released them from all obligations. I say
that that was a grog? injustice to the State
and to the individual. I do not desire to see
that sort of regime continued in this State.
I framed this amendment very" hastily to
meet this sort of legislation. I think we
ought to have something of this kind some-
where in the Constitution, and it seemed to
me that this was a fitting place for the in-
corporation of such a provision as this.
Mr. BELT. I desire to make one remark
in reference to the musket part of this ques-
tion. So far as the distribution of muskets
was concerned, in a great portion of my
section of the State, the fact was that roving
hands of Federal soldiers, from the city of
Washington, came through there and carried
off forcibly without warrant of law, all the
muskets distributed there by the State.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. Do I understand the
gentleman to say that prior to the passage of
the act of May, 1861, roving bands of Fed-
eral soldiers from the city of Washington
had taken arms from Prince George's
county ?
Mr. BELT. I say they eventually did. I
do not know but it was done before that
time. I think I am safe in saying that it was
done before the passage of that act. If I re-
member rightly, in some cases the applica-
tions for relief, which led to that legislation,
were based upon the facts that arms bad been
forcibly carried off. Soldiers went through
there in the same way as they have subse-
quently gone through there, and without
warrant of law, in violation of all law, have
broken into houses, searched ladies' apart-
ments—no place was too sacred for their
presence—and wherever they found these
arms have seized them and carried them off.
What has become of those muskets we
know not.
Mr. DENNIS. It strikes me that whether
the amendment of the gentlemen from Balti-
more city (Mr. Stockbridge) be adopted or
not, this is not the proper place for it. The
Convention will see by looking at this
twenty-sixth section that it is conferring
special powers upon the House of Delegates.
If I understand the object of the gentle-
man, it is to make an inhibition upon the
Legislature. But the inserting of that pro-
vision here will not meet his purpose. This
section provides that the House of Delegates
shall inquire into and do so and so. I think
his amendment will come in better in some
subsequent section, where the whole Legis-
lature is under consideration.
The question was then taken upon the
amendment of Mr. STOCKBRIDGE, and it was
not agreed to.
No further amendment was offered to sec-
tion twenty-six.
FILLING VACANCIES.
Section twenty-seven was read as follows : |
"Incase of death, disqualification, resig-
nation, refusal to act, expulsion or removal
from the county or city for which he shall
have been elected, of any person who shall
have been chosen as a delegate or senator, or
in case of a tie between two or more such
qualified persons, a warrant of election shall
be issued by the Speaker of the House Of
Delegates or President of the Senate, as the
case may be, for the election of another par-
sun in his place, of which election hot less
than ten days notice shall be given, exclusive
of the day of the publication of the notice
and of the day of election; and in case of
such resignation or refusal to act, bring com-
municated in writing to the Governor by
the person making it, or if such death occur
during the legislative recess, and more than
ten days before its termination, it shall be
the duty of the Governor to issue a warrant
of election to supply the vacancy thus
created, in the same manner the said Speaker
or President might have done during the
session of the General Assembly; provided,
however, that unless a meeting of the General
Assembly may intervene, the election thus
ordered to fill such vacancy shall be held on
the day of the ensuing election for delegates
and senators."
Mr. CHAMBERS. I desire to inquire whether
this is considered a perfect performance upon
the part of the committee; if they under-
stand their own work, this section now reads:
"and in case of such resignation, or refusal
to act, being communicated in writing to
the Governor by the person making it," ice.
There is some person looked to by this lan-
guage, as the person making the communi-
cation to the Executive. But I would sug-
gest to the committee whether they have
carried out that idea, I am not aware of
any reference to any person in this section to
which the words "making it" strictly al-
lude. Dors it simply mean that any person
can make the communication by letter and
give notice to the Executive and cause him to
act. I would suggest the propriety of strik-
ing out the words "making it" and insert
some words that shall indicate the party by
which the communication is to be made.
Mr. SCHLEY. It is exactly the phraseology
of the present Constitution.
Mr. STIRLING. The language of this Bee-
lion is not more felicitous, that is certain.
But I think if the gentleman will look at it,
he will find that it makes sense. The first
part of the section provides, that in case of a
vacancy in either house, while the Legisla-
ture is in session, the presiding officer of the
house, in which the vacancy may occur, is to
issue a warrant for a new election. The
next part of the section is to provide for the
case of a vacancy occurring when the Legis-
lature is not in session :
"and in case of such resignation or refusal
to act, being communicated in writing to |
