Ordered, That the committee on accounts
he instructed not to issue any more certifi-
cates for payment of members or officers of
this convention until after its adjournment
sine die.
The object is to give the committee an op-
portunity to close up accounts at the bank,
and have them adjusted, so as to halve no
difficulty at the close of the session,
Mr. PUGH. It is customary to pass such
an order.
The rules were suspended, on division—
ayes 45, noes 20.
The order was adopted, on division—ayes
35, noes 30.
CIRCUIT COURTS.
The convention resumed the consideration
of the report of the committee on the judiciary
department.
The next section was read as follows :
" Sec. 22. The salary of each judge of the
circuit court shall be three thousand dollars
per annum, payable quarterly, and shall not
be increased or diminished during his con-
tinuance in office."
No amendment being offered, the next sec-
tion was read as follows:
"Sec. 23. There shall be a clerk of the
circuit court for each county, who shall be
elected by a plurality vote of the qualified
voters of said county; lie shall hold his office
for the term of six years from the time of his
election, and until a new election is held and
his successor duly qualified; he shall be re-
eligible at the end of his term, and shall at
any lime be subject to removal for wilful ne-
glect of duty, or other misdemeanor in office,
on conviction in a court of law.
Mr. PETER moved to strike out "six" in
line four, and insert "ten."
Mr. MILLER moved to strike out " six" and
insert "fif teen."
Mr. MILLER'S amendment was rejected,
Mr. PETER'S amendment was rejected.
SALARY OF CIRCUIT JUDGES.
Mr. ABBOTT moved to recur to the 22d sec-
tion.
The motion was ilgreed to. .
The twenty-second section was read as fol-
lows :
" Sec. 22. The salary of each judge of the
circuit court shall be three thousand dollars
per annum, payable quarterly, and shall not
be increase or diminished during his continu-
ance in office."
Mr. ABBOTT moved to strikeout "three"
ana insert " two" in the second line, to make
the salary $2,000.
Mr. SANDS moved to strike out "$3,000"
and insert "$2,500."
The question being stated on the latter
amendment, containing the largest sum,
Mr. ABBOTT demanded the yeas and nays,
and they were ordered. |
The question being taken, the result was—
yeas 43, nays 28—as follows :
Yeas- Messrs. Goldsborough, President;
Abbott, Billingsley, Briscoe, Chambers, Cun-
ningham, Daniel, Davis, of Washington,
Dellinger, Ecker, Edelen, Farrow, Galloway,
Greene, Hebb, Hoffman, Hollyday, Hopkins,
Hopper, Horsey, Johnson, Keefer, King,
Lansdale, Larsh, Markey, McComas, Mitchell,
Morgan, Negley, Nyman, Parran, Russell,
Sands, Schley, Schlosser, Smith, of Carroll,
Sneary, Swope, Sykes, Thruston, Todd,
Wooden—43.
]Nays—Messrs. Annan, Audoun, Blackis-
ton, Bond, Brooks, Brown, Cushing, Dennis,
Dent, Duvall, Gale, Hatch, Henkle, Kennard,
Lee, Miller, Murray, Parker, Peter, Pugh,
Purnell, Ridgely, Robinette, Smith, of Dorchester,
Smith, of Worcester, Stirling, Thom-
as, Wickard—28.
When their names were called,
Mr. CHAMBERS said: I vote "aye," prefer-
ring $2,500 to $2,000.
Mr. HEBB said: I vote "aye," preferring
$2,500 to $3,000.
Mr. PUGH said: I shall vote against this
amendment because I prefer $3,000. I like
to stick to my principles. I am not in favor
of cheap justices, nor cheap instructors fur
our children. I shall vote to keep up the
salaries to what I consider a fair value. I
vote " no."
Mr. PURNELL sand: I feel entirely disposed
to compensate any officer of the State for the
services he may render. But events connected
with this particular service show at
least lo my mind very conclusively that there
is no particular reason for increasing the
salary at this time. Under the old system
the chief justice received $2,200, and the as-
sociate justices $1,400. They seemed to be
satisfied with it. At all events I never heard
of any resignations, and they held office during
life. In 1850 we raised the salary to $2,000;
and I have heard of no resignations occurring
since then on 'account of the inadequateness
of the salary. The labors have not been increased
since then, and I can see no reason
why the compensation should be increased.
1 vote '• no."
Mr. RIDGELY said; I shall vote against this
proposition for the reason that I consider a
judge who is upon the bench ten or eleven
months in the year continuously entitled to a
much larger salary than the judge who per-
haps may not be occupied more than three,
or four, or five months in the year. The
judges of Baltimore city, and the judge of
Baltimore county are occupied through the
year; and I do not consider $2,500 any com-
pensation for that service. I therefore vote
••no."
Mr. THRUSTON, I vote "aye,' 'though 1
am in favor of $3,000, because I cannot get
more.
The amendment was accordingly agreed to. |
