But other highly distinguished gentlemen,
would not, under any circumstances, go before
the legislature and be compelled to resort to log-
rolling and intrigue, in order to obtain a suitable
fee. The services Of such men would be lost to
the government, by the amendment.
He was entirely opposed to the abolition of
the office of Attorney General. He fully agreed
with the sentiments of the gentleman from Balti-
more city, (Mr. Brent,) and would vote for such
a proposition, to allow the people of Maryland
to elect their own local officers for their local
business.
He regarded the office of Attorney General
with the same high opinion as the gentleman
from Prince George's, (Mr. Bowie.) He wish-
ed the salary to be fixed and certain. He believ-
ed that the State would save by the adoption of
this course. If there was no Attorney General
the Governor would be authorized to employ
such counsel as the exigencies might require, or
as a resolution of the legislature might direct.
The result would be, that in each instance, spe-
cial counsel would be employed. If the Gover-
nor should have occasion at one time to consult a
lawyer, A would be employed, In another case,
at another time, B would be employed. To try
a case in the courts, C would be employed, and
to try another, D would be employed. In each
case, enormous sums of money would be re-
quired.
Without intending to find any fault with the
officers of the government, he would say, that
during the last year, nearly five thousand dollars
had been paid in extraordinary cases. These ex-
traordinary cases were constantly occurring.
There was one which would necessarily soon
come up, of great interest to the State of Mary-
land.
At the present moment there were incarcerat-
ed in the State prison of Pennsylvania, two indi-
viduals for having actually arrested fugitive
slaves belonging to a gentleman in Cecil
county. By the laws of Pennsylvania, if a female
escaped from a slave State, and should give
birth to a child in Pennsylvania, the child by its
birth would be free. No such doctrine prevail-
ed here, and here was a question to be decided
between the States of Maryland and Pennsylva-
nia-
It would have to go to the supreme court of
the United States for examination. He men-
tioned this merely as an instance in which the
services of counsel would be required. There
would be innumerable cases constantly arising,
and many would grow out of the very Constitu-
tion which they were framing. If these cases
were left to be managed by special counsel to be
employed for each case, large sums of money
would annually be drawn from the treasury to
pay for these services. Instead of this, an At-
torney General, with a certain and fixed salary
could try all these cases, as the Attorney Gene-
ral of the United States was required to try all
cases in which the United States are concerned
However difficulty the task, or however voluminous
the documents necessary to consult, when
the Attorney General of the United States was |
asked for his opinion by the President of the Uni-
ted States, he never received an extra fee for it.
Whether the case related to the extreme south,
or west, or north, if the United States were inter-
ested, the Attorney General tried it at length
without compensation. So it would be with the
Attorney General of this State, If his compensation
was fixed, he would have to perform all the
duties required, while it would be a saving to
the State in a financial point of view.
He had no apprehension, in case the election
of the Attorney General should be made by gen-
eral ticket, and in the districts, although they
were not required by the Constitution to come
from the districts, that the city of Baltimore
would be able to command the Attorney Gene-
ral at all times. Strong and powerful as the city
was, he did not believe she would ever undertike
to do so. If she did, it would he found that the
people of the counties would rise, en masse, against
her. He had never found, in the gubernatorial
elections, that when the person selected was not
exactly from that city, but was identified with
the City, that it had any influence whatever upon
the city. He had never found the city of Balti-
more undertaking to assume the right to select
the public officer, to be voted for by the people.
At the same time, he had no objection to the pro-
position suggested, and if the gubernatorial elec-
tions were to be from districts, the same reasons
would exist why the Attorney General should be
elected in the same way. He would therefore
vote for the proposition.
He had not been here yesterday when the gen-
tleman from Anne Arundel [Mr. Dorsey] made
some remarks in reference to the claims of
Messrs. Carmichael, Dulany and Emory, which
had been before the Legislature of Maryland.
He considered these remarks, so far as they
tended to depreciate this claim, unjust, though
he imputed no unkind motive.
Mr. S. here proceeded to explain the claim,
and to show that it had not been rejected by the
Legislature, and should not be prejudged by the
Convention; but on the contrary, it had been in
effect acknowledged by the Legislature. He
would take occasion further to say, in reference
to the claim of Mr. McCullough, in his opinion,
the State was as much bound to refuse the judg-
ment of the referees in his favor, as they would
be by the opinion of the Court of Appeals. It
had been judged by a special Court, who were
entitled to as much. respect as the Court of
Appeals.
Mr. Gwinn said that he did not intend to al-
lude to the case of the gentlemen who had acted
as arbitrators in the McCullough case. He did
not understand that an aspersion had been cast
upon their conduct, either by any here, or in
the Legislature; and their high character render-
ed a defence unnecessary He intended only to
make a very brief reply to the argument of the
gentleman from Prince Georges, (Mr. Bowie.)
He has criticised the report of the committtee
as a misapprehension of the true character of
the Attorney General, and has said, if we attempt
to change his character as an officer of the com- |
