time he would submit the following amend
ment to the 39th section of the article re-
ported by the Committee on the Legislative
Department.
Section 39. The governor, comptroller
and treasurer of the State, are hereby au-
thorized conjointly, or any two of them, to
sell from time to time according to their best
judgment the State's interest in the works of
internal improvement, whether as stock
holder or creditor, also the State's interest in
any banking corporation, and to apply the
proceeds arising there from towards the pay-
ment of the public debt of the State; and
alter the public debt shall have been fully
paid off, or the sinking fund shall be equal
to its liquidation, the excess of such sales
shall be set apart as a permanent fund for the
support of public education; provided how
ever, that the power hereby conferred, shall
only be exercised when the proceeds of such
sales can be converted into a like amount of
the public debt; and provided further, that
the State's interest in the Washington Branch
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, shall be
and is hereby reserved and excepted from the
sale hereby authorized; and provided fur
ther, that the State's interest in or claim
against the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the
Tide Water Canal, and the Chesapeake and
Delaware Canal may be sold, upon the best
terms which may be obtained for the same.
Mr. CHAMBERS gave notice that he would
submit the following amendment:
Section 39. It shall be the duty of the Leg
islature at its first session after the adoption
of this constitution, to provide by law for
the sale to the highest bidder of all or such
part of the stock owned by this State in any
railroad or canal company, and of the debt
due to this State by any railroad or canal
company as can be sold or exchanged for
not less than an equal amount of the present
public or stock debt of this State, and to con
vey the interest so sold to the purchaser or
purchasers thereof; and so to proceed from
time to time until all such interest of the
State in every such corporation shall be
wholly sold and disposed of.
Mr. MILLER gave notice that he would sub
mit the following amendment:
Section 39. The governor, comptroller
and treasurer of the State, or any two of
them, may sell from time to time, according
to their best judgment, the State's interest in
the works of internal improvement, whether
as stockholder or creditor, and apply the
proceeds towards the payment of the public
debt of the State; and after the public debt
shall have been fully paid off, or the sinking
fund shall be equal to its liquidation, the
surplus of such sales shall be set apart as a
permanent fund for the support of public
education; provided, however, that the power
of sale hereby conferred shall only be exer
cised when the proceeds of such sales can be
9 |
converted into a like amount of the public
debt; and provided further, that the State's
interest in the Washington Branch of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company shall
be and is hereby reserved from the sale hereby
authorized.
Mr. JONES, of Somerset, gave notice that
he would submit the following amendment :
Amend 39th section by inserting after the
word "creditor," in the 3rd line, these
words, ' 'except the State's right to receive
one-fifth of the money arising from passen-
gers over the Washington Branch of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad."
REBEL SYMPATHIZERS.
Mr. DUVALL. I ask that it be entered upon
the journal that if I had not been absent in
consequence of sickness in my own case and
in my family, I should have voted against
the unjust, extraordinary, and inhuman or-
der presented by the gentleman from Fred-
erick (Mr. Schley) on the 19th instant, and
also against the resolutions of the same char-
acter offered by the gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Stirling) on the 20th instant.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. Is it not competent to
object to such an entry as that ?
The PRESIDENT. The language character-
izing the order will not go upon the journal.
Mr. STIRLING. I object to the entry, be-
cause the gentleman said my resolutions were
inhuman.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I consider the terms in
which the request was made insulting to the
Convention; and I therefore also object.
Mr SCHLEY. I consider it a discourtesy
to the house.
Mr. DUVALL. I withdraw the proposition.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
The Convention proceeded to the consid-
eration of the order of the day, being the se-
cond reading of the article on the legislative
department. The pending section was the
following:
''Section 47. The General Assembly shall
have power to accept the cession of any terri-
tory contiguous to this State from the States
of Virginia and West Virginia, or from the
United States, with the consent of Congress
and of the inhabitants of such ceded terri-
tory; and in case of such cessions, the Gen-
eral Assembly may divide such territory into
counties, and shall provide for the represen-
tation of the same in the General Assembly,
on the basis fixed by this Constitution, and
may for that purpose increase the number of
senators and delegates. And the General
Assembly shall enact such laws as may be
requited to extend the constitution and laws
of this State over such territory, and may
create courts conformably to the constitution
for such territory, and may, for that purpose,
ircrease the number of Judges of the Court
of Appeals." |
