whotike d aib(dilraiiasr a voi iv salisbury n c tuesday january 6 1824 no 187 imiintkii ine amendment lor inserting the 1 words * and towns in the former part of the section was agreed to mr cameron then moved to add " and the towns of wilmington newbern and fayetteville each one representative mr fisher moved to add the city of raleigh to the proposed amendment its population he said is nearly equal to the largest of the other towns and it is be sides the seat of government and the darling of the state it will not fail to send to the legislature an enlightened member who would not only do credit to the city but to the state mr yancey observed that he had just met with a census of the population of the different towns by which he found that raleigh had more inhabitants than wilmington and but little less than the olher two towns he h^d little doubt that raleigh would have a sufficient num ber of inhabitants before the next census was taken to entitle her to a representa tive he hoped therefore the motion ofthe gentleman from rowan to add ra leigh to the towns proposed by the gen tleman from cumberland would be a greed to mr sanders was in favor of both pro positions raleigh was the seat of gov ernment here were all public buildings and here all our public officers resided a representative in the city would be con sidered in the light of a centinel over these buildings as well as every thing in which ine government was interested and would be able to give information to the legislature in relation to these subjects mr mangum said that it was perhaps unnecessary to add tothe remarks which had already been made on this subject he knew that complaints had been made against borough representatives the term applied to the british system of rotten boroughs had been improperly ap plied to it but whenever a lown contains a sufficient number of inhabitants to en title it to a representative justice and good policy require that it should have one indeed there was a good force in lhe remark of the gentleman from cum berland that towns had distinct interests which ought to be represented and he trusted that hereafter those jealousies which heretofore axisted in this quarter towards gentlemen from the west as be ing unfiiendy to the city ot raleigh would no longer exist as he was confi dent there was no foundation for it mr mangum said he was unfortunate in being under the necessity of differing in opinion with gentlemen he was op posed to this amendment and would give his reasons why he was sn he was op posed to it because he required two thirds of each house of the gereral assembly to pass a bill on this subject though he knew that a similar provision to this is to be found in the constitution ofthe united states and in several ofthe constitutions of our sister states but he took it to be a fundamental rule in republican govern ments that a majority ought to rule and he did not think this contention had a right to prescribe a rule that shall require two-thirds of the legislature to pass a bill on any subject a majority ofthe people have an inalienable right to revise and al tar their constitution whenever they ; and having this i.ght he should dislike to do any thing which should seem to surrender or abridge that right mr polk had no idea of attempting to deprive a majority of the people of their right to act in their sovereign capacity at any time on this or any other subject he wished only to provide a mode by which the legislature might amend the constitution in future and to guard a gainst untimely attempts to amend it but his health would not allow him to en ter into an argument on the subject mr phifer was opposed to the amend ment there is a distinction between a constitution formed by the people and altered and amended by the legislature : i hope this house will alwsys keep it in view and that ihey will never forget it ; when you leave it discretionary with the legislature to alter and amend this con stitution you break down the only barrier which separates the constitution from the legislature and unbolt every door which leads to fraud and corruption can any man in this house prophetically say that the legislature will never become cor rupted i if he can you have nothing to fear but as long as vice shall cling to the human family you have the strong est reason to guard against the rights of the people sir i contend that this is a correct way to destroy the liberties of a free people are gentlemen willing to throw away the sovereign of the people into the hands ofthe legislature ? lhe other day we were called u^n to give up an important check and nn we are cal led upon to throw away another this amendment is in opposition to the senti ments entertained by hamilton and madi son sir the british government afford us an example on this subject : they had what is called their triennial parliaments they declared that parliament was su preme and uncontrolable and thereby al tered some of the fundamental principles of government ; they altered from a tri ennial to a septennial parliament extend ing their term of service four years be yond what they were entitled to sir if it be left discretionary with the legisla ture t alter and amend this constitution the bands of this constitution will be no more than flax before the fire or chaff before the whirlwind mr yancey perfectly agreed with the gentleman from orange that a majority of the people have a right to alter the constituiion whenever they please ; nor could he perceive that this amendment proposed a surrender of this right it amply points out the mode in which the legislature may bring about an amend ment of the constitution what is the mode ? it requires that a bil for the pur pose specifying