Worcester county, or Charles county, or in
some other county, when this general super-
intendent was in some other part of the State.
Now I do not exactly see the force of that
reasoning. I say that in these times of heavy
and enormous taxation when every man in
the State, whether in the counties or in Balti-
more city, will be severely taxed to sup-
port the heavy load of State and national
taxation, it should be our duty and business
here, as wise constitution makers, to get rid of
every superfluous office. It we create this
office of assistant superintendent, some one
must pay for it; it must be paid for either
by the people of the counties, or out of the
treasury of the State. And in either event
the burden will fall upon the property own-
ers of the State. I therefore hope the con-
vention will adopt the suggestion of the gen-
tleman from Baltimore city (Mr. Daniel,) as
the wisest and most prudent course upon this
subject, to strike out sections two, three and
four, and perhaps section five.
Mr. DANIEL. No, not section five.
Mr. EDELEN , Well, I have not looked at that
particularly. There is something in which
I object to, and I maty as well speak of it
here. I can never give my consent to con-
fer upon any man the power which is pro-
posed to be conferred upon the State superin-
tendent by the fifth section, it says :
"And in case of a failure on the part of
the general assembly so to provide (a system
of education) the system reported to it
by the State superintendent of public instruc-
tion shall become a law, and have full effect
as if enacted by the general assembly."
For one I will never give my sanction that
any man, whether he comes from the north
or the south, the east or the west, be he
Horace Mann or anybody else, shall be
clothed with the power to prepare a system
of public school instruction that shall become
ipso facto the law of the State of Maryland.
For one, I will never consent to take out of
the hands of the body that sits in this hall
and in the other wing of the capitol, their
legislative functions, and repose them in the
bands of any living man—I care not whether
you give him a salary of three thousand dol-
lars, or twenty-five hundred dollars, with all
his travelling expenses paid, so as to secure
the best ability,
But I do not wish to detain the conven-
tion. I merely suggest that I think tire best
course would be to strike out sections two,
three and four. Let this general superinten-
dent report a system, as he is required to do,
and then remit all the details and the ma-
chinery to the general assembly of Maryland.
Mr. ABBOTT. I hope these sections will
not be stricken out. I hope the report of
this committee will be adopted as it came
from the committee, as nearly a possible.
It is well known to every gentleman here that
a strong effort has been made by the city of |
Baltimore and those counties which contain a
much larger proportion of white inhabitants,
to obtain from the legislature some general
system of public instruction by which public
schools shall be uniformly established through-
out the State. For the last fifteen years, 1
believe, there has been a constant effort made
to obtain such legislation, and at every ses-
sion of the legislature that effort has failed.
During the session of 1856, when I was a
member of the legislature, I had the honor
to be a member of a committee to prepare
and report a uniform system of public educa-
tion. And if ever a committee labored
faithfully, I think our committee did, day
and night, in trying to perfect a system
which should be satisfactory to all parts of
the State. We made a report to the legisla-
ture, and it passed the house of delegates,
although it failed in the senate. The same
objections were made then, by members from
the lower counties of the State, that are made
now upon this floor, against a system of pub-
lic schools. I was told by men from conn-
ties, where there was no system of public
education, that they would never consent to
have their property taxed to educate "the
brats of poor white men." And I am sorry to
see that there is something of that spirit
here.
1 am very glad this committee has made
such a report as this) taking the matter out
of the hands of the legislature, and provid-
ing by a vote of the people of the State to
give us a system of public instruction, by
which "the brats of poor white men " may
get an education,
The PRESIDENT. I do not see how it is
competent for anybody to take from the leg-
islative department the duties which are
assigned to it under the constitution. Yon
cannot make a law in this State without the
aid of the legislature.
Mr. CUSHING. You can make it in the or-
ganic law,
Mr. RIDGELY. We can make what we
please in the constitution.
The PRESIDENT. You can make provision
for the system, but the details of that system
will have to be voted upon by the legislature.
And if the legislature fails to adopt a system
you have practically no system. You cannot
make a system without the legislature.
Mr. STIRLING, Can we not establish a sys-
tem by this constitution ?
Mr. CUSHING, We establish a judicial sys-
tem here without the intervention of the leg-
islature.
Mr, STIRLING. This body is the highest
law-making power in the State; and any-
thing wo enact is the law,
The PRESIDENT. I say that no law can be
passed here except the organic law, without
the aid of the legislature.
Mr. STIRLING. That objection struck me at
first. But there is this to be said about it: |
