Convention shall meet in the Hall of the House
of Delegates. That the members shall be enti-
tled to a per diem of four dollars, and the itiner-
ancy of members of the Legislature. That they
shall elect a President and such other officers as
they may see fit, and fix their compensation, and
adopt such rules and regulations for their government
as may to them seem proper. And that it
shall be the duty of the Legislature to make such
provision as may be necessary to defray the ex-
penses of such Convention."
Mr. BROWN rose to the following point of
order.
That the Convention having accepted the sub-
stitute as amended, in place of the report submitted
by Mr. SOLLERS, as chairman of the committee,
it was not competent to offer a substitute
for the substitute just adopted.
The CHAIR ruled the substitute to be out of
order,
After some discussion in which Messrs. BLAK-
ISTONE and BOWIE participated—when
Mr. BLAKISTONE appealed from the decision of
the Chair;
But after some debate, in which Messrs. DONALDSON,
BLAKISTONE and SPENCER participated,
Mr. BLAKISTONE withdrew his appeal.
The question then recurred upon the adoption
of the report.
Mr. SHRIVER demanded the yeas and nays,
Which being ordered and taken,
Appealed as follows;
Affirmative—Messr. Donaldson, Randall, Howard,
Buchanan, Welch, Ridgely, Dickinson,
Eccleston, McCullough, Spencer, George, Thomas,
Shriver, Biser, Annan, Stephenson, McHenry,
Magraw, Nelson, Carter, Thawley, Stewart,
of Caroline, Gwinn, Brent of Baltimore city
Sherwood of Baltimore city, Ware, Schley, Fie-
ry, Neill, John Newcomer, Harbine, Michael
Newcomer, Brewer, Anderson, Weber, Hollyday,
Slicer, Fitzpatrick, Smith, Shower, Cockey and
Brown—42.
Negative—Messrs. Chapman, Pres't, Morgan
Blakistone, Hopewell. Ricaud, Chambers of
Kent, Mitchell, Dorsey, Wells, Sellman, Sollers,
Brent of Charles, Merrick, Jenifer, John
Dennis, James U. Dennis, Dashiell, Hicks,
Goldsborough, Bowie, Tuck, Sprigg, Dirickson,
McMaster, Hearn, Davis and Kilgour.—27.
So the report was adopted.
Mr. BLAKISTONE then moved to amend the re-
port by adding at the end thereof as an additional
section the amendment previously offered by him
as a substitute for the report, and which was
ruled by the Chair to be out of order.
Mr B. demanded the yeas and nays,
Which being ordered and taken,
Resulted as follows:
Affirmative—Messrs. Chapman, Pres't Morgan,
Blakistone, Hopewell, Chambers of Kent, Mitch-
ell, Sollers, Brent of Charles, John Dennis
James U Dennis, Dashiell, Williams, Hicks,
Bowie, Sprigg, Dirickson, McMaster, Hearn,
Davis and Kilgour—19.
Negative— Messrs. Ricaud, Donaldson, Dorsey,
Wells, Randall, Jenifer, Howard, Buchanan,
Welch, Ridgely, Dickinson, Goldsborough, Ec- |
cleston, McCullough, Spencer, George, Thomas,
Shriver, Biser, Annan, Stephenson, McHenry,
Magraw, Nelson, Carter, Thawley, Stewart of
Caroline, Gwinn. Sherwood of Baltimore city,
Ware, Schley, Fiery Neill, John Newcomer,
Harbine, Brewer, Michael Newcomer, Ander-
son, Weber, Hollyday, Slicer, Fitzpatrick, Smith,
Shower, Cockey and Brown—46.
So the amendment was rejected.
Mr. DONALDSON then moved to amend the re-
port by adding at the end thereof as an addition-
al section the following:
"Any amendment to the Constitution and Decla-
ration of Rights may be proposed in either the
Senate or House of Delegates and if the same
shall be agreed to by a majority of the members
elected to each of the two Houses of the legisla-
ture, the proposed amendment shall be entered
on their Journal, with the yeas and nays fallen
thereon, and shall be published at least three
months before the next general election for members
of the House of Delegates; at which general
election the people shall vote for or against said
amendment, in such manner as may be prescribed
by law; and if the majority of legal voters of the
State shall approve of the said amendment, then
it shall be the duty of the legislature at its next
session to enact said amendment as a part of
their Constitution."
Mr. SOLLERS offered as a substitute for the
amendment, the following:
"And also, that this form of government and
the declaration of rights, and any part thereof
may be altered changed or abolished, by the
passage of a bill by the General Assembly, so to
alter, change or abolish the same; provided, such
bills shall be published at least three months be-
fore a new election, and shall be confirmed by
the General Assembly, after a new election of
delegates, in the first session after such new election.
2nd. That a Convention to alter, change and
abolish this form of government and the declaration
of rights, may be called by the passage of a
bill for that purpose; provided, such bill be pub-
lished at least three months before a new elec-
tion, and shall be confirmed by the General Assembly
after a new election of delegates, in the
first session after such new election."
After a few desultory remarks from Messrs.
RANDALL SPENCER, JENIFER and BOWIE—
Mr STEPHENSON moved to amend the amend-
ment offered by Mr. DONALDSON. by adding at
the end thereof, the following proviso:
"Provided, That if more than one amendment
be submitted, they shall be submitted in such
manner and form, that the people may .vote for
or against each amendment separately and dis-
tinctly "
Which amendment Mr. DONALDSON accepted.
Mr. SPENCER explained, what he understood
to be the effect of the amendment of the gentleman
from Anne Arundel, [Mr Donaldson.] and
then said, if for example, the majority of the
Convention were to submit the question of abol-
ishing slavery in the State of Maryland to the
citizens thereof, they would have a right to act
upon it, and if they decided in favor of it, it |
