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PROCEEDINGS

GOMSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION;

the pressure that has been brought 'tobear upon that body from :every sectionof the Commonwealth, which they couldhardly withstand when they 'had moneyIn the treasury. i -

As to the statement of the gentlemanfrom Pulaski. Ihave no desire to comehack to the Senate of Virginia! Tliey-didnot have to aboi.sh my Senatorial districtto keep me from coming back to the Sen-ate, but Ihave confidence enough ini-my.

people to think that ifIwanted to-comeback Icould do,so despite the wishes of

the gentleman from Pulaski, and that hisobjections could not keep me from coming.

So far as the taxes on telephones is con-cerned, Idid not favor increasing the taxon any company and the tentative propo-sition of $2.00 per mile. etc.. was only in-tended to apply to those companies whichpractically escape ,a transmitter's' tax.and was withdrawn when it was pointed

out that it would affect other companiesdisastrously.

1 did not propose to reduce the taxeson the Bell Telephone Company, in theinterest of that

-jrreat monopoly, which

was asking to be almost entirely relievedfrom taxation, and Idid stand up for thefarmer? of this Commonwealth and say

that. they should have ,a just system oftaxation put upon them:

vand -Idid buc-

ceed in relieving the purely mutual tele-phone companies of a license lax. It wasnever the contemplation of the law tccharge them, and this was done withoutincreasing the tax upon any other tele-phone companies— but leaving it as at:present. ,

Mr. PORTLOCK: Are you willingtcjeopardize the interests of this State upona mere belief, when the officers of theState say they think it will have an in-jurious effect upon her interests?

#Jlr. KEEZELL: Isay that any intelli-

gent man who undertakes to investigatetlie financial affairs of this Commonwealthin just as competent to judge of them asthe officers of the State are, and theyprobably have less of selfish .interest inthe matter. 1 want to say further thatwith more than a million dollars of sur-plus" in your treasury, in the way ,ofbonds, that no possible harm can come tothe creditors of this Commonwealth, nor*tothe interests of this State by this proposedreduction of taxation.

Mr. PORTLOCK: If the gentleman irso thoroughly convinced that this rate oftaxation 'is what it should be. why didnot the gentleman, and those supportinghis view of the matter, make it per-manent?Mr. KEEZELL: Iknow it is perfectly

safe for the next four years. Iwant tosay again that the article putting this in-crease of taxation upon the corporationsmakes up for every dollar of this reduc-tion that has been provided for.

Mr. PORTLOCK: Their why did notyou, as a member of the Legislature, un-dertake to do this thing and advocate itsbeing done, if it was a necessary andproper thing to be done?•

Mr. KEEZELL: Because the increasedtax upon corporations, provided for in theConstitution, makes up for the decreasethat is provided for in the. rate of taxa-tion. The biil that. was passed inthe lastdays of the Legislature does not go intoeffect for a year—no sooner "than it willunder the provisions of this- Constitution,and then there is grave doubts about itsconstitutionality under the present Con-stitution, so much so that it would not besafe to reduce taxes until it was settledthat the interests affected would not con-test the matter in the courts.

Mr. BARBOUR: Imove to amend theresolution by inserting, at the end of thesection, the following words:

-"And said system shall so remain until

the first day of January, 1913."The effect of that provision, Mr. Presi-

dent, ifit is adopted—and the gentleman

from Norfolk county says "it is satisfac-tory to him

—will be to strike out this

limitation upon corporations and at thesame time strike out the limitation aboutthe taxes on the people. There would thenfje no limitation on the taxes which canbe levied on the corporations unless thereis a' similar limitation of taxes which canbe levied upon the people. This amend-ment makes f.ie resolution offered by thegentleman fromNorfolk county symmetri-cal.

Mr. PORTLOCK: Iwill say to the gen-tleman that he entirely misunderstood meif he supposed that Iwould accept anysuch suggestion as an amendment to myresolution.

Mr. BARBOUR: Ithought Iasked youabout that, and you consented to it.

-Mr. PORTLOCK: Isaid Imight vote

for it,but Idid not say IWould accept itas an amendment to my resolution.

Mr. WILLIS: Icall the pending ques-tion.

The PRESIDENT: Under the rulesthere are five monutes more time allowed\u25a0for debate. •

Mr.MEREDITH: Ihope the resolutionof the gentleman from.Culpeper willnotbe adopted, and Ihope the resolution ofthe gentleman from Norfolk county willnot be adopted. Iwas in very gravedoubt as" to what to do about the resolu-tion of taxation;, but. inasmuch as thisprovision has been adopted by the Con-vention, Ithink we should stand to it andvote down the motion to make anychanges. Ido not think we should attackthe provision of section 14 with regard tothe tax on railroads. Ihope it willbe thepleasure of the Convention 'to let thematter stand as itis.

Mr. GLASS: Mr. President, Iwas notpresent in the Convention when the voteupon the reduction of taxation was taken;but-had Ibeen here Ishould have castmy vote in favor of the reduction withthe greatest pleasure.

*

Had Ibeen hereand voted against the reduction of taxes,my observation and limited experience inthe Senate within the last six weeks wouldmake me alter my attitude, and Iintendto-day to vote against this motion for re-scision. Idesire to remark in a perfectlyfriendly spirit that Iam not so tender ofthe feelings of the General Assembly asto be afraid to exercise my constitutionalright here upon this matter of reducingtaxes; and ifmembers of this Convention,however much they may deplore friction,could have read the assault upon the workof this body referred to. just now by thedelegate from Rockingham, they wouldnot be so effusively deferential in dealingwith questions which the General Assem-bly has been accustomed to handle.

We are not expected to reverse our ac-tion here upon the mere expression of be-lief by the delegate from Norfolk countythat the reduction of the tax rate bytheConvention was not made' in a spirit ofsincerity, but purely as a matter of "bun-combe." Ido not believe it was done asa matter of "buncombe.". 1believe itwasthe deliberate conviction of the: membersof this body that they had so performedtheir- work as \o reduce the running;ex-penses of the government of this Slatoand at the same time to bring a large ac-cretion to the public:revenues ;havingdone, which it was their perfect right tochallenge and repel the declaration thatthe Convention has been a useless and ex-pensive luxury. Itis our privilege, if.nota duly which we owe ourselves, to demon-strate to.the people of Virginia that > thework of this Convention has been of sucha substantial nature .we may safelyrodiice the burden of taxation.

Mr. WYSOR: You seem to be unwillingto trust this matter ,of taxation to theSenate. Do you not expect we will al-ways have a Senate of • -rglnia and a Leg-islaure, and Ifyou do, why don't you takethe matter away, from the Legislaturealtogether and1put it into the Constitu-tion? -•>

Mr._GLASS::. Because conditions changeand the -tax- rate must be conformed \u25a0\u25a0 to-olrcumstances. "-'AnV investigation

';of:? the

State's finances at this time, together withan examination of the; expenditures andreceipts vof government '

and the ayaiiablesurplus,^ convinces nic that it1islperfectly:safe toireducethe tax rate fora period offour years... Not:* only

a do I\u25a0regard such :

reduction ."as feasible, .but \u25a0 1think it cmi-;nently wise; omreover t'lam cpnfldent'that^

nilowcfl five minutes In which to.present

his views.The motion was .isreed to.Mr.- WYSOR: I-thank tho. Convention

for permitting me to addr^s Itaftorthe•expiration- -;of the time allotted to Judpeportlbck's side of the question, upon

whLch side Iwill speak. J want tare-.turn'the favor by tolling the Conventionwhat*Ithink 51 ought to <10. H soems to

ma thnl it owes it to Itself to rescind this

tax reduction provision. You have beencalled the groaJost body of men on earth.n.nd-it has -pleased you very.much. 1

not "believe you are the groatosfbody ofmen on onrth. If you nrel-am satisfiedyon will rescind thnt provision. There is

one thins Ido believe about the Conven-tion, and that is that it is one of, the

roost 'independent bodies on earth: but in

this article it shows a lack1of indepond-

encc.i This tax reduction provision savors

61 a hid to the people to approve the

Constitution. Itnlso, makes a bid to the

Confodcrnte soldior by holding out to Him _the empty hope that the people might vote

a levy of live c*nts on tlic one hunareddollars for his lxjnefit. He should be pro-

vided for -without reporting to the uncer-tainty of an ck-otion. Ihclieve this Is theffinly Constitution in which you will imtl

such a provision. Itshows a lack of con-fidence- in the Legislature, and more than

feat it shows a. lick of confidence in the

j.eople. It takbs away from the people for

four >oars the ri.clit to fix the rata of tax-

ation' on real1estate and tangible personalproperty. By 11 you show that you mis-trust the people. Ifthe Constitution is

miMnUtcfl to thQ people this provision

v-111 perhaps causo more votes to be castnprainst tho Constitution than for it.

