he considered radically wrong, and a proper
subject for serious consideration.
The PRESIDENT suggested to the gentleman
from Charles, that his amendment would come
in better as a separate proposition, as it did not
relate to the section under consideration.
Mr. JENIFER said that he would withdraw his
amendment for the present, and offer it at the
proper time.
Mr, SPENCER. Although I am opposed to the
section, and will vote against it, yet I desire to
see it perfected, so that if the Convention adopts
it, no inconvenience will grow out of it. it
provides that the judges shall respectively hold
a term of their courts at least twice in each
year, or oftener, if required by law. Under this
bill, no court could be held, unless the legisla-
ture should first provide for it by law. In order
to obviate that difficulty, I suggest to the gentle-
man from Somerset, to amend his proposition
by inserting the words "or at such other times
and places as may hereafter be prescribed by
law."
Mr. CRISFIELD. I feel the force of the gen-
tleman's suggestion, but have not the power of
accepting the amendment, as the proposition is
not now under my control,
Mr. SPENCER then moved his amendment,
which, by general consent, was concurred in.
The question being on the amendment of Mr.
Crisfield,
Mr. RIDGELY asked a division of the question.
Mr. SPENCER. It has been divided once.
Mr. RIDGELY. This is a distinct vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. Tuck,) stated
that the question was on the adoption of the sec-
tion in its entire form.
Mr. RIDGELY. The condition in which I am
placed, and those who vote with me, is this:
we are in favor and approve of a part of the
section; but the classification of the districts is
so repugnant to us, that we do not like to vote
for it as an entirety. For that purpose we
would like to have a separate vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER, The chair under-
stands that the first portion of the amendment,
including the arrangement of the districts, was
voted upon yesterday, by a division of the ques-
tion. It is not competent for the gentleman to
call for a new vote, but he can move to strike
out the classification as arranged in the section
and move to insert another, because otherwise
it would be taking a vote twice on the same
proposition.
Mr. RIDGELY, Then I will move to strike out
the present classification, and insert the fol-
lowing:
Allegany and Washington counties the first ;
Frederick the second; Baltimore county the
third; Harford and Cecil counties the fourth;
Carroll and Howard the fifth; Anne Arundel
and Montgomery the sixth; Prince George's
and Calvert the seventh; St. Mary's and Charles
the eighth; Kent, Queen Anne's and Caroline
the ninth; Talbot and Dorchester the tenth;
Somerset and Worcester the eleventh; and Bal-
timore city the twelfth.
Mr. CRISFIELD. I rise to a point of order. It |
will be recollected that the first branch of the
amendment has been voted on affirmatively by
the Convention. It has been adopted and incor-
porated into the report. Now this is a motion
to strike out what this body has, by a positive
and affirmative vote, adopted. The President of
the Convention this morning ruled a similar
proposition out of order. This motion, there-
fore, is not in order.
Mr, BOWIE. I understand that the section is
now upon its final passage, as amended in a va-
riety of ways. The final vote, however, has not
been taken upon it, and it seems to me to be en-
tirely in order, until that vote has been taken,
for any amendment to be made, not precisely
the same as an amendment heretofore voted
down.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The chair has no
difficulty in deciding the motion to be out of or-
der. When any proposition has been inserted,
it cannot be stricken out, and the only way in
which the gentleman can effect his object, will
be to make a motion to reconsider the vote of
yesterday, adopting the first branch of the sec-
tion.
Mr. RIDGELY. Then I will make a motion to
reconsider for the purpose of saying a few
words. The statistics upon which the gentle-
man from Somerset county (Mr. Crisfield) re-
lied this morning, in answer to the argument of
my colleague, it appears to me if this Conven-
tion will look into the real state of the facts,
cannot be relied upon. Now, he drew an anal-
ogy between the condition of Queen Anne's
county and Baltimore county, to show that there
being two hundred cases upon the docket in
Queen Anne's county, and no more upon the
docket of Baltimore county, the fair presump-
tion was that if the court of Queen Anne's
could transact its business in one week or tell
days, he believed that the condition of things
between the two were comparatively alike, so
much so that Baltimore county would be in a
condition to be united with Cecil and Harford
counties as a judicial district, and to transact
its ordinary business in the same length of time.
I have one fact to bring to the knowledge of this
Convention against the entire theory of the gen-
tleman from Somerset. It is a broad fact, within
the knowledge of every member from Baltimore
county, that our courts in Baltimore county
have extended up to six or seven weeks, and
sometimes to two months. During the last two
years they have averaged from six to seven
weeks. It appears to me that the best guide to
understand the amount of business a court has
to perform is the length of time which it occu-
pies that court to perform its duties, there being
no charge of any dereliction of duty on the part
of the judges. The statistics of the gentleman
show that it occupies the court of Queen Anne's
an average of thirty days in the year to get
through the entire docket, while it is a fact that
in our county it occupies nearly four months to
discharge the duties of the county court, I ask
this body to look to these facts in opposition to
the entire theory which the statistics of the gen- |
