timore county, [Mr. Howard,] had certainly
complained of the action of certain gentlemen,
whose aid he seemed to think he was entitled to
claim, upon the ground of pledges. Not because
they had ever expressed or entertained the opin-
ions he wishes them now to express. Not at
all. It would appear plain, they never did ex-
press or ever entertain these opinions. It is
avowedly on the ground, that as good men and
true, they should sustain opinions directly at
variance with those they entertain, because their
political friends, or friends connected with them
by some peculiar bond, have so decreed. By an
expression of the sentiment which they enter
tain in fact, these gentlemen have defeated a
measure. The complaint is, the measure ought
to have been carried, and carried by them, con-
trary to their cherished convictions. Why would
not this have been, to produce precisely the state
of things he had denounced as objectionable—
that is to say, to make a Constitution by the
minority, against the opinion of a majority? He
had come under no sort of responsibility to the
gentleman from Washington county (Mr. Fiery.)
He had not, nor did he now, assert that the pro-
position of that gentleman was a caucus meas-
ure. He was dealing with the declaration and
doctrine boldly avowed by the gentleman from
Baltimore county, who had complained of the
conduct of gentlemen in not supporting their
friends, by the abandonment of their own fixed
opinions. In reply to the inquiry of the gentle-
man from Baltimore, as to a caucus or meet-
ing of gentlemen who usually acted with him,
he would say he had never participated in any
such meeting, nor did he know any thing of
their proceedings.
Mr. GWINN. Docs not the gentleman know
that such a meeting has been held.
Mr. CHAMBERS. I have heard gentlemen say a
meeting had been held. [A Laugh.]
Mr. GWINN. Ah!
Mr. CHAMBERS said; the gentleman, it appear-
ed, was better informed than he was. And he
might well be so, fur he had no part or lot in
any meeting of the kind, nor was he informed of
any measure agreed upon in any such meeting.
The Constitution should be made here, in open
session, with the free and equal participation of
each and every member of the representatives of
the people, and not by a fractional portion of the
body, to the exclusion of others. Whenever the
practice became sanctioned, that a selected por-
tion of the Convention,—whether they assumed
the name of "a party of reformers," or by what-
soever appellation they may designate them-
selves—whenever a self-selected portion of this
body, shall assume the privilege to hold extra
sessions, and adopt articles for insertion in the
Constitution, by their exclusive authority, in to-
tal disregard of the rights of the Convention as a
whole, and bring into this hall such a Constitu-
tion, for the mock purpose of having their pro-
ceedings ratified—when such an occurrence
should take place, he should consider the period
had arrived to quit his place here. He would
not pledge himself, because he could as well do |
what the occasion might require, without a pledge
as with it, but his present impression was, and it
was so strong, he thought, it must be exactly
right and incapable of change, that the moment
such a thing occurred was the very moment, at
which every discarded member should make his
bow—''P. P.C." and return to his home and to
his ordinary vocations, in which he might be
much more usefully employed, than in endorsing
"paper manufactured to order."
Mr. SPENCER addressed the Convention. His
remarks will be published hereafter.
Mr. CHAMBERS must say a word in self-de-
fence, that first law of nature. This was not
the first time the charge had been made against
him, of being connected with the caucus which
had organized this body. The statement had
been repeated, and the question again asked,
though not for the purpose of information,
Every member of the house knew his views up-
on that subject. He had never known a body
composed of different and conflicting opinions, to
be organised without some previous consultation
as to who should be the officers. It was often
absolutely necessary as a preliminary step. But
this did not, in any respect, conflict with the
opinions he had expressed. His objection was
lo a caucus in which articles for insertion in the
Constitution, were agreed upon, whereby a mi-
nority of the Convention would impose an organic
law upon the people, contrary to the opinion of
a minority of their representatives. If gen-
tlemen could not perceive the difference be-
tween acaucus to nominate a presiding officer,
and a caucus to form a Constitution, he dispaired
of illuminating their minds by argument.
He would repeat, that while consultation in
regard to officers necessary to the organization of
the body, was of constant practice every where
he had no knowledge of one solitary instance, in
which laws to he passed in a deliberative body,
had been previously adopted and decided on in
caucus, and he had some experience in these
matters, having been fifteen years of his life in
the Senate of the State or of the United States.
As to the "reformer" and "anti-reformer,"
there seemed to be the utmost possible difficulty
in ascertaining what was and what was not "re-
form." It seems to depend entirely upon the opinions
of the individual who constructs the platform.
Different gentlemen, claiming to be " au fait "
in this matter, had very different creeds and ver-
sions of faith. According to his theory, he was a
reformer, but he must certainly was not so ac-
cording to the theory of some others. He be-
lieved his own case was pretty much precisely
that of all around him. Every member, then
was entitled to hold and express his opinion on
this floor. Not only had every member the right
to express his own opinions and have them heard
by his fellow members, but he had a right to hear
the opinions of others and their reasons therefor.
We were here to consult and advise together
for a common purpose, a common good, and eve-
ry thought expressed by the humblest member
was entitled, by every fair and legitimate consid-
eration, to all the attention it might merit. But
it would be a spectacle to laugh at, were gentle- |
