ted States, who have been in the recent bat-
tles, some of whom have been killed, and
many of whom have been wounded. The
counties that have furnished these men,
should receive credit for them. There should
be some way of ascertaining this matter.—
And if this subject is postponed, I trust that
before it again comes up for consideration, we
will be enabled to have some definite information
from the proper authorities as to how
this matter stands.
Mr. ABBOTT. Has the. county of Somerset
offered any bounty for troops ?
Mr. JONES, of Somerset. No, sir; the county
has offered no bounty, but she has filled her
quota, either in person or by substitute.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's, I will give
one reason why I think it would be wise to
postpone the further consideration of this sub-
ject. It is admitted on all sides that great
injustice has been done to the State of Mary-
land. But we want the data before We come
to a just conclusion. The object of postpon-
ing is to have that data before us. I propose
to follow up the postponement with the mo-
tion that a committee of three or five be ap-
pointed to make the necessary inquiry in or-
der to obtain from the proper authority the
requisite information. The gentleman from
Baltimore city proposes to hurry this thing
through without that information.
Mr. CUSHING. I propose to vote it down in
this convention.
Mr. BERRY, "of Prince George's. He pro-
poses to vote it down. He says it is all just
and proper that whatever number Prince
George's county has furnished should he cred-
ited to the whole State. Now is that proper ?
Does he forget that the quota of every county
and district in the State is fixed by the provost
marshal? Does he forget that each county
and each district in each county has to furnish
the number allotted to it? I should say there
was not the slightest justice in crediting the
number to the whole State; that it was con-
trary to the spirit of the law. The law en-
acts that each county should he credited with
whatever recruits it may furnish to the army.
I say it would be not only unjust, but con-
trary to the law. Before I conclude I propose
for a moment to refer to the negro population
of our County.
Mr. STIRLING. What is the use of postponing
this subject, if we are going to take up all the
morning in discussing it?
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I do not
propose to discuss it all the morning.
Mr. STIRLING, I do not refer to the gentle-
man from Prince George's (Mr. Berry) in par-
ticular. I refer to all.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. I do not
mean to discuss the question now. I oily
desire to say that the negro population of our
county was 12,479; and lam satisfied that
of that number 5,000 able-bodied negro men
have been taken for the army. We have, |
therefore, furnished enough able-bodied negro
men to fill the quota for oar entire congression-
al district.
The question was then taken upon post-
poning informally the preamble and resolu-
tion submitted by Mr. MARBURY, and it was
agreed to.
Mr, BERRY, of Prince George's, then sub-
mitted the following:
"Ordered, That a committee of three be
appointed by the president to correspond with
the proper authorities, and furnish this con-
vention with the number of recruits, both
white and black, which have been received
into the service of the United States, from
the several counties of the State, and the city
of Baltimore, (and also the number credited to
the said counties and city respectively,"
Mr. CHAMBERS. I would suggest to my
friend to have one committee man from each
congressional district.
Mr. STIRLING. I am opposed to sending a
committee to Washington. It is the governor's
business to look after this matter. I do not
understand that he has made any publication
of wrong having been done. I offer the follow-
ing amendment: strike oat all after the word
"ordered," and insert—
" That the governor is hereby requested to
furnish this convention with any information
be may have as to the quota of the State,
and the credits that have been given for in-
habitants of the State, while or black, who
have been enlisted in the service of the United
States."
Mr. BERRY,, of Prince George's. The
governor could not possibly give us information
of the number received into the service
of the United States. That we can only get
from the provost marshals and the authori-
ties at Washington. My order does not con-
template the sending a committee to Wash-
ington; only to correspond with the proper
authorities,
Mr. ABBOTT celled for the previous ques-
tion.
The call was sustained, and the main ques-
tion was ordered.
The question was upon the substitute sub-
mitted by Mr. STIRLING.
The question being taken, upon a division
—ayes 34, noes 27—the substitute was adop-
ted.
The question then recurred upon the order
of Mr, BERRY, of Prince George's as amended.
Upon this question Mr. GALE called for the
yeas and nays, and they were ordered.
The question being then taken by yeas and
nays, it resulted—yeas 38, nays 33—»as fol-
lows:
Yeas— Messrs. Goldsborough, President;
Berry, of Prince George's, Billingsley, Black-
iston, Brown, Chambers, Clarke, Crawford,
Davis, of Charles, Dennis, Dent, Duvall,
Edelen, Gale, Hodson, Horsey, Jones, of Ce-
cil, Jones, of Somerset, Landsdale, Lee, Mace, |
