not be proper to submit it until the articles
reported by the committee had been gone
through with. As to this 4th article, it was
passed over, I understood, because at the
time some gentlemen were absent who de
sired to speak upon it. It was passed over
merely for the time being, not until the end
of the report.
Mr. STIRLING. So far as this matter is
concerned, it is entirely within the control
of the Convention. The article was passed
over informally, because at the time some
members of the minority of the committee
that made this report were absent. If we go
on with this report from article 26 to the
end, we will use up the two or three days
of this week, during which we shall have
probably the largest attendance here. And
as the Convention probably will not be in
session for at least a portion of next week,
and this article will be postponed until after
next weak, I move that we now proceed to
consider article four of this report.
The motion was agreed to.
Article four was then read as follows:
"The Constitution of the United States and
the laws made in pursuance thereof being
the supreme law of the land, every citizen
of this State owes paramount allegiance to
the Constitution and Government of the
United States, and is not bound by any law
or ordinance of this State in contravention
or subversion thereof."
The article, by general consent, was amended,
at the suggestion of Mr. PUGH, by prefix-
ing the word "that," so that it will read—
"That the Constitution of the United States,"
&c.
Mr. CLARKE submitted the following amend-
ment :
Strike out all after the word " that" in the
first line, and insert the following in lieu
thereof:
" The Constitution of the United States and
the laws made in pursuance thereof being
the supreme law of the land, every citizen of
.this State owes allegiance to the Constitution
and Government of the United States within
the limits of the powers conferred by that
Constitution, and is not bound by any law or
ordinance of this State in contravention or
subversive thereof; and the powers not dele-
gated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited in it to the States being re-
served to the States respectively , or to the
people, every citizen or ibis State owes alle-
giance to the State of Maryland so far as the
sovereignty of the State has not been affected
by the Constitution of the United States and
the laws made in pursuance thereof, and is
not bound to yield obedience to laws made
in direct violation of the Constitution of the
United States and in the exercise of usurped
powers.' '
Mr. CLARKE. I shall be most happy to
yield the floor to any gentleman of the ma- |
jority of the committee, or of the majority of
the House; or to any gentleman of the mi-
nority of the committee who may desire to be
heard upon this question. Perhaps the gen-
tleman from Kent (Mr. Chambers) desires to
be heard; if so, I will yield to him with
pleasure.
Mr. CHAMBERS. I had no idea this article
would be taken up to-day, as I supposed that
other articles would be considered, and amend-
ments to those offered betore this would he
taken up. I had not proposed to say one
word upon this article until near the close
of the argument upon it, and do not desire
to address the Convention today. I know,
from information from others, that there are
several gentlemen here ' who had proposed
when the question came up on this article, to
participate in the debate, but who are not
prepared to do so to-day, I had proposed to
submit my views upon this subject to the"
Convention at a late period of the discussion.
And having made the report of the minority
of the committee, it may perhaps be consid-
ered that I will be entitled to close the de-
bate, I can only say this now, that I cannot
vote for any proposition that makes me swear
allegiance to the Government of the United
States. I can understand that I am to sup-
port the Constitution and laws of the United
States, but I do not understand what is meant
here by the Government of the United States.
Mr. CLARKE. I desire to state that I have
no particular wish to go on now. It was
entirely unexpected to me that this article
would be called up to-day. But I had pre-
pared an amendment the other day, in the
absence of the gentleman from Kent, (Mr,
Chambers); otherwise I would have submit-
ted it to him for his consideration and cor-
rection. I certainly have no desire to go on
this morning, if any gentleman here desires
to be heard now, although I have prepared
some remarks upon the subject, and will go
on if the Convention desire it.
Mr. SANDS. If the gentleman from Prince
George's (Mr. Clarke) will yield the floor for
a moment—
Mr. CLARKE. I will do so.
Mr. SANDS. I propose the following as an
amendment to the amendment; insert the
words:
"Provided, That nothing In this article
contained shall be construed as giving to the
State a right to secede from the Federal
Union, or lo form a confederation with any
other State or States of the Union, or to seize
by force of arms or otherwise any property
of the United States situate and being within
the limits of this State, but that these acts
are hereby expressly forbidden ;"
—after the word "thereof," where it oc-
curs near the close of the amendment or Mr.
Clarke, and before the words, "and is not
bound to yield obedience," &c.
Mr. CLARKE. I will yield to the gentleman |
