appointed by the President of the Senate and
Speaker of the House of Delegates shall act.
But there might possibly be the construction
placed upon it that the expression " until the
said Convention shall provide its own officers"
refers to the selection of other officers, at
which time it would he necessary for the Con-
vention to select its reporter. If it meets the
approbation of the Convention I will offer an
order that the gentleman appointed under the
provisions of this act, shall be the reporter
of the Convention.
Mr STOCKBRIDGE There is a Committee
on Reporting and Printing; and it may be
better perhaps for that Committee to consider
and report upon this.
Mr. STIRLING. I am willing that the order
should be referred to that Committee, I have
had no conversation with the reporters about
it, but I rather think they would feel more
comfortable in their position if some action
were taken. I submit the following order :
Ordered, That the Stenographer appointed
by virtue of the third section of the Conven-
tion Bill, is hereby appointed the permanent
Stenographer of the Convention.
On motion of Mr. BERRY of Prince George's
The order was referred to the Committee
on Reporting and Printing.
The Convention adjourned,
EIGHTH DAY.
MONDAY, May 9, 1864.
The Convention met.
Prayer by Rev. Mr. Patterson.
BASIS OF REPRESENTATION.
The Convention proceeded to the' consider-
ation of the following resolutions submitted
By Mi. Clarke on Friday last: |
Resalved, That it is inexpedient, in the organ
ization of the House of Delegates, or the Sen-
ate, to adopts system of representation based
exclusively upon population
Resolved, That the Committee to consider
and report upon a basis of representation in
the two Houses of the General Assembly, and
a proper apportionment of representation in
the same, inquire into the propriety of limit-
ing the number of members of the House of
Delegates to eighty, apportioning them
among the several counties of the State, ac-
cording to population of each, allowing to
Baltimore city four more delegates than are
allowed to the most populous county, and
providing that no county shall be entitled to
less than two members.
Resolved, That in the organization of the
Senate, each county in the State and the city
of Baltimore shall be entitled to elect one
Senator who shall serve for six years from
the time of election.
On motion of Mr. CLARKE, the resolutions
were amended by adding at the end of the
second resolution the following :
" Or in case the said Committee shall de-
termine that if is expedient, in the organiza-
tion of the House of Delegates, to adopt a
principle more nearly approximating repre-
sentation according to population, (Balti-
more city inclusive,) then the said Committee
shall inquire whether a provision ought to be
inserted in the Constitution dividing the city
of Baltimore into districts, each district to
elect two members of the House of Delegates,
and as the purity of elections is the best safe-
guard of republican institutions and provide
ing for the passage by the Legislature of a
registry law for the whole State."
Mr. CLARKE also submitted the following
statement: |