as fraught with mischief if carried out. What
does he mean by "necessarily ?" He must mean
that when a right becomes very valuable, it will
be seized upon by some other than the possessor,
and to prevent this, it ought to be taken away.
And this the gentleman puts forth as a maxim of
his political morality.
Mr. CHAMBERS explained. What he said was,
that where the practical exercise of an abstract
right is accompanied by evils which counterbal-
ance the benefits derived from the existence of
the right, it ought to be abandoned. That was
his morality, and he would stand or fall by it.
Mr. McLANE resumed. If the right of suffrage
was an abstract right, what is a practical right ?
This is a practical right. If it be an abstract
right, and the mischiefs resulting from its practi-
cal exercise counterbalance the benefits from its
exercise, it is better that it be abandoned. That
was the principle of the political morality of the
gentleman from Kent. It was a principle un-
known to any government, civil or divine. If
this principle were carried out, the effect would
he that all government must stand still. He then
referred to the principle which was perceptible
in the operations of a Divine Providence, which
separated the innocent from the guilty, and to
the principle of our own penal code, which lays
it down as better, that ten guilty should escape
than that one innocent person should be condemn-
ed. According to the argument of the gentleman
from Kent, we ought to be deprived of an un-
questionable right, because the exercise of that
right may lead to great abuses. He could not
see how this principle could apply to the elective
franchise, which is, in itself, too valuable to be
counterbalanced by any imaginable mischiefs.
He referred to banking operations, which led lo
forgeries, where the forger is punished, while the
innocent man is untouched. The liberty of the
press was liable to great abuse, because it some-
times becomes licentious; yet we do not attempt
to restrict that liberty. Formerly, indeed, re-
straints were imposed on the liberty of the press;
and it was attempted to restrain it under a recent
administration in England, and also in this coun-
try, But no one now would attempt to restrict
the liberty of the press as a punishment. This
liberty stands, in importance, side byside, by the
elective franchise. Instead of restricting its free
action, we are content with punishing those who
abuse it. One great principle is, that no man
shall be prevented from publishing what he pleas-
es, but such as falsely publish are punished.
But, he went on to enquire, what are the
causes of the corruption of the ballot-box in tins
State ? Let us find out the cause, and apply the
remedy to that. The cause is to be found in the
unhealthy condition of public opinion. It is be-
cause public opinion winks at these corruptions
that they have grown to their present enormity.
Unless it is in response to public opinion, we
can never make penal laws which will prove
efficient to check the evil. Public opinion is not
healthy on this point. His remedy was to cure
public opinion, and then our penal laws will
prove sufficient. This morbid state of public |
opinion has been produced by the strife of par-
ties, under our conflicting State administra-
tions. He did not mean to assail one party more
than another. He condemned both parties
where their conduct merited condemnation. In
their eagerness for political ascendency, they
have not always been careful enough to keep
on the right side of the line which separates the
legal from the illegal. The course of corruption
is downward : it begins at the head, and descends
to the feet. The example of the high, preserves or
corrupts the law. And so it will ever be. We
shall have acorrupt community in the mass when
the heart or the head is corrupt. When men hold-
ing high stations become corrupt, we must ex-
pect the mass to be infected. When we see
men of wealth and standing contributing their
means to feed corruption, it is our duty to grap-
ple with them, and shut up the source of the evil.
Without the aid of money, there would be no
corrupt voting.
The bitter fruit which is produced by the strife
of parties is a corruption which increases until
it destroys the institutions in which it is found.
Such was its fatal influence on the ancient re-
publics. Following their course of corruption
their fate will be ours.
He referred to the system of gerrymandering
which had on several occasions exhibited itself
in the arrangement of the election districts,
This vice originated not in our State; it had its
origin elsewhere. But the application of it in
this State has been productive of the colonization
of voters, which has been so much complained
of. The evil of this principle is the result of the
struggle of the people to extricate themselves
from the condition in which its oppressive opera-
tion has placed them. He only stated the fact;
he did not justify it. It would have been better
to wait patiently until it had worked its own over-
throw. But if you press on any portion of the
community, it will rise against the pressure.
You find a people in the tranquil enjoyment of
a freedom of more than half a century, and by a
single law you destroy it. Were it not that thus
public opinion could rectify the evil which op-
presses it, a more dreadful strife would be en-
gendered by the weak against the strong.
There is one other result, a reference to which
caused him great pain. Large contributions
have been made by wealthy individuals, for the
purpose of carrying on elections. He had known
committees formed in the City of Baltimore, for
the express purpose of collecting funds, opening
books, and calling on office, holders and others
for contributions often and twenty dollars each,
for the purpose of defraying the expenses of an
election. A candidate for Governor has been
assessed as high as $3000 or $4000, and has been
told it was for the purpose of defraying the ex-
penses of the election. Such is the condition of
things, that the most respectable men have been
required to give their means. And how many
are there in this Hall, who can say they are free
from this imputation ?
Mr. CHAMBERS. I am free.
Mr. McLANE resumed, stating that money thus |
