Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1889-03-21
THE LEGIsLArURH.
The ConstttutionaI:Anicndn,ont mis-
Through the HOus..

OoFEhi mhfcn l4.-OonHt1tuttonAl con.
yention took up but little time ia the
House to-day, after all. Mr.. Downha:u.
ON behalf Of himself and MIR. Davis, pre-.
scented the majority report Mr.. Lodge
followed with his minority report, which
differed from the otherB simply by allot-
ing Wilmington five delegates In place Of
four; Mr.. CLARK presented Smyrna petit.
ton for the passage of convention act
MIR. Lodge then moved that the bill be
made the special order for Tuesday NEXT.
at ii q. M; Mr.. Downham remarked that
this was reasonable request, to which
he was perfectly willing to accede; the
motion was unanimously agreed to, and
the House proceeded to the consideration
of other business.
The majority bill Is, as to verbiage.
built up on the Bradford measure, but as
to ita most vital feature, the preservation
OF Hundred representation, it is essentially
che Eckles (Bates) bill. Summarized il
provides;
FIRST. That convention shall meet at
the State House in Dover on the first
Tuesday of January, 1880.
Second. That said convention shall be
composed OF 55 delegates, apportioned as
follows: B delegates.at. large from Bus.
sex, from Kent and from New Castle,
TO DO elected on general ticket by the
qualified voters OF each county. In sus.
sex shch voter shall have thu right to yote
for not more than three Of these delegates
and the receiving the highest number
OF votes hhaIi be elected. In Kent and
New Castle each voter is restricted to 4
OF these delegates and the receiving the
highest number of votes Bha!l be chosen,
This proviso Is to ensure minority REPRE-
aentatlon.
The remaining delegates shall be
elected as follows; One delegate FROM
each OF the hundreds of the State, OK.
cept Wilmington hundred, to be elected
by the qualified voters OF each hundred.
-Four delegates from the city of Will
miDgtcn, to be elected by the qualified
voters Of said city upon general ticket
and no voter shall vote for more than
two of said four delegates, and the four
persons voted for who shall have the
highest number Of votes shall be elected.
third. Voters qualified to vote for
representatives., shall be entitled to vote
for said delegates; and qualified voters,
rs years old, throe years citizens and in
hnbitauts OF Delaware and the last year
OF that term Inhabitants of the county or
district, shall be eligible for election as
delegates.
Fourth. The election for delegates shall
be held on Tuesday, November 9th, 1889;
ct the same place, between the same
hours, in the same manner by the same
officers, and according to the same regu-
lations, SO far as they are applicable, as
are prescribed by law concerning. general
elections; and the election inspectors
shall count aud tally the votes and make
return ct the same time and places and
In the manner as prescribed by law for
making returns OF the election OF repre-
sentatives Provided that no ballot oon-
tanning the names of more delegates than
the voter has the right to vote for shall
be counted. In case of tie vote for
delegates, the board of canvass shall Ger.
tify both, and the convention shall de-
eide which to seat. The sheriff or pre-.
siding officer of the board OF canvass
shall, within five days after the sscer-
tainment Of the result of the election, de.
liver one certificate thereof to the pro-
tbonotsry Of Kent county, who shall
hold the same until the meeting OF and
subject to the order OF the convention.
Five. Delegates shall receive S. per day
and mileage. The remuneration of the
officers of the convention shall be fixed
by that body. The president officer OF
the convention shall draw on the State
treasurer for compensation OF delegates
and contingent expenses, and the State
treasurer is authorized to honor all drafts
Of said presiding officer.
Six. Vacancies shall befilled by special
elections held under write from the pre-
siding officer Of the convention.
Seven. The Secretary of State shall
furnish the SHERIFF. certified copies of this
act The sheritfs shall give one months
notice Of the delegate election by adver-
tisement in all the newspapers of their
counties aud by 100 advertisements set up
In the most public places in each county.
il shall also be the duty of the Secretary of
State to cause this act TO be printed in
two newspapers OF each county for three
months, commencing as soon as practi-
cable after its passage.
Eight. In the opinion Of this Gen eral
Assembly the constitution framed by the
convention herein provided for should
be submitted for the approval of the
legal voters Of the State.
NO EXEMPTION FOR SUSSEX
The next business in the House was
tilt over Downham's bill to give Sussex
tho same exemption law as Kent. Mr..
Maui called up the bill, which had been
reported on adversely by his committee
and moved that 1t be indefinitely post
poned. Mr.. Downham resented this and
Thought common courtesy demanded that
he should have been consulted. Mr..
Maull disclaimed any intentional disre-
Bpeot or lack of courtesy; he didn't know
whose bill it was and simply wanted
to get it out of the way. Mr..
DowDhsm accepted the disclaimer;
acknowledged that all his fellow
members from Sussex were opposed to
the bill, and said he was willing to let 1t
die now. From the utteranoes of New
Oastle members, who thought each
county should have an exemption law, it
was clear that had MIR. Downham desired
to make fight for the measure he could
have gotten strong backing; but he did
not wish to antsgonize the members from
his own county. he explained that it
was thought Sussex had an exemption
law, but test case in the courts decided
that 1t was no law at all. He would have
preferred to let this measure die in COM
mittee rather than incur publicity OF this
deplorable fact. Since it had been
brought out, however, he hoped this dis
QUESTION would tend 10 awaken the people
of Sussex TO a sense OF shame and to
bring, in the future, representatives from
Sussox educated up to the point Of
placing their county abreast of the rest
of the State. Simply for the credit OF
Bussex county, he was sorry this thing
had been made public. He had been told
ibat Sussex was the only county in the
United States thai has no exemption law,
and he was ashamed of it.
Mr.. Wallacs suggested that ii is only
recently the United States have found