401]           The Maryland Constitution of 1864.              55

made a few days before, had contained the provision (sec-
tion 40) that "The General Assembly shall pass no law,
nor make any appropriation to compensate the masters or
claimants of slaves emancipated from servitude by the
adoption of this Constitution." ⁶⁴ A minority report pro-
posed a provision especially giving this power,⁶⁵ but it was
voted down when introduced as an amendment.⁶⁶ Mr.
Brown here again attempted to introduce an article pro-
viding for the maintenance of the emancipated slaves un-
able to support themselves,⁶⁷ but the majority defeated it,
urging that the counties rather than the state should care
for the local poor, and that the regular laws of the state
dealing with this subject would be sufficient.⁶⁸ A motion
to strike out the above section of the committee report
failed, and it was adopted on July 25 by the vote of 38 to
13.⁶⁹ Mr. Briscoe of Calvert on August 31 made the last
attempt of the minority to obtain state compensation by
shrewdly offering an amendment to the provisions for the
taking of the vote on the Constitution, which provided
that at the same time there should be a separate vote on
this question. This was promptly defeated with no debate
of any consequence, the "previous question" being used.⁷⁰
The minority doggedly turned next to the question of
national compensation, and with slight success, for the
majority members, although rather generally opposed to
this as well, might have been put in an embarassing posi-
tion had they openly come out against it. It will be at
once remembered that one of the great traits of the Un-
conditional Union party, to which most of the latter be-
longed, had been uncompromising support of President
Lincoln's entire policy, and that necessarily included his
offer of national compensation for the slaves in the border

⁶⁴ Proc., 193.                    ⁶⁵ Proc., 209. ⁶⁶ Proc., 304.

⁶⁷ Proc., 306.                               ⁶⁸Deb., ii, 954, 957; Proc., 309.

⁶⁹ Proc., 309-10,  Article 3, sec 36, of the Constitution.

⁷⁰ Proc., 669-70.