and in lieu thereof insert the following, slating
that he would not trouble the Convention with
any remarks, believing that every member had
made up his mind on the subject!
"The present court of chancery shall be con-
tinued with the powers which it now has or may
hereafter be conferred upon it by law."
Mr. JOHN NEWCOMER moved to amend said
25th section, by striking out, wherever it occurs
in said section, the words "five years," and in-
serting in lieu thereof "one year."
Mr. BRENT, of Baltimore city. I move to
postpone the further consideration of this sub-
ject. I only desire very briefly to give the rea-
sons which will actuate me in my vote on this
proposition. I do not wish to see this venerable
and important court abolished, without some
feeble testimonial, at least, to its ashes. If the
county courts are to be continued in their chan-
cery jurisdiction, I shall unquestionably vote to
abolish the high chancery court, and therefore
upon this question I shall vote for that purpose,
But if we are not to have a separate chancery
Court in Baltimore, I am prepared to move a re-
consideration of the vote which abolishes the
chancery court. I can only say, in regard to
this court, that I consider it, as it is now con-
ducted, the very best court in the State of Ma-
ryland. Business is more promptly dispatched
there—except when it is the fault of the suitors
and counsels themselves—I say its business is
dispatched with more promptitude, and with as
much ability, in my opinion, as in any court I
have ever known. At the same time, upon the
ground of the double or concurrent jurisdiction
which is conferred upon that court, and the
county courts extending over the whole State,
I shall be reluctantly compelled to vote to abol-
ish this court, if the equity jurisdiction of the
county system prevails. I have thus briefly
borne my feeble testimony, from my long know-
ledge of this court, to its merits. I withdraw
the motion to postpone.
Mr. MORGAN. I renew it, for the purpose of
calling the attention of the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. John Newcomer) to the im-
possibility of carrying out his amendment. That
gentleman proposes to confine all the business
Of this court, amounting to twenty-five hundred
Cases upon the docket, embracing cases of every
variety, in relation to all kinds of property,
Within one year.
Mr. JOHN NEWCOMER. I do not desire that
the business shall be closed, nor do I think it
will be, in the course of one year, but I desire
that whatever cases may remain with the Chan-
cellor in a year, shall go back to the district
courts.
Mr. MORGAN. I will only state that this sub-
ject came before the Committee on the Judicia-
ry. After mature consultation, and after giv-
ing the subject due reflection, from their know-
ledge of the court and its business, they were
of the opinion that five years was a very limited
time in which to wind up the affairs of that
court. You may distribute the business to the
counties from whence it originated, but to what
particular plaintiff or defendant is it to go? This |
is the difficulty; hence the necessity of extend-
ing to that court a sufficient, time in which to
wind up the business before it.
I merely rise for the purpose of making one
observation to this Convention, and I desire
them to pay particular attention to that obser-
vation. It is in relation to the proposition which
has now been made by the gentleman from Bal-
timore county, (Mr. Howard.) Although he
is in favor of the continuance of this court, by
his proposition he places an argument in the
possession of those that are in favor of a Chan-
cellor for Baltimore city, which may be and
will be used to pass it. What will that argu-
ment be? Why, if the chancery court be estab-
lished, the argument would be that Baltimore
city must have a chancery court for the trans-
action of her equity business. They call upon
this Convention to abolish this court, in which
all the business of the State may be transacted,
if parties prefer to institute cases in it; and for
what purpose? For the purpose of establishing
a chancery court in Baltimore city, with no jurisdiction
beyond the limits of the city, and in
which the citizens of the rest of the State will
have no interest. This is the argument that.
will be used for the purpose of obtaining a chan-
cery court for the city of Baltimore. I will
say that one court is as expensive as another.
You will have to pay a Chancellor In Baltimore
city as much as you pay a Chancellor at Annap-
olis, who can discharge his duties as well as a
Chancellor in Baltimore city. If the chancery
court is abolished, gentlemen will rise here and
say, You have deprived us of this court and its
benefits, and you must give us a separate chan-
cery jurisdiction for the transaction of our busi-
ness. Why not continue the chancery court
here, if you desire to have one? Why not have
a court here, which can transact the business of
the whole State as well as that of Baltimore
city, and which will be open to the citizens of
the whole State, who prefer to transact their
business here? If, however, neither of these
courts is necessary, it will be a saving of ex-
penditure if we do not establish them. It does
seem to me that you must have one somewhere.
If the one here is abolished, yon must have one
in Baltimore city. Do not gentlemen see that
this is the effect of if I desired to call the at-
tention of the members of this Convention to
that fact before they cast their votes upon this
proposition. I withdraw the motion to post-
pone.
Mr. SPENCER. I renew it. As one of the
members of the Committee on the Judiciary, I
cannot see the force of the reasoning of my
friend from St. Mary's, If it were true that you
must have a court here or in Baltimore city, and
that was the only question, then there would be
some force in his argument.
You have determined to have one common
law judge to preside over the court. Every
body knows that the chancery business, the ap-
peal business and the common law business, is
apportioned out among the judges. One judge
presides over the chancery court, another judge
presides over the appeal court, and another over |