Its tendency will be to bring about un-<hju;il taxation. ', The gentleman from

Rockhißliain (Mr. JCeezcll). who just inter-rupted the wnUeman from Norfolk county

(Mr PortloclO. voted for this provision.

..aVd' then tried in the Senate to Increase

the lax on telephone companies, which isal-eady cxccpslvc and unjust, in order to

make ijpa dencif.ncy. This tax reductionprovision reaches Rockingham farms, but

Thc-e arf» other species of property which.)c."i:ot net the'benefit of it;;such

-as tele-

phones, for example. The gentleman from

KockJnsham. J understand, as a memberof-a sub-commiuce of the Finance Com-

mittee of lhe Senate :-i«ti:.c<J in -a report

to Tit ins.iVlilion io the present excessive

Kir-thnds cf taning telephone . companies

a tax of two per cent, on their gross earn-

ings, and a tax of two dollars a mile onth?ir lines rX poles.

This would have been confiscation ot

nil the inclt-pendent telephone companies

of the State,- In redistrictir.g Hie State

for "Senators, it was said the Legislature

was about to destroy his Senatorial dis-

trict 1 would not have wept if it had

been done, nor would Ished tears if

he should be defeated the next time he

runs. In these remarks nbout the gentle-

man from Rockhigham Iam only semi-

serloue. and Ihope will not tako themtoo much to heart. Feradventurc he will

cet straight on taxation of telephone com-panies after awhile, and not' seek to tax

them, as Ithink. ?o excessively. But'l

insist that this tax provision should be

stricken from the Constitution. It.is a

matter that the Legislature anu the people

have the right to control. It is the prov-ince of the Legislature to reduce taxes

and .no' ours. The people have the

richt to increase their taxes wheneverthey wish, and should not be prohibited

Tiv a constitutional provision from doing

so'

We are all willingfor reduction, but

lot itbe done by the proper tribunal.The gentleman from Culpeper asked the

gentleman from Norfolk if there was

net a maximum rate fixed on corpora-

tions There is. but we have' increasedtho tax on corporations and get SSO.OOO a-oar mor.^ money out of them than wewere getting before, and this provision re-duces the State tax one-fourth on realestate which it is claimed is already

assessed at much less than itsvalue, and will in all probabil-ity continue to be assessed at muchle«s lhan its value, and willin all prob-

ability continue to he assessed at muchless than its value, and makes a like re-duction on tangible personal property,

but makes no reduction, on other kinds of

properly.Mr. BARBOUR: The gentleman speaks

or real estate in Southwest Virginia,I

Buppose?Mr AVYSOR: Out in Pulaski Borne

lands are assessed at $25 and ?30 an acre,

and more. Southwest Virginia doubtlesspays her just proportion of State taxes.

1don't know how it is in Culpeper. but

Iwill make a. trip. through the Auditor'sofl'ce some of,: these days and see how

real estate stands in ulpeper.

Tho gentleman from r>anville seems tothink that it would take a great deal of

-nerve to-get. up here and oppose tne tax-

reduction provision. \u25a0Iam willingto le'

the people know Ioppose it. The people

will not condemn a man if he acts con-scientiously. But Ihaven't got my earto the ground.Ithank the Convention for its attention.

(Applause.)_Mr. JCEKZELL: Mr.President. Idonot

attire to take but a. very few minutes ol-the time of this Convention. When thismatter was up in Convention Iwas reluc-tant to speak upon it at all.. The gen-

tleman from Danville gave some figures,and at the solicitation of a number ofmy fellow-members of the Convention Invas asked to give my opinion about 'thematter. 1 then stated Idid not proposeto advise any one how they should vote,

but that from informal ion-I-had as to thefigures submitted by the gentleman from

.DanvilleIhad; no doubt they were sub-stantially correct and that Iwas going tovote to put this provision in the Constitu-tion; however, 3 desired everybody else tovote- just exactly, as they pleased aboutthe matter. 1 told them if they thought

It was. not. proper matter to go. into theConstitutJon not to vote lor it. but that I,as a/ member of the 'Gt'ntrai -Assembly,

believed it was a wise thing to put somelimit on the Legislature because it wasalmost impossible for the members toresist the importuniiies that come to them

from special interests, when there is alarge surplus of money.on hand,, and thatthe safest Condition for the State to bein was to have practically: an emptytreasury. Instated' that Ihad no doubt.In my own mind,:-,that every just, reas-onable and legal rf-quirement of the Statewould be met' under this reduction oftaxation,: and .that it was really, in fact,only a reduction of five cents, instead often, because there was a provision there•which allowed five cents .to be levied for.the payment of "pension claims. A reso-lution^ was offered in the; Senat- of Vir-g-inla for a report from the Finance Com-mittee of that body upon this question. Acertain gentleman in that Finance Com-mittee prepared a very lengthy report,\u25a0undertaking to demonstrate that this re-duction could not be safely made, andthat the Legislature was :not in a positionto advocate a Ji%re-ceht reduction. Iwantto:«ay now that when that report, morethan thirty pages of type-writtenmatter, dealing In figures, which were saidto be figures irom the, Auditor of PublicAccounts, was brought before the \ Com-mittee- on Finance of the Senate, Itwasfar .from accurate, as ,'' was. pointed- outby roe, that the gentleman who presented;•If-withdrew it, and itnever saw the light

of day in the Finance Committee of thoSenate. (Applause.)

\u25a0Ipay now that there is no questionabout the rate of taxation fixed in this.ConHtitutlon being • Kuflicient

'for '< every

Jeical. reasonable and proper demand of.tills Commonwealth. If.'you /want to -putH rate of fifty cents on the hundred dol-lars Into the Constitution,* :you will finda Legislature that willepend every dollar"lot,iu;:<_r:, ':..':': :% \u25a0." :-\u25a0; -' ,-;:•;-.. ,-\u25a0/

Mr. WYSOR: rDid you not sign the..Finance \u25a0 Committee's rei>ort, which saJdJthat V.tlila,was '\u25a0 peculiarly a matter; for therXoklglature?/ :,: v

' " "

:-

fe'McS.KEEZELL: Isaid: that 1did not:« to:advlse other^ people;howIto vote'

$g? iWle? matter; ;but'as a- tnember of'the

ULtur*x waiitca to bo relieved from

c*rrled out* have \u25a0:a.' Governor- and ;Housc

of 'Delegates^ elected and tffOingjinto:onij*,;together,1andi a",hold-over \Senate :o^torty.

