my past political! property qualification, purely as such, which formerly existed in a great many States, has life. You do me no more than justice in believ ing that with me politics are not a trade. I should make a bad demagogue* and a worse sycophant, being unable to endure the prac tices of either. For politics as a science— for the noble wisdom of which Themistocles taxes by the Constitution of the United States, i ceived as ev idence of that stake ; or, that the were designed to be uniform, and the exact ownership of property other than freehold, over his ignorant, slavish, starving, and re bellious millions, after hearing the flattery of the slave mingle with the maledictions of the traitor, after marking the blaze of conflag. rated cities, and listening to the din of all Ire land in insurrection—he casts a sheep’s eye upon our vales, flowing with milk and honey, and crowded with a free, happy, independent, and virtuous people. No wonder he bawls out eo lustily, “ sour grapes—sour grapes!" and would persuade the world that we are not free, though we seem to be, and not hap py, though we think ourselves so. No mat ter. The old fellow is rather to be pitied than condemned ; and so long as we are con tented with our lot, we may surely leave him to the undisturbed possession of bis ancient and valued privilege—grumbling. By the way, we are not sorry that the tribe of English scribblers bttve set themselves given way in all, or nearly all. Its resistance is but that of a dyke of sand against the tor rent ; for in a Republic the tendency to cor ruption, inherent in all things mortal, is to wards democracy—which leads to anarchy, and that to despotism. Conceding, however, boasted, when he said he could make a small I the general impossibility of permanently re town a great city—I have a heart-felt rever- taming in a Republic, the direct property ence; for politics miscalled—the struggles of qualification, purely as such, let us enquire men—the arts of popularity and faction—a I whether the indirect or modified property profound and undisguised contempt. Protest- qualification, not of individuals, but of masses, ing then, that I do not set myself up as a may not be recommended by some accidents teacher of that knowledge, of which I am yet of time, place, or circumstances, which give but a student; that I claim no exception from I to particular species of property ou especial the ordinary sources of error and delusion; I claim, either in justice or in policy, am unambitious of controversial distinction, I The two, now settig up that claim, are land and shall leave my arguments to their assail-1 and slaves; and I propose presently to re- ants, should they merit any, without defence ma rk, on the respective pretensions ofterrito or reply, I will give you the opinion you ask, I r y servitude. The remaining basis to and the reasons on which it is founded. 1 jj e considered then, are, numbers merely; Should they assist your neighbors m making I md nura bers j n connexioa with s i aV es and up their own, 1 shall be satisfied. 1 sur f aee . If numbers merely should be as- It is agreed on all hands, that a pure demo-1 sumed as the most just, equal and politic ba- cracy is adapted ouly to a single city, or at sis 0 f representation, vre -are not P eV en yet most a very limited territory. Representa- f ree f rom difficulty. Who shall be enumer- tive Republics arc capable of much greater ^ted ? Men capable of bearing arms ? Men extension, and less liable to the paroxysms of I 0 f a g es 7 Qr women and children also 1* popular commotion. From the incorporation You do not propoS e to let the latter vote— of the representative principle into popular gov- why then enumerate them? You number ernrnents, its salutary limitations have been those who are not tQ vote, that you may give problems deeply interesUng to every friend t ^ e vo t C8 to which they would be entitled, on of freedom. The principle basis of Rcpre-1 ^ principle of numbers, to others. Nor is sentation practicable, or believed to be prac- this all. If the share of political power ar. tieable^ may perhaps, bo classed thus: ising from women and children, were to be 1. 1 he intelligence and virtue ot the com-1 exerc jg et j q, y their husbands and fathers, . there might be more reason in it. But on the 2. Its numbers simply, or mere physical I contrary> it goes into the mass, and the man k r f c * T .. ... ,, . , without a child has as large a shave of it, 3. Its wealth as indicated by taxation, and as he who has a dozen. The principle of supposed itself indicative of knowledge and nurabers> therefore, is no where strictly fol- virtue. .... lowed out, and the embarrasinent is increas- 4. Numbers and wealth combined; intend- ed by the peculiarity of our population. We ed to unite strength with wisdom. have a g reat many slaves. They are men Each ot these has its modifications, and jj bo ourselves, but they are property also.— each its advantages and disadvantages. The 0ur state is part of a Fedcra i systetn . i n Encourage Ihe merry, and i„,K>. | ~ cent diversions in which the young delight: let them, under proper guidance, explore eve- ty hill aud valley let them plant and cultivate the garden, and make hay when the summer sun shines, and surmount all dread of a show er oi' rain or the boisterous wind : and, above all, let them take no medicine except when the doctor orders it. The demons of hyste ria and melancholy might hover over a group of young ladies so brought up: but they would not find one of them upon whom they could exercise any power.