right of suffrage shall be six months next
preceding the election, but in case any vo-
ter otherwise qualified shall have less than six
months residence in the district of his then resi-
dence, he shall not thereby lose his right to
vote in the district in which he may have resi-
ded for the six months next preceding his re-
moval."
Which was read.
The PRESIDENT. The chair rules this amend-
ment at the present stage of the proceedings, out
of order; from which decision, perhaps, the gen-
tleman from Frederick, (Mr. Thomas,) takes an
appeal.
Mr. THOMAS made some remarks, which will
be published hereafter.
The PRESIDENT stated that the amendment
offered by Mr. JOHNSON being pending, the sub-
stitute offered by Mr. THOMAS, was not in order.
Mr. THOMAS then withdrew his substitute,
Mr. GWINN said, that the arrangement in
wards as proposed, would work great injustice.
They were laid off so as to be equal in popula-
tion, but they were now very unequal.
Mr. CHAMBERS made a few remarks which
will be published hereafter.
Mr. THOMAS made some remarks which will
be published hereafter.
Mr. BOWIE made some remarks which will be
published hereafter.
Mr. JOHNSON made some remarks which will
be published hereafter.
Mr. CHAMBERS I hope the debate upon the
second branch of the subject will be deferred,
until we take the vote upon the first.
Mr. MERRICK I rose for the purpose of say-
ing a few words upon the second branch, repre-
senting as I do, one of the very smallest counties
in the State; at least a county made one of the
smallest by the action of the Convention Dis-
senting from the views expressed by the gentle-
man from Prince George's, I feel it becoming
and proper in roe to express that dissent, and to
give succinctly my reasons for it, I have long
looked upon this principle of electing delegates
from districts, as a great principle of security
and protection to the weak, and as a great prin-
ciple of justice to the different portions of the
country. I had the honor to be a member of
Congress at the time referred to by the gentle-
man from Frederick, and I well recollect the
arguments and facts which occasioned the adop-
tion of the district system by the Congress of the
United States. The same principle and argu-
ments which rendered it necessary to divide the
States into districts for the election of Representatives
in Congress, apply to the division of the
counties into districts for the election of Dele-
gates to the Legislature. I look upon the system
as the only means to secure to the smaller coun-
ties a just proportion in the Legislature of the
State. What was the condition of things in
Congress at the time the district system was
adopted ? It was evident that unless the district
system should be adopted, the political influence
of the smaller States would be utterly annihila-
ted. New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and |
perhaps one other State, upon the general ticket
system, electing by a small majority in each
State, would hold the absolute control over the
whole Union, even although the opposite party
should beunanimous in every other State. Thus
a very small minority of the people of the Unit-
ed States would bid defiance to the majority.
Now let us apply the same principle to the State
of Maryland, if you allow the large counties to
elect by general ticket, will it not often happen
that a small minority of the Slate may govern
the whole State? Suppose in Charles county we
elected our two representatives by five hundred
majority; Baltimore sends here ten delegates by
five majority, and thus, while the sentiment of
the majority of the people of Baltimore city and
Charles county taken together, would be in favor
of the sentiment of Charles county—a majority
of four hundred and ninety-five—yet that politi-
cal sentiment would be expressed by two dele-
gates, while the opposite sentiment would be re-
presented by ten delegates. Is not that a flag-
rant wrong and injustice? Is it not violative of
the republican principles of our government.
Will you refuse to adopt a system which prevents
the carrying out of that iniquity and injustice?
I should prefer seeing the whole State districted;
but I will vote for districting the city of Balti-
more alone, if I cannot accomplish the other object
also. How much weight will Charles, Cal-
vert, St. Mary's. Dorchester, and Caroline coun-
ties have, with two delegates each? No more
than the city of Baltimore alone, the delegates of
which may be elected by an exceedingly small
majority. Certainly, bydistricting the State we
can much mure nearly ascertain what the will of
the people really is, than by electing en masse.
The gentleman from Prince George's speaks
of the distinct individuality of the counties.
That has all gone, sir, years ago. Formerly you
had a compact by which each county stood upon
the same platform in the House of Delegates,
and the Senate was elected at large as the repre-
sentative body of the whole State and had no pe-
culiar locality, That was all changed in 1836.
The, Senate has become a conservative branch,
and to the Senate alone are you to look for the
individual counties. No one can pretend that
the counties stand upon an equal platform here.
That is all swept away. When members are
elected by districts, they do not cease to become
members of the county. This is a matter of de-
tail only, as to the mode in which they shall be
selected from the counties. They still remain
identical in interest and feeling with the whole
county.
The gentleman from Baltimore said that the
resort to the district system by Congress was on-
ly with reference to popular numbers, and there-
fore, these arguments were not applicable here.
It is true that popular numbers govern in the ap-
portionment of representatives of the U. States
but that is a mere subordinate matter. It is im-
material how you ascertain the number of per-
sons entitled to elect. The question of district-
ing is entirely distinct and apart from that. Each
State in the Union was entitled to a given num- |
