not put it in the proper legal form in which
I would like to have it. It will, however,
at least test the sense of the convention upon
the proposition. It is as follows:
" Ordered, That the report from the com-
mittee on the judiciary be recommitted to the
committee on that subject, with the instruc-
tion of the convention to amend their re-
port so as to embody the following princi-
ples, and to report on Friday at 11 o'clock.
" 1. That there shall be a court of appeals
to consist of —judges, to he appointed by
the governor from as many districts.
" 2. That there shall be circuit courts, em-
bracing three counties in each circuit, each
county to elect one judge, but, as regards the
more populous counties, the report of the com-
mittee must embrace the principle that a sin-
gle judge in these counties shall, under
laws to be passed, or rules of court to be
adopted, have power to hold special terms
of court as often as may be necessary to
transact the business of those counties."
The PRESIDENT, The gentleman from
Prince George's (Mr. Belt) can submit that
as an independent proposition, not in the
shape of an amendment to the report. The
question now is upon the amendment of the
gentleman from Allegany (Mr. Hebb.)
Mr. HEBB. The convention has already
determined that the judges of the court of
appeals shall be elected by the State at large.
This proposition is to the same effect; it only
contains the additional provision, permitting
the governor in conformity with the provi-
sion in the present constitution, to designate
by and with the advice and consent of the
senate, which of the five judges shall be the
chief justice. And it also proposes that the
circuit judges shall be elected, as they now
are by the people, instead of being appointed
as provided by the section reported from the
committee.
Mr. RIDGELY. Does the amendment pre-
scribe any period of time for which these
judges shall serve ?
The PRESIDENT. That is left open.
Mr. THOMAS. By the twelfth section as re-
ported from the committee, provision is made
for the appointment of the judges of the
court of appeals. When we reach that sec-
tion we can determine how the judges are to
beelected. I have submitted a substitute for
that section which will be found on page 487
of the journal of proceedings, and which
reads as follows:
"The court of appeals shall consist of a
chief justice and four associate justices and
for their selection the State shall be divided
into four judicial districts. Allegany. Wash-
ington, Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore and
Harford counties shall compose the first.;
Montgomery, Howard, Anne Arundel, Cal-
vert, St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's,
the second; Baltimore city, the third; and
Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, |
Dorchester, Somerset and Worcester, shall
compose the fourth district; and the chief
justice shall be elected by the qualified voters
of the counties and the city of Baltimore on
a general ticket.
"And one person from among those
learned in the law, having been admitted to
practice law in this State and who shall have
been a citizen of this State at least five years,
and above the age of thirty years at the time
of his election, and a resident of the judicial
district, or if chief justice a resident of the
State as herein provided, shall be elected from
each of said districts and the State, by the
legal and qualified voters therein as a judge
of said court of appeals, who shall hold his
office for the term of fifteen years from the
time of his election, or until he shall have at-
tained the age of seventy years, whichever
may first happen, and be re-eligible thereto
until he shall have attained the age of seventy
years, and not after, subject to removal for
incompetency, wilful neglect of duty or mis-
behavior in office, on conviction in a court
of law, or by the governor upon the address
of the general assembly, two-thirds of the
members of each house concurring in such
address, and the salary of each of the judges
of the court of appeals shall be four thou-
sand dollars ($4,000) annually, and shall not
be increased or diminished during their con-
tinuance in office, and no fees or perquisites
of any kind shall be allowed by law to any
of the said judges."
That substitute is still pending, as will be
seen by reference to page 490 of the journal,
where the following entry is made :
" The question then recurring upon the
adoption of the amendment submitted by
Mr. THOMAS,
" On motion of Mr. SMITH, of Carroll,
"The further consideration of section
twelve was informally passed over."
It will be found, when we reach the por-
tion of this report relating to the circuit
courts that there is provision made in rela-
tion to the Judges of the judicial circuits. It
was for that reason I submitted the amend-
ment to the third section, which was pend-
ing when this report was taken up this
morning. I took it for granted that the
convention by its action had already signi-
fied its intention to have an elective system
of judiciary, and that when we reached those
sections in their order we could provide for
the election of the judges of the court of appeals
for judicial districts, and the election
of the judges of the circuit courts for their
several circuits, or in any other mode the
convention might prescribe. I therefore
now move to strike out this third section.
Mr. HEBB. The convention has already
stricken out the word "appointed" in the
twelfth section, and inserted the words
' ' elected by the qualified voters of the State. ' '
Mr. THOMAS. I know that. But that was |
