out of place, so far as the duty of this con-
vention is concerned; that as a duty incum-
bent upon any member of this convention,
they are not compelled to vote upon such or-
ders as that. Desiring the information, as I
observed before, I would have voted for that
order, and against the amendment proposed
by the member from Calvert (Mr. Briscoe,)
but it is not too late yet for the people of my
county to get the information, provided they
attend to their duty. I was willing to vote
to favor the counties which could not have
the same privilege or benefit, upon the ground
that I believed it was a favor to those coun-
ties.
But when gentlemen get up in this con-
vention, and declare in their consideration
and in their speech that it is the duty of
members of this convention, and they demand
it as a matter of right, then I get up and say
it is outside the duties of this convention,
and there can be no such proper demand
made by any gentleman upon this floor. I
was willing to give them all the influence of
this convention to favor .these counties that
complain so much, knowing at the same time
that the information could be obtained in my
own county as yet, and that we could have
the matter adjusted there properly. But as
they take it as no favor, as they regard it as
no concession whatever upon the part of the
majority of this convention, I do not wish to
throw the moral weight of the convention in
their favor. I vote " aye."
Mr. NEGLEY said: For the reasons so
forcibly expressed by my colleague (Mr. May-
hugh,) I vote "aye."
Mr. STIRLING said: I had intended and
made up my mind to vote for the proposition
of my friend from Allegany, although I I did
it with a great deal of reluctance. I thought
from the statements made that there might
have been some injustice done in the enrol-
ment, and although I did not like to give the
expression of the sense of the convention in
favor of a positive revision of the enrolment,
yet I was willing to meet the matter fairly,
and to give the moral weight of the conven-
tion in favor of inquiring into the matter.
But I do not recognize the right of anybody
to offer a proposition here and insist upon its
being adopted. We offered an amendment
and they voted against it on the other side.
Then another member rises and makes another
proposition, and makes an assault upon the
government. When a proposition of this
sort is urged upon us, and made the basis of
denouncing the government, and abusing it
I wash my hands of the whole transaction,
and vote against sustaining any such proposi-
tion, I vote "aye."
Mr. BELT said: I merely wish to say, to
explain my vote in part, that it strikes me as
exceedingly rich that the gentleman from
Washington, and more particularly the gen-
tleman from the city of Baltimore, should |
object to the passage of a resolution of this
kind, because not germain to the proper func-
tions of this convention. No such objection
was urged by those gentlemen at the time a
resolution was offered calling upon the mili- •
tary authorities to banish half the people of this
State from its limits, or to assess the damage
inflicted upon the property of certain classes
of our own people upon them. That was
just as fair from the business of this conven-
tion as this order is. I vote " no."
Mr. MAYHUGH. I was not here at the time,
and did not vote upon the resolutions.
The motion to postpone indefinitely accord-
ingly prevailed.
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND STATE'S ATTORNEYS.
On motion of Mr. STOCKBRIDGE,
The convention proceeded to consider the
report of the committee on State's attorneys,
which was on its second reading.
Mr. BELT moved that the convention ad-
journ.
The question being then taken, upon the
motion to adjourn, upon a division—ayes 29,
noes 38—it was not agreed to.
Section one of the report was then read, as
follows: .
"Section 1. There shall be an attorney gen-
eral elected by the people of the State on
general ticket on the — day of —
next, and on the same day — every
——— year thereafter, who shall hold his
office for — years from the first Mon-
day of January next ensuing his election, and
until his successor shall be elected and quali-
fied, and shall be. re-eligible thereto, and shall
be subject to removal therefrom for incom-
petency, wilful neglect of duty, or misde-
meanor in office on conviction in a court of
law."
Mr. DANIEL. I move to amend this section
by striking out the words, " elected by the
people of the State, on general ticket, on the
— day of — next, and on the
same day — every — year there-
after," and insert the words "appointed by
the governor, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate,"
I have but a word or two to say upon this
question. My reason for moving this amend-
ment is this: this officer, judging from his
duties as prescribed in this report, seems to be
a sort of confidential adviser of the governor,
as well as an officer to defend the interests of
. the State. It seems therefore peculiarly proper
that the governor should have the selection
of an officer who is to be consulted by the
governor, in all matters where his advice and
counsel are desired.
Mr. THRUSTON. I am disposed to favor the
proposition of the gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Daniel.) But if this officer is to be
appointed by the governor, I would suggest
that his term of office should be made to cor-
respond with that of the governor. |
