shall not be diminished during his continuance
in office. He shall reside in or near the county
town, and shall hold two common law terms in
each and every year, at such times and places
as may be prescribed by law, and attend at the
court house of said county as often as the Legislature
may prescribe by law for the transaction
and dispatch of judicial business."
Mr. CRISFIELD moved to amend the ninth section
by striking out in the first line thereof, after
the words "there shall be," to the end of the
section, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
"A division of this State into eight judicial
districts in manner and form the following, to
wit: St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's
counties shall be the first district; Anne Arundel,
Howard, Calvert and Montgomery counties
shall be the second district; Frederick and Car-
roll counties shall be the third district; Washington
and Allegany counties shall be the fourth
district; Baltimore city shall be the fifth district;
Baltimore, Harford and Cecil counties
shall be the sixth district; Kent, Queen Anne's,
Talbot and Caroline counties shall be the seventh
district; and Dorchester, Somerset and Worces-
ter counties the eighth district; and there shall
he elected as hereinafter directed, one person
having the qualifications hereinafter prescribed,
for each of the said judicial districts, except the
fifth, to bejudge thereof; the said judges shall
bestyled district judges, and shall respectively
hold a term of their courts at least twice in
each year, or oftener if required by law, in each
county composing their respective districts, and
the said courts shall be called district courts for
counties in which it may be held, and shall have,
hold and exercise, in the several counties of
this State, all and every the powers, authorities
and jurisdictions which the county courts of
this State now have, hold and exercise, or
which shall hereafter be prescribed by laws,
made pursuant to this Constitution; and the said
judges in their respective districts, shall have,
use and exercise all the powers, authorities,
and jurisdictions which the Chancellor of Mary-
land, as a judge in equity, now has, uses and
exercises; and the said judges shall also be
judges of the Orphans' courts of the several
counties composing their respective districts,
and shall have, hold and exercise all and every
the powers, authorities and jurisdiction which
the Orphans' courts of this State now have,
hold and exercise, or which may hereafter be
conferred by law.
Sec, 10. The judges of the several judicial
districts shall be citizens of the United States,
and shall have resided five years in this State,
and two years in the judicial district for which
they may be respectively elected, next before
the time of election, and shall reside therein
while they continue to act as judges; they shall
be selected from among those who, having the
other qualifications herein prescribed, are most
distinguished for integrity, wisdom and sound
legal knowledge, and elected by the qualified
voters of the said districts, and shall hold for
the term of ten years, or until they shall have
attained the age of seventy years, removable 1 |
for misbehaviour, on conviction in a court of
law, or by the Governor, upon the address of
the General Assembly; provided, that two-third
of the members of each House shall concur in
such address; and the said judges shall each receive
a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars
per annum, and the same shall not be dimin-
ished during the time of their continuance in
office, and no judge of any court in this State
who has a salary fixed by law, shall receive any
perquisite, fee or reward, in addition thereto
for the performance of any judicial duty."
Mr. CRISFIELD said, if this amendment is adopted
by the Convention, it will be seen that no
provision is nade for Baltimore city. My mode
of providing for that city is to make it a single
judicial district. I would not divide and distribute
out the jurisdiction of that city as the
committee have done; not that I disapprove of
that distribution, but simply because the distri-
bution, according to my view, cannot be made
without a danger of conflict between these va-
rious tribunals. If this amendment prevails,
therefore, I shall propose that in the city of
Baltimore, instead of having several courts with
distinct jurisdictions, to have one court, com-
posed of a sufficient number of judges to perform
all the judicial duties required in that city. My
scheme is to appoint four judges, who may sit
separately or together, as the exigencies of the
business may require, giving the legislature the
power to increase the number of judges in that
judicial district, if it shall so happen that the
exigencies of the business shall require a greater
amount of judicial labor. I make this explana-
tion to show what is my design, if the Conven-
tion show an inclination to adopt this plan.
The distinguishing feature between this pro-
position which I have now presented for the
consideration of the Convention, and the propo-
sition which has been presented by the commit-
tee, is this, the committee propose that for each
county in the state there shall be a judge: I
propose, on the other hand, that the state shall
be divided into judicial districts, and that there
shall be a judge fur each district. Will the
counties provide sufficient employment for a
judge? If not, then will the districts I have laid
out, present too much employment for them?
The system proposed by the committee will cost,
according to their estimate, $60,000. We are to
have, as part of that system, twenty-one local
judges, judges of counties, at a salary of $2,000
each, winch will amount to $42,000. I propose,
on the other hand, by the scheme I have presented,
to accomplish the panic judicial service with
seven judges, with salaries of $2,500 each, making
a cost for the whole of this part of the system, of
$17,500. The question arises—Is the plan which
I have proposed, capable of performing the duty?
After the independence of the Judge is secured,
the next requisite is to adopt such a system as will
secure a competent judge, a man acquainted with
business, and possessing all the moral, intellectual
and physical qualities, for the place. If it
can be shown that a judge appointed for a single
county, would be employed but a small portion of
his time, it follows, as a matter of course, that |
