(Mr. Spencer.) Let the annual sessions continue
until the people themselves should call for a
change. Let a provision to that effect be insert-
ed in the Constitution, and no injury could re-
sult.
Mr. MERRICK said, that as the amendment in-
dicated by the gentleman from Prince George's,
[Mr, Sprigg,] struck him, [Mr. M.,] as very
appropriate, and as better than his own, he
would withdraw his amendment, and accept
that as a modification.
Mr. WEBER said, that he rose to make a few
remarks in explanation of the vote he intended
to give. Hitherto, as a representative in the
General Assembly, and as a citizen at the polls,
he had voted against the change in the Constitu-
tion which substituted biennial for annual ses-
sions. He had done so, because, in the first
place, he regarded the proposed change as cal-
culated, if not intended, to postpone and protract
the call of a Convention to revise the organic
law of the State. And secondly, because he be-
lieved in the policy and necessity of frequent
elections, in order that the people might hold
their representatives to a proper accountability.
But the people themselves had removed the
grounds of his objections. They had removed
the first, by calling this Convention—whether
for better or for worse, remained yet to be seen.
They had removed the second ground by defining
at the polls, what they intended should be un-
derstood by the term, "frequent elections," so
far as related to elections for members of the
legislature. They had defined it to mean "every
two years." He held that the people, having
all power in themselves, had a right to declare
and define the principles of their government. In
the words of the declaration, adopted a few days
ago, that they "ought to have the sole and ex-
clusive right of regulating their internal govern-
ment." The people had determined to have
biennial sessions, and that was the interpretation
which they desired their representatives here, to
put on the term, "frequent elections." As one
of those representatives, he took this position;
although a small majority of his immediate con-
stituents had voted against the change. But he
looked to the voice of a majority of the people
of the State, and felt, that, as an agent of their's,
he was to be governed by their voice.
He was also constrained to adopt this course
by the consideration that, during the contest
which took place among the people in regard to
the call of a Convention to remodel the organic
law, he had never heard, in his own county, or
seen it stated in the newspapers of any other
county in the State, that one of the reforms desi-
red by the people, was the change now advoca-
ted. He believed that the position assumed by
the people was to be attributed in a great mea-
sure, to the fact set forth by the gentleman from
Frederick, (Mr. Thomas,) yesterday—that they
were satisfied that there was two much legisla-
tion.
Again. The people not only desired reform,
but they asked also for retrenchment in the ex-
penditures of the Government, and although he

did not stand here as the advocate of a cheap
government without reference to the fact whether
it was to be good or bad; yet he was satisfied in
his own mind that it was his duty, if he believed
a good Government could be obtained cheaply,
to prefer it to a good Government costing much.
The difficulty had been presented that, for two,
four, six, or perhaps eight or ten years, after this
Convention should have closed its labors—and
in the event of the new Constitution being adopt-
ed by the people—annual sessions of the Legis-
lature would be necessary; and it was proposed
by those who advocated them, to restrict the
term for which the Legislature was to remain in
session. He was satisfied, from what little ex-
perience he had himself had, in legislative life,
and from the admission of the gentleman from
Carroll, (Mr, Brown,) that much time was loss
at the commencement of every session in the or-
ganization of committees and in the proper dis-
tribution and arrangement of business. If then
it was necessary that important measures should
he matured to carry out the provisions of the
new Constitution, he thought that the great ob-
ject in view was more likely to be accomplished
efficiently and economically if the sessions were
for a longer term, rather than by annual sessions
of short duration; because, in the latter case, the
local business pressing upon the Legislature
would prevent, or greatly impede, the formation
and adoption of such laws as might be necessary
to carry on the new system of Government. If
this principle was adopted, the Legislature, at the
first session might attend to the local business,
and would then be much better able to form the
necessary laws than Legislatures newly assem-
bled and with all the local legislation of the State
to attend to. He objected, however, to any
amendment which would look to both annual and
biennial sessions. He desired that the Constitu-
tion should contain a provision declaring that the
meetings of the Legislature should be either an-
nual or biennial—one or the other, not both.
Mr. BISER said he was about to make a mo-
tion which he would preface with a brief remark
or two. The gentleman from Kent, had partly
made a convert of him, when he showed that in
the last five days of the session of the last Legis-
lature, one half of all the bills of that session
were passed—that the half of five hundred and
sixty-one bills, making two hundred and eighty,
were disposed of in that time. He was happy
also that he and his honorable colleague, (Mr.
Thomas,) from whom he differed yesterday, were
drawing a little nearer together. Now he, (Mr.
B.,) was a strict economist, when the public in-
terests required retrenchment; and he found, on
looking into the matter, that the expenses of two
annual sessions could be so reduced, by lessening
the duration of the sessions, as to be less than
those of one protracted biennial session, he pre-
sumed that the same could be done in an annual
session. There would, therefore, be no necessity
for making the session extend to fifty days, and
when, in order, he would move to strike out fifty
and insert thirty days.
Mr. BISER then moved to strike out "fifty"
and insert "thirty."