that it is right in every part of it. I fear there
is some reason for refusing to apply this system
to Baltimore, which gentlemen have not chosen
to express upon this floor. One of the learned
gentlemen from Baltimore, [Mr. Brent,] has said
that it would be an act of humiliation to the
city of Baltimore, if we were to district her. I
think be even went further, and said it would be
an insult. An act of humiliation and an insult!
Is the gentleman inearnest? I cannot under-
stand by what process of reasoning he has suc-
ceeded in coming to this conclusion. The dis-
trict system is undoubtedly a good one. It is
honest and fair, and well calculated to give a full
expression to the popular will. As the gentle-
man from Allegany has said, it secures representation
to minorities. It enables the delegate to
know and understand more fully the wants and
wishes of his immediate constituency. It dues
away with "divided responsibility." What, in
fact, are your counties, in comparison with the
city of Baltimore, but districts? To sub-divide
them would be attended with great difficulties.
To district them so as to have the same amount
of population in each district, would be a work
almost impossible.
It would not do to divide the whole State into
election districts, containing an equal population
without regard to the separate existence of the
counties. Old and long established divisions
would be broken up—associations, ancient ties,
and county attachments, which have so long
bound their citizens together, would be destroy-
ed. There are, too, historical reminiscences
connected with the divisions of some of the older
counties, which I would fain preserve, not only
upon the page of history, but by preserving and
retaining the metes and bounds which were fixed
by our ancestors. I do not know that such a
thing is contemplated by any member of this
Convention. Could I be satisfied of the feasibili-
ty of properly and fairly districting the counties,
I would not hesitate in freely supporting the
plan, but I would not consent to district the State
without regard to the county divisions. The dif-
ficulties presented in reference to the counties,
do not apply to the city of Baltimore. She is
already divided into some twenty wards, each
one as nearly equal as possible in population.
The authority of the gentleman from Balti-
more, (Mr. Presstman ) who addressed you this
morning, and the laws referring to the division
of that city into wards, cited by him, sustain me
in this assertion.
If she is to have ten delegates, with what ease
and facility, and fairness can she be districted,
so that one delegate may be sent from each dis-
trict? If her delegates are to be elected by gen-
eral ticket, the minority, that may be unrepre-
sented in their views and wishes, is immense.
The vote of that city, I believe, is some 21 or
22,000. By the general ticket system more than
10,000 of her voters may be in effect disfranchis-
ed, and refused a voice in the legislature. If
she is districted, her system of representation is
rendered more equal and more perfect. The
rights of her people, instead of being thereby re- |
stricted and curtailed, are protected and enlarg-
ed. There can be no large minorities in her
limits unrepresented.
Every interest, every trade and every party
may then have an opportunity of selecting its
delegate. Can Baltimore object to this? Will
she, for a moment, view it as an act of humilia-
tion—as an insult? It is extending to her a sys-
tem which will oppress none, and which is de-
signed and must, if adopted, promote the general
welfare and interest of her citizens.
I have thus, sir, occupied your time and that
of the Convention in expressing these views up-
on the subject of representation. I had hoped if
the proposition of the gentleman from Kent
could not be adopted, that the plan of my distin-
guished colleague, (Mr Merrick,) the chairman
of the committee on representation, would have
been taken by this Convention as a compromise.
It will be found upon an examination of the ba-
sis, which he has there adopted, that all the in-
terests of the different sections of the State are
properly and permanently protected. It would,
I believe, have finally adjusted and put at rest the
excitement upon this question. It carries out
the views which I have advocated, and leaves
with the southern counties the power of self-protection.
The main objection urged against it,
was that the number of delegates is too large, I
think the objection was ill founded. The great
safety of republican governments is in the num-
ber of its representatives—where the number is
not too large and unwieldy. If the representa-
tive branch is small, it is liable to the control of
factions, and of designing men—and may degen-
erate into an oligarchy. But the plan was not
acceptable to a majority of the Convention, and
has shared the same fate which has been visited
upon so many others.
My most ardent desire is, sir, that some satis-
factory adjustment of this question may beagreed
upon. I hope that we will yet unite in harmony,
and that when we bid adieu to this hall and the
kind hospitality of this good city, we shall all
feel that whatever we have done here has been
dictated by no narrow or party motive, but has
been prompted by elevated views and the earnest
wish of guarding and protecting every interest.
I trust, that the result of our labors will be ac-
ceptable—that under the new order of things, Ma-
ryland will prosper in whatever may decorate and
ennoble her character, continuing, without blot
upon her escutcheon, one of the bright stars of
this great Union.
Mr. DAVIS said:
That having submitted a plan for the adjust-
ment of the question upon representation, which
the Convention had done him the honor to order
to be printed—he felt it due to himself, and the
constituency which he had the honor in part to
represent on this floor, to make come brief expla-
nation of it.
The plan which he had submitted was as fol-
lows:
First. So soon as the western portion of Alle-
gany county obtains a population of 9,000 souls, a
new county shall be erected in said western por-
tion to be called county. |
