the Governor by the person making it, or if
such death occur during the legislative recess,
and more than ten days before' its ter-
mination, 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,''
&c.
I think this portion is clumsily expressed,
but the evident meaning of it is clear. But
the committee are not responsible for this
phraseology, for they have copied it from the
present Constitution.
Mr. CHAMBERS. I move to amend this sec-
tion by Striking out the words "making if
and inserting the words '' so resigning or
refusing to act ;" so that it will read: " and
in case of such resignation or refusal to act,
being communicated in writing to the Gov-
ernor by the person so resigning or refusing
to act."
The question being taken upon the amend-
ment, it was adopted.
Mr. STIRLING. I would suggest a verbal
amendment of this portion of the section
Change ''or if such death occur" to "or if
such death occurring."
The amendment was adopted.
Mr. DAVIS, of Charles. I move to strike
out the word "ten" and insert the word
"five" in the clause fixing the time of
notice of election, so that that clause will
read, "of which election not less than five
days notice shall be given." My reason fur
that is, that the sessions of the Legislature
ate to be very short, and the probability is
that some counties will be reduced to one
member; and if ten days notice of an elec-
tion is required, there will be a delay of
time, and a great part of the session will be
over before a new member can be returned.
The question was then taken upon the
amendment, and it was not adopted.
No further amendment was offered to the
twenty-seventh section.
Section twenty-eight having been pre-
viously considered—
PUBLICATION OF LAWS.
Section twenty-nine was lead as follows :
" No law passed by the General Assembly
shall take effect until the first day of June
next alter the session at which it may be
passed, unless it be. otherwise expressly de-
clared therein; and in case any public law
is made to take effect before the said first day
of June, the General Assembly shall pro-
vide for the immediate publication of the
same."
Mr. RIDGELY. I move to strike out the
word "public" in the clause which now
reads—" and in case any public law is made
to take effect before the said first day of June,
the General Assembly shall provide for the
immediate publication of the game." |
Mr. CHAMBERS. What is the advantage of
publishing all private laws?.
Mr. RIDGELY. Public rights may be affect-
ed as well by private laws as by public laws ;
and the public should have notice of them.
There are very many private laws which have
a direct effect upon public interests. If the
object of giving publicity to laws is to give
the people notice of them and to give them
an opportunity to vindicate their rights, and
the notice should be given as well in case of
private laws as public laws. There are very
many instances of laws affecting corpora .ions,
such as railways, turnpikes, &c., which are
private laws and which often affect the pub-
lic interest; and the public should have no-
tice and warning of the passage of such laws
as of bills exclusively public in their charac-
ter. That is the object of my motion.
Mr. MILLER. I would like to understand
from the chairman of the committee what is
meant by the publication of laws. Does it
mean the mere publication in book form, for
the same phraseology is used when that pub-
lication is provided for.
Mr SCHLEY. It refers to the publication
of each particular law.
Mr. MILLER. I would sugges that the words
"in the newspapers" be inserted after the
word " publication."
Mr. SCHLEY. The mode of publication i»
left to the General Assembly.
Mr. DENT. It seems to me that this amend-
ment if adopted would be involving the
treasury of the State in a very heavy expense.
The legislation hereafter should be of the
character of that which has been adopted by
previous Legislatures. I do not know bow
far we shall be restricted in the character of
our legislation by the provisions of the Con-
stitution which it is proposed to adopt.
There is an amendment now pending to this
article, submitted by the gentleman from
Baltimore city (Mr. Stockbridge, ) which has
been pasted over informally, which, if adopt-
ed, will restrict the Legislature to a consid-
erable extent in regard to all private acts.
And it you require the publication of every
corporation act, every local bill, every pri-
vate act, such as have been heretofore passed
by the Legislature, it will be a very heavy tax
upon the State, and I think a very useless ex-
pense upon the public. I think the word
" public" should be retained.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. It does not occur to me
that the practical difficulty will exist which
seems to be apprehended by the gentleman
from St. Mary's (Mr. Dent.) The amendment
is to require the Legislature to provide for
the publication of these private acts. Now,
the Legislature may enact that no private act
shall have validity or force unless the person
to be bent-fitted by it causes it to be published
in a certain manner. It does not necessarily
involve 'he State in expense.
Mr. DENT. I was influenced by the lan- |