;members/;;members/;; Instead *of \u25a0a;Governor^ Bouse ;

.of?;Delegates, :and Wone:halfS the 2Senateelected^and^goingiinto^ofncejatthe^same,

throne ihalf:the "iSenate; as :hold-;;overs;7as'i originallyUntended,^ tb ;preserve\the> feature tol-icenseryatism <In tne_ legis-,

latlve branch .of,the government. :Then,-. in;

the imiddle of? the.'Governor's ;term,^ mere •

will-be an election ln;whloh allthe \u25baSenateand allUheHouseiof-Deltgateslwil come,up for/eleotlon^and if a'.wave- of,impulsesweeps -thei State,'; there ;will-rercaln^as;

the;element ?:of. conservatism the :Gov-ernor, elected -two;yiarspreviculy,.witn:his right:to

'exercise the 'veto power, :and;

with -the temptation 1to yield to 'temporary^pressure ~in large measure

'relieved Bpyj

reason^ of.his :ineligibility to succeed him-self. Though; the temptation; to,popularizehimself -with the General ;As3imbly,.witha view to a pO-sible election to the UnitedStates Senates might"furnish lan -offset tothe conservative influence of hisineligiblli-:ty to succeed himself as Governor. This isa remote contingency. Iconceive, and;onethat would;not weigh heavily with menof the type of those Virginia has honoredand will honor by election to the high

office'of Governor. The balance in favorof conservatism, and legislation; Is re-tained in admeasure, but not in the;sym-

metrical manner of the original system,for It vests all the power of controlling•legislation at -one session in a full hold-over Senate, not immediately responsiveto the last expression of the people, andat the succeeding session places the re-sponsibility of conservatism in legislationupon the Governor, thus making himmore "identified with and responsible forlegislation than he should be as the directrepresentative of the executive branchof the government. Icannot recognizeins proposed compromise as an improve-

ment upon the original system, as Icon-ceive it destroys the proper balance thatshould obtain between the executive andthe- legislative branches of the govern-ment. - :It is. however, a compromise, in which

both sides gain something, Those whostood, with us and won-the fight for bien-nial elections and sessions, ;as againstquadrennial elections and sessions, retainbiennial elections and sessions. Thosewho stood originally for quadrennial elec-tions of-Senateand House and for quad-rennial sessions, and consequently for theelection, of all the Senate at one tirr.e.and !who

"succeeded in securing, in the

plan finally adopted by the Convention,-the election of the whole Senate bien-nially for terms of two years, retain theprincipal feature of their contention,which is that the whole membership ofthe Senate shall be elected at one electionat the time a House of Delegates Is elect-ed, thus giving the people the opportunityto make, an entire change in the legisla-tive body at one election.

Those of us who have contended for theretention of the hold-over feature of theSenate

'as a force for conservatism" in

legislation, can feel that this object ispreserved to an extent .in this proposedplan, though in

• a more objectionablemanner, from our point of view. Irespect-fully submit, and without the proper andsymmetrical balance that obtains underthe original system, as Ihave attemptedto explain. . '"."In view of the present temper- and in-

clination of this body,Ifeel that this isthe best and fairest solution that can bereached, and though Icannot get myjudgment to endorse it fullyas most wise,as an original proposition, still Iam gladto say, that Ishall support it as the bestthing to do under all the circumstances.

Mr. "^VATSON: Mr. President, havingundertaken to speak for the gentlemanfrom Appomattox this morning, in his ab-sence, Iwould ask the. attention of theConvention for a moment. Isuppose inhis .absence his motion to. rescind willhave to be taken up by this body. Iwantto have the opportunity, myself, of show-ing this Convention that tnere is somecompromise that Ican agree to on somesubjects (applause), and,, therefdre,speaking for myself, Iwill say that Ishall vote for it.

Mr. KEEZELL: Mr. President, my at-titude in referenceto this matter, Ithink,is pretty generally known, as Itook somei>art in the discussion at the time whenthis present article was incorporated inthe Constitution. There has been but onetrouble thatIhave recognized in connec-tion-with the action at all, and that is thedifficulty which will be experienced inlarge senatorial districts of getting suit-able candidates to make a canvass ofthree or four counties. In order to serveonly in a sixty7day session of the Senate.That has been the only difficulty,Ihavehad with reference to the action taken bythe Convention at a former time. Ithinkthis compromise proposed now does away

:with'that objection in that it gives the\u25a0men who stand for election to the Senatea; four-year term, and will probably tendto induce different and better men tomake the canvas, for the Senate, fromwhat you would get with the sixty-dnyterm. Ithink a great many of:the objec-tions to the hold-over senator are doneaway with in this provision. Itgives '\u25a0**•?people an opportunity every four years,if the Senate stands in the way of theirwishes to get rid of the entire body, andto put another body there, which it can-not do under the hold-over plan, and I,for one. am perfectly willing to acceptthis compromise as a fair solution of thewhole difficulty.

'

Mr. WYSOR: Mr. President, Iwish t«say that Ivoted originally for this verycompromise now" offered. The Journalwill show- it. (Laughter.) , AndIhope' itwill be adopted. Ifit turns out to be agood thing, and the people are pleasedwith itIwill claim the. authorship of it.(Laughter.) ,

The PRESIDING OFFICER: The reso-lution offered is really not strictly in or-der,, but the Chair willput It, in the ab-sence of objection. The Chair hears none,and the Secretary will read the resolu-tion. . \'

The Secretary read as. follows: ."Resolved, That the Committee on Re-

vision be. and- they are hereby, empower-ed-and directed to so amend the articleon the Legislative Department as to pro-vide that all:the members of the Senatebe elected once every four years for aterm of four years, and members. of theHouse of Delegates be elected as at pres-ent provided in said article, biennially,fora term of two years, as at present."

The PRESIDING OFFICER: The ques-tion is upon agreeing to the resolution.

Mr. HATTON: Icall for the yeas andnays.

The yeas and nays were ordered andtaken. :

Mr. .WITHERS: Ihave, to announce apair, with the gentleman from Norfolk(Mr.-Thorn). As Iunderstand his posi-tion,' If present he would vote "nay." Ido not"state that authoritatively, how-ever. Ifhe were here, however, Ishouldvote, "yea." Iwithhold my vote on ac-count of the pair, not knowing how hewould vote.Mr. POLLARD: Iwould like to with-

draw my vote upon that question. Iwasrequested by the gentleman, from "Wash-ington (Mr. Campbell) to pair with*himon this question; he being in. favor of re-cision" and .Iagainst it.-Ido not knowhow. he would vote on this compromise,but Irefrain from voting on account of;this pair.

The question having been, taken by yeasand nays the result was announced

—yeas,54, nays, 13—as follows: \u25a0'\u25a0.\u25a0_ ~.'Yeas— Messrs. Allen, W. A. Anderson,

Avers, Barbour, Barham, Boaz, Bouldin,Braxton, Brown, Cameron. C.J. 'Camp-bell, Carter. Crismond, .Dunaway, Epes,Fletcher, Garnett, Gilmore, Glass, B. T.Gordon, R. L. Gordon, Gwyn. Hamilton,Hancock. Hardy, Hubard," Ingram. Clag-gett B. Jones, G. W. Jones, Keezeli; Ken-dall,. Lindsay, Lovell. Marshall, Mcll-wairie. Meredith, Miller, Moncure, R.Walton Moore. .Parks, :Pettit,

-Portlock,

Quarles, Rives, Stebbins, Tarry, Thorn-ton, Turnbull, Waddill, Walker, Watson,Wise. Wysor, and Yancey—s4. -'

Nays—

Messrs.. Thomas H. Barnes,Blair^:Brooke. Earman, 'Eggleston, Fair-fax,. James. AY. Gordon. Green, \u25a0 Hatton.Mundy, O'Flaherty,, Phillips, and Smith—13.

- - - \u25a0'"--

-\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0.\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0 •-\u25a0'\u25a0

Not Voting—Messrs. George K. Ander-son, "Manly H.-Barnes, Bolen,- Bristow, P.W. Campbell. \ Chapman, Cobb, Daniel,Davis; Flood, Gillespie, Gregory, Harri-son.; Hooker, Hunton, \u25a0 Lawson. :Lincoln.Thomas L. Moore. Orr, Pedigo, Pollard,Richmond, Robertson, Stuart, Summers,Thorn, Vincent. Walter, . Wescott. Willis,Withers, Woodhouse, and the President—33. -.".'; ..." 1.,;:'-. :.--'-:..;-

the resolution was adopted.Mr. TURNBULL:Mr.President,.! move

that; theConvention do now. adjourniMrJ. WALKER: Will: the- gentleman

withdrawthat motion for.a moment?.Mr. TURNBULL:Hiwithdraw- 1the"--mo-tion: ;r; r ..\u25a0.;•..- .:v-'';V' ':\u25a0\u25a0''\u25a0:'\u25a0'\u25a0,.

