rect. The first section of the majority report
is now open to amendment,
Mr. STIRLING. there is a needless repeti-
tion in this section, on account of recopying
the language of the old constitution. I there-
fore move to strike out the words " free
white male," and insert the word "such,"
also to strikeout the words " who shall have
been one year next preceding the election a
resident of the State, and for six months a
resident of the city of Baltimore, or of any
county in the State, and." If that is adopt-
ed that portion of the section will read:
"And every such person, being at the
time of the election in the naval or. military
service of the United States, shall, when .the
United States are actually engaged in war,
be entitled to vote wherever they may be,"
&c.
Besides the unnecessary repetition, the sec-
tion is obnoxious to this objection: as the
section now stands, it allows a person in the
military or naval service to vote, whether he
be a citizen of the United States or not, pro-
vided he has been a resident of this State
twelve months next preceding the election
Now, I am opposed to that. There are a
great many persons, who have come from
Canada, and various places abroad, and have
entered our armies, who have not been in the
State a week belore they entered the service
it is not right to give those persons the right
of suffrage in this State, in my opinion,
The question being then taken, upon the
amendment proposed by Mr. STIRLING, it was
adopted.
Mr. DAVIS, of Charles. I move to insert
after the words " in all elections hereafter to
beheld," the words "and all persons shall
be considered loyal who have not been con-
victed, in some court of law, of disloyalty.
Mr. STIRLING. According to that, Jeff
Davis would be considered loyal, because be
has not been convicted in any court of law of
disloyalty.
The question was upon agreeing to the
amendment of Mr. DAVIS, of Charles.
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 12 nays 48—as fol
lows:
Yeas—Messrs. Berry, of Prince George's
Brown, Dail, Davis, of Charles, Edelen
Hodson, Hollyday, Lee, Mitchell, Miller
Morgan, Wilmer—12.
Nays—Messrs. Goldsborough, President
Abbott, Annan, Audoun, Brooks, Cun
ningham, Cushing, Daniel, Davis, of
Washington, Dellinger, Earle, Ecker, Far-
row, Galloway, Greene, Hatch, Hebb, Hoff-
man, Hopkins, Hopper, Keefer, Kennard
King, Markey, Mayhugh, McComas, Mullikin
Murray, Nyman, Parker, Pugh, Purnell
Robinette, Russell, Scott, Smith, of Carroll
Smith, of Worcester, Sneary, Stirling, Stock |
bridge, Swope, Sykes, Thomas, Thruston, '
Todd, Valliant, Wickard, Wooden—48.
The amendment was accordingly rejected.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. In order to remove
what may be an ambiguity in this section, 1
move to strike out, near the middle of this
section, the words " and at all such elections
the vote shall be by ballot," and I also move
to preface this section by the words—*' at all
elections hereafter to be held in this State the
vote shall be by ballot, and." The section
will then read—" at all elections hereafter to
be held in this State the vote shall be by bal-
lot, and every white male person of twenty-
one years of age, and upwards," &c. Aclause
has been inserted here providing for votes to
be given by soldiers in camp, and if the clause
requiring all elections to be by ballot is inser-
ted immediately after the clause relating to
soldiers voting, it might by some possibility
be construed to refer only to the vote to be
taken in camp. I should prefer to have the
section modified as I have proposed, in order
that it may cover all elections. It is simply
transposing the words to the commencement
of the section from where they now stand.
Mr. STIRLING. Is not the amendment pro-
posed liable to the same objection? The
amendment is—"at all elections hereafter to
be held in this State the vote shall be by bal-
lot." is an election in camp, anelection in
this State? I think it would be better to let
the words stand where they now do, except
striking out the word "such," and then it
will read, "and at all elections the vote shall
be by ballot." I think that will remove any
ambiguity there may be.
Mr, SCOTT. I hardly know how to vote on
any matter connected with this first section,
until I know what action the convention will
take on the second section. I will, therefore,
move to pass over informally this first section,
and take up the second section, and in case
the amendment of which the gentleman from
Baltimore city (Mr. Stirling) has given notice
shall be adopted, I shall then move the amend-
ment of which I gave notice day before yes-
terday, It may be that some gentlemen do
not understand exactly my object in ma-
king this motion. We are going on now to
perfect this first section, which when done
will either have to be struck out, or it will
necessitate the rejection of the amendment
offered by the gentleman from Baltimore city.
If we pass over the first section, and determine
what we will do with the second section, then
our course will be more clear in regard to the
first section, because they both embrace and
refer to the same subject-matter. That is
the object I have in making the motion. Af-
ter we have considered the second section, we
can, without any loss of time, return to the
first section and complete that.
The question being taken on the motion to
pass over the first section informally, and |
