day. So that indirectly the Constitution of
this State does fix the day for electing mem-
bers of Congress. This clause was put in for the
purpose of guarding against any confusion in
the matter; in order that it might be gener-
ally understood that the election of members
of Congress was to take place on that day,
it is perfectly certain that it must take place
an that day even without any such provis-
ion, It can do no harm to have it in, and it
provides against any mistake as to the day
of election. At the proper time I will move
to amend by adding the words "unless the
Legislature shall hereafter fix some other
day."
Mr. CLARKE. The election for members of
Congress does not properly take place this
fall: not until this fall a year.
Mr. STIRLING. If the gentleman will ex-
amine the Code he will find that there is no
authority to hold an election for members of
Congress except upon the day for electing
members of the General Assembly. There-
fore no members of Congress can beelected
this fall a year, because there will be no elec-
tion fur members of the General Assembly
this fall a year.
Mr. CLARKE. This section provides for
electing members of the Legislature on the
first Wednesday of November, 1864. The
Legislature will meet next January and then
they can fix the time for electing members
of Congress.
Mr. STIRLING. Members of the General
Assembly will be elected in November of this
year, and then not again for two years there-
after.
Mr. CHAMBERS. It seems very manifest
that by this section there is a peremptory or-
der to hold the congressional election on the
first Wednesday of November next. It does
not provide, as the gentleman from Balti-
more city (Mr. Stirling) seems to put it, that
congressmen shall be elected on the same
day that members of the Legislature are elect-
ed; that is not the phraseology. I do not
want to interfere with the work of the com-
mittee. But I would suggest the propriety
of so altering the last clause of this section
so as to make it read that " the election of
representatives from this State in the Con-
press of the United States shall take place on
the same day that senators and delegates in
the General Assembly are elected."
Mr. MILLER. This section as it now stands
certainly changes the time of electing Con-
gressmen from this State for the present year.
If we do not adopt this Constitution and the
Code is left to govern the election, then there
would be no election of members of Congress
until this fall one year. But by the adop-
tion of this Constitution we shall change en-
tirely the time of electing the members of our
General Assembly, and it puts ahead one year
the election of Congressmen. The provision
of the Constitution of the United States says |
that the Legislature, and the Legislature
alone, shall have the power to fix the day on
which representatives in Congress shall be
elected. Now can this Convention, by the
adoption of a provision in this Constitution,
nullify that, provision of the Constitution of
the United States, and declare that the elec-
tion of members of the General Assembly
shall be at a different time from that which
now exists, and therefore make the day for
electing members of Congress different from
what the Legislature has now fixed ?
Mr. STIRLING. I do not say that I admit
what gentlemen on the other side have said.
But the Legislature of this State, in fixing
the day for electing; members of Congress,
has fixed it in such a manner as to leave it
necessarily to be determined by this Conven-
tion. It says it shall take place on the-day
for electing members of the General Assem-
bly. Now, if the Constitution changes that
day, then, ex vi termini, the legislative en-
actment in regard to members of Congress
applies to that day.
Mr. MILLER, The present legislation was
made in view of the existing Constitution of
the State; not in view of the Constitution to
be made here. Now it is proposed here to
change the Constitution so as to put the elec-
tion of our members of Congress one year
ahead of the lime at which they are to take
their seats. Our practice in Maryland has
always been to elect them in the fall of the
year in which Congress meets. But under
this provision, our representatives in Con-
gress will have to be elected on the first Wed-
nesday of November next. When will they
take their seats in Congress? Not until the
year following, because the members now
elected hold over until the fourth of March
next.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. If a special session of
Congress is called, then they will take their
seats on the fifth of March next.
Mr. MILLER It is proposed under a pro-
vision of this Constitution to have an elec-
tion this fall for members of Congress. who
will not take their seats until a year after
their election. The circumstances of the
country are such that I do not desire to
change the time of electing members of Con-
gress. I want them to represent the people
as nearly as possible at the time at which
they are to serve in the Congress to which
they are elected.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I have prepared an
amendment to this section which I desire to
submit. As the section now stands, it reads
—"The first election for senators and dele-
gates shall take place on the first Wednesday
of November, 1864." I propose to amend
by striking out the words " first Wednesday"
and inserting the words "Tuesday next af-
ter the first Monday of the month." The
clause will then read—:'The first election of
senators and delegates shall take place on the |