~:-r;..r-.--i \u25a0\u25a0; ;v - -

v Mr.;WALKER:.. Mr.,President, inithe;resolution -fixing the time i:to. which the-Convention .should < adjourn, when. lt ad-;journs,to-day;-there;ia no provision made:forXthe' mfleage 3of \u25a0\u25a0 the 'members

'\u25a0 of the

Revision Committee during; its sessions. Iask;unanimous consejit; to change ;the res-\u25a0olutionsoas to;provlde:;tHat sthe;membersofj"the fßevlslon. Committee who attend itssessions ?\u25a0 shall ;have ;mlleaße, as

"urell as

other }members: ofithe Convention.':IThe^PRESIDENT :iThati.willSbe^ takenas theisensefof ;the.Conventlon'in?the vab-sence of objection.. '.-?' •;>

-\u25a0•\u25a0\u25a0•- -. - >

f: Mr.iß;^L.< GORDON::Imove to-reebn-•eider .the>,vb te b><which gthe \u25a0resolution jlnreferenoe t-tolthe <:Legislative Departmentwas Jadopted. - , . ,

"Mr. WALKER: Imove to postpone i

-n-

definftely-'!theJresclndlng.resolution- offor-ed"byJthe'gentlenoanUrom Appomattox,"The motion: was agreed to.viMr^R- -.WALTON MOOREM make the"same <motKJn*in

'reference .to^ the

-resolu-

tions % introduced :by the gentleman fromAppomattox •and ?i the gentleman fromRichmond A (Mr. Gordon), t which containsubstantive provisions in reference to thismatter.' -Imove that they:be indellnitelypostponed,: and; likewise the rescindlnl;resolution Applying to ;the election orjudges. of:the Court of Appeals.

Mr CARTER: .What do you moan by"Dostponed"? What effect will that have?

PRESIDING OFFICER: Th^ prac-tical effectiof /the ilndeuiile postpon.jrner.;will be toikillithem. :\-; -\u25a0...'"-.

The:motion: was;agreed^to.: Mr BLAIR:-Mr. President, Ifit is inorder at this .time. Iwish to give noticethat!when: the -Convention reconvenes r,nthe 22d day;of May,Ishall offer a motioato rescind the whole instrument, as actop'jpd by 'tne Convention.Mr? WILLIAM A. ANDERSON: Mr.President. 'l.wish to suggest to the pen tie-men of the Convention the importance ofdetermining: .upon the gentlemen thatthey ""will'nominate' for -members ot th<>boards of v registration in the differentcounties at a-» early a day as practicaMV-.

1suggest- tht.t the matter be taken up assoon as they get to their homes, am! raaget an opportunity to confer with th^irconstituents on the subject

Mr. CLAGGETT B. JONES: W hat 4o^the provision contemplate— three rojci.s-trars to a precinct or three to a tfistr.-t?Mr WILLIAM A. AJsDERSO.V: To

each magisterial district in the count/and to each precinct In the city.

Mr KEEZELL: That v.-ill not beenough- in a large county^llke mine.Mr. WILLIAMA. ANDERSON: They

willsit at each precinct. _Mr.R. WALTON MOORE: Imovo that

when the Convention ad iourr.s to-day tomeet on the 22d day of May. ISO?, it>> tr>meet at 12 o'clock meridian on that u'ay.Instead of at- 10 o'clock. .

The motion was agreed to.Mr. QUARLES: T-move that the C >n-

vention do now adjourn.The motion was agreed to. and the Con-

vention (at 4 o'clock and ift minutes P. .\r.)adjourned- until Thursday, May 2?. 1003,at 12 o'clock meridian. .

(Cheeers and applause.)

PROPOSALS."^™™^~-

ofnee of City Water- Works.Room 3. City Hall.

Richmond. Va.. April 1. ic-r.2.SEALED PROPOSALS WILL BE RE-

CEIVED at this office until THURSDAY,April10 1002. at 5 o'clock P. M.. tor th-following SUPPLIES and CONTRACTWORK for the year ending December 31,I£G2:Eight 4-inch Hub-End Gate Valves;Sixty 6-inch Hub-End Gate-Valves;

Ten S-inch Hub-End Gate Valves:Seven 10-inch Hub-End Gate Valves:Fourteen 12-inch Hub-End Gate Valves:Five 16-inch Hub-End Gate Valves:

Valves to be of best make and quality.Ten 21/4-lnch21/4-lnch Hose-End Brass Gate Valves,

forhydrants;Twenty Double-Nozzle Gate Fire Hy-

drants—nozzles, one 4-inch and one 2Vi-inch:

-3-inch Cast-Iron Pipes, per con:4-inch Cast-Iron Pipes, per ton;

900 6-inch Cast-Iron Pipes, per ton:

220 S-inch Cast-iron Pipes, per ton:300 10-inch Cast-Iron Pipes, t-er teat

763 12-inch Cast-iron Pipes, per ton".

440 16-inch Cast-Iron Pipes, per ton:100,030 pounds Special Castings— Crowes,

Tees, Sleeves, Bends. Reducers, &c..from 4 inches to 16 inches in diameter;

115 Large Stop-Cock Boxes;

10D Small Stop-Cock Boxes;400 Meter Boxes;44.C00 pounds Pig Lead, of best quality;1,800 pounds Best Wiping Solder;

pounds Gasket. . ,BRASS WORK. >V

2V. dozen 1-inch* Tapping Cocks:10~dozen ?i-inch Tapping. Cocks:14 dozen Ji-inch Tapping Cock?:4 dozen 1-inch Round way Stop Cocks, for

lead pipe;7 dozen %-kich Roundway Stop Cocks, for

lead pipe;8 dozen %-lnch Roundway Stop Cocks, fcr

lead pipe;6 dozen >o-mch Roundwa-y Stop Cocks, for

lead pipe;2 dozen s-^-inch Roundway Stop Cocks, for

lead and iron pipe; .6 dozen i^-inch Roimdway Stop Cocks, for

'\u25a0Z lead and iron pipe:1dozen 1-inch Corporation Cocks:1dozen -Ti-inch Corporation Cock?.

Brass Work to .be of best quality. Se?sample at office, and will be let as awhole.

- '\u25a0\u25a0

50<) %-inch "Water Meters;15 1-inch Water Meters:Per cubic yard of \u25a0 Digging and Refilllm;

trenches in paved, macadamized andclay streets.- or-. rr.-.-,- :'

All supplies to be*delivered at the phopor pipc-S'ard. except pipes, which shall b*f. o. b. at Richmond. Va.. Insuch quanti-ties from time to time as the Superinten-

dent of the -Water Works may direct.The specifications and further informa-

tion can be obtained at this office.The Committee on -Water reserves the

right to Increase .or decrease the abo'.v-named quantities twenty per cent. (20 p?rcent.), and also reserves the right to re-ject any or all bids.

C. E. BOLLIXG.ap 2,3,5,7&9-5t '\u25a0\u25a0'.-\u25a0 Superintendent.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS.SEALED PROPOSALS WILL BE RE-

CEIVED at'my office until WEDNES-DAY.April 9th, for EXCAVATINGANDMOVING from the northwest corner ofTwenty-fifth and Franklin streets fromEIGHT TO TEN THOUSAND YARDSOF EARTH, and hauling itvia FrankiSn.Twenty-second, and Dock streeu. acrossdrawbidge into the ship-yard of tha Wil-liam-R. Trigg Company, and dumping- atpoints between Nineteenth and Twenty-first streets, extended. Contractors! muststate -number of men and carts they arewilling-to work until the completion ofthe job, without interruption.

E. T.D. MYERS. JR..Civil Engineer William R. Trigsr Co..

aps-tAp9ln Ship-Lock, City.

