city; in short, the two were so much identified in
interest and every thing else that they might be
regarded as inseparable and not to be disconnec-
ted, and bring those distinguished citizens, to al-
most every intent and purpose, citizens of Balti-
more.
Now, if he concurred entirely in the principle
which the gentleman from Frederick wished to
establish, that numbers should be exclusively re-
garded in the election of members of the House
of Delegates, then he [Mr. D.] should think that
they ought to be so regarded in reference to the
election of Governor; but there was a qualifica-
tion to this abstract rule, resulting from the fact
that the State was divided into three districts,
from one of which he was to be selected. What,
he asked, was the design of this? It was not a
mere arbitrary arrangement without object or
benefit to the residents of the respective districts.
It was designed that the Governor should be
identified in interest with the inhabitants of the
district from which he should be elected, and re-
present them accordingly. Baltimore city, by
her numbers, could name the person it desired
when the selection was to be made from the Bal-
timore district, and it could, by its preponderating
influences in the election, have the power at any
time of selecting one of its precinct citizens, vir-
tually one of its own citizens, from the district
of which Baltimore county was a component part,
Thus, virtually, the city of Baltimore would
possess the power, in both the Western Shore
districts, of selecting a person virtually its own
citizen for the office of Governor. He did not
mean to assert, because he had no personal know-
ledge, that gentlemen had removed beyond the
city limits into Baltimore county, with a design
to insure their elevation to the Gubernatorial
chair. Oh no! But if public rumor be true, (and
it sometimes tells the truth, Sir,) distinguished
citizens of the city have selected their residences
over the divisional line, to give to their fellow
citizens an opportunity to select as Governor a
person more eminently qualified to serve them.
Of such proceedings, Mr President, in the ab-
stract, I do not complain; they doubtless proceed
from the most elevated principles of patriotism,
and free from every motive of self-aggrandizement;
but I object to them because they are sub-
versive of the fundamental principles on which
our district system is founded, and give to the city
of Baltimore the power of, in effect, making the
Governor at every election in both the Western
districts. This is unjust, and a covert violation
of the spirit and intent of our State constitution,
which ought to be prevented; and the sure and
only remedy is, by uniting Baltimore county and
city in the same district. He didn't mean to
cast the slightest insinuation upon the gentleman
from Baltimore county, (Mr. Buchanan,) and he
really was surprised that the gentleman thought
his remarks could possibly apply to him. (Laugh-
ter.)
He did not know what length of time the gen-
tleman might have resided in the county. It
might have been since or it might have been
before the constitutional provisions of 1836 went
into operation. He had never heard it men- |
tioned that he was a candidate for the office of
Governor, nor should he ever have suspected it
but for the remarks which had just fallen from
the gentleman. Nothing was further from his
design than that his remarks should he applied
as they had been impliedly by the gentleman him-
self. [Reiterated laughter.] If, then, the dis-
tricts were suffered to remain as they now are,
subject to the amendment proposed by the gen-
tleman from Charles, of attaching Harford
county to the Eastern Shore district, what would
be the consequence? Why, that Baltimore might
in all time to come, in effect, choose its own
citizens as Governors of the two Western Shore
districts, and that the Eastern Shore district
might forever hereafter be represented in the
gubernatorial chair by Governors resident on
the Western Shore, and who had never in the
course of their lives been for one moment on
the peninsula between the Chesapeake and Del-
aware bays. And all this, in his opinion, could
be accomplished by the city of Baltimore, if it
desired it. To confide such power to the city
of Baltimore never could be sanctioned by his
vote.
Baltimore county and city ought to be united
in the same district; the interests of the rest of
the State demand it. They naturally belong to
each other. The interest of the one is the in-
terest of the other--one and indivisible in all
elections of Governor. Let them for ever re-
main.
His opinion was entirely different from that
of the gentleman from Frederick, who said that
it was immaterial whether Baltimore city or
county was in the same or separate districts.
He (Mr. D.) regarded it as of very great im-
portance to which district Baltimore city and
county were attached. The design of having
gubernatorial districts was to confer rights on
the counties, and not to leave every thing in the
power of Baltimore city, and it was much more
necessary, when you saw that it was disposed
to grasp at all political power, at uncontrolled
sway in every branch of our government. He
thought that the Convention should carry out,
according to their true spirit and desigh, those
corporative principles in the old constitution
which were designed to give some weight to the
counties in the executive department of the
government.
In districting the State, the design was that
each gubernatorial district on the Western
Shore should possess, as nearly as may be, an
equal amount of population. By the great
growth of the city of Baltimore within the last
ten years, this equality of numbers in these dis-
tricts was entirely changed, and whilst one con-
tained a population of about 176,000, the other
had a population of upwards of 278,000. This
great inequality in numbers, violating all the
principles upon which the district system was
founded, renders a new arrangement of the dis-
tricts indispensable, that a greater equalization
of numbers might be effected. He had attentively
examined the last censuses of the city of Balti-
more and of the several counties of the Western
Shore, and had carefully inspected the map |
