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your Honor had jurisdiction or power to restrain them
from appointing or qualifying judges of election, the code
of the State provides for their failure to appoint and for
the failure of such judges to be present, by authorizing
and directing justices of the peace to act as judges in such
case, and In their absence or default, for the election of
judges with full powers by the majority of the people
present at the polls, whom the said complainants have
not as yet ventured to pray that your Honor will enjoin.
Your respondents, therefore, respectfully suggest, that
even if the prayer of the complainants could be granted as
made, it would result practically in nothing but possible
confusion and certain irregularity and inconvenience. And,
indeed, as the local jurisdiction of your Honor is limited
and the result of the utmost exercise of the power which
this court is invited by the complainants to assume could
be nothing more than the interruption of the people of
the City of Baltimore in voting under the legislation which
is here impugned, it will be manifest to your Honor that
the action of the complainants contemplates neither more
nor less than leaving to the rest of the people of the State,
to the exclusion of the people of Baltimore, the determina-
tion of the question of holding a convention and the elec-
tion of delegates to compose it. In fact, as will thus be
seen, the prevention of the election in the city of Balti-
more would not only not prevent the convention from be-
ing held, but would prevent those who are opposed to it,
as well as those who favor it, in said city, from being
heard on the question.
But your respondents respectfully submit, that what-
ever may be the jurisdiction of chancery in restraining the
execution of ordinary laws upon the allegation of their un-
constitutionality, it is a novel doctrine that it is competent
for the judiciary, or any part thereof, to assume the
province of restraining the people themselves from the ex-
ercise of their sovereignty in modifying an existing con-
stitution. And while it is quite clear that the Legislature
are incompetent to assume any ordinary powers prohibited
to them by the State Constitution existing, it has always
been regarded as equally clear, your respondents are ad-
vised, that any legislative action upon a change of consti-
tution, submitted to the people for their approbation and
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