guage of the section as it now stands. I
reads—" The General Assembly shall pro
vide for the immediate publication of the
same,"—that is of the law. Suppose that
the Legislature is required to provide for the
publication of all laws; they may also pro
vide that the expense of that publication shall
be paid by the State.
Mr. RIDGELY. The gentleman from St
Mary's (Mr. Dent) has overlooked the fact
that the amendment I have suggested has
reference only lo that class of laws which are
to take effect belore the first of June. And
it is very well known by persons who are a
all familiar with the proceedings of our Leg-
islature, that the proportion of laws taking
effect before the first of June is comparative-
ly limited. In addition to what has bean
said by the gentleman from Baltimore city
(Mr. Stockbridge) that the Legislature may
provide that in the case of private laws the
expense of publication may devolve upon
those who are interested in them; in addition
to that I will say, as I said before, that there
are very many private laws which affect pub-
lic interests very seriously, and it is proper
that the public should have notice of the pas-
sage of such laws. In very many instances
they are now carried into effect without the
knowledge of the people, of those who are
particularly interested in them. If there is
any reason why a law public in its nature
should be published, the same reason exists
where a private law his an immediate effect
upon the public interests or the public at
large
Mr. DENT. In reply to a portion of the
gentleman's argument, I would remark that
if he. will refer to the acts of the Legislature
to which I had reference—acts of incorpora-
tion, private and local bills of all classes, he
will find that invariably the last section pro-
vides that "this net shall take effect from and
after its passage," And it is the publication
of that class of laws to which I objected.
The question being taken upon the motion
of Mr. RIDGELY, to strikeout the word "pub-
lic," it was not agreed lo.
Mr. BELT, In order to lest the sense of the
Convention upon a practical method of pub-
lication that will reach the people, I move to
add: "in at least two newspapers in each
county and the city of Baltimore."
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. May I ask if there are
two newspapers in every county of the State ?
Mr. SCHLEY. I hope that amendment will
not pass. I think it is better to leave it to
the discretion of the Legislature. There may
not be two newspapers in each county; and
there may be laws of such importance as to
require their publication in every newspaper
of the State. I hope we shall not restrict the
Legislature by the adoption of this amend-
ment.
Mr. BELT withdrew the amendment.
The 30th section was read as follows: |
"Sec. 30. The General Assembly shall pass
laws for the preservation of the purity of
elections, by the registration of voters, or by
such other means as may he deemed expe-
dient, and to make effective the provisions of
the Constitution disfranchising certain per-
sons, or disqualifying them from holding of-
fice."
Mr. BELT moved to amend by adding the
following:
" But no law shall be passed disfranchis-
ing any persons or disqualifying any persona
from hiding office, except such persons as
may be duly convicted under the laws of this
State or of the United States, before the prop-
er judicial tribunals of the same, of some
crime of the degree of felony.
Mr. BELT demanded the yeas and nays, and
they were ordered,
The question being taken, the result was—
yeas 16, nays 34—as follows :
Yeas—Messrs. Belt, Chambers, Dail, Davis,
of Charles, Dennis, Dent, Edelen, Harwood,
Henkle, Hollyday, Johnson, Jones, of Som-
erset, Lee, Mitchell, Miller, Morgan—16.
Nays—Messrs. Goldsborough, President;
Abbott, Audoun, Barron, Carter, Cunning-
ham, Cushing, Daniel, Davis, of Washington,
Earle, Ecker, Galloway, Hatch, Hopkins,
Hopper, King, Larsh, Markey, McComas,
Mullikin, Murray, Nyman, Parker, Pugh,
Ridgely, Russell, Sands, Schley, Scott, Stir-
ling, Stockbridge, Sykes, Wickard, Wooden
—34.
So the amendment was rejected.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE, I move to strike out
"or" in line three, and insert "and." The
purpose is to make the registration obligatory,
and not to leave any alternative whatever.
It is the only mode of preserving the purity
of elections.
The amendment was adopted.
Mr. DAVIS, of Charles, moved to strike out
all after the word " elections" in line two,
The amendment was rejected.
The 31st section was read as follows:
"Section 31. Every bill, when passed by
the General Assembly and sealed with the
great seal, shall be presented to the Governor,
who shall 'sign the same in the presence of
the presiding officers and chief clerks of the
Senate and House of Delegates. Every law
shall be recorded in the office of the Court of
Appeals, and in due time be printed, published
and certified under the great seal to the sev-
eral courts, in the same manner as has been
heretofore usual in this~? State."
Mr. MILLER. I move that that section be
passed over informally, for the reason that
the chairman of the Executive Committee is
not present, and the report of the Executive
Committee relating to the veto power, may
require a modification of this section.
The motion was agreed to.
Sections 32, 33, and 34 were read, and no
amendments offered |
