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70 The Maryland Constitution of 1864. [416
provide that the prescribed oaths be in force only till the
end of the war was voted down, 47 to 23.123
The debate on all these questions was more bitter than
at any other time during the Convention, with perhaps the
exception of the consideration of the soldiers' vote and of
the mode of submitting the new Constitution to the
people.124 The minority held that the oaths largely tended
to continue after the war had ceased the conditions co-ex-
isting with it, and would go far to prevent the subsequent
reconciliation necessary to the peace and prosperity of a
reunited country. They also rightfully objected that it
gave far too much power to the Judges of Election, and
offered every opportunity for unfairness and abuse.125
Another strong point was that it was eminently im-
proper to compel the entire support of the National Gov-
ernment, a requirement especially irritating to many who
held that the coercion of the South was in violation of the
Constitution of the United States.126
The majority held that there was nothing unusual in
the oaths when the circumstances in which the state was
placed were considered, and that no one could faithfully,
zealously, and honestly serve the State of Maryland as an
officer, who could not undergo the prescribed tests.127
We of this day, while admitting the force of the argu-
ments of both sides in the Convention, must necessarily
take a middle course in forming our judgment, and con-
clude that the majority were right in providing test oaths
of some sort as a war measure, but that they made a great
mistake in the extent of their requirements and the method
of enforcing them.
Other points of interest to be noted in connection with
the treatment of the franchise are that it was again in this
connection restricted to white male citizens, and that there
were unsuccessful attempts to allow ex-convicts to vote
123 Proc., S11-2. 124Deb., ii, 1262-89, 1299-1303, 1330-81.
125 Deb., ii, 1266, 1335. 126 Deb., ii, 1359. 127 Deb., ii, 1358-9.
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