42
gentleman from Charles, [Mr. Merrick,] had not
much to give in, because he said there is no
corruption in Charles county. The gentleman
from Anne Arundel, [Mr. Dorsey,] and the act-
ing presiding officer, [Mr. Buchanan,] have giv-
en in their experience.
And when the gentleman from Baltimore and
others, said there was so much corruption at the
ballot box—a thing never heard of before 1836,
when they went on to give this illustration, and to
complain that there was a great deal of corrup-
tion since that time. And when the gentleman
from Baltimore city, said, that their was a dif-
ference between his constituents, and my friend
from Charles, [Mr. Merrick,] on my right, and
when the gentleman from Baltimore challenged
a comparison, which the gentleman from Charles
accepted, he stated as evidence of the purity of
his constituents, the fad, that the practice in Bal-
timore city, was to tax the people there very
heavily, and that they raised large sums of money
for the purpose of distributing it in the counties
for the purpose of purchasing votes at elections; |
then it was, I said, it was fairly deducible from
the existing fact of no corruption having been
known to exist before the change in the Consti-
tution—that the reform movement for the elec-
tion of a Governor by the people, and the other
changes that were made had a tendency to make
the corruption which the gentleman had spoken
of.
And, sir, I said further, that no wonder the
gentleman from Anne Arundel should be highly
alarmed, because the gentleman from Baltimore
city could send by telegraph money there to con-
trol the elections in Anne Arundel. I said, too,
to the President of the Convention, that I had no
doubt the people of his county were remarkably
pure—as pure as the gentleman had represented
them to be; but I was not willing to admit that
they were purer than my own. Yes! that is all
I have got to say about that matter.
Well now, sir, we come down to the proposi-
tions. I have got anestimate here from No. 1
to 13: |
|
COUNTIES. |
|
(1.) |
(2.) |
(3.) |
(4.) |
(5.) |
(6.) |
(7.) |
(8.) |
(9.) |
(10) |
(11) |
(12) |
(13) |
Allegany,. . .
Anne Arundel,.
Howard, . . .
Baltimore City,.
Baltimore county,
Carroll, . . .
Caroline, . . .
Calvert, . . .
Cecil. . . .
Charles, . . .
Dorchester, . .
Frederick, . .
Harford, . . .
Kent, ....
Montgomery, .
Prince George's,
Queen Anne's, .
St. Mary's, . .
Somerset, . .
Talbot, . . .
Washington,. .
Worcester, . . |
22,779
20,000
12,388
169,054
41,599
20,615
9,692
9,646
18,937
16,162
18,872
40,983
19,358
11,388
15,860
21,550
14,484
13,698
22,460
13,811
30,830
18,847 |
6
3
3
9
7
5
2
2
5
4
5
7
5
3
4
5
4
3
6
3
6
5
102 |
4
3
2
6
6
4
3
3
4
4
4
6
4
3
4
4
3
3
4
3
6
4
86 |
4
3
2
6
5
4
3
3
4
3
4
5
4
3
3
4
3
3
4
3
5
4
82 |
4
3
2
12
7
3
2
2
3
3
3
7
3
2
3
4
2
2
4
2
5
3
81 |
4
3
2
10
7
3
2
2
3
2
3
7
3
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
5
3
75 |
4
3
2
6
6
3
2
2
3
3
3
5
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
4
3
72 |
5
3
2
7
6
3
2
2
3
3
3
5
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
2
4
4
72 |
3
3
2
6
6
3
2
2
3
2
3
6
3
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
4
3
67 |
3
3
2
5
5
3
2
2
3
3
3
5
3
2
3
3
2
2
3
2
4
3
66 |
3
3
2
4
4
3
2
2
3
2
3
4
3
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
4
3
61 |
3
2
1
4
4
3
2
2
3
2
3
4
3
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
3
3
58 |
4
3
2
6
6
3
2
2
3
2
3
6
3
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
5
3
69 |
4
4
3
6
6
4
3
3
4
4
4
6
4
3
4
4
3
3
4
3
5
4
88 |
Here they are, Mr. President, and according
to all the estimates I have got before me I can-
not find one of them for the adoption of the prin-
ciple of representation according to population;
and therefore, how any gentleman arrives at the
conclusion to which he does in his estimate, is
more than I can divine. For instance, we take
Frederick, the great reform county, with the
father of this Convention at its head. I do not
say any thing about the gentleman's age, but only
of his being the father of reform. Well, I
take Frederick, and suppose you adopt the plan
of my friend from Charles, what would Freder- |
ick be entitled to then? She has got five dele-
gates now. which is about the proportion to
which she is entitled. Well, you put the num-
ber in the House of Delegates at one hundred
and two, how many would she be entitled to?
But one more.
You go on, then, and take all the reform coun-
ties, with the exception of Baltimore county and
Frederick county, and yon will find that, accord-
ing to the present ratio of representation, that
they all have their full proportion. I say, sir,
you may take every one of the reform counties,
and with eighty-two delegates as the number, |
|
 |
