system. Therefore the committee cannot re-
port three judges to each circuit; they must
repot one judge to acircuit. But they can
alter the number of circuits, not exceeding
twelve.
'The question recurred upon adopting the
order submitted by Mr. HEBB, which had
been amended so as to read as follows :
" Ordered, That the report of the commit-
tee on the judiciary department, with all the
amendments proposed thereto, be recommitted
to the committee, with instructions to report
the judiciary system as embraced in the exist-
ing constitution, except so far as the same has
been modified by the adoption of the article
in the court of appeals, and excepting also to
report such number of judicial circuits, not
exceeding twelve, as the committee may deem
necessary to meet the public necessities, (erect-
ing Baltimore county in aseparate circuit,)
and also, reporting a provision giving the
general assembly the power to create addi-
tional circuits from time to time when re-
quired, and that the committee be instructed
to report by Thursday next at twelve o'clock."
Upon this question Mr. DANIEL asked for the
yeas and nays, which were ordered,
The question was then taken, by yeas and
nays, and resulted—yeas 20, nays 37—as fol-
lows :
Yeas—Messrs. Audoun, Cunningham, Cush-
ing, Earle, Ecker, Hebb, Keefer, Kennard,
King) Negley, Nyman, Parker, Pugh, Ridge-
ly, Robinette, Stirling, Thomas, Thruston,
Wickard, Wooden—2 0.
Nays—Messrs. Abbott, Annan) Billingsley,
Blackiston, Bond, Briscoe, Brown, Carter,
Chambers, Daniel, Dellinger, Dent, Edelen,
Gale, Galloway, Hodson, Hollyday) Hopper,
Horsey, Lee, Mayhugh, McComas, Mitchell,
Miller,' Morgan, Mullikin, Murray, Parran,
Purnell, Russell, Sands, Schley, Smith, of
Carroll, Smith, of Worcester, Swope, Sykes,
Turner—37.
The order was accordingly rejected.
Mr. ABBOTT, when his name was called, said ;
When this proposition was first offered by my
colleague (Mr. Audoun,) I was in favor of it.
But after spending nearly an hour and a half
in discussing this matter, and finding that
there are hardly any two in the house, espe-
cially among the members of the legal profes-
sion, who think alike upon the subject, I shall
vote against it. For if they once get this re-
port in the committee, there is no telling when
we shall get it back again, for committees do
not always obey orders. The committee be-
fore was some three or four months in labor,
and then brought forth a report which this
house has already pronounced to be a mouse
I Vote "no."
Mr. RIDGELY. I now propose to submit an
order much like the one just voted upon, but
in a modified form. The objection was taken
to the other order—and I understand it con-
trolled the votes of a great many members— |
that the judiciary committee, by reason of the
absence of several of its members, was not in
a condition to consider this subject and report
promptly to the house. I therefore submit
the following order, which will remove that
objection:
" Ordered, That the report of the committee
on the judiciary department, with the amend-
ments thereto, be referred to a select commit-
tee of five, with instructions to report a judi-
ciary system as embraced in the present con-
stitution, except that portion of the report
which has been adopted by this body, and
with further instructions to report such re-ar-
rangement of the judicial circuits as they may
deem necessary, not to exceed twelve, and that
said committee report to-morrow at one
o'clock."
Mr. NEGLEY. The question has been asked
whether this order excepts from the consider-
ation of the committee that portion of the re-
port relating to the court of appeals. Now
the house has passed upon all that portion of
the report except section twelve, or the first
section relating to the court of appeals. The
question has been asked whether those sections
which have been acted upon and approved by
the convention will be again open to amend-
ment when the report comes back. I conceive
that that cannot be so, because if we were now
to go on and consider this report without re-
ferring it, that portion upon which the con-
vention has acted, the part relating to the
court of appeals, with the exception of the first
section, is complete. It will be precisely in
that condition when the special committee
shall make its report. Otherwise we will find
ourselves reduced to the absurd position of
having passed one day through the second
reading of anumber of sections, and then the
next day going over them again. I will
vote for this order with the understand-
ing that the portion of this report which
has been read a second time shall be considered
as having been finally passed upon, and that
we are not to have the whole thing gone over
again and argued. I consider that strictly,
according to parliamentary law, that portion
of the report cannot be gone over again.
Mr. STIRLING. I suppose that all that part
which is not referred to the committee for ac-
tion will come back to the house precisely as
it now stands.
Mr. DANIEL. I do not want to speak upon
this question. I simply rise to set myself
right in reference to a matter to which allusion
has been made here. In some remarks which
I made the other night in reference to the post-
ponement of section twelve of this report, I
said that I had understood my colleague (Mr.
Thomas) to say to me that be did not care
much about the matter. Now I want to state
exactly how that occurred, so that I may set
myself right. After the house had adopted
the amendment of the gentleman from Allega-
ny (Mr. Thruston, ) to elect the judges of the |
