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thrown in their faces. Let Baltimore have the registry
law, but why should they want to force it on those who
did not want it? He lived in a city (Frederick) of 10, 000
inhabitants, and they not only knew every voter there,
but the house of every voter, and needed no registry to
assist them. The prejudices of his people were against
this law, because of its impure source; it was the un-
healthy offspring of a diseased parent. As for himself,
he did not care that it was a radical measure, but he did
care because of its heavy expense. It was an onerous and
useless burden on an already overtaxed people.
Mr. Wickes, after listening to the arguments on the
subject, was convinced that a uniform system of regis-
tration throughout all the counties was absolutely essen-
tial. He regretted to see the exhibition of sectional feel-
ing which had been displayed. A stranger coming into
this hall might suppose that they were forming twenty-
one or twenty-two different constitutions, not a consti-
tution for the State of Maryland, but for all the counties
and the city of Baltimore, and particularly for the city of
Baltimore. He did not say this in any invidious sense, or
with reference to the views expressed by the gentlemen
from Baltimore. It was the gentlemen from the counties
that had drawn the broad line of demarcation between
the city and the rest of the State. The gentleman from
Charles (Mr. Mitchell) objected because this thing had
originated with the convention of 1864. Had it not been
stripped of all its proscriptive features? The gentleman
from Frederick (Mr. Nelson) got up here and, from the
tenor of his remarks, it might be presumed that Frederick
county should be erected into an independent sovereignty.
The gentleman said his people did not want this registry
system, and yet they had endorsed the party which in-
itiated it, and the gentleman and his colleagues today rep-
resented a minority of the people of his own county.
As to the expense, his friend from Harford (Mr. Arch-
er) informed him that the expense of registering in Har-
ford was about $800 per annum, and the voting popula-
tion from 3, 500 to 4, 000, making an expense of about 20
cents for each voter. In Queen Anne's, with a voting
population of some 2, 000, the expense was $465. Was
this small amount to be considered of any moment when
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