The amendment was accordingly adopted.
The question recurred upon the adoption of
the article as amended.
Upon this question, Mr. JONES, of Somerset,
called the yeas and nays, which were ordered.
The question being then taken, by yeas and
nays, upon the adoption of the article as
amended, it resulted—yeas 33, nays 20—as
follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Brown, Clarke, Cunning-
ham, Daniel, Duvall, Farrow, Galloway,
Greene, Harwood, Henkle, Hodson, Hopper,
Horsey, Jones of Somerset, Larsh, McComas,
Mitchell, Miller, Morgan, Negley, Parran,
Robinette, Russell, Schlosser, Scott, Smith of
Carroll, Smith, of Worcester, Stirling, Stock-
bridge, Thomas, Todd, Valliant, Wickard
—33.
Nays— Messrs. Abbott, Annan, Baker,
Cushing, Davis of Washington, Ecker, Hebb,
Hopkins, Jones of Cecil, Keefer, King, Mar-
key, Mullikin, Murray, Nyman, Parker,
Sneary, Swope, Sykes, Wooden—20.
The following explanations were made by
members as their names were called:
Mr. ABBOTT. I voted for the amendment ;
but I am opposed to the adoption of the arti-
cle for the reason given by my friend from
Baltimore county (Mr. King) that, we have
this already in tire bill of rights, and it is un-
necessary to multiply the articles, unless some
new matter or principle is embraced. I there-
fore vote "no,"
Mr. KINO. For the same reason that I
voted " no" on the amendment I shall vote
"no" on this article. I think this is the
same that we already have; and I do not
consider it necessary to cumber the bill of
rights with another article on the same sub-
ject. I vote "no."
The article as amended was accordingly
adopted.
Mr. ABBOTT. I desire to offer an additional
article, to come in as the first article of this
bill of rights. I do not desire to have it ar-
gued now, as it contains subjects which will
come up more properly for discussion after
the 23d article is adopted. I offer it now in
order that it may go upon the journal, so that
every member can read it. I submit the fol-
lowing as article one.
"Article 1. Truths to be held as self-evident
are, that all men are created equally free;
that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, among which are
life, liberty, the enjoyment of the proceeds of
their own labor, and the pursuit of happi-
ness."
Mr. CLARKE. There are convicts in the
penitentiary who do not get the proceeds of
their own labor.
Mr. ABBOTT, There are very few people
born in the penitentiary; they are born
outaide.
Mr. CLARKE. I never heard of a baby un-
dertaking to labor, and receiving the fruits of |
its labor. However, I will not enter into
discussion of this question now.
Mr. STIRLING. The Declaration of Inde-
pendence says the same.
Mr. DANIEL. And it is found in the Con-
stitutions of most of the free States.
The further consideration was postponed
for the present,
ALLEGIANCE.
On motion of Mr. THOMAS—
The Convention then resumed the consid-
eration of the fourth article of the bill of
rights, which declares that "every citizen
owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution
and Government of the United States," &c,
The pending question was upon the motion
of Mr. Briscoe to strike out the word "para-
mount."
Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Chairman: When the
discussion upon this article was begun in this
Convention, I did not propose to say any-
thing upon the subject. I had intended,
when I allowed my name to be presented to
the people as a candidate in this body, to
come here merely as a listener and a voter
But representing, as I do in part, one of the
most loyal constituencies in the State of Mary-
land, and believing as I do that the doctrine
enunciated by the fourth article of this bill
of rights contains the very pith and marrow
of our State, to say nothing of our national
existence, I would be doing violence to my
own view of what was right, and be recreant
to my duty to my constituency, did I not at
least attempt to meet the challenge which has
been thrown out by the minority, capon the
other side of this question, who ask the ma-
jority to show the faith which they have in
this proposition, and to give the reasons
which they have for entertaining that, faith
The minority of the Committee on the De-
claration of Rights say:
''That with regard to the proposed 4th arti-
cle of the Declaration of Rights, as reported by
the majority, they are of opinion that how-
ever true is the proposition that the Consti-
tution of the United States, and the laws
made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme
law of the land, yet it has never been deemed
necessary by the statesmen who framed that
Constitution, or by those who framed the
Constitution of this State, or, in so fur as the
undersigned have learned, by the framers of
any one of the numerous Constitutions of the
other States, to insert amongst the rights and
prerogatives of their citizens any language
enforcing the obligation of allegiance to the
Government of the United States."
The gentlemen who signed that minority
report admit, as they must, that the Consti-
tution of the United States, and the laws
passed in pursuance thereof, are the supreme
law of the land. It is true that one of those
gentlemen—the gentlemen from Prince
George's, who last addressed the House on
this subject, (Mr. Belt)—denied that proposi- |
