Mr. GREENE. Then there is another thing
in the order offered by the chairman of the
committee on reporting and printing. There
is' no provision requiring proper marginal
notes and references. That is a matter of
very considerable importance. The order
offered by me prescribes the quality of paper,
the character of the printing, and full mar-
ginal notes and references.
Mr. VALLIANT. I will state an additional
fact of which the gentleman has reminded
me. Our regular printer, named in my or-
der, has offered to do all the annotating free
of charge. If he does the printing, it will be
done as nearly as possible according to the
contract which he has made with the comp-
troller of the State, and the marginal refer-
ences will be made without any additional
charge whatever. He has been in the habit
of making the marginal references for a num-
ber of years, in printing the journals of the
two houses of the legislature, and has never
made any charge of it.
Mr. HEBB. The committee on revision, I
understand, are ready to make several re-
ports. I therefore move a suspension of the
rules, in order that they may make their re-
ports, and let the convention act on them,
so that the committee clerks may have some-
thing to do.
The PRESIDENT. The subject before the
convention must be disposed of in some way.
Mr. JONES, of Somerset, moved that it be
informally passed over.
The question was then taken, and upon a
division—ayes 38, noes 30—the motion was
agreed to.
On motion of Mr. HEBB,
The rules were then suspended, in order to
allow the committee on revision an opportu-
nity to make their reports.
AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION,
Mr. EARLE, from the committee of revision,
reported back to the convention the article
on the amendments of the constitution.
He stated that no change had been made by
the committee" in the second and third sec-
tions of that article, but that the first section
had been materially modified.
That section, as referred to the committee,
reads thus:
"Section 1. Either branch of the general
assembly may propose amendments to this
constitution; and if the same shall be
agreed to by three-fifths of the members
elected to each house, such proposed amend-
ments shall be entered on the journals, with
the yeas and nays taken thereon, and shall
be published in two newspapers in each
county in the State where two are published
and in three newspapers in the city of Balti-
more one of which shall be German, for
three months preceding the next election for
senators and representatives, at which time
the same shall be submitted to the electors |
for their approval or rejection; and if a
majority of the electors voting at such elec-
tion shall adopt such amendments the same
shall become a part of the constitution.
When more than one amendment shall be
submitted at the same time, they shall be so
submitted as to enable the electors to vote on
each amendment separately."
This section remodeled by the committed
reads as follows:
"Section 1. The general assembly may
propose any amendment or amendments to
this constitution which shall be agreed to by
three-fifths of all the members elected to both
houses. Such proposed amendment or
amendments, with the yeas and nays thereon,
shall be entered on the journal of each house,
shall be printed with the laws passed at the
same session, and shall be published by order
of the governor in all the newspapers printed
in the different counties of this State, and in
three newspapers printed in the city of Balti-
more, one of which shall be printed in the
German language, for at least three months
preceding the next election for members of
the general assembly, at which election the
said proposed amendment or amendments
shall be submitted to the qualified electors of
the State for their confirmation or rejection ;
and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of
the governor, from the returns of said elec-
tion made to him by the proper authorities,
that a majority of the qualified votes cast at
said election were in favor of the said pro-
posed amendment or amendments, be shall,
by proclamation, declare said amendment or
amendments to be part of the constitution of
this State. When two or more amendments
shall be submitted by the general assembly
to the qualified electors of the State at the
same election, they shall be so submitted that
the electors may vote for or against each
amendment separately."
Recommending the adoption of this sec-
tion as modified, the committee close their re-
port on the article styled ' ' amendments of
the constitution.''
GEORGE EARLE, Chairman.
Mr. CHAMBERS. I will take the opportunity
to recur to a remark made by me yesterday,
as to the power of a revisory committee. I
understand that some gentlemen have sup-
posed that the action of the last convention,
the revisory committee of which I was a
member, should have been recollected by me.
It was not, though I knew there was a com-
mittee of revision in that body. I find by ref-
erence to the journals that that committee
acted under the express orders of the body to
make amendments which were published. I
have turned to the order appointing that com-
mittee, and find that it was appointed on the
order of Judge Tuck, who moved "that the
chairman of the several standing committees
should constitute a committee of revision to |
