- Pearce Dutee J
As I was going from home this morning to attend the Committee of foreign
Affairs, Mr
Dutee J. Pearce of Newport, Rhode-Island called on me. He
is one of the leading members of a party in that State, who have
undertaken to atchieve a revolution in its government; by the formation
of a Constitution upon the principle of universal suffrage, instead of
the freehold qualification hitherto maintained, under the Charter of
Charles the 2d. which that State has adhered to, instead of
substituting for it as all the others of the old States have done a
Constitution enacted by the People themselves— This freehold
qualification of voters has been many years rankling and festering in
the heart of the State and frequent attempts have been made in the
Legislature, constituted as it was, to obtain a call of a convention to
form a Constitution discarding the property qualification of voters— All
these attempts having failed, a popular movement was concerted and
organized last Summer, and unlicensed meetings, of disqualified persons
in every town of the State, who chose delegates to a convention which
met at Providence last November and formed a Constitution, afterwards,
voted for by upwards of 13000 inhabitants of the State in popular
meetings in December.— After this the regular Legislature called a
Convention which formed and proposed a Constitution, which the qualified
voters afterwards rejected— The suffrage party then proceeded to
organize their government, elected their government Legislative and
Executive—and they have held a Session of their Legislature, and have
assumed by acts of Legislation the government of the State upon
themselves— Pearce acted in this assembly as one of the Representatives
from Newport.— In the meantime the regular Governor and Legislature have
been elected; held a meeting and proclaimed all the proceedings of the
Suffrage party unlawful; and applied to the President of the United
States, for the military interference of the Government of the Union,
which has been granted— Pearce, with several others of the suffrage
party have been arrested and held to bail under a charge of treason
against the State— I could not wait to converse with him, but asked him
to call upon me again— He said he would unless he should leave the city
this day.— I attended the Meeting of the Committee; and afterwards the
meeting of the house, where the amendments of the Senate to the general
appropriation bill, were debated—until near five O’Clock, when the
Committee rose and the house adjourned— The amendment of the Senate
increasing from 50,000 to 100000 dollars, the appropriation, for the
Boston Custom-house was disagreed to by the Committee— R. C. Winthrop departed
yesterday.