MEETINGS r

Richmond, Va., March 2G. 1902.THE REGULAR ANNUALMEETING

OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF TUBALBEMARLE PAPER MANUFACTU-RING COMPANY willbe held at the of-fices of Messrs. Wi'.liams. Bryan" & Wil-liams, First National Bank Buikiinc- (up-stairs),. Richmond. Va.. on THL'RSDAT,April10, IGO2. at 11 o'clock A. if.

CHARLES M. BOSWELL.mh 26-td Secretary and Treasurer.

Southern Railway Company,Richmond, Va.. March 21, ISO2.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THATa general meeting of the STOCKHOLD-ERS OF THE SOUTHERN' RAILWAtCOMPANY has been called by the Boardof Directors, and will be held .it theprincipal office of the company In th?city -7f Richmond. Va.. or. WEDNES-DAY, the 23d day of April. 1902. at 13o'cloc\'. in the forenoon, for the purposaof: > . ;«

-.; \u25a0

(1.) Increasing the number of direccor*to be elected at the next annual matinsto twelve; and.

(2.) Classifying the directors then to beelected' iaito three classes of four direct-ors each, the term of office of the direct-ors of the first class to expire in. lC*i.ofthe directors of the second class in ISOC3and of the directors of the third class In1905: and. also.

(3.) Authorizing the" Board of Direcrorsto take-such action as from time to tira^it may deem expedient to effect a consol-idation .-of rhe Asheville and Spartans-burg Railroad Company, the South Caro-lina'and Georgia Railroad Company, theSouth Carolina and Georgia ExtensionRailroad' Company, and the CarolinaMidland Railway Company.- anil tht»lease of the consolidated railroads to tlw.Southern Railway Company.

(4.) Transacting any other buslr.-?^that may be brought before the mr«<-tina.

\u0084 By order of the Board of Directors.. R. D. LANKFORD.mh 22-t Ap22 in ,~- Secretaray.

NOTICE.\u25a0A GENERAL MEETING OF TH=.

STOCKHOLDERS OP THE VIRGINIAHOT SPRINGS COMPANY will be hclJat the 'office of the company. ChoaapeaKrand .Ohio Building Eighth and Msi'astreets, Richmond; Va. at 12 M. on TUES-DAY, the 6th -ay of May. 1001*. tor tfc*purpose of considering the question of au-thorizing a imortjra«e upon the propertiesof the Virginia Hot:Springs Company to

secure: an Issue' of:.bonds „to an ainouaSnot . excee^nsriFlve: Hundred ThousandDollars,' which mortgage and. bonds shallbe. subordinate, to the Hen of the Urst'mortgage of the.iSouthern ImprovementCompany: and for the transaction of suchother business as may 'lawfullycome be-fore said \u25a0 meetlnjf. . : ".:

v . . A/'XREVVETT. Secretary.-api-Xt . " ' -

;\u25a0"\u25a0'*

RICKIVSOND AND PETERSBURaELECTRIC RAIUWAY.

CAKo UEAVK CORNER PERRY ANDS2VBNTH;STREETS. MAX-'

\ \u25a0-, "---.CHESTER^; :;: '

;Every-Houf;frdm':6 Al-M-*td10 P- M-k:CARSiLEAVEJEETERSBURQ „.

SOfMinutes ;AfteryKvery^Hour S from «»:J»

the resolution. L~t*ai-UThe :motion .to ")reconsider wasj-ejected.^,mMr.'.JAMES VW.VGORDON:'.I•have :a^let-?ter: here ffrom?one oflthe Richmond p"lc«-

holders.iwhich liwouldr like to;have f the

iSecretary,^ read. - '. • '."The; Secretary iread ;.as -follows. -..,.\u25a0:\u25a0.• Smith,-';--;•\u25a0 "-"City^Sergeant.-:^.;/^^

x ."Richmond, iVa., March 31,;iao-"Mr-/James: W.:Gordon,' City:. :.\u25a0 ;:i

-\u0084 \u25a0_.:"Dear.,Sir,-i::amvinformed- unless, the

Revision :;Committee TreDorta- in \fa-vor ormaking the City, Sergeant's office

'for four:years; from:July lst.his :term will?,nly

/:°e\u25a0 eigh teen '\u25a0\u25a0' months.:;iYou f<see >we.::wink lose

six months; and then? another election; togo:through. -^l^opejyou willadvocate thefour-year term. ;''.

•. .-

-"With- kind,regards, Iam, . ?"VeryIrespectfully, :-: ;.. ~.rrrrt;

„\u25a0;-:<'-. . i "jAMES C. SMITH.^...

.Mr. BARBOUR: I:desire to offer thefollowing-resolution: :;: .-.•

- ''\u25a0

The Secretary read- as follows:. (Here ;occurs an omission In the copy.—Dispatch.) :

The PRESIDENT: The question is ontheladoptlon; of the resolution- offered by

the- gentleman from Culpeper.'

.The resolution was Lagreed to. j .V. The hour of 2 o'clock having arrived tnechair was vacated until 4 o'clock P..M.

; AFTERNOON SESSION. :.The Convention reassembled at the ex-,

piration of the recess, Mr. Ayers in thechair.' , _. .

The PRESIDING. OFFICER: The Chairwill state tnat the President of ;the Con-vention is indisposed, /and has requested

the present occupant of the chair to pre-side in ins absence. ." . -

:— .

The business before the Convention is

the consideration of" the two resolutionsof the gentleman from Appomattox (Mr.

Flood). iThe tirst resolution will be read.. The Secretary read as follows:

Resolution No. 276,1 proposed by the gen-tleman from Appomattox (Mr. Flood):"Resolved, That section 3, of Articled, ofthe pending Constitution, as contained inthe report of the Committee on the Legis-lative Department, adopted on the 7thday of January, 1902, be, and the same is,'hereby rescinded."

Mr. R. WALTON MOORE: Mr. Presi-dent, the gentleman who introduced thisresolution is absent. Ido not know, thatthere is any prospect now of his returnbefore the adjournment of the Conven-tion, soIsuppose we imight as well takeup this matter and dispose of it;Itakeitfor granted there is no alternative. TheConvention willrecall that the provision,as itnow stands, isfor the election of theentire Legislature biennially, both themembers of the House of.Delegates andthe Senate. Ifthe Convention should re-scind that action, without some under-standing being reached in advance, it isimpossible to tell whether we could geta two-thirds vote to effect any substitu-tion whatever. Ithas been suggested inthe last hour or, so, <by gentlemen whohave conferred with the delegate fromAppomattox, that before taking a formalvote on the rescinding resolution, theremight be some understanding reached, tosubstitute for what .we have done a pro-vision that would be satisfactory to all,and which would settle the conflictingviews entertained by the gentlemen ofthe Convention.

Now, Mr. President, so far as Iam con-cerned, Iam not here in any unyieldingattitude, and those who have acted withme, Iam sure, are disposed to make anyconcession that will relieve a situationwhich has become somewhat complicated.This- subject has been under discussion,in one form or another, almost ever sincethe Convention convened last summer. Ithas been proposed by several .gentlementhat it might be possible to come to anunderstanding, in a, more or less formalway, in- advance of a vote upon the mo-tion to rescind. to;the effect that all themembers of the House of Delegates shallbe elected biennially, and all. the mem-bers of the Senate shall be elected quad-rennially. This would provide for theelection of the entire Legislature everyfour years, and an intermediate" biennialelection of the House of Delegates. Ithasseemed to me. erentlemen. that the ar-rangement suere-estorl would give a,fpa-'ture of sufficient conservatism, and at thesame time' would facilitate the people inf=eouring a rendy exprossion of their opin-ions and wishes by the General Assem-'^y of the State.