—Foreign Quar terly Review. Thplendid Thfeaker.—The Editor of the Witness, published in Middletown(Conn-) illnaturedly publishes at full length the only speech of an aspiring member of the legisla ture,during three years. He says the reader must < imagine the tall and imposing figure of the orator reduced to an angle of forty five de- grees-his legs, crook-ant-his arms,ramp-ant— his hands, grab-ant—his eyes squint-ant— the scintillations of genius flashing from the lot- ter in such quick succession, that they form halo' of gloiy around his splendid head Here is the speech: « Mither Thpeaker—Ath I had the honor to introduth tbith bill, I think it ought to path.” obvious then, that a community in which the j utterly ignorant and thoroughly debased, were excluded from a vote might be well governed, aud yet in a country, whose inhabitants were j generally educated and virtuous, as the United proportion for our slaves, and in the same proportion we are taxed foT them likewise We came into the Union on these terms, and would come in on no other. Why do we abandon in our State, what we would ne ver consent to relinquish in the confederacy, States, the government be still strictly a po- thus give those who are anxious to cam pular one, including in its constituency a vast ce j that part of the bargain, a plea against us majority of the people. The difficulty of from our owa aCts . Does the Federal basis nding a practical test and standard of good gj ve to the vote of the slave-holder, any un sense and morality to which a voter could be due advantage over that of his neighbors, in su jectei, has prevented, and probably will their county election ? Not at all; and for forever prevent the adoption of this basis. If the increased share of power, of which he a high degree of attainment and goodness par takes in common with his countrymen in was required, the government would cease to' ... - -• ~ • be a popular one. If a very small portion of both would suffice, thd benefit would be im perceptible. It, has indeed been suggested that one who could not read or write, a noto rious criminal, abandoned profligate, or ha bitual drunkard might be excluded from the polls; and legislators have proposed to make political disfranchisement, for years or fife, a part of the punishment for given offences. But reading and writing are no infallible proofs of sense or virtue; since many a man comparison with other, parts of the State, he pays and they receive an indemnity, in the dis proportionate taxation to which he is subjected, Is he in no danger of suffering injustice by the abolition of the Federal basis ? Various arguments have been urged on this, subject, which I will not repeat. 1 will add another. The United States have occasion to lay a direct tax. By the Constitution, it must be apportioned accor ding tg Federal numbers, and if the slave hol- Drrro.—What’s the meaning of ditto, fa- father,” enquired a love sick green horn, as he was hoeing cabbages, one blue Monday. Ditto—ditto,” muttered the old man « why booby, here’s one cabbage head and there’s another. That’s ditto !” “That ditto! by hokey, dad, then I am done with‘Sal ; for as l squeezed her hand for the last time,about day break, this morning, and hinted, in pretty plain English, that I should like to get .mar ried she sighed out, d-iU-t-o!!" Green- hom’s “tender passion” was now turned to sour crout.—Ohio Atlas. When children are young they make their parents’ head- ache—when they grow up, they make their hearts ache. who can do neither, is wiser and better than der P“ d ^ share of xt d, rectly *> the United some who can do both; while the erection of States ’ he would pay for each of his slaves the hustings into a censorship of private raor- only ** i ust constitutional proportion.. But als, would be attended with numberless, in- U has been usual Congress to provide' conveniencies. The evidence and mode Q f that the several States may assume the tax, trial, present almost insuperable difficulty. We which is then levied by each State ’ ** its own should revolt from a proposition to disfranchise way » ? n its own c,tiz . ens * Thia has been fre * a man without trial, orto trv him without a ju-1 done, and will be done again. In a ry. Yet the juiy trial of eveiy voters quafifi- State Legislature, elected, not on the Feder- cations would make a never ending election. 81 basis > but on that of free white papulation If rumour were to be received as testimony, I on ty—what chance has the slave-holder of no vote could be allowed ; if proof were re- being assessed according to his just Federal quired scarce any would be rejected. Ac- P ro P ort * on °£ the tax, and no more? Yet cordingly we find, that no plan for sifting ig- J norance and vice from the poll books, has vet , T an aaditor , of tho tlebates “., the k„ pn rptbtroil ‘ • .. y . I late Y irgima Convention, (the most august delibor- . - . p c » and in the present ativo body I ever saw) a preamble was presented state ot society at least, we may. be justified I which announced that “ women and children were in assuming that virtue and intelligence, as I excluded from all share in political ]?awcr,'on ac- ascertained by direct scrutiny, cahnotbe made count of * tho nfl *«raZ dominion which man had over degree in which that particular species of property should be made to contribute to the public