on the boat from Baltimore city, which has
not arrived yet.
The CHAIRMAN. 18 there any certainty
that the boat will be down to-day ?
Mr. BARRON. It started.
On motion of Mr. STIRLING.
The Door-keeper was instructed to go and
notify absent members in the city.
After a short time, additional members
having entered the Hall—
The CHAIRMAN announced that there was
a quorum present,
PER DIEM OF ABSENT MEMBERS.
The CHAIRMAN stated the first business in
order to be the following, submitted by Mr.
HEBB on Saturday last.
Ordered, That hereafter no member of
this Convention shall receive any per diem
for such time as he may be absent, unless
such absence is occasioned by sickness, or
by permission of the Convention
The question was upon agreeing to the
order.
Mr. BARRON. In reference to this order,
I wish to say just one or two wolds more.
I want this Convention to distinctly under-
stand that I do not care a treat deal about
this five dollars a day, I can play five days
in the week, and then make that much
money. Sow I got hold of the Baltimore
American last Monday morning, and was
reading it as I was going down Camden
street, I did not notice a gentleman who
was coming in front of me, until he spoke
to me Said he—" You've got one con-
scientious man in your Convention; you've
got one man who is going to keep yon in
your place; he will attend to you; you're
not going to rob the rotate out of fire dol-
lars a day while he is there." I then look-
ed at the report of Saturday's proceedings,
and saw this order. Well, it did look
splendid on paper; and if I had not been
here, I would have thought it was the big-
gest thing in the world—on ice. (Laugh-
ter.)
Now, sir, the very law that called us to-
gether says that we shall receive five dol-
lars a day. Now if any member here has
a right to say we shall not receive our per
diem, he baa the same right to say we shall
go home, that we are not members of this
Convention The way I look upon it is
this: it quite exalted me when I got sent
here as a member of this Convention, es-
pecially when members were so very free to
tell me that this was a very dignified body ;
and I thought we certainly would not quar-
rel about our per diem. But it seems to be
a great bother to us, and I want to move
an amendment that our pay shall cease
from yesterday.
Mr. MILLER I am preparing an amend-
ment on just that point.
Mr. BARRON. Well, I will vote for it, and
I want the yeas and cays on it. I want all |
members to have a chance to locate them-
selves in their proper position. I want to
see if we are to come here like a parcel of
school boys with excuses, if we don't hap-
pen to be here in time. or happen to miss a
day now and then. A man may say he has
got a severe indisposition—which may be
a real painting, or only a white-washing.
He may be offcollecting a debt, or trying a
case in court, or anything else, for aught I
know or care. Now I don't come hereto
have anybody boss it over me. My con-
stituents do not do that, and shall not do
it. I am getting tired of this whole thing,
as to the per diem, the five dollars a day, I
am willing to record on the journal that I
will come here for nothing during the whole
session, it members want that.
Mr. MILLER. I move to amend this order
by striking cut all after the words "per
diem," BO that it will then read :
" Ordered That hereafter no member of
this Convention shall receive any per
diem."
Mr. WICKARD. The thing is becoming
rediculous, I move to lay the whole subject
on the table.
Mr. BARRON. I hope not; postpone it
indefinitely, because I am getting so tired of
it that I do not know what to do. Such a
thing as this will look well upon the jour-
nal twenty or thirty years from now,
won't it.
The question was upon the motion to lay
on the table.
Upon this question Mr. HEBB called for
the yeas and nays, and they were ordered.
The question being then taken, by yeas
and nays, it resulted—yeas 31, nays 21—as
follows:
Yeas— Messrs. Clarke, Cunningham, Dail,
Davis of Washington, Duvall, Galloway,
Greene, Harwood, Hatch, Henkle, Hodson,
Hopkins, Hopper, Jones of Cecil, Keefer,
Kennard, Lansdale, Larsh, Markey, Mitchell,
Morgan, Negley, Noble, Nyman, Robinette,
Schlosser, Stirling, Sykes, Todd,
Valliant, Wickard—31.
Nays—Messrs Abbott, Baker, Barron,
Bond, Cushing, Daniel, Earle, Ecker, Hebb,
Horsey, Jones of Somerset, Miller, Mulli-
kin, Parker, Russell, Scott, Smith, of Car-
roll, Smith of Worcester, Sneary, Swope,
Wooden—21.
The motion to lay on the table was ac-
cordingly agreed to
Mr. BARRON. I hope some gentleman
who voted in the affirmative will move a
reconsideration. I want to postpone this
thing indefinitely
Mr CLAUSE. Well, I move to reconsider
the vote to lay on the table.
Mr STIRLING. It is impossible to get an
indefinite postponement of this subject.
This is a proposition to atop the pay of ab-
sent members, followed by a proposition to |