'

Now,Ihave made this statement veryfrankly, because this is no time for strat-egy or manoeuvring; and Iwant to beperfectly candid with the members of theConvention. Ican only say that such adisposition of the subject would' be veryagreeable to me, and Irespectfully -askthe Convention to, take it under conside-ration at once, with a .view of; determin-ingwhether we can come to that conclu-sion and be ready: for the recess, whichhas already been agreed upon this morn-ing.'\u25a0

;i\ir.- CARTER: Mr. President, Iam oneof'the members of this Convention who

was. very much opposed to the changethat was made in the Constitution of ourState Senate.. Ithought we made a greatmistake. Ithought it was done in ahurry, and without due consideration. Itwas the one single thing that this bodyhas done that 1 was willingto vote torescind. Iwill say, speaking for myselfalone, that Iam perfectly willingto takethe olive branch held out by. the gentle-man from Fairfax (Mr. Moore). In thefirst place, Ithink it is exceedingly im-portant, in these closing days of our,ses-sion, that we should get together uponas many subjects as possible, in order toadjourn with as much concensus of agree-ment upon all important points as it ispossible for us to have. Iam willingtoyield something of my- views upon thisquestion, as Ihave been upon- manyother questions which have come beforethis body.

Mr. GEORGE K. ANDERSON: Ihadthe honor. Mr. President and gentlemenof the Convention, to introduce a resolu-tion looking to the election of all themembers of the General Assembly, forterms of four years, with biennial ses-sions. . In the same spirit which has actu-ated the chairman of the Committee onthe Legislative Department, Ifeel thatthe time has come when our ; extremeviews upon these questions should betoned down to some extent. *I thereforegive notice that Ishall offer an amend-ment to the' resolution proposed by thegentleman from Appomattox, to strikeout of his resolution all of the words con-tained in the lines from 5 to S, inclusive,which willleave us in this position: Thatmembers of the House of Delegates willbe elected every two years, for terms oftwo years, and members of the Senatewill.be elected every four years for termsof four years; and when the questioncomes up on the resolution

' offered bymyself, Ishall ask the Convention tovote it down and take this in lieu of it„Mr. R; WALTON MOORE:Mr. Presi-.dent, in advance of any action upon themotion to 'rescind, which would have to bedisposed of before my friend's resolutionIs acted upon, Iask the Convention topass upon this resolution: .

"Resolved, That the Convention' is -of-opinion that the Lecislature should be soorganized and constituted that the Houseof Delegates shall be elected bipriniallvand the, Senate quadrennially." That willsecure an expression of opinion' from theConvention.

Mr. WTTHKRS: Mr.,Prppfdpnt.Irise toa auestinn "of personal privilege.Ido sowith a feeling- of resrret and apoloer^': burwith a feelinar.that in justice to myselfneroonally three things' .should be coi-rected:;,

First. It-has been stated -In certainnewspapers in the State that this motionwas offered in the Interests of a certaingentleman's candidacy for. a certain- of-fice and against the ;candidacy \u25a0of a cer-tain other gentleman for the same office.Publicity has been; given to that state-ment. Ihope the Convention will,bearwith me, because Iwant the Convention—and I.care very little about the publicbecause rdo not think it is much con-cerned—to know that that is not true.;Ioffered the resolution :individually,without any idea of that sort whatsoever,and my.position in the last campaign inthis. State absolutely negatives such anidea. That is correction: No. 1. \u25a0\u25a0'\u25a0', . .

•The came. newspapers, have stated thatthe result Lwas revolutionary, destructiveand .absolutely in;defiance jjof all prece-dent. Without: attempting- to argue" thatpoint, -I wanfthe Convention: to know;;

\u25a0if it does . not already know,r that twentyof;the '"-States of the Union, and among;them the best, have exactly, the plan thatwas ;adopted in the legislative ar.ticle.The third point to, which Iwish for amoment- to ask your attention -is,\ that Ithas ,been stated that:it;was offered with-.out ;•;the |of any one; 'that itwas -

;put through-

under, a misappreheh- 'elon, without discussion and without theknowledge; of this; Convention -as' to .the.fact .that such ai reßplution. was -before"it. .That charge has- been Iterated

'and-:reiterated r In ;the •;Richmond -Dispatch,which publishes the :- ofnclal ,- proceedings \u25a0

.of this;Convention. \u25a0; ?Ido not care, .= Mr.rPreaident,*- to- be ;put"in such a positionbefore fan j':body.:of.;which vIam -armem-11ber. In the Richmond Dispatch: of Janu-' ;"ary:v 17th. which111hold >;in'--.myAhand, vand"- In the officiar report of the proceed-ings of this;Convention,.^ is the notice:given-by jmes-:two<or. -three :times,- iwhich':jl:will;nottake up your itlmeito read.' that;on;the;next-day,or at'auchstlme asa 5 cer-^tain'i section &wasIreached, I'would!; move

\u25a0 toireconsider |aectloha \2 ;and '\u25a0'-\u25a0 3,\v for.^the'

Ipuxpost of;doing-a**y wWb -:boM^ver '\u25a0

our action willnot soon be undone hy thoGchoral Assembly;:for'.tho increased reve-.nues to.be;derived: from the taxation;of

corporations, \u25a0 together iwlth-the:reductionof administrative :expenses ;made .by-this

Conventions is going to keep the:taxes of

the State down -to. 30 :cents: on the^onehundred •dollars. /Hence Irepeat; that the

reduction o£ the tax'rate ;by vie Conven-tion was not. "buncombe.': It was ,;an

achievement- that.UieoohventlonToughb tobe proud of. Having accomplished

"3uch

results In the face of attack and harass-,

mciit. the".Convention has a rlght;to makeits work secure and to demonstrate to^thcpeople that their representatives here havenot uselessly frittered away, their time.:

The outcry against tax reduction comesfrom the organized opposition to this Con-vention, and is inspired !by a purpose to

defeat its work before the;people. (Ap-plause.) Tangible evidences are "by. nomeans lacking of concerted effort- to beatthe Constitution that we have framed., I

have repeatedly heard bold and emphatic^

threats to that effect. We ought to meet

these enemies fearlessly: we ought unhesi-tatingly to repel their attacks.

AYe -.' have evinced here quite as muchdeference to the General

- Assembly as

that body has to the Convention. .Thebitter hostility of certain members of theLegislature to the work of tho Conven-

tion has not.been disguised. Ithas beenopenly proclaimed by. some and covertly

demonstrated by others; and under theleadership of these gentlemen the GeneralAssembly has. In less than six weeks,

expended the accumulated surplusfjfnear-,

ly ihree,- years.; They have gone into thetreasury with lavish hands. Nothing hasbeen denied. Ido not hesitate to expressit as my belief that this has been largely

done todiscredit the work of this Conven-tion by attempting to convince the people

of Virginia that this tax reduction is adangerous and disastrous -experiment. Inmy opinion it is neither. ItIs practical

and safe and right: Iaccept my fullshare

of the responsibility for it,.and shall voteagainst any rescision of the action of thoConvention.

The PRESIDENT: The question is onagreeing to the amendment offered by thegentleman from Culpeper.

Mr. PORTLOCK: Icall for the yeas

and nays.' . \u25a0:.-\u25a0> , .\u25a0

'

Mr. HARBOUR: Iwill withflraw theamendment. - . .

The PRESIDENT: The question is

agreeing to the resolution offered by,thegentleman from Norfolk county.

Mr. PORTLOCK: Icall for the yeas

and nays." ' '

,The yeas and nays were ordered and

taken. - - '• ,The following pair was announced:Mr. Thorn with Mr. Hardy.The first-named gentleman would have

voted in the affirmative.The question being taken on yeas and

nays, the result was announced— yeas, 2o;nays, sG—as follows:• Yeas— Messrs. W. A. Anderson, Bristow,

Brooke, Brown, Cameron, C. J. Campbell,Crismond, Dunaway. Fletcher, Hamilton,Hancock, Hatton, Hubard, Hunton, In-gram, Lincoln, Mcllwaine, R. WaltonMoore, O'Flaherty, Portlock, Quarles,Willis, and Wysor— 23.

Nays— Messrs. George K. Anderson,Ayers.

'Barbour, Barham, Manly--H.

Barnes, Thomas H. Barnes, Blair. Boaz,Bouldin, Braxton, P. W. Campbell, Car-ter. Cobb, Davis. Earman, Epes, Fairfax,Garnett. Gilmore, Glass, B. T. Gordon,James W. Gordon, R. L. Gordon, Green,Gregory. Gwyn, Hardy, Claggett B.Jones, G. -W. Jones, Keezell, Kendall,Lindsay, Lovell. Marshall, Meredith, Mil-ler, Moncure, Mundy. Parks. Pettit, Phil-lips, Pollard, Rives, Smith, Stebbins, Tar-ry, Thornton. Turnbull. Waddill. Walker,"Watson. Wise, Withers, Yancey, and thePresident— s6. •

Not Voting—Messrs. Bolen, Chapman,Daniel, Eggleston, Flood, Gillespie, Har-rison, Hooker, Lawson, Thomas L.Moore,Drr, Pedigo, Richmond. Robertson, Stu-irt. Summers, Thorn, Vincent, Walter,»Vescott, and Woodhouse— 2l.

So the resolution was rejected.Mr. WITHERS: The gentleman from

Patrick, from whom Ihave a letter jnmy pocket, delivered last night, askedme to pair' him on this proposition,against the resolution. Ihave not beenable to get a pair for him; and Iwant itto appear on the record that the gentle-man, ifhe had not been unavoidably ab-sent, would have voted nay.

Mr. PARKS: Imove to reconsider thevote just taken.

The motion to reconsider was rejected.. Mr. R. WALTON MOORE: Iunder-stand that the gentleman from Appomat-tox, who is interested in a motion to re-scind, the action of the Convention on thereport of the Committee on the Legisla-tive Department, will probably be hereabout 2 o'clock. Isuggest that the reso-lution offered by the gentleman fromNorthumberland be now. considered.

Mr. WALKER: Itis quite evident nowthat there will be sufficient time to con-sider the rescind resolution offered by thegentleman fronr Appomattox. Itseems tome, therefore, that it might be well topass that by. and Inqw make; that mo-tion, in order that the resolution offeredby me may be taken up.

The PRESIDENT: The question is onagreeing to the motion to pass by theresolution offered by the gentleman fromAppomattox (Mr. Flood).

The motion was agreed to.Mr. WILLIAMA. ANDERSON: Iwish

to call the attention of the members ofthe Convention to the fact that we havenever adopted a preamble to the Consti-tution.

Mr. BARBOUR: You will not adopt apreamble until after you adopt the Con-stitution. Isuppose.

Mr. GREEN: Iwillsay to. the gentle-man from Rockbridge that a resolutionwas adopted some time ago with refer-ence to the preamble, but any decision onthe question was suspended until \u25a0 theConstitution was fully framed and re-ported. For that reason Ihave not calledit up.

Mr. WALKER:Iask to have my reso-lution reported.

The Secretary read as follows:Resolved, That when the • Convention

adjourns to-day it shall adjourn to meetagain on "Wednesday, 22d day of May,1902, at 12 o'clock M., and. that the "Com-mittee on Final' Revision and Adjust-ment of the various provisions of theConstitution that may be agreed uponand upon the schedule" be authorized toisit during the recess, with authority toprint one thousand copies of the Consti-tution as finally revised by it, togetherwith the schedule" and report of the com-mittee, and its members and clerk shallreceive pay during such time as its mem-bers actually attend its sessions, aVwellas mileage;- that the other members ofthe Convention, and its officers and em-ployees shall not receive pay, but shallbe entitled to mileage." '

Mr. THOMAS H. BARNES: Mr. Presi-dent. Imove to amend the resolution by-striking out "June . 4th" \u25a0\u25a0 and inserting"May 17th." Iwant to return and getthrough with our work before the hotdays of June. Ido not want to' strikeanother hot spell in Richmond, and haveto go to the expense of again providingfans for the Convention.

Mr. M'ILWAINE: Unless it will verymuch inconvenience some of the membersof the Convention, Iwould like to havethat date changed to May 22d. Ihave beentold by the lawyers of the body that theyare very busy during the months of Apriland May; but it is not about the lawyersIam thinking, but about myself. T doubtMr. President, whether there is any m.em-ber of the Convention who has more as-siduously attended its sessions :and con-ferences than Ihave. Iam going hometo-morrow to take up my work, and Iamcompelled, to pursue it until about the20th or 2lst. of May, when Iwillibe*ableto get through my examinations: I'-willbe able to come back then, and Ihope tocontinue with you until you finish yourlabors. Ido ;

not want to.out any of thegentlemen in the Convention to any in-con-rt;nience, butImentionthis as a factMr. THOMAS H. BARNES:Iwill ac-cept the sugsestion of tho gentlemanand amend by substituting May 22d. .The PRESIDENT: The queetion is onthe amendment to strike out June 4thand insert May 22d.

The amendment was agreed to'

Mr- BARBOUR: Imove to amend theresolution by striking out the words "onethousand" and inserting the words "tenthousand,"- for the use of the membersMr. LINDSAY:Ithink the, gentlemanfrom Culpeper is laboring under a mis-apprehension. He desires,:, as .1"under-stand it, a distribution of these ten thou ;sand copies during; the recess. As Iun-derstand the Resolution; ifdoeswnot pro-vide, for the printing of these copies untilafter^tho . Committee 'on Final .Revisionhas completed its work.

'Mr. BARBOUR: I:\u25a0 will withdraw my

amendment. . and willIoffer it later as a7a7separate resolution. '.\-, Mr. WILLIAMA.-ANDERSON: I;moveto amend the resolution so as -to.includethe publication, of the report of the: Co-mmittee on ;Revislon. . • "

Mr.-BARBOUR:IhWeno objection tothe.amendment.- . . ...^v

I!The^ PRESIDENT: The modification^ls:accepted, by- the mover; of the- resolutionsJ qiiestio-nrecurß ion the reaolution-of-:£ered ,;by ahe ;gen tlemah ;from -Northum-berland as amended. : , ', ,Tho reeolution ,'wa« adopted.

VMr.- WALKER: -1:xn^M TtcouMlC^

senators^lThatSidentical^language^waa;used sby/; melt two?~or'; three'times *;on>tne16th \u25a0«day fof "January. l^ \u25a0Nowyuinxthe;Dis-patch%ofiithe'ilSthL dayr

<of January^»s ha;fullireport'ofithe'proceedlngs'andsdiscus-jslons;; upon ;theEmotion;, of .which:I-nailgiven^notlce the"; dayj'prior;'!and there;appears ": in ,this.:;r the -same" inewspaper^that>haa;chargedi again 'and :again:>that :there>.was sno* opportunity. /given >to|dis-cuss r,this ;.matter, •-? all-Xbut \u25a0\u25a0; a ";fraction-^ of.seveii 8columns ofRebate Iupon ?[ sub- \u25a0

ject; showineritha^novtriclc>was worked:upon the 'Convention;', that> no;parliament;tary^'strategy.'or'imanoeuvfe^Vr'as' resort-ed" to,sbut: that full:notice: was given.<andthat the reason 8assigned ;was|the desirenot |to|have -. hold-over :senators, \u25a0 whether,you had' quadriennial or '-.biennial elec-tions. ,-v >•'• ', -. j. ' '

'\u25a0-. '<\u25a0„,.Iwant to make this .statement, Mr.

President, for the'vreason; first, ;.that. "lwant

"the recollection of this body-,re-

freshed \u25a0\u25a0-, as to the •fact', that due noticewas given of the amendment Iproposedto offer, the meaning of;it,; the :pur- ;

pose and the, intent of -it; and, -secondly,

that no trick was resorted to/ but that,,as \u25a0 any member can" see by finspecting vieDispatch '\u25a0' of- January IS.\ 1902," there ap-pears .there all but a",fraction of sevencolumns of discussion, in. which six oreight, gentlemen took part/ ;: With that explanation,! hope Ihavemade myself clear" to the Convention,and that is the

'only, body Icare to in-

flict, the explanation upon.'

