Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1884-01-04
Concerning a Constitutional Conven-
ton.

Concerning a Constitutional C0nven-
ton.
The Baltimore Sun has been recently
agitating the matter of the subm ssion by
the present Legislature TO the people Of
the question of holding, during the pre-
sent year, a constitutional convention 10
remodel the present constitution of the
State. By the constitution of 1857 it was
made the duty of the General Assembly to
provide by law for taking, at the general
election to be held in 1887 and every 20
years thereafter, the sense of the people in
regard to altering the present constitution;
but the proposition now being agitsted is
that the period fixed by the constitution
for the submission of the question be an
ticipated by four years.
the present constitution and considerable
dissatisfaction has been from time to time
expressed in regard thereto in various
parts of the State. Some of these objec-
,ionable features are Of such nature az to
admit of correction by means of amend
ments, but others Of them are so deeply
imbedded in the structure of the organic
law as no, to admit OF being thus Topped
off
The most prominent among the objec-
tionable features of the present constitu-
ton. and. The one which seems to met
with the most general disapproval, is The
Judiciary system. There seems to be gen
orally prevailing throughout the State, a
mong the legal profession and among the
laity, feeling of dissatisfaction with re-
gard to the manner in which jus ice is ad
ministered in the State under the opera
tion of the present Judiciary system.
The present system was modelled to a
great extent after the Federal judiciary
system, and in theory seemed to be good
one. 1t was thought that the feature
which made one of the Judges Of the court
of Appeals the presiding justice in each
of the circuits would increase the scope
and contact of the State judiciary and car
ry increased learning and judicial ability
to the administration of justice in the low
er tribunals, thereby adding greater weight
to these decisions, diminishing the num-
Der of appeals and facilitating justice. In
practice, however, this feature does not
seem to have been attended with such
good results. The circuit duties Of the
Judges of the Court Of Appeals have led to
a great deal of absenteeism from the ap-
pellste bench, so much 80 that frequently
no quorum has been present to hear ap-
peals. But the chief objection to the pre-
sent system lies in the almost universally
prevailing belief among suitors and among
lawyers that a case which has been ad.
versely decided by Judge of the Court
of Appeals in his circuit, goes before that
tribunal on appeal heavily handicapped
by the weight of such adverse decision
1t is this belief, which seems to be too I'M
iversa to lie wholly without foundation,
that causes the chief hostility to the pre-
sent system and the demand for such a
change as shall make the Court of Appeals
an entirely separate and distinct tri-
bunal. This change could only be effect
ed by remodeling of the constitution.
Objections have also been made regard
ing the shortpess OF the tenure Of many OF
the officers under the present constitution
which necessities such frequently recur-
ring elections and probably the same OBJ
lection might be urged to the biennial ses-
sions of the Legislature. as it certainly
seems that all needed legislation could be
accomplished by quadrennial sessions.
While, therefore, there appears to be q
pretty general concurrence in the opinion
that there are grave defects in the present
organic law of the State, OF too complicat-
ed nature to admit Of correction by the
means of separate amendments. there ap-
pears to be considerable diversity of opin-
ion among the prominent men of the State
whose views have been elected by the
Suns agitation with regard to the neces-
sity of anticipating the period fixed by the
present constitution for the calling of a
convention to remodel the same. We
think the decided weight of opinion seems
to be adverse to the submission of the
question at this time. Some have referred
to the remote possibility of the State pass
ing into Republican control before the
period fixed for the convention, and point
ed to the record of that party in the mat
ter of constitution making in 1854 as a
warning against entrusting that power a.
gain to such hands. This objection, how
ever, seems to be founded on entirely too
remote a possibility to be worthy of seri-
Gus consideration.
While we of Southern Maryland would
probably experience as little regret as any