the alterations proposed shall be read three times in each house on three several days and be passed by two-thirds of each and then published for three months it is then to become the test at the next election and if two-thirds of the next legislature confirm what had been passed by the preceding legislature the proposed amendment shall become a part of the constitution this provision will render unnecessary future conven tions for the purpose of amending the constitution and thereby prevent excite ments amongst the people indeed no thing would have induced him now to have touched the constitution in the only way in which it could be done but the present great inequality in our represen tation the amendment was carried by a small bt philo white of the laws of the united states the committee appointed for the pur pose of enquiring into the most advis able plan of submitting the amendments proposed to be engrafted on the con stitution to the people of the state report that they have attentively considered the subject referred to their consideration in which they have discov ered no plan for effecting the object of convention that would be entirely free from difficulties the committee how ever have thought il best and as most likely to meet the public approbation to submit the amendments proposed to be made to the constitution directly to the people and to recommend the election of delegates for its ratification and adoption the people will thus be enabled to con sider and pass upon its provisions ; and from electing delegates in conformity with the constitution as amended they will discover its practicable operation so far as respects the most numerous branch of the legislature for this purpose they recommend the adoption of the follow ing resolutions : coxgress senate dec 15 — mr parrott offered the fol lowing resolution which was read and laid over for consideration : the terms of the western carolinian will . . rci t';cr be as follows : three dollars a year advance ' \- v ,. tisements will be inserted at fifty cents nersquari for the first insertion and twenty-live jents for each subsequent one 11 letters addressed tothe editor must be tott-paid or they will not be attended to resolved that the committee on naval af fairs be instructed to inquire into tbe expedien cy of authorizing an additional number of sloops of war to be built and equipped for the sen ice ofthe lnited states dec 17 — the following committee was appointed upon the several amend ments proposed to the constitution ; messrs benton hayne holmes of me dickerson and kelly the following resolution offered yes terday by mr eaton was also adopted : resolved that the judiciary committee in quire if any and what amendments may be ne cessary to an act entitled " an act relative to the electors of president and vice-president of the united states and declaring the officer who shall act as president in case ot the vacancies in the offices of both president and vice-presi dent passed the 1st of march 1790 dec 18 the bill appropriating a certain sum of money for the relief of danieljd tompkins was taken up in committee of the whole and the bill was passed unanimously mr king of n y and mr macon were annexed to the committee on the amendments of the constitution in pur suance ofthe motion of mr dickerson contention debates ebom the j1ai.eich ilegistek concluded saturday mbv 15 — the convention up the report of the committee of he whole af ; er reading the second section mr brevard moved to strike out the word that at its commencement as un necessary and improper mr yancey said this word was found in the old constitution and was therefore retained on the ground that he had be fore stated that no alteration was recom menced but such as the committee be lieved absolutely necessary he hoped be word would be permitted to remain 1 resolved that it be recommended to the people of the several counties in the state at their next annual election to elect delegates to meet in convention in the city of raleigh on the second mon day of november next for the purpose of ratifying and adopting the amendments which have been proposed to the consti tution ofthe state mr brevard observed that every step wbich lhe convention took convinced him that thev first ought to have gone in loa committee of the whole and fixed cn certain principles of action instead of referring as they had done the subject to a committee of seven we referred to that committee said he the discharge of a business undefined in its nature instead of instructing them to report on particu lar subjects the consequence has been an unsatisfactory report which members bad sen restrained from amending out of re spec for that committee but as this is he last oa v ofthe session he hoped that gentlemen would bring forward such a menilnients as appeared to them neces sary the chairman of the committee is unwilling to admit any departure from the words of the old constitution except on principle but as the word that is un necessary and is omitted in the 1st ar ticle he hoped it would be dispensed with in the 2d and following sections mr yancey regretted that he was again railed upon to justify the report of the committee of wbich he had been a mem ber he knew not how satisfactory that report had been ; but he knew that the gentlemen who composed it had paid great attention to the subject and had ex ecuted the business committed to them tothe best of their ability though it had neither been a very pleasant nor a very easv duty gentlemen were certainly at liberty to propose whatever amendments to it thev thought proper but he hoped that all such as were proposed would be f-f some importance and not mere verbal criiit isms house of representatives