1681, the same qualifications were required
for delegates as for voters; and these were
kept up, as to both, by the same acts, until
the revolution."
On page 465 is the following :
" Until 1650, the delegates were elected for
hundreds or settlements; and the warrant
tor each assembly specified the number to be
elected for each hundred. There was no reg-
ular delegate system before this period, and
perhaps this arose from the existence of the
right then generally conceded to the freemen
of appearing in the assembly in person or by
proxy. It was not until 1659, when the
lower house was made to consist only of dele-
gates, that its organization became regular.
At the session of 1659, four delegates were
called from each county , and from this pe-
riod until 1681, with one exception, the sum-
mons permitted the election of two, three or
four delegates in each, at the option of its
people. In the latter year the number was
reduced to two by the proprietary's ordin-
ance; but in 1692, after the establishment of
the royal government, the constitution of the
lower house was regulated by law, and four
delegates were again allotted to each county.
The right of representation thus established
upon the basis of equality amongst the coun-
ties existed without alteration until the Amer-
ican revolution.' '
They will find by examining this work that
the basis of representation which was adopted
was, 80 far as Baltimore city was concerned,
no principle at all; but was prompted by the
jealousy which existed among the counties
against the great city of Baltimore. I do not
see why those jealousies should exist. One
thing is certain; Baltimore city has never at-
tempted to harm the counties. In this war,
Baltimore city has put her shoulder to the
wheel, and voted more men and more money
for the purpose of suppressing this rebellion
than any other section of the State. Her
people, tax-ridden as they have been by the
State and national debt, have steadily poured
the money out of her treasury as freely as
water for the purpose of furnishing men and
money to suppress this rebellion. And by
reference to the comptroller's report, it will
be perceived that while Baltimore city has
but ten members out of seventy-four under
the present apportionment, she pays a tax to
the amount of $321,492, out of a total tax
for the State of $724,456.67; whilst St.
Mary's county, with one-fifth the representa-
tion of Baltimore city pays but $9,028. I
say that that is unfair. Still I am willing for
the sake of harmony to receive what has been
given to us, and to vote for this section just
as it has been amended by the convention.
I shall vote for my own amendment when
it comes up, but when the proposition of the
gentleman from Prince George's (Mr. Clarke)
comes up, I shall vote against it.
Mr. MILLER I propose to say a few words |
upon this section as reported by the com-
mittee, and as amended upon the motion of
the gentleman from Frederick (Mr. Schley,)
to show the injustice which the very princi-
ples adopted in this report will work to the
small counties. They have assumed 5,000
as the ratio of representation until the num-
ber of delegates shall reach five. And then
the number of delegates is limited to eighty-
two according to the report as it came from
the committee, and to seventy-nine as it has
been since amended.
Suppose that the white population of the
State is assumed as the basis of representa-
tion. Let us look for a moment at two
counties and see the injustice that is done
one of them by the apportionment here es-
tablished. The county of Kent, with a
white population of 7,347, is entitled to but
one delegate in the house of delegates. The
ratio of representation for the people of that
county is therefore 7,347. Now take the
county of Caroline, with a white population
of 7,604. She is allowed two delegates.
Thus upon this very basis adopted here, 257
more population in Caroline than in Kent,
gives Caroline two delegates, while Kent has
but one. Can a principle which operates
that injustice as between those two counties,
be the right principle upon which the basis
of representation should be fixed in this
State? Caroline county is allowed one dele-
gate for every 3,802 white inhabitants; Kent
county has one delegate for her 7,347 white
inhabitants; and St. Mary's county, the old-
est county in the State, has but one delegate
for 6,791 white inhabitants. Now compare
those three counties together; look at the
wealth of the counties; look at the prob-
able future of those counties, now that
slavery is abolished. If this principle was
fixed for but one, two, or three years, there
might be less cause of complaint for this
discrimination against the wealthy county of
Kent, in favor of Caroline county, which
pays less taxes than any other county in the
State.
And I will show in a moment that Anne
Arundel is treated with equal injustice.
For this basis is fixed upon Anne Arun-
del, Kent, St. Mary's, Prince George's, and
all those counties which have hitherto
been largely slaveholding, until the returns
of the next census, which will not be for ten
or twelve years. And yet those rich conn-
ties, with their fertile lands, and the induce-
ment for white immigration, and the divis-
ion of large estates into small farms, are to
be saddled with this small representation for
ten or twelve years to come. They will be
the first counties to improve and outstrip the
county of Caroline and the county of Som-
erset, if there is any truth at all in this the-
ory that the abolition of slavery is to drive
away the negro population and induce white
immigrants to come into those counties. |
