curred with the general objects of this bill, and
so far as they had the power and could with any
propriety go, he was willing to go. But, it ap-
peared to him that the clause proposed to be in-
serted, was not a constitutional clause, and the
Convention had not the authority, or any ground
of propriety to insert it.
It had generally been supposed that the power
of this Convention were unlimited, but he thought
that this clause engrafted on the Constitution
would show that this Convention had transcend-
ed their powers. Now, it proposed either to pre-
scribe a qualification for a vote in a Congression-
al district; or it applied to the regulation of "the
times, places, and manner of holding elections."
One of the other. In either event, it would not
be a violation of the Constitution of the United
States. The first clause to which he woudl re-
fer and ask the attention of the honorable chair-
man to, was that in relation to the House of Re-
presentatives.
"The House of Representatives shall be composed
of members chosen every second year by
the people of the several States; and the electors
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite
for electors of the most numerous branch of
the State Legislature."
The other clause of the Constitution of the
United States was:
"The times, places, and manner of holding
elections for Senators and Representatives, shall
be prescribed in each State by the Legislature
thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by
law, make or alter such regulations, except as to
the place of choosing Senators."
Now, the first point to which he wished to call
the attention of the Convention to, was this: if it
was a regulation applicable to "the times, places,
and manner of holding elections, " it could only,
in his opinion, be inserted by the Legislature,
and not by this Convention. The Legislatures
of the several States had the power to make
those regulations, and the Legislatures alone.
And, give him leave to say, that this was one of
the Most cardinal and important features in the
Constitution of the United States, regulating
the relations between the General and State Governments,
and it was of infinite importance that
that power should be preserved in its appropriate
orbits, and that a State Convention should
not be allowed to usurp powers which were ne-
cessary to exist as between the General and State
Governments. This was a special power given
to the several States, and being exercised by the
Legislature, could not be exercised by any other
authority. And, therefore, if it was a regulation
in relation to "the times, places and manner
of holding elections, "it was a subject for
the Legislature and not for a State Convention.
But, he supposed it to be prescribing a qualifi-
cation: Now, let us regard it in that view. It
was a qualification, and it therefore directed that
a vote for a member of Congress should have the
qualification of residing in the district from
which the member was to be elected. Now,
what power, be would ask, had this Convention
over the qualification of an elector of a member |
of Congress ? Why, it had no direct power at
all; it could not declare what should be the
qualification of an elector of a member of Congress.
The Convention had prescribed the quali-
fication of an elector of a member of the House
of Delegates, and having thus qualified him to
vote fur a member of the House of Delegates,
they, at the same time qualified him to vote for a
member of Congress. This was a right that
could not be taken from him. The Constitution
of the United States had declared that every
man could vote for a member of Congress who
could vote for a delegate. Had the Convention
prescribed any such qualification of electors of
members of Congress? None. Had not the
Convention determined not to district the State ?
Undoubtedly it had. Therefore, we had no such
qualification of an elector of a member of the
House of Delegates; and, consequently, it we had
thus fixed the regulation in that respect, we had,
also, in regard to members of Congress. He had
merely suggested this objection.
He held the clause to be wholly unconstitu-
tional. It could not be sustained. It would
not be valid, if engrafted. It would be pro-
nounced to be unconstitutional if brought be-
fore a judicial tribunal. But, he would not
detain the Convention in adverting to the great
political considerations that grew out of this sub-
ject, in regard to the relations between the State
and General Governments. If there ever was a
time when their powers should be kept within
their several orbits, it was the present time.
Look at the disposition now evinced by South
Carolina to rise up against the Union of the
States. She, or any other State might, to-mor-
row, call a Convention, and take into her own
hands a power fatal to the Union; therefore, he
hoped this Convention would steer clear of ma-
king any encroachment upon the powers of the
Federal Government.
Mr. SMITH said, he hoped the proposition to
strike out would not prevail. He could not see
why immunities and privileges should begiven
to the citizens of Baltimore, and not the citi-
zens of the other counties of the State. The
whole question had already been fully and
fairly discussed and decided by the Convention.
He called upon the delegates from the counties
to look into their rights—to examine the propri-
ety of giving the citizens of Baltimore the privi-
lege of passing from one Congressional District
to another, while we could not go from one coun-
ty to another without losing the privilege of vo-
ting. As he had just said, this question had
been fully discussed before, and all the amend-
ments and propositions connected with it had
been voted down by a decided vote of this body.
He repeated his hope that the motion to strike
out would not prevail.
Mr. CHAMBERS made some remarks, which
will be given hereafter.
Mr. HOWARD would not attempt lo add one
word to the argument of the gentleman from
Cecil, (Mr. MCLANE,) because to his mind,
it was conclusive. But, he wished to call the
attention of the gentleman from Kent, (Mr. |
