116 MARYLAND MANUAL.

shall be competent to the party against whom the ruling or
decision is made, upon motion, to have the point or question
reserved for the consideration of the three Judges of the Circuit,
who shall constitute a court in bane for such purpose; and the
motion for such reservation shall be entered of record during the
sitting at which such decision may be made; and the several
Circuit Courts shall regulate, by rules, the mode and manner of
presenting such points or questions to the court in bane, and the
decision of the said court in bane shall be the effective decision
in the premises, and conclusive, as against the party at whose
motion said points or questions were reserved; but such decision
in bane shall not preclude the right of appeal or -writ of error to
the adverse party, in those cases, civil or criminal, in which appeal,
or writ of error to the Court of Appeals may be allowed by law.
The right of having questions reserved shall not, however, apply
to trials of appeals from judgments of Justices of the Peace, nor
to criminal cases below the grade of felony, except when the
punishment is confinement in the Penitentiary; and this section
shall be subject to such provisions as may hereafter be made by
law.

DECISIONS IN TWO MONTHS.

SEC. 23. The Judges of the respective Circuit Courts of this
State, and of the courts of Baltimore city, shall render their
decisions, in all cases argued before them or submitted for their
judgment, within two months after the same shall have been so
argued or submitted.

SALARIES NOT TO BE DIMINISHED.

SEC. 24-. The salary of each Chief Judge, and of the Judge of
the Court of Appeals from the city of Baltimore, shall be three
thousand five hundred dollars, and of each Associate Judge of
the Circuit Court, shall be two thousand eight hundred dollars per
annum, payable quarterly, and shall not be diminished during his
continuance in office. *

CLERKS TO BE ELECTED—REMOVAL—VACANCY.

SEC. 25. There shall be a clerk of the Circuit Court for each
county, who shall be elected by a plurality of the qualified voters
of said county, and shall hold his office for six years from the
time of his election and until his successor is elected and qualified,
and be re-eligible, subject to be removed for wilful neglect
of duty, or other misdemeanor in office, on conviction in a court
of law. In case of a vacancy in the office of clerk of a Circuit

NOTE. —Under general appropriation Act of 1894, increased to $4, 500 for the
Chief Justices and the Judge in the Court of Appeals from Baltimore city, and
$3, 600 salary for the Associate Justices.