The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-03-25

ably from the Committee on Judicial Pro-
ceedings.
BILL
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Maryland, ThatAriiee thirlS seven OF the Code Of
adding thereto certain additional Sections under the
subtitle senate and House Of Delegates
SIC Tbs President Of the Senate, the speaker
miiee Of The Whole OF any Committee OF the SEN
alto or House Of Delegates OF any membcrof the Sem
chairman Is empowered % administer oaths - wit
nesses in any case under his examination
sEe.- Every person who having eecn summoned
~ witness BY the authority Of the Senate or House
Of Delegates % give testimony or to produce papers
upon any matter under inquiry before either body
default, or who having appeared refuses to answer
any question pertinent 10 the question under inquiry,
shail he deemed guilty Of Inisdemeanor, punisha-
Bile by q tine Of MOI more than one thousand dollars
nor less thon one hundred dolars and by hnprisoh-
nent ior not less than one month nor more than
twelve months.
sEc No witness Is privileged to refuse % testify
% any fact or To produce any paper respecting which
he shall be examined BY the senate or House Of Del
egates or BY any Committee OF either body upon the
gronnd that his testimony TO such tact. or his pro
ducton of such papers may tend 10 disgrace him or
otherwise render him Infamous.
Sic - Whenever witness summoned to testify
before the Senate or House Of Delegates, or before
any eonmitieo Of either body fas or refuses to tes
President Of the Senate the Speaker Of the House.
as the case may be- shall certify the fact The states
Attorney for Anne Arundel county, whose duty Il
shall be TO bring the matter beore the Grand Jury
OF said county for is action.
SEC . And % 4 endcssd, That this Act shall take
effect from the date OF It's passage.
Said bill having passed through its in-
termediate stages, came up on the 9th Of
March, and was passed BY yeas and nays
as follows
Yeas-Messrs. Aydelotte, Bannon, Duke,
Dennis, Freeman, Ford, Getty, German,
Humphreys, Joyce, Lee, Lawrence, Stevens,
Walsh--l4
Nays-Messrs. Steiner, suit-2.
Said bill was then sent to the House Of
Delegates.
On Friday, the 18th instant, the bill
came up in the House en- its second read
ing, when DIR. Goldsborough, Of Caroline
county, moved to strike out the cnacting
clause.
Mr.. Constable, Of Cecil, supported the mo.
ton in a speech of nearly two hours length
perhaps the most logical, incisiye and eloquent
that has been delivered this session. He
held the attention Of the House during its
entire delivery.
Mr.. Constable said that as amember Of the
Judiciary Committee he had agreed to report
the bill without advice, and did so because it
had passed the Senate with only two votes
against IT. II was a matter that concerned
all the people Of the State, and he thought it
should come before the House for action, and
not be turned down in committee. It was
the most dangerous bill ever introduced into
the Legislature, and proposes to bestow pow.
ers which were unconstitutional. He then read
the bill and argued, terrifying his positions
with citations from authorities, that the pow
ers bestowed by the bill were such as no court
In the United States possesses or should pos.
sess. No court could compel the production
Of private papers, and on this point he quoted
the Fourth and Fifth Amendments TO the
Constitution of the United States and also
provisions of the State Constitution. The
courts had no power OF common law TO do
what this bill proposes. The only power DOS.
sessed is that Of the courts Of equity to compel
discovery, and this only in civil cases, and
never in aid of indictments and information
He referred to the act Of Parliament on this
subject, and commented upon the restrictions
that surrounded the grant Of the power given
by it, showing that it was even limited TO !
cases which in a court Of equity would entitle |
the party to a discovery, and was surrounded I
with safeguards Of the rights Of the citizen. /
He commented upon these provisions. aud
especially one which required the matter TO /
be first passed upon by judges learned in the |
law and the rights of the citizens under the /
law before the production could be enforced /
he claimed that the law on this subject, as
laid down in all the works on evidence, was
that man could not be compelled to give
evidence to disgrace himself unless il was
material to the issue, and that there were
authorities which held that even then it could {
not be done. He argued that the bill violated
the right OF the citizen to be protected in his 1
person, liberty and private papers. There (
were reasons why the courts should have /
power to compel the giving of testimony and
the production OF papers, but there were no
such reasons in this case.
| The fifth amendment to the Constitution of
the United States provides that a person shall
not be compelled in any criminal case to be a |
witness against himself, but this bill makes ne |
such exception. Under it, although a party
might be advised by eminent counsel that he |
had right under the Constitution 10 refuse 10
testify, their opinion could be oyerridden by
that Of committee and he be subjected
to all its penalties. The first amendment
to the Constitution OF the United States
| provides that Congress shall make no law
abridging the liberty Of the press. and the
State Constitution is equally explicit. Mr..
Constable then spoke with great eloquence
upsn the great and essential service rendered !
to tree commonwealth by free press.
Another objection to the bill was that It
violated the plain principle oflaw that all the
departments Of the Government combined
cannot confer upon one department a power
not granted by the Constitution itself He
then reviewed the powers of the State Senate
under the State Constitution, and claimed
that the power sought to be granted in the bill
had been conferred upon the House alone. |
and then only as the Grand Inquest of the
State. The Senate needed no other powers
than they have under the Constitution, and
the investigating power had been given to the
House and only to the extent Of the powers
granted by law to u Grand Inquest. The
grant Of power TO the House in the bill was n
mere gratuity introduced to cover up the now.
er TO be granted to committee OF the Senate.
which would make that committee an auto.
crat in the land, with power to override ali
me rights OF the citizen under the Constitu-
ton, both Of the United States and the State.
Article 40 Of the Bill of Rights provides that
the enumeration of rights shall not be con
strued to impair or deny others retained BY
the people. He had heard it asserted that
the Legislature had absolute power except
where Il was limited BY the Constitution.
That was not SO. Mr.. Constable then quoted
from the decisions in the cases Of Calder and
nun tSd Dallas reportsl, and anderson VS..
Dunn 10Th Wheaton,, to show the falsity OF
this doctrine. Lord Coke had said that the
common law would override an act Of Par.
lament contrary to natural right and reason.
| Mr.. Constable after laying down the gener-
al principles Of right and justice which had
application in the case, then went on to CON
sider the special circumstances under which
THESE extraordinary powers were demanded.
He claimed that the motive for the ;ntrodne-
ton Of the bill was to limit the freedom Of the
/ press of the State and IN oiva I, ,,art,c,i.r