to elevate his fortunes and gratify his aspirations;
such aspirants would unite and concentrate, and
at the end of this political cycle, a grand effort
would be made by the aggregate mass. It was
like accumulating back water, or collecting steam
with the safety-valve closed. He was for giv-
ing it vent as fast as it was generated. He did
not desire ten years, during which ambitious
men would be preparing a lever which every man
of them would seize at the appointed time, though
every man would work it fur his own exclusive
benefit. It was a law of our nature, felt by
the masses as well as individuals, that when an
object is extremely accessible, the desire of pos-
ses-ing it is very much diminished, while to with-
hold it, is a certain means of magnifying its
charms, and whetting the appetite for its posses-
sion. We were true sons of mother Eve—the
forbidden tree yields the fruit most to be desired.
Mr BRENT of Baltimore city, observed that he
would not have said any thing on the subject
again, but for the remarks of the gentleman from
Frederick, (Mr. Thomas,) yesterday, in regard
to the objections he pointud out in his, (Mr. B.'s)
proposition. This morning, too he had thought
proper to refer to the objections taken by him to
the proposition, which he, (Mr B,) would answer
as briefly as possible. It seemed to him that
this was one of the most important subjects that
could come before the Convention, and he religiously
believed it would have the most important
bearing upon the question of adopting the
new Constitution. He believed that imperfect
as they might make the Constitution, if they guar-
antied to the people the right, independent of
Legislatures, independent of political combina-
tions and caprice, the right to pass upon the great
question whether they would have a Convention;
and, if they should decide to have it, that
they should obtain that boon, the first of their de-
sire, without any mortal control to prevent it,
He did believe that the people would be dis-
posed to accept the Constitution, although it
might afford only partial relief, if this great light
was secured,
Mr. B. next proceeded to examine the various
propositions penning, in relation to calling anoth-
er Convention, and coming down to the mode
proposed by the majority of the committee on
that subject, he remarked that the report of the
committee instructed the Legislature to pass an
act to take the sense of the people, leaving the
respective Houses to make the necessary ar-
rangements for carrying out their will; in fact,
giving them the control of the matter, and the
power to say that the Convention should sit thirty
or sixty days; that they should he restricted in
their amount of pay, &c., thus controlling the
whole action of the Convention, by controlling
the purse strings of the treasury. If the proposition
pasted in that form, he would vote for it on-
ly as a dermier resort, after failing in his own pro-
position. Many members of this Convention had
taken this broad issue, that they would not trust
the Governor, although we might make it a
solemn constitutional duty on him to issue his
proclamation to the people, and leaving no discretion
with him to act or not. Now he, (Mr
47 |
B.,) was more disposed to trust the Governor
than a legislative body. And why? Because
where the responsibility was divided among a
number of men, we knew there was not half the
moral responsibility felt by each member as by
one single head. It had become a proverb that
a corporation had no soul. It was because mem-
bers, collectively acting in their aggregate capa-
city, did not feel the same moral obligation and
responsibility that an individual did.
He would say this, without taking into the ac-
count the political consideration which very
frequently govern and warp the judgment and
discretion of men in legislative bodies. It seemed
to him there were a thousand modes by which
a legislature, desiring to defeat and nullify the
injunctions of the Constitution, could effectually
do it, and the people might have to wait ten
years longer. And where was the responsibility?
Divided between the two houses. But the
greatest responsibility would rest upon this Convention,
for having placed this great popular
right at the mercy of the legislature.
With regard to the great constitutional duty
enjoined upon the Governor, and about the exe-
cution of which, some gentlemen had expressed
their fears, he would only say that he did not en-
tertain them
The duty was one only of a mere ministerial
character, and he did not for a moment believe
that a Governor would dare to violate a solemn
injunction placed upon him in the Constitution.
If he did, he was liable to be impeached. But
the legislature could not be impeached.
It had been said here, that in 1860, a Gover-
nor might be elected hostile to reform. Now,
that was to presuppose a very unnatural state of
things; for, if the people in their aggregate vote,
should express their desire at the ballot-box to
have a Convention they would certainly not elect
a man hostile to Constitutional reform. If a
man elected to the office of Governor should not
carry out the people's wish in this respect, he
would violate every trust and confidence reposed
in him, and be guilty of moral treason, and the
whole tremendous responsibility would be on
him.
Mr. HOWARD remarked, that they had reach-
ed a stage in their discussions which involved
the most intricate, abstract and unexplored principles
that they had yet encountered. It was
this : whether it was wise to provide for a peri-
odical recurrence of a vote of the people of the
Slate in relation to a change in their organic
law. Upon that, question they had no experience
to guide them—nothing that was definite and re-
liable. Now, the gentleman from Kent. [Mr.
Chambers.] and the gentleman from Dorchester,
[Mr. Phelps.] both agreed with him, and indeed
he believed they all agreed that what they were
in search of now was to tranquilise the public
mind, at least for a long interval That was the
desideratum. How should they reach it ? It
was his opinion that a provision, like that under
consideration—much more than that which was
offered yesterday by the gentleman from the city
of Baltimore, (Mr, Brent) would produce that
very effect more completely than any other sys- |
