the sovereignty of the entire State of Maryland,
precisely as the Governor, elected from districts,
represented the entire sovereignty of the State.
If the State should not be districted, there would
be a majority upon joint ballot in favor of some
seven counties and the city of Baltimore, That
being the case, that power would undoubtedly be
exerted, and thus the city of Baltimore and the
upper counties would always elect, while the re-
maining fourteen counties would never have their
interests represented in the Senate of the United
States. He considered it the imperative duty of
this Convention to proride against a contingency
of that sort.
Mr. JENIFER suggested that it would be no
credit to a man to be elected from a district, com-
pared with the honor resulting from an election
from the whole State. He trusted the gentleman
from Prince George's would withdraw the proposition.
Mr. RANDALL remarked, that if the Legislature
should violate such a provision in the Constitution
of Maryland, the Congress of the United States
would still consider the election binding. The
case would be analogous to that already cited by
the gentleman from Kent, (Mr, Chambers,) in
which the election was held to he valid, although
against the act of the Legislature.
On motion, the Convention adjourned.
SATURDAY, April 5,1851.
The Convention met at ten o'clock.
Prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Griffith.
No quorum being present, some proceedings
followed, the object of which was to obtain a
quorum; after which,
A quorum having been ascertained to be
present,
The proceedings of yesterday were read and
approved.
COMMITTEE OF REVISION.
The President announced the following gen-
tlemen as composing the committee yesterday
ordered to be appointed for the purpose of re-
vising and examining the several articles of the
constitution: Messrs. Tuck, Grason, Chambers,
of Kent, Randall and Magraw.
Mr. CHAMBERS, of Kent, rose and said, he
thought he had expressed a very decided desire
yesterday that the Convention should excuse
him from service on the committee,
The PRESIDENT. The Chair certainly did not
hear the gentleman from Kent (Mr. Chambers)
express such awish. Does the gentleman now
desire to be excused?
Mr. CHAMBERS. I would rather be excused—
decidedly.
The PRESIDENT stated the question to be on
excusing Mr. Chambers from serving on the
said committee.
The question was put, and a division called.
There wag a manifest indisposition on the part
of the Convention to excuse Mr. Chambers—(a
fact which Mr. C. perceived from the slim af- |
firmative vote which the President was count-
ing)—when
Mr. C. rose and said: I think I will withdraw
my motion. I would rather withdraw it than
that it should be defeated,
So the motion to excuse Mr. Chambers was
withdrawn.
THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
On motion of Mr. TUCK, the Convention re-
sumed the consideration of the report heretofore
made by Mr. Johnson, chairman of the commit-
tee on the Legislative Department.
SENATORIAL DISTRICTS.
The question pending yesterday before the
Convention being on the amendment offered by
Mr. Bowie to the amendment offered by Mr.
Brent, of Baltimore city, as an additional sec-
tion to the report.
Mr. CHAMBERS said, he had given some re-
flection to this question, and being seriously of
opinion that the proposition of the gentleman
from Prince George's (Mr. Bowie) was in con-
flict with the Constitution of the United States
he felt bound to say so to the Convention.
The Constitution of the United States was
the creature of the people of the United States,
and was the paramount law of the land. Whenever
it speaks, its mandate is imperative in each
and every State, and is supreme. That Constitution
provides for the election of a Senator of
the United States, it directs that he shall be
chosen by the Legislature of the State; and
that "the times, places, and manner of holding.
elections for Senators and Representatives shall
be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by
law, make or alter such regulations, except as
to the place of choosing Senators." It is per-
fectly clear, then, first, that whatever authority
the State has in the premises, may also be ex-
ercised by Congress, except only as to the place
of choosing Senators; and, secondly, that there
is the same power, precisely, reserved to the
States to legislate in regard to members of Con-
gress as to Senators.
The case he had referred to yesterday he
considered as plainly parallel to the case under
consideration. Maryland had been divided by
the Legislature into eight districts, of which
Baltimore city and county were to he the fifth,
and entitled to send two representatives, of
whom one should be an inhabitant of the coun-
ty, the other of the city.
An act of Assembly of Maryland, in terms,
required that a member of Congress should be
an inhabitant of his district at the time of, the
election, and for twelve months preceding. Mr.
Moore Mr. McCreery and Commodore Barney
were candidates, and of these the first was by
concession an inhabitant of the county and the
last an inhabitant of the city, within the terms
of the acts of Assembly. Mr. Moore received
the largest number of votes, and no contest was
made as to his right to a seat. Mr. McCreery
having received a larger number of votes than
Commodore Barney, was returned as elected. |
