The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-05-26

To-day, the People of MARYLAND will vote 'For''
or against Convention to revise the Constitu-
ton of the State. In spite of the experience of
former Elections we venture the prophecy, that the
present one will pass off quietly enough. There
will be no need for especial policemen" to prevent
rotng at the polls to secure to citizens the free
exercise of the right of suffrage. The eleetion-re-
turns, which we shall publish tomorrow, are not
likely to be coupled, therefore, as has too often
latterly been the case, with returns of ''kled and
Wounded" and the details of bloody ARRAYS.
Men to-day for once may cast their ballots without
fear of bullets, and the question whether or not
we shall have q Constitutional Convention
will be decided without any of those exciting Incl
dents which usually attend Baltimore Election
or a Partisan Revolution We augur thus flvora-
bly, for the peace and tranquility of the city, on
the present occasion, because of the little interest
manifested by our citizens in the result of the
Election. strange apathy appears to possess the
public mind with respect to the proposed change
in the Organic Law of the State. People in Balti-
more seem generally Indifferent upon the subject,
and to care but little how the question may be de-
cided. Yet that question is of far greater conse-
to the popular vote since 1851, when the
present Constitution was adopted. OF all the
elections, that have been held since that time, the
present is by all odds the most important. The
choice of men to fill the different elective offices in
the State, is minor consideration compared with
the question of changing the Organic Law, by
which the duties the tenure and the qualifications
for those Offices are defined and determined. We
do not now propose to recapitulate what we have
already said upon the subject of the proposed Con-
vention. We have expressed ourselves in favor of
a Revision of the present Constitution and have
stated at length our objections to that instrument,
objections which, we believe, to be shared by
the great body of the Conservative party in the
State We merely wish, at present, to allude to
the utter want of interest in the community in
the decision of this important question: degree
of apathy, on their part,-whch while it ensures
lis quiet Electon,-whch will be a blessing
also leaves the result of that Election greatly in
doubt The vote in the City will undoubtedly be
very light In the rural districts, it will be some
what larger, but by no means heavy The oppo-
nents of Reform will of course be out in their full
strength, but of those who really dissatisfied
WIN the present CONSTITUTION and would gladly
see it abolished there are many who will abstain
from voting for Convention-some because of I'M
willingness to anticipate the period prescribed by
the Constitution itself for taking the sense of the
people upon the question of its abolition, and 9TH
ers because of distrust of the motives of those by
whom the present movement was set on foot Lo-
cal interests and party preudices will have weight
with many, and altogether the vote in favor of q
Convention will be far from indicating the extent
of the opposition to the present Constitution
throughout the State, or ofhe popular desire for Re
form decision, therefore, adverse to holding n
Convention, at the present time, cannot be con-
strued into popular endorsement of the present
Constitution, or be regarded any indication that
it will be suffered to out-ve the allotted term of
ten years, to which its existence must be limited at
the farthest