justices of the peace each county and the city of
Baltimore shall have. They shall be appointed
by the Governor of the State, by and with the
consent of the Senate, for the term of two years,
and shall be apportioned among the several elec-
tion districts of the counties and wards of the
city of Baltimore, as shall be directed by the Le-
gislature."
Determined in the negative.
Mr. DENT moved for the yeas and nays.
Which motion was not sustained.
The question again recurred on the adoption of
the substitute as offered by Mr. BOWIE, for the
twenty-first section of the report.
Mr. STEPHENSON moved to amend the twenty-
first section of the printed report, by striking out
after the word, " peace," in the ninth like to the
word " thereof," inclusive, in the eleventh line,
and inserting the following :
" The Governor shall appoint a person to
serve as justice of the peace, until the next regu-
lar election for justices of the peace; and, in
case of a vacancy in the office of Constable, the
county commissioners of the county in which a
vacancy may occur, shall appoint a person to
serve as constable until the next regular election
thereafter for constables."
Mr. STEPHENSON moved that the question be
taken by yeas and nays.
Which motion was not sustained,
The question was then taken on the adoption
of the amendment,
And determined in the affirmative—a division
—yeas 30—nays 25.
On motion of Mr. BOWIE,
The twenty-first section of report was further
amended by striking out in the twelfth line the
words "the judges of."
On motion of Mr. SPENCER,
The section was further amended by
striking out from the word " jury," in the fif-
teenth line to the end of said section.
Mr. BOWIE then withdrew the substitute offer-
ed by him for this section.
Mr. RANDALL. I suggest that we prescribe
the mode by which appeals are to be taken, or
else we will not secure the constitutional right
to appeal. I suggest therefore that to insert, af-
ter the words "may be," in the 14th line these
words, "according to the laws as are now or
may hereafter be enacted,"
The amendment was agreed to,
Mr. GWINN. I move to strike out so much of
this section as relates to the city of Baltimore
I will make a final appeal to the House on this
subject. I know that everything stated by the
delegation from Baltimore, which relates to the
interest of that city, is viewed with suspicion
here.
I can only say as to this question that I am actuated
by on selfish motive. I think I can satisfy
gentleman, who will listen to me, that the
system proposed in this section for Baltimore
city is utterly unreasonable; besides the House
misapprehends the case. The gentleman from
Baltimore county voted for the section, as it now
stands, utterly unconscious of the real significa- |
tion which it bears. Other gentlemen vote in
equal ignorance. The magisterial business of
the city of Baltimore centres perhaps about
some four or five localities. These are the
neighborhoods of the Lexington market, of the
Bel-Air market, of the Centre market, and of
the Court house. The section provides that the
legislature may divide the justices of the peace
among the people of the city of Baltimore, that
is to say, it may give to any ward any number of
justices of the peace. The tenth ward, in the
neighborhood of the Court house, requires three
or four of those officers. These transact busi-
ness for all the surrounding wards. But under
the plan they will not be chosen by the people
whose business they attend to, but by residents
of a ward which owes the necessity of their
presence to the accident of the location of the
Court house. I ask the House, if it means to
adopt the system of election at all, whether that
system is reasonable which throws in the hands
of a constituency the election of these officers,
who are to take in charge the business of a con-
stituency to which they are not responsible?
Why should this evil be fastened upon us? We
cannot district the city here; we cannot make
arrangement here, for we are without the neces-
sary information. Why not leave the whole
matter so far as the city is concerned, to the le-
gislature?
Mr. HOWARD. It does not strike me that the
construction of this section is such as the gentle-
man indicated. I do not know that it is fair to
call upon the gentleman from Prince George's to
explain this section, because he is in the position
alluded to.
Does the section mean to say that the legisla-
ture shall have the right to provide that one
election district in Baltimore county shall elect
five justices of the peace and the rest none?
Mr. BOWIE. It does not,
Mr. HOWARD. That is what I supposed.
Mr. BOWIE. That part of the bill was amend-
ed at the instance of the gentleman from Har-
ford. It provides that there shall he in each
election district and in the city of Baltimore,
in each ward, some justices of the peace, the
number to be left to the legislature. That is
what I understand the proposition of the gentle-
man from Harford to be. There are some elec-
tion districts where two justices of the peace
may be sufficient, and other election districts
where five may be required. The gentleman
from Frederick says that in the district in which
Frederick is located, four or five would not be
enough while perhaps one or two would be
enough in the other districts. The legislature is
required to prescribe the mode of electing jus-
tices of the peace at each election, in the elec-
tion districts, and also in the city of Baltimore.
Mr. HOWARD . Does it prescribe that each
ward shall elect the same number?
Mr. BOWIE. I would be unwilling to incorporate
such a provision. Here is a uniform system,
applicable alike to the counties as to the
city of Baltimore. Is it possible that gentlemen |