Mr. R. WALTON"MOORE: ; A littlewhile ago, Mr..President, Iread a reso-lution

•I'\u25a0' had .prepared, or" was 'inthe act' of preparing. Since :then rmyfriend from Northumberland has sug-gested that: the matter be put in a littledifferent shape,- to deal with ifa littlemore simply than as I1I1had prepared it.So, ipstead ,of reading again or offeringthe. resolution which I'read. Inow readthe. resolution :as prepared by him:

'•Resolved, That the Committee on\Re-vision be; and they are hereby empower-ed and directed to so amend the article onthe legislative -department, as to providethat all the members of the Senate beelected once every four years for a termof four years, and the members of theHouse of Delegates be elected biennially,for a term of two years, as is at presentprovided in tho said article." ;

\u0084

The language "at present provided msaid article" applies to the House of Dele-gates. The change, is :expressed in thatportion of the resolution which reads: • .

"Provided, Liiat all the members of theSenate be elected once .every four yearsfor a term of four years."

Mr. GREEN: Would it not be betterto say "the members of the Senate"? Thatwould include all the members of theSenate. \u25a0.-•\u25a0\u25a0'•"" \u25a0'•-..:

Mr. R. WALTON MOORE: Itwas sug-gested by the gentleman from Northum-berland, and perhaps also by the gen-

tleman from Danville (Mr. Withers), thatit would perhaps be sarer to use the woru"all

"'\u25a0'"-•\u25a0 \u25a0\u25a0- \u25a0.-..\u25a0.

Mr. CAMERON: Mr. President, Iwillnot detain the' Convention further thanto say that Iam one of.those who occupythe position of the gentleman from Han-over i(Mr. Carter), on tne legislative pro-position, and of the gentleman from Dan-ville -that after consultation with otherscomposing that' element, Ifeel justifiedin saying that this compromise is onethat' should be accepted, and Ihope wewill- find in this a ground of commonagreement, and that with practical unan-imity, the Convention will agree to thisresolution. (Applause.)

\u25a0 Mr.'HATTON: .Mr. President. Iwasone of those who opposed on this floorthe adoption of the clause of the Con-stitution relating to the election of sena-tors, and I, of course, would logically

be in favor of rescinding the action ofthe Convention as it now stands. But "fIam expected to vote for the rescinding,

resolution under an implied agreement

that those who vote for it will acceprtl»e- proposed compromise, Icannot vote

for the rescinding resolution, and willnotvote for it with any such understanding.The so-called compromise measure in nowise meets my objections, and ratherthan join in this compromise with thosewho advocated such a radical departurefrom a fundamental principle, which hasobtained in our government from usfoundation. Iprefer ,to let those who wantit shoulder the l'esponsibility for it with-out co-operation from me. ,Ido not desire to be considered arbi-

trary or unyielding, but Imust standfor a principle which, as Iconceive,

stands at the very root of the organiza-tion of the legislative branch of ourState Government

'This is no time for

a reargument Of this 'question,^ but I

think my position requires this explana-

tion. Ioppose any change in the elec-tion of senators, because from the be-ginning of this government down.- Ibe-lieve, to ISSO, the Senate of Virginia wasdivided into three classes, so that theSenate represented public opinion In, theState at three different and distinct pc:riods. Since ISSO the senators have beendivided into two classes, so that the Sen-ate represented public- opinion in theState at two different periods. The rea-son for this is plain. It was designed

to protect the people against one of theevils of popular government, againsthasty legislation incident to some great

wave of public sentiment, which some-times sweeps over a people and causesthem to become unmindful of the pos-sible consequences of their acts. Itwas io

place in the General Assembly the leavenof conservatism and to insure as far .aspossible the presentation of both sidesof all questions in times of public ex-citement. . . .. _

\u25a0

As the provision now is in tne con-stitution, which we have just framed,

the Senate willconstitute only one class.Therefore, they will represent :publicopinion in the State only at one periodand this so-called compromise does not :change that position in any particular crm any degree, whether the senn tors: art

elected every two years or are electedevery four years. If they are elected, at

the same time the main object or hay-ing two houses in our General Assemblj

Isay is defeated, and when the reasonfor the existence of the. Senate .cw^es.the logical consequence :s the abolitionof 'the Senate, and, inasmuch as economy

is the reason first assigned b>v the advo-

cates of this measure, they- should ha\e

been logical and carried their reasons to

their legitimate conclusion and abolishedthe Senate For these reasons Idesire

to go on record as against any suchagreement. Itis a one-sided compromise,

Ill&feS^nrSTo'lafthSISSl^S^i^:t'Mr.-Pre3ident,.lt

'Mr.-Pre3ident,.lelmply* wish to. say that while, as is

kr£wn to all the members of the Conven-tion,Ifavor quadrennial sessions or theLegislature. Ithink the compromisespoken of by these gentlemen is a properone, and Ishall support it. . *

Mr BROWN: Mr. President. I"have,been one of those who have occupied theposition from the beginning of the session

in favor of biennial elections of represen-

tatives for terms of two years; lor bien-

nial sessions, and for four-year ,tj?rms torsenators— one half the Senate to be elect-,

cd -biennially. Under that arrangement

we would have the exact state of affairsthat we have now.. The gentleman fromPortsmouth has expressed my views, in

regard to the desirability of retaining thetime-honored institution of ;a hold-overSenate, and has done it more forciblythan Icould have done, and Ifully en-"dorse everything he has said as. to thesuperiority of the plan we -have alwayshad, and which those who have agreedwith me throughout this whole contro-versy have consistently contended; shouldbe preserved. This Convention, however,at one time, in Committee of the Whole,adopted a resolution' which provided forquadrennial elections of senators andmembers of|the House of Delegates, andfor quadrennial sessions of the GeneralAssembly. That was very far from myoriginal idea,' or from anything that IfeltIcould, support. ;Aftera.hard fight, thisposition was subsequently reversed in theConvention, and provision made. for bien-nial election for terms: of two years' forsenators and for members cf the House ofDelegates, and for.biennial sessions.

-That is the-present.status of the matter,

in the Convention, and Iam equally un-willing:to agree that this provision should '\u25a0

bo retained.. The Tcalled compromiseplan," now -proposed, provides for biennialelections of;' members; of the House of•Delegates :for terms ;of two,years, and forquadrennial elections of senators forterms, of four years— the election, of allthe senators to take, place at one time ateach "alternate election: for /members of \u25a0

the House of Delegates. It also providesfor:biennial sessions of; the, General As-sembly. I:conclude; that the plan;contem-plates :rthat ;the members of the: House 'of:Delegates willbe elected' at the. same .timethe Governor, is elected,, and the,senatorsand -a new House of Delegates will-beelected \u25a0\u25a0 at the subsequent biennial ,elec-tion,', that "takes :; place in the middle ofthe :Governor's term lot;office. 'It;'is truethatitinder- this .arrangement we -do not:preserve 2in;•thoibest :form '\u25a0'; the '\u25a0\u25a0 furida-*-mental which .the gentleman-from "Portsmouth. has 1

,so .forcibly-showntos stand jas \ the very/essence :of ;the::or-:ganization? of:^ the -legitilatlve:;branch ,ofthe "State ;government.?.The: application- ofthe principle is really,diverted, and;it nowappears 1Ing this|compromise measure |Ink.% more\ exaggerated vand idlfferentl torm;'-The: position •of'those \u25a0 gentlemen .who * haveopposed' the retention of. .the:'orlglnalisys-,jtern,;and vwho-havaIadvocated; the? radical'changes }contemplated- by the iConvention \

Inlitsractlon'ußitoithls-tlme.'haveiforced^thosefofXua that- have sconteridedffor^tho'retention^offetheforijrlnalSitatusjtoSapTeo;toiaccept sthi? ;so-called fbompromise,^ that!i*«ally-tflJt»a tuiboyond what; we -would \hm'~.\u25a0,-.'-\u25a0

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