whether this had been sanctioned by the com-
mittee?
Mr. BOWIE replied that he knew but three or
four gentlemen upon that floor who had under-
taken to go to the trouble of sketching out their
remarks. If the gentleman wished to know
their names, he could mention them.
Mr, MAGRAW. It is not necessary.
Mr, BOWIE did not consider this as a depart-
ure from the terms of the contract, which provided
that correct and substantial sketches
should be given. No gentleman among those
who were stated to have published their speech-
es at a greater length than they actually deliv-
ered them went beyond a correct and substantial
report, and their speeches were not embraced
in a much larger space than if they had been
correctly and substantially reported by the Re-
porter himself. The sketches made by the Re-
porter himself, in nine cases out of ten, had
actually been diminished. But these were prop-
ositions made by gentlemen themselves to the
Reporter, which could not be resisted by him.
No complaint had been made by any part of
the Convention, and if did not seem altogether
right for the Convention to blame the Reporter
for that which a part of the Convention itself
did. There was no sort of objection to this,
but, on the contrary, it had met with the acqui-
escence of all.
Mr. CHAMBERS said, he could declare can-
didly, that in all the reports, he had seen but
two instances in which speeches not delivered
on the floor were found in the debates. He had
made about as many as most of the members, and
he could safely aver they were generally, as far
as they went, in the language, and uniformly in
substance, what he said in the House—nothing
more or less. But if the reports were not al-
ways exact reports of what was said, it was not
the fault of the Reporter. It was, as his friend
from Prince George's said, the work of members,
who amplified or abridged their notes re-
ceived from the Reporter. Let this, however,
ie as it may, we are now informed that the
Reporter could not perform the services requi-
red of him, for the sum stipulated, without se-
rious loss. The question, then, is put to us,
Will this body, the representatives of the liberal
and generous citizens of Maryland, require an
honest man to work for them, day by day, without
compensation? For one, he should do no
such thing. He would ask attention to another
consideration. A large number of their con-
stituents had subscribed and paid for copies of
the Register of Debates. They had a right to
expect them to be furnished. He believed their
constituents generally would have some interest
at least in some of the debates, but certainly
these subscribers had evinced an interest.—
Would it be proper—would it be fair—now to
arrest their publication? He thought not. Be-
lieving, as he did, that "the laborer is worthy of
his hire," and unwilling to arrest the means of
information to the people of the State, who de-
sired to know what we were doing and why we
were doing it, he was for giving a just compensation
to the Reporter. |
One other idea, and he would ask for it the
consideration of his friend from Harford, (Mr.
Magraw,) than whom there was not on this floor
a more amiable man, or one of kinder feelings.
it was this: if we were to have long speeches,
either on the floor or in the House, was it not
as well, in many cases, to dispense with them
here and have them put in the Register? Would
not many in the Convention be well pleased
with such an arrangement? Indeed, as a mere
matter of economy, both as regards time and
money, would not his friend agree that such a
bargain would not be a bad one?
Mr. BRENT, of Baltimore city, rose for the pur-
pose of giving the reasons which should influence
his vote. In the first place they had the Reporter
in their power, for the contract contained a clause
providing that he was bound to report for them
from that fund, regardless of the length of time
they might remain in session This was what the
contract said. He would say that a man who
made a contract of this kind acted under a moral
duresse. What duresse? This: that a gentleman
had been brought here, understanding that the
Convention would employ him as their Reporter,
by which he lost a most lucrative and profitable
situation in Washington; for he had heard mem-
bers of Congress say that they regarded him as
the very best Reporter, and that his loss was very
much deplored. At first the Convention refused
to employ him, but finally retraced its steps, and
secured his services. He regretted very much the
mode in which the Reporter had been employed—
merely to furnish aketches, reducing each speech
three-fourths. He regretted that they had not
pursued the policy of the Virginia Convention.
Its debates were reported verbatim et literatum.
Their reports were in full, and he believed they
were published in all of the Richmond newspa-
pers. This was the course which should have
been pursued by this Convention.
What was the resolution ? Nobody doubted the
integrity, the fidelity, the industry of the Re-
porter. In the commencement of the session, all
the sketches were published, he believed, without
revision by members, and they did not see them un-
til after they appeared in print. He discovered this
plan of reducing the debates to one-fourth led lo
absurdities, in one instance, he was made to as-
sert that minors were legal voters. In justice to
himself, he afterwards told the Reporter that he
would expect to revise the sketches of his re-
marks. He felt this to be due to himself, for the
idea of having incorrect versions of his remarks
circulated throughout the State was very unpleas-
ant to him. Any gentleman could see that he
had never put in three-fourths of what he said.
It was difficult to say how much a man speaks.
His friend from Harford could not say how much
space on paper the remarks which he was now
making would fill. He did not feel bound, as an
honorable gentleman, to stand upon the letter of
the contract and execute it; therefore, he should
vote for the resolution. His great object in doing
so would be to furnish light and diffuse intelli-
gence among the people of the State. He de-
sired that the people of Maryland should know
the reasons which influenced this Convention in |