wants, was supposed to be secured be yond assault. The owner of slaves, as their natual guar dian and protector, a fight in which I am proud to say many a master in Georgia* is regarded by his negroes, has a deep interest in pre serving the Federal basis. It is not extrav agant to say that the slaves themselves are benefited by it, considered as human beings, necessarily and properly excluded from all share in the government and yet liable to many of the evils which men must suffer, though they are slaves, when their masters are misgoverned—an interest which no gen erous and humane nature can overlook, be* cause it is the interest of the abject and the helpless. It is evident that in a Legislature,* elected solely on the free white basis -,taxation will always be made to fall heavieston the slave holder. In times of danger and distress, tax ation will become oppressive. Where the whole population is free, suffering falls first and most severely on those lowest in the scale of population ; and in countries where slave ry exists, the overtaxed slave-holder must un derfeed and overwork his slaves. When war shuts up our ports—when our produce caunot find a market, and a scarcity of domestic grain is in danger of being heightened into a famine by. the exclusion of foreign, supply- even the slave will partake in the bitter fruits of legislative injustice. This injustice, indeed will recoil upon its authors ; for the slave-hol- ding part of the community, impoverished and oppressed by unwise taxation, will afford on ly a diminished market for the products of those counties, whose population is wholly free ; but mutual suffering and reproach af ford no remedy, and little consolation for such evils. Do you intend to abolish the Federal basis, and yet tax the slaves as usual ? Suppose it were proposed to do away with the represen tation of three fifths of our slaves in Congress, and at the same time to continue the appor tionment of direct taxes as at present; would not every one exclaim against such mon strous injustice ? If it would be so, when at tempted by some states against others, do things change their nature and their names, when attempted by parts of a state, against other parts of the same state ? On the other hahd; in abolishing the Federal basis, do you intend to repeal or reduce the tax upon slaves ? If you do, the proposed reduction of the Legislature will not diminish the amount of taxes to be paid by the non-slave, holders. Many other arguments on this branch of the subject are amiliar to you, aud for that reason I do not repeat them Let us suppose, however, you absolutely reject slaves from your enumeration, and de clare that representation shall bo according to the number of free white persons alone.- Be it so. But in the name of heaven, fol. low out your principle; Let it be a represen tation according to the number of free white persons only. Have the Convention done so? Not at all ! A pretence has bjeen resor ted to, called the territorial principle; assu ming the right of representation according to extent of surface :—a pretence which settles the ratio by a survey not a census, and claims for Missouri more weight in the Union, than New-York or Pennsylvania. I have promis ed to examine this pretended principle. You reject the right of representation for slaves—p why do you insist on the right of represen tation for land ? Is there any thing, which under all the circumstances, gives land a bet ter right to be represented than slaves ? Just the reverse. Land is property, and so are slaves; but slaves are men also, which it is hardly necessary to say land is not, unless you argue after the manner of the Sophists ; « Men are clay, and clay is land: consequent ly land is men.” Land does not enter into the basis of taxation and representation in Congress. The States are not represented or taxed by the square mile. If they were, the delegation and assessment of Virginia would be largest, and ours next but one. Neither is land liable to . suffering through misgovernment or unjust taxation as slaves are. But grant that land ought to be regar. ded inap portioning Representatives,and slaves not: What is to be represented ? The pine trees and white sand ? Who is to speak for the soil ? Is it not the owners? If it be, a large part df the landintendfed to be represented be longs to the State. The artificial personage or body politic can hardly claim to send members to its own Legislature. Nineteen-twentieths of the remaining land in the lavored counties be. longs to individuals residing in other parts of the State. . Are they given a share of the power claim ed from their own land ? Do they vote in pro- portion to the number of lots they hold ? On the contrary, their own land is made a pre. ter.ee for diminishing the influence of their vote and giving all that is taken/row them, to others, who live, indeed, where the land lies, but do not own a foot of it. We have now passed through oar minds the general reflections which the subject sug gests: let us endeavor to concentrate and apply them. We have seen the utmost ex tension which can be given to the democratic principle, is universal suffrage. Tho im portant modifications of the elective franchise arc, either that power should be divided equal and the payment of taxes to a certain mode rate amount, should be sufficient; or, that a particular race of men, who by our institu- . * tions are property also, should be condsider- ed in the basis of State as they are in'that of Federal Representation. The general principle, or any one of these modifications, would still leave the government in the hands of a majority of the people; and would in contrast with the scheme of the Con vention, be comparatively unexceptionable— The capital objection of the proposed altera tion indeed is, that it proceeds on no just principle, is founded on no reasonable basis, and places’ the powe¥‘*ih' the hands of a na- nority. It is Aristocratic—not Republican. It adopts neither universal suffrage nor freehold- suffrage: neither numbers, uor vir. tue and iuleillgence, nor wealth, alone or com bined ; neither the free white basis, nor tho ' the federal basis; nor any other basis ever recognized by a free people. Had it adop ted any, it might be endurable; but it * pro ceeds upon none; unless it be that the minority shall govern. Now tho right to govern is not among the rights of a minority. They have a right to be" well governed^—to be exempt from misgovernment; to be secured against invasions of the fundamental compact by tho usurpations of the majority: but apart from express compact, a right in the minority to govern the majority, can never be successful ly and hardly seriously contended for in this country. Bias,.indeed has said, the majority are wicked. Pain? tells us they are fools. Nevertheless they have the physical force,and they prefer their own will, wicked and foolish ;—if you must have it so—lo the will of a wise and virtuous minority. If they did not, they would destroy the Republic and found a Mon archy 1 , or an Aristocracy, in which a minority* docs govern. That a minority will govern under the scheme proposed by the Convention, has been irrefutably demonstrated by “ Baldwin,” “ Richmond,” and other able writers. I do not understand the fact to be disputed. It is proved by tables, which, are in every body’s hands, that “ a region of country lying in a- compact form through the centre of the State, from the Savannah to the Flint River, con tains a majority of seventeen thousand of the free white-population of Georgia; pays in taxes, twenty thousand dollars more than the rest of the State, and is to be in a minority in both houses of the Legislature—-a fixed minority of thirteen m the-Senate, and a mi nority of ten in the House, to which will be added.two more on the formation of ‘every 1 new county.”* Again, it is shewn, that “ the twenty six most populous counties in the State, without reference to locality, have a great majority of the free whitei population of the State, and are in a minority of both houses. These counties have a white popula tion of one hundred and seventy six thousand one hundred and thirty-nine, with but sixty- seven Representatives, and a weight in flip Senate equal to thirteen Senators. The re maining counties, with a population of one hundred and thirty-three thousand six hundred and ninety six, having thirty two Senators and seventy-seven Representatives ; thus giving to counties (which ^ontaih a minority of the people by more than forty-thousand,) a ma jority often in the House and more than ttfo- thirds of the Senate. At present,fourteen men, in the priviledged counties, have as much political power in the House, ps twenty one men in the rest of the State; the Convention propose to give six teen men, in the priviledged counties, as much power in the House, as twenty-seven in the rest of the State. If the existing ratio of in equality merely was preserved, then sixteen men would be entitled only to the power of twenty-lour. Once for all, let it-be remarked that I speak in round numbers, with the near est approach to accuracy which they admit oft for the sake of being more easily and gener ally understood. Let me make the matter if possible,-still plainer. At present two men in the priviled ged counties, have as much power as three men in tho others. This was one of the evils the people com plained of, and the remedy proposed by the Convention is, that five men in the priviledged counties, shall have neatly as much power as nine in the others. At present, in voting for Representatives, the votes of six men in the priviledged counties outweigh the votes pf eight men in the other counties, and the Con vention, by way of equalizing, propose, that henceforth the votes of the six shall outweigh the votes of ten. The comparisons, let it be observed, are between large masses of tarritory and popula tion, lying in compact forms, not between distant and disjointed fragments selected for £he sake of contrast. *If the extremes arc compared, the project becomes- more glaring ly unjust and unequal. Thus in the election of Representatives, one vote in Randolph, out- wei ?hs kixlcen in Hall, and one vote in Wayno over balances sixteen in Gwinnett. One vote jn Glynn is worth more than sixteen in Hab- ershkm ,Jifacri ‘in Monroe,fourteenin DeKsilb, thirteen in Henry and Newton, twelve in Franklin, eleven in Walton and ten in Jack- son. Ten votes in Jasper and Elbert, are less available than one vote iff Glynn—and that same single vote turns the scale.against eight votes in Washington, Houston,-Rich ly among all free white men who have a stake niond, or Ogtethorpe, and prevails over in the community; That the ownership’of a * -*3 certain portion of the soil, should alone, be re- * Richmond, No. 5.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Southern banner. (Athens, Ga.) 1832-1872, October 05, 1833, Image 1