I am, indeed, of opinion, sir, that this clause cannot be adapted to our constitution, nor modified, by any expedient, into a law, which will not lay insupportable hardships upon the nation, and make way for absolute power. But as it is necessary that a constant supply of seamen should be provided, I think it not improper to observe, that there is one expedient yet remaining, by which, though it will not much assist us in our present exigence, the fleets of this nation may hereafter be constantly supported.
We have, at present, great numbers of charity schools established in this nation, where the children of the poor receive an education disproportioned to their birth. This has often no other consequences than to make them unfit for their stations, by placing them, in their own opinion, above the drudgery of daily labour; a notion which is too much indulged, as idleness, cooperating with vanity, can hardly fail to gain the ascendant, and which sometimes prompts them to support themselves by practices not only useless, but pernicious to society. This evil, sir, cannot be better obviated than by allotting a reasonable proportion out of every school to the service of the sea, in which, by entering early, they cannot fail to become proficients; and where their attainments, which, at present, too frequently produce laziness and dishonesty, might enable them to excel, and entitle them to promotion.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:—Sir, notwithstanding the confidence with which some gentlemen have proposed this amendment, and the easiness with which others have consented to it, I declare, without hesitation, that I oppose it now, and intend to oppose it whenever it shall be offered, because it will defeat all the other provisions which shall be made in the bill.
I will venture to say, sir, that if every man, who has, by whatever tenure, the right of voting, shall be exempted from the necessity of contributing to the publick safety by his personal service, every man qualified for the sea will by some means acquire a vote.
Sir, a very small part of those who give their votes in this nation for representatives in senate, enjoy that right as the appendage of a freehold; to live in some towns, and to be born only in others, gives the unalienable privilege of voting. Any gentleman, to secure his own interest, or obstruct the publick service, may, by dividing a small piece of barren ground among a hundred sailors, exalt them all to freeholders, and exempt them from the influence of this law.
However, sir, I am not less a friend to the freeholders than those who propose the exception in their favour, but, in my opinion, the great interest of the freeholders is the preservation of their freeholds, which can only be secured by a vigorous exertion of the power of the nation, in the war which is now declared against the Spaniards.
Mr. BARRINGTON spoke next:—Sir, by the observations which I have opportunities of making at the place which I have the honour to represent, I am convinced of the influence that this law will have upon all the boroughs along the coasts. There, most of the voters are, in one sense or other, sir, seafaring men, being, almost all of them, owners of vessels, and in some degree acquainted with navigation; they may, therefore, be hurried away at the choice of an officious or oppressive magistrate, who may, by partiality and injustice, obtain a majority, contrary to the general inclination of the people, and determine the election by his own authority.
Sir William YONGE then said:—Sir, if every freeholder and voter is to be exempted from the influence of the law, the bill that we are with so much ardour endeavouring to draw up and rectify, and of which the necessity is so generally acknowledged, will be no other than an empty sound, and a determination without an object; for while we are empowering the government to call seamen into the service, we are exempting almost all that are able to serve from the denomination of seamen: what is this but to dispute without a subject? to raise with one hand and demolish with the other?
In the western parts of the nation, sir, where I reside, many who vote at elections claim their privilege by no other title than that of boiling a pot; a title which he who has it not, may easily obtain, when it will either gratify his laziness or his cowardice, and which, though not occasionally obtained, seems not sufficient to set any man out of the reach of a just and necessary law.
It is, therefore, sir, undoubtedly requisite that the terms of the exception should be explicit and definitive, and that only those should be exempted who have such possessions or qualifications as this assembly shall think a just title to exemption. For on the western coast, from whence great supplies may be expected, almost every sailor has a vote, to which nothing is there required but to hire a lodging, and boil a pot; after which, if this exception be admitted in all its latitude, he may sit at ease amidst the distresses of his country, ridicule the law which he has eluded, and set the magistrate at open defiance.