double the amount of money to my people,
to be used for whatever purpose they may see
proper in the future, I must still adhere to
my position with all due deference to my col-
league (Mr. Berry, of Prince George's.)
The question was then taken upon the mo-
tion to reconsider the vole adopting the
amendment of Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's,
and upon a division—ayes 26, noes 24—the
motion was adopted.
The question then recurred upon agreeing
to the amendment, being to amend the sen-
tence reading—"in proportion to their respective
population between the ages of five
and twenty years," by inserting the word
"white "belore the word "population."
Mr. TODD. I wish to give notice that if
this amendment prevails, I shall move to
amend the section by adding the following
proviso:
"And provided further, that the property
of negroes shall be exempt from taxation for
the purposes herein provided for."
Mr. DUVALL, I give notice that I shall
move to amend this section by adding the
following:
"And provided further, that no portion of
the revenue arising from a taxation of the
property of the white population of this
State tor said school fund shall be applied
towards educating the free negro population.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I will
withdraw my amendment for the purpose of
allowing my friend from Montgomery (Mr.
Duvall) to submit his amendment :
The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Pugh.) The amend-
ment cannot be withdrawn except by consent
of the house.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. Then I
ask leave to withdraw my amendment.
Mr. HEBB called for the yeas and nays upon
the question of withdrawing the amendment)
and they were ordered.
The question was then taken by yeas and
nays, and resulted—yeas 32, nays 30—as fol-
lows :
Yeas—Messrs. Abbott, Annan, Berry, of
Prince George's, Bond, Clarke, Cunningham,
Dail, Davis, of Charles, Duvall, Earle, Ede-
len, Gale, Harwood, Hoffman, Hollyday,
Hopper, Jones, of Cecil, Keefer, Kennard,
Lee, McComas, Mitchell, Miller, Parran,
Pugh, Purnell, Russell, Schley, Scott, Smith,
of Worcester, Stirling, Turner—32.
Nays—Messrs. Audoun, Baker, Cushing,
Daniel, Dellinger, Ecker, Farrow, Galloway,
Greene, Hebb, Hopkins, King, Larsh, Markey,
Mayhugh, Mullikin, Murray, Nyman, Par-
ker, Ridgely, Robinette, Sands, Smith, of
Carroll, Swope, Sykes, Thomas, Todd, Valliant,
Wickard, Wooden—30,
The amendment was accordingly with-
drawn.
Mr. DUVALL I have modified my amend-
ment somewhat. I now move to add to the
section the following: |
"And provided further, that the public
schools established by this article of the con-
stitution, shall be schools solely for the white
children of the State."
Mr. CUSHING. That raises the same issue
as the other amendment. I call the previous
question.
The call was sustained, and the main ques-
tion was ordered.
The first question was upon the amendment
submitted by Mr, DUVALL.
Upon this question Mr. BERRY, of Prince
George's, called for the yeas and nays, and
they were ordered.
The question was then taken, by yeas and
nays, and resulted—yeas 18, nays 43—as
follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Berry, of Prince George's,
Bond, Clarke, Dail, Davis, of Charles, Duvall,
Edelen. Gale, Harwood, Hollyday, Jones, of
Cecil, Lee, Mitchell, Miller, Parran, Smith, of
Carroll, Smith, of Worcester, Turner—18.
Nays—Messrs. Abbott) Annan) Audoun,
Baker, Cunningham, Cushing, Daniel, Dellin-
ger, Earle, Ecker, Farrow, Galloway, Greene,
Hebb, Hoffman, Hopkins, Hopper, Keefer,
Kennard, King, Larsh, Markey, Mayhugh,
McComas, Mullikin, Murray, Parker, Pugh,
Purnell, Ridgely, Robinette, Russell, Sands,
Schley, Scott, Stirling, Swope, Sykes, Thom-
as, Todd, Valliant, Wickard, Wooden—43.
The amendment was accordingly rejected.
Pending the call of the yeas and nays, the
following explanations were made by mem-
bers as their names were called ;
Mr. SANDS. I desire to state why I do not
vote "aye" on this question. The amend-
ment of the gentleman from Prince George's
(Mr. Berry, ) which was adopted by the house,
applied the school fund wholly and solely to
while children. I would have voted heartily
for that amendment, and after it had been
adopted, I voted against its reconsideration
because I wanted to keep it in the constitu-
tion. That amendment, however, was with-
drawn for the purpose, it seems, of giving
certain counties in the State the right of
drawing money on the basis of their colored
population, and applying the many so
drawn exclusively to the whites. Now 1
cannot agree to vote "aye" on any such
proposition, for they propose to draw from
the common fund of the State upon the basis
of their colored population, draw for each
colored child in their county, and then under
this constitution they exclude him forever
from any benefit of it. I am unwilling that
that condition of things should exist. I pre-
fer the section as it originally stood when
amended, for it left the whole matter to the
discretion of that body to which my friends
desire to intrust so much. I therefore
vote "no."
Mr. THOMAS, The gentleman from How-
ard (Mr. Sands) has anticipated the reasons
which I proposed to give for the vote I am |
