for such State to find a way to get out of the
Union without conflict of any character. It
would only be necessary for a State desiring lo
secede to require a President to reside fifty
years within its boundaries. For if he had re
sided in such State fifty years, and had the
other qualifications required by the Federal
Constitution, he would be qualified as to resi-
dence under the Constitution of the Union,
which had fixed his residence at fourteen years
only. But then the superadded qualification in
a State Constitution, although not in direct con-
flict with the Constitution of the United States,
would be of such a character as to make it mor-
ally impossible to elect a Chief Magistrate,
whom the refractory State would be under any
obligation to obey.
He did not think it necessary to go further to
show that the power contended for, would
make the Federal Government dependent al-
together upon the States acting separately, and
thus nullify all the designs of its framers.
The Constitution said a party should be eligible to
the Senate of the United States if he had attained
the age of thirty years, and was an inhabitant of
the Slate from which he was chosen. The gen-
tleman contended that they could require him lo
reside in a. particular section of the State. If
they could thus superadd to the Constitution,
could they not require a person to be eligible lo
the office of President to reside in some particular
State? If the State governments were thus to be
framed, in conflict with these requirements of the
Constitution, they could make the General Gov-
ernment, in a great degree, dependent upon the
action of the State Legislatures.
But gentlemen who mantain the other side of
this argument, insist that by the tenth article of
the amendments to the Constitution (which pro-
vided that "the powers not delegated to the Uni-
ted States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the States, a re reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people,") it was very clear
that the power in the States was reserved. What
was meant by "respectively" in this reservation
of powers? Was this power of qualification of
the members of the Senate intended? Was the
qualification of the members of the House of
Representatives intended? Was the qualification
affixed to the office of President intended? They
were all powers necessary for the operations of
the General Government in its aggregate, con-
federated capacity. This language used showed,
he thought, that those who were the framers of
the General Government had reference to the
States as separate respective communities, not
upon their relation to the General Government
at all. The case put by the gentleman from
Baltimore county was one so clear in point, that
he thought some gentleman, who was familiar
with It, ought to explain it to the convention, that
it might be seen that it had direct reference to the
case now in view.
it would be observed, that in speaking of the
qualifications of members of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Constitution, in this respect,
was almost in the very same language as that
part of it in reference to the qualifications of Sen- |
ators. The phraseology was precisely the same.
Now, in the case from Baltimore county what
were the facts? The Legislature of Maryland,
in dividing the State into districts for the elec-
tion of members of Congress, consolidated the
county and the city of Baltimore into one dis-
strict, and gave them the power to elect two
representatives. Well, this was constitutional.
But they went further. They said that the in-
dividual who was a candidate in the county, re-
ceiving a. majority of the votes in the county,
should be one Representative to Congress, no
matter if he should receive a less vote than the
candidates in the city, and that one residing in
the city should be a representative, although he
received a less vote than the candidates in the
county—thus requiring, in fact, that one should
reside in the city of Baltimore and one in the
county. This question we are now discussing
was virtually settled by Congress in that case of
contested election, that grew out of this law of
Maryland. It was decided that the Legislature
could not prescribe restraints as to residence other
than those prescribed by the Constitution of the
United States.
The law of 1809 had never come before the
Senate of the United States for determination.
There was no construction for that law to be
found in the history of the Government, for the
very obvious reason that there never had been an
instance in which the Legislature had departed
or attempted to depart, from that law. If two
gentlemen should claim a seat in the United
States Senate, one from the Eastern Shore and
one from the Western Shore, then and not until
then the constitutionality of this law would be
decided. Until then it would remain as a law of
the State of Maryland.
Mr CHAMBERS said there was scarcely a question
connected with the history of the govern-
ment that had been discussed with more ability
than this very question, on the occasion of the
contested election of McCreery and Barney,
sphere were very able advocates on both sides.
Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, had advocated, as
was to be expected, the rights of the States, and.
was aided by others. The strength of their ar-
gument consisted in the opinion that the States
might be trusted with authority to exercise a
sound discretion in imposing additional qualifica-
tions to entitle persons to become members of the
national legislature. I cannot but believe, said
Mr. C., that any man of legal education or of
sound discriminating intelligence, unbiased by
any pre-existing prejudice, who will carefully
read that debate, will be led by the arguments
there urged, to the conclusion it has forced on
my mind. He here read sundry extracts from
the report of the debale in the volume of "Con-
tested Elections."
"Mr. Sturgess, a member of the committee,
said, when the framers of the constitution under-
took deliberately to enumerate the qualifications,
it was presumable they meant that no others
should be necessary. It was not by any means a
necessary, but, as Mr. S conceived, a forced im-
plication, that, because the States were not pro-
hibited in express terms, they did possess the |