dec 15 — mr rankin from the com mittee on public lands reported " a bill to authoiize the state of indiana to open a canal through the public lands to con nect the navigation of the rivers wabash and the miami of lake erie ;" which was read twice and committed 2 resolved that the said delegates when assembled in convention shall be limited to the amendments now proposed but shall be authorized to adopt such further provisions as to them may seem necessary for carrying the said constitu tion as amended into effect on motion of mr mercer it was 3 resolved that it be recommended to the several county courts in the state to appoint fit and proper persons as judges of election of delegates and that such persons as are qualified under the con stitution as proposed to be amended to vote for the most numerous branch of the legislature be qualified to vote for such delegates and that the election of delegates be certified by the returning officer of the county 4 resolved that each county in the state shall be entitled to elect the same number of delegates to the convention as ihey would be entitled to members in the house of representatives under the proposed constitution as amended 5 resolved that a committee of three members be appointed to present the a mendments proposed to the people with the views and explanations which have induced this convention to propose the same resolved that the committee on naval af fairs be instructed to inquire into the expedien cy of associating with the military academy at west point a school of instruction for the mid shipmen ofthe navy of the united states mr allen of 1 ennessee offeied the following resolved that the postmaster general be directed to lay before this house a list of tbe post offices designated distributing offices in the several states and territories ; i so tbe du ties required to be performed bj deputy post masters at such offices with the regulations a dopted for securing a direct conveyance for the letters sec destined for offices on intermediate post-routes dec 17 — the following resolution offered yesterday by mr allen of mass was taken up and adopted : resolved that the postmaster general be di rected to lay before this house a statement ofthe number of miles of post roads existing bv law in each state or territory for each of tbe three years next preceding the 1st day of april last the number of miles of said road whereon the mail was actually carried in eacb of those years together with the yearly compensation of post masters and the incidental expenses thereon : also a statement of the amount of postage which accrued in each state and territory in each of these years ; the yearly receipts therefrom ; the yearly balances for and against them respective ly ; and the balances of postage which accrued in each of said years now due and in arrears dec 18 — a message from the senate communicated that they hud passed the bill for the relief of daniel d tompkins without amendment mr cameron accepted of the proposed amendment as part of his motion which was carried nearly unanimously mr c then introduced a new section the 42d regulating town elections which was agreed to after reading the report mr sanders observed that it was expected that the committee who made this report would also have prepared the proposed address but such had been the attention which it was nesessary for them to pay to the busi ness before the convention that it was not in their power to do it he thought it best that a committee should be ap pointed for the purpose who could pre pare the address at their leisure mr love from the committee appoin ted to provide a fund for defraying the expences attending the convention made a report which was concurred with mr brittain from the committe on elections reported that they had exami ned the several certificates handed to them and although some of them were not altogether regular they deemed them all sufficient the next section providing for the e lection of senators was agreed to as al ready mentioned after some rather irreg ular debate the amendments reported by the com miitee of the whole being gone through the amendment was negatived mr mangum again moved lo substi tute the word members for that of repre sentatives in the 2d line of the 3d section which was agreed to the remaining amendments were con curred in without debate mr harrington renewed his motion to strike out the 26th and 27th sections which have relation to preachers of the gospel and religious opinion and lest he should be misunderstood when he thr greeks on motion of mr williams of n.c it was made his former motion he now dis claims all particular partiality for clergy men and any hostility to religion gener ally or any other particular sects of relig ion ; but believing that these sections con tain unnecessary restrictions and militate against the principles of civil and relig ious liberty he had determined to make another attempt to expunge them from our constitution he was unwilling to consume unnecessarily the time of the convention but feeling more interest in this matter than on most others he hoped he should be allowed an opportunity of recording his vote against these sections he therefore moved that the question be taken bv s and nays mr yokcey hoped that his friend from anson would consider whal he said on this subject which no doubt would go out to the public as an sufficient protest against retaining these sections some other remarks were made pro posing that the gentleman might enter his protest on the journal mr harrington said he believed there were more gentlemen in the convention who agreed with him in opinion on this subject than were willing to declare it publicly he would not enforce his call but withdrew it the motion was negatived resolved that the president ol the united states be requested to lay before this house any information he may have received and which he may not deem it improper to communicate relating to the present condition or future pros pects of the greeks mr cameron renewed his motion to give the towns of newbern wilmington md fayetteville representatives mr fisher said he had somewhat chan ged his opinion on this subject several ol the towns contained nearly a sufficient number of inhabitants to entitle them to a representative and as their interests were somewhat distinct from the inhabitants of the country he was willing to allow them a representative deducting on that ac count a member from the county in which such town is situated mr hearne observed that leaving pol icy out ofthe question he thought jus ti"e and equity required that these towns contain men of talents at least equal to «> n y othet in the state and they ought to jave their due weight in the legislature he had lived both in town and country ai d he knew there were prejudices ex isting between the inhabitants of town and country which the measure proposed ould have a tendency to remove mr yancey thought in the form tbe proposition was now made it ought to pass newbern and fayetteville he he aved had now nearly 4000 inhabitants was thc number required for a re presentative and it was probable that ilmington might have that number be re the next census was taken on ta k ' n r a representative from the counties j graven new-hanover and cumber and > he hoped the motion would be a greed to mv rankin this day presented a peti tion from the inhabitants of penguine on the red river a settlement ofthe hud son bay company inclosed in a letter from a/ajor long to the secretary of war in which after stating that they had dis covered themselves to be within the lim its ofthe united states thev prayed that the laws of the united states might be extended to them the business ofthe convention being finished and the president having left the chair on motion of mr yancey it was una niously resolved that the thanks of this convention are due and are hereby pre sented to the hon montford stokes for the able and dignified manner in which he has discharged the duties ofthe chair the convention then adjourned sins die dec 23 mr webster from the com mittee on the judiciary reported a bill to repeal in part an act to lessen the com pensation for afarshals clerks and at torneys in the cases therein mentioned — which was read twi e and committed wondeuful dispensation the louisiana advertiser of nov 22 says — u we have been informed through several sources and have reason to rely to a certain extent upon the correctness ofthe information that about the 21st of october a sudden change of the weather was experienced at tampico and the vi cinity the mercury ol the thermometer falling 40 degrees in 8 hours — the conse quence of which was that three hundred persons died in one night in that city and the adjacent country one of our united stales vessels was in port at the time and our informant adds that she lost at the same time 18 persons including sev eral officers mr a/allary submitted the following resolution which lies one day according to a rule of the house : resolved that the president of the united states be requested to lay before this house such information as he may possess and which may be disclosed without injury to the public good relative to the determination of sovereigns to assist spain in the subjugation of her late col onies on the american continent a id whether any government of europe is disposed or deter mined to propose any aid ; r assistance which such sovereign or combination of sovereigns may afford to spain for the subjugation of her late colonies above mentioned majority on motion of mr mangum the pro viso at the end ofthe section was added the question on adopting the consti tution as amended was put and unani mously agreed to mr sanders called up the report which he had made some days ago on the most advisable plan.of submitting the constitu tion to the people which was read as fol lows and amended : mr t g polk proposed to add a new section to tbe constitution the 49th and last providing a way in which future a mendments to the constitution might be made the proviso at the close of it was added by amendment mr yancey hoped this amendment would be adopted some provision ought to be made for future amendments which should not be made too easy as it is not to be presumed that any future amend ment would be desired except it were manifestly necessary the depredations against which so much complaint exists we are lold in the n y evening post are almost the ex clusive work of colored men these gen tlemen after entering a hou^e in search of plunder if surprised in lhc fact inge niously counterfeit drunkenness until they are shewn the way into the street when they immediately recover the use of their limbs savannah georgian mr williamson said he came to this p ac e determined to put down borough embers ; but when this proposition was vm t j n r ade ' he thou s h t it reasonable and ted for it and he hoped it would be a 8 r eed to v zhz x ' £^ cr expressed himself to the ame effect powder-mill blotun tip — on the 26th of november the powder-mill in lee mas sachusetts belonging to messrs laffin loomis & co was blown up and two of the workmen killed the names of the deceased were morey brown and walker qnigley rait patriot * the above remarks of mr phifer which we have put in brackets were communicated to us with a request to publish them in lieu of the few words attributed to that gentleman by tke raleigh register — editor carolinian