395]           The Maryland Constitution of 1864.              49

A point of much importance during the sessions of the
Convention was the question as to the eligibility of certain
members. It was commonly known that a number of them
were ineligible, according to the Convention Bill, which
imposed the same qualifications as those necessary to a seat
in the House of Delegates. On July 7, Mr. Miller sub-
mitted an order requiring the Committee on Elections to
make a report as to what the qualifications for a seat in the
Convention actually were, but added that he meant this
to be an entirely non-partisan measure, as it would equally
affect both the majority and minority. This order was
tabled by motion of Mr. Stirling, who stated that it would
either accomplish nothing or else result in breaking up the
Convention.³⁸ The Committee on Elections, which had
been appointed early in the session, had as yet made no
report, so on July 8 Mr. Chambers submitted an order re-
questing the committee to do so as soon as possible. A
favorable vote on this was at once secured, but Mr. Cush-
ing's order instructing the committee to report all members
duly elected was lost by a vote of 17 to 47.³⁹ On August 3
the committee, consisting of of four Union and two Demo-
cratic members, unanimously reported all the members as
duly elected.⁴⁰ This report was concurred in on August 9
by a vote of 55 to 4, Mr. Miller being the main opponent
and basing his adverse argument on legal technicalities.⁴¹
On August 6 Mr. Belt had offered a resolution declaring,
for reasons stated, that eleven named members were in-
eligible to a seat in the Convention, himself being one of
the number.⁴² This was indefinitely postponed on August
9, and never appeared again.⁴³ It is worthy of note that,
although two members of the minority, Mr. Miller and Mr.
Belt, were the ones who insisted on the inquiry and led in
this "strict construction" movement, the final action was

³⁸ Proc., 229; Deb.,  ii, 796. ³⁹ Proc., 240-2.

⁴⁰ Proc., 385-6.                       ⁴¹ Proc., 435-6; Deb., ii, 1195-1201.

⁴² Proc., 414-5.                                                          ⁴³ Proc., 436.
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