Veazey tried to avoid making it a party question by commending the Van Buren men, especially those in Allegany County, who reprobated" the conduct of the recusant electors. The governor rested his contention as to the continued existence of the old senate on the constitutional provisions for "periodical elections of each branch, without otherwise limiting the term of service of either." The forefathers, he tells us, "had the forecast so to frame the provisions in relation to the elections of members of the senate and house of delegates as to guard against the effects of improper conduct or omissions of unfaithful agents, willing to leave the State without a general assembly by leaving the term of service of the members of each house unlimited, otherwise than by the election of successors; yet it is manifest that they intended the people should have the power and means, and expected they would be exercised, of terminating the service of the members of the senate every fifth year and of the members of the house of delegates every year. It was in this view, undoubtedly, that they provided for elections to fill vacancies in the senate for the residue of the said term1 of five years." However true the governor's course of reasoning might be, he acted upon it and, waiting until after the national election, he called together the general assembly that they might make provision for the election of other electors in the "place of those who had refused and neglected to attend the college and perform their duty." He held that the legislature had power to do this, since all matters concerning judges, time, place, and manner of holding elections were left to the legislature to be regulated by law. A quorum appeared in the electoral college and the election of a new senate changed the aspect of affairs, as the governor frankly admitted, and he recommended that the legislature provide against such contingencies in the future by fitting amendments to the election and criminal laws. He also recommended to their attention the passage of laws "for suppressing all revolutionary designs and proceedings, for the better support of the constitution, and for bringing to justice and deserved punishment their future violators. He also recommended that the pending amendments to the constitution be considered, and acknowledged that the "establishment of a different basis and apportionment of representatives is There is no other reference to "said term" in the constitution. required by a just regard to the rights, interests, and wishes of the people of the more populous sections of the State." The last assembly, before the rise of the revolutionary party, had passed amendments increasing representation to the more populous sections, and the governor felt sure "that such a change in this respect as ought to satisfy the large and populous sec tions, and can be safely conceded by the smaller and less populous, can and will be obtained in the constitutional manner and with general consent." Since measures of reform have been pending throughout the contest, the governor insisted that the "real and main object of the recusant electors and their abettors in the course they have pursued" was not reform in the constitution. In closing, Governor Veazey suggested to the house of delegates that they consider the advisability of exerting their constitutional powers "as the grand inquest of the State to inquire into the complaints, grievances, and offenses" which occasioned his call of the legislature. The regular session of the legislature began on the last Monday of December, and Governor Veazey in his message was able to congratulate them "upon the restoration of peace and quiet within our borders." The excitement had gone down and the revolutionists had given up the fight. The governor merely referred to the recommendations of his message to the special session, and then went on to discuss other matters of importance to the State. The legislature 2 appointed a select