The question then recurred upon the substitute
moved by Mr. Chambers of Kent, as amended.
Mr. STEWART of Baltimore, demanded the
yeas and nays, which were ordered: and being
taken, resulted—ayes 19; noes 58—as follows:
Affirmative—Messrs. Lee, Chambers, of Kent.
Mitchell, Crisfield, Williams, McCubbin, Spencer,
Wright, Dirickson, McMaster, Hearn, Fooks,
Jacobs, McHenry, Magraw, John Newcomer,
Brewer, Weber and Fitzpatrick—19.
Negative—Messrs. Chapman, President, Mor-
gan, Blakistone, Dent, Hopewell, Ricaud, Dor-
sey, Wells, Randall, Sellman, Dalrymple, Jeni-
fer, Howard, Buchanan, Lloyd, Dickinson, John
Dennis, James U Dennis, Dashiell, Hicks, Hod-
son, Goldsborough, Eccleston, Chambers, of Cecil,
Miller, McLane, Bowie, Sprigg, Grason, George,
Thomas, Johnson, Gaither, Biser, Annan, Sappington,
Nelson, Thawley, Gwinn, Stewart, of
Baltimore city, Sherwood, of Baltimore city
Ware, Schley, Fiery, Neill, Harbine, Michael
Newcomer, Davis, Kilgour, Waters Anderson,
Holliday, Slicer, Smith, Parke, Shower, Cockey
and Brown—58.
So the Convention refused to accept the substi-
tute.
Mr. BOWIE then offered, as a substitute for the
10th section, the following:
"There shall be in each county of this State an
Orphans' Court, to consist of three judges, who
shall he elected by a plurality vote of the legal
and qualified voters of said counties respectively.
and who shall hold their offices for the term of
four years, if they shall behave themselves in of-
fice so long, and until their successors in office
shall be elected and qualified; one of the persons
voted for as a judge of said court shall be, in each
of said counties, from among those experienced
in the laws, and the said court shall have the
same jurisdiction within their respective limits,
that the Orphans' Courts of the several counties
of this State, as now established by law, have,
and also the same chancery and equity jurisdic-
tion which the Chancellor of the State, or the
present county courts as courts of equity now
have, or which may be hereafter prescribed by
law. The jurisdiction of said courts shall be exclusive
within their respective limits, and all ap-
peals from their decisions, judgments, decrees or
orders, shall be to the Court of Appeals of this
State. The compensation of said Judges shall be
prescribed by law, and paid by the several coun-
ties respectively,"
Mr. BOWIE, it will beobserved that I have
purposely left out the city of Baltimore, be-
cause in this judiciary bill an entire system of
judiciary is provided for that city. I did so,
hoping that this Convention would take care of
our friends from this part of the State. If I am
here, I shall willingly co-operate with them.
This is the entire plan, except that we ask you
to give us one gentleman learned in the law, (if
you can find such, and I have no doubt you can )
and elected by the people. I desire men of clear
heads and sound hearts, who would make first
rate Orphans' Court Judges and good Chancel-
lors. I am perfectly willing, and I think we
may safely trust chancery jurisdiction to a court |
thus composed—to one gentleman, learned and
skilled in the law. By doing this we will miti-
gate the evils of the present system, which I
consider most horrid. I say, therefore, that I
think this will he a decided improvement.
Mr. JENIFER moved to amend the substitute of
Mr. Bowie by inserting after the word "paid"
in the last line, these words, "one-half by the
State and the other half."
Mr. J. said, the Orphans' Court is not exclu-
sively for the benefit of the counties, but it i»
also for the benefit of the State. I think, there-
fore that the expenses should be equally borne
by both.
Mr. BOWIE. I accept the amendment, be-
cause every expense thrown upon the public
treasury is already provided for by a uniformity
of taxation.
Mr, JOHNSON moved to amend the amendment
by making one-hundred thousandth part of the
expenses to be paid by the State. (Laugh-
ter.) I intend (said Mr. Johnson) to vote for
the proposition, rather than see the system which
was proposed by the gentleman from Washington
county, (Mr. Michael Newcomer,' fail, which
I am free to say I prefer to any other system.
As there had been some doubt expressed by
those gentlemen to whom I adverted, whose
practice and experience at the bar and before
the Orphans' Court gave their opinions weight,
and just weight, in my own mind, in relation to
the duties thrown, as far as we have gone, upon
the circuit judges, and when I heard eminent
lawyers, men of experience, as I do not profess
to be, say that they thought the duties were
too onerous upon the circuit judges, I was will-
ing myself, if a portion of their duties and la-
bors could be thrown upon the Orphans' Court,
preserving the system with some modification, to
vote for that system. The proposition offered
by the gentleman from Kent (Mr. Chambers)
was one which I could not, under any consider-
ation, vote for, because it made the Register
judge, clerk and jury, himself to profit by all his
blunders, and it held out high temptations for
him to err. The plan proposed by the gentle-
man from Prince George's (Mr. Bowie) I felt
disposed to vote for, I shall now most certainly
vote against it, for the idea of giving one judge
for the counties of Calvert and Caroline, where
all the titles are fixed, the parties are few, and
controversies are rare and easily disposed of,
occupying a person two or three days in a whole
year, a salary equal to that paid the judges of
Baltimore county, Prince George's county, or
Frederick county, or one-half the salary, is so
shocking to all my sense of equity, with the prin-
ciple that the laborer is worthy his hire, and is
worth no more, that I cannot even tolerate the
idea. because I think it must strike every man's
mind.
Mr. BOWIE. That is not the amendment. It
is that the compensation shall be fixed by law.
Mr. JOHNSON. One-half to come out of the
public treasury. That is the point; I am not
willing to have the public treasury of the State
of Maryland pillaged.
Mr. BOWIE. I have no right to accept the |
