the legislature, or some other system devised
by the legislature is to become the genera
uniform system of the State. The amendment
asks the house to adopt a proposition which
contemplates passing a si stem of uniform ed
ucation by the legislature, and if you adopt
it you necessarily ignore the proposition of
the first section, which contemplates a system
to be reported by the general superintendent
So that the proposition has far greater objects
in view than those suggested by the honora-
ble gentleman who moved it. The effect of it
will be to nullify all that the house has alrea-
dy passed in adopting the first section,
The PRESIDENT. The amendment is the
very opposite to what the gentleman from
Baltimore county (Mr. Ridgely) supposes.—
The amendment contemplates the report being
made by the superintendent and the adoption
of the report by the legislature.
Mr, PURNELL. Certainly.
Mr. RIDGELY. If not adopted by the legis-
lature then the first section fails. It speaks
of a system to be adopted by the legislature.
The first section contemplates that the system
shall exist whether adopted by the legislature
or not. The amendment contemplates only
a system adopted by the legislature.
Mr. CUSHING. I think the motion of the
gentleman from Worcester (Mr. Purnell) will
include the cutting out of the report the third
and fourth sections.
Mr. HEBB. On the second reading of the
report, can we act upon two sections at the
same time ?
The PRESIDENT. Not strictly. The gentle-
man can accomplish his purpose by moving
to strike out the second section now, and in-
serting what he has proposed, and afterwards,
if that amendment prevails, moving to strike
out the fifth section.
Mr. PURNELL withdrew the motion to strike
out the fifth section, in accordance with the
suggestion of the president,
Mr. HEBB. I rise to another point of order.
Can the section be amended after the house
has refused to strike it out?
The PRESIDENT. That case is specially pro-
vided for in the 41st rule.
"Rule 41. A motion to strike out and in-
sert shall be deemed indivisible; but the mat-
ter proposed to be inserted may be divided, if
required, according to the 40th rule. A mo-
tion to strike out being lost, shall preclude
neither amendment nor a motion to strikeout
and insert. No motion or proposition on a
subject different from that under considera-
tion shall be admitted under color of amend-
ment."
Mr, CUSHING. That amendment introduces
a great change in the section already passed.
We established the office of State superintend-
ent and provided a specific salary, to perform
a duty which I understand by this amend-
ment is to be left at the discretion of the board
of education.
31 |
1 Mr. PURNELL. No, sir.
The PRESIDENT. The State superintendent,
on the plan being adopted by the legislature,
proposes to the board of education duties to
be performed. It does not interfere with the
city of Baltimore.
Mr. CUSHING. Will the amendment dimin-
ish the number of officers to be appointed un-
der the school system, or increase it?
Mr. PURNELL. It will increase it.
Mr. CUSHING. I had thought that the feel-
ing of the house this morning was that one
possible objection to the report of the commit-
tee was its increase of officers; but the gen-
tleman from Worcester proposes to strikeout
the officers reported by the committee, and
still further to increase the number as a meas-
ure of economy. I judge that the reason of
that proposition is that the various conflicting
views and opinions of the different counties,
with reference to their present school system,
may be harmonized; a thing which legisla-tures
of Maryland have dealt with before, and
have uniformly failed to harmonize, and have
adjourned not having accomplished the will
of the people with reference to the system of
common school instruction. There is no ses-
sion of the legislature of Maryland long enough
to accomplish such a result.
The whole object that is in view in this re-
port of the committee, to necessitate the leg-
islature either to provide a uniform system for
the State, or else to take the responsibility of
accepting the report made by the State super-
intendent, will be entirely destroyed by this
proposed amendment, offered by the gentle-
man from Worcester (Mr. Purnell.) After
having dealt with the subject, by means of
which we propose to necessitate action on the
part of the legislature, I trust we will not
come to a conclusion that leaves the subject
open exactly as we found it before the com-
mittee made their report, and with as little
probability of our reaching any conclusion.
I think it is well and advisable for members
of the convention to look that matter right in
the face. I consider it simply to involve the
question whether or not we shall have within
any reasonable time, any system of free com-
mon school education. We leave it simply to
the discretion of the legislature of Maryland,
with all the conflicting interests of the differ-
ent counties, wedded to their present systems,
some of them, with some of their systems ex-
tremely imperfect, and no desire that they be
made more perfect, with a system of educa-
tion costing a great deal of money and not
attaining any good result, a system to which
no inhabitant of Maryland can point with any
pride or any pleasure, the results of which in
the industrial wealth of the State are not dis-
played in such figures in the census books as
would enable any son of Maryland to appeal
to them with satisfaction, as the evidence of a
system which has elevated the community,
I think gentlemen are not aware how much |
