honestly disposed; they have not that integ-
rity of character and pride of honesty that
the white race as a general thing have.
They are disposed to involve themselves and
care very little for the consequences. I do
not know that imprisonment for debt will
help the matter, but it might be at least a
rod held in terrorem over them, and might
possibly exert a good influence. I would not
provide for it in the constitution, but merely
leave the legislature at liberty to provide for
it, if in their discretion it is proper and right,
Mr. BARRON. I object to the amendment
on several grounds. One is that the negro
has no oath in the State of Maryland. An-
other is that employer can threaten him with
imprisonment for debt, and awear an account
against him and put him there, or give him
his choice to go to jail or work for him. It
is a dangerous precedent for us to set. We
are revolutionizing the State. We are going
to clean out slavery. If we have no impris-
onment for debt for the white man, let us
have none for the black man. The very mo-
ment you adopt it for the black man, there
will be plenty of men to say to the negro,
" If yon don't go to work for me, yon owe
me so much money, and I will put yon in
jail." It makes the whole matter compulsory,
and I want nothing to do with it. I hope
the amendment will not prevail.
The amendment was rejected.
The forty-second section wag read as fol-
lows :
" Sec. 42, The general assembly shall grant
no charter for banking purposes, or renew
any banking corporation now in existence,
except upon the condition that the stock-
holders shall be liable to the amount of their
respective share or shares of stock in such
banking institution subscribed for and not paid
in, for all its debts and liabilities upon note,
bill or otherwise. All banks shall be open to
inspection of their books, papers and ac-
counts under such regulations as maybe pre-
scribed by law."
Mr. MILLER. This is different from the pre-
sent constitution, which makes the stockholder
or the director liable to the amount of their
respective shares of stock in such banking
institutions. I should like an explanation
why that alteration was made.
Mr. SCHLEY. It was made to protect the
community against fictitious issues of banks
where there was no real capital paid in, or
only a small portion of it, and a very large
issue of banking currency, and where per-
haps the subscribers were not residents and
could not be got at,
Mr. PUSH, Was it intended to relieve from
responsibility stockholders who have not paid
for their stock ?
Mr. SCHLEY. No sir; to the extent that
it is not paid in, they are liable. As an illus-
tration. a subscriber holds shares of one hun-
dred dollars, of which five dollars is paid in. |
He is liable for the other ninety-five dollars,
for all the debts and liabilities of the bank.
Mr. PUGH. Suppose that lama subscriber
to a bank, and have paid in fifty dollars upon
shares of one hundred dollars, I should cer-
tainly be liable for the fifty dollars I had not
paid, but would I be liable for the fifty dol-
lars that I had paid ?
Mr. SCHLEY. That is already in,
Mr. STIRLING. That is the property of the
bank, and they will take that any way to
meet their liabilities, in the ordinary process
of law.
Mr. SANDS. I think the difficulty my friend
suggests is real. Suppose upon shares of one
hundred dollars there are fifty dollars paid in,
and the party is liable for the fifty dollars not
paid in. Suppose that the fifty dollars paid
in has been squandered by the officers of the
bank or embezzled. Then the subscriber
ought to be responsible for the whole one
hundred dollars. That is what we ought to
provide, to make him responsible for the
whole sum.
Mr. SCHLEY. The intention is to make the
party fulfill his implied contract. He is lia-
ble to one hundred dollars a ahare. If he
has paid fifty dollars and it is lost through
mismanagement, he is still liable for the other
fifty dollars, and that is all that be is liable for
under his contract.
Mr. MILLER. I have always understood the
provision in the old Constitution to mean
that the stockholders shall be liable for the
debts of the bank, upon note, bill or other-
wise, to the extent of the stock which they
held in the bank; in order to give a guaranty
to the public that their bills or notes shall not
be issued, and debts contracted without some
additional guaranty to the capital stock of
the bank. itself. The stockholders appoint the
directors of the bank, and the directors ap-
point the officers of the bank. If the officers
of the bank squander the money, it is indi-
rectly the act of the stockholders themselves.
It is their neglect and fault that improper
officers have been appointed. The commu-
nity would suffer by the amount of irredeem-
able money issued by the bank, when the
officers had squandered it, if there was no
recourse to the stockholders. The effect of
the provision in the present Constitution is to
provide that notwithstanding they bad paid
in the $100, the creditors could come back
upon them to the amount of $100. It was
for that purpose I made the inquiry; and I
will offer an amendment to restore that.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I desire to offer a verbal
amendment; to strike out all after "other-
wise," in line six, and insert, "the books,
papers and accounts of all banks shall be open
to inspection under such regulations as may
be prescribed by law."
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. PUGH. I wish to make myself under-
stood with regard to this article. I indorse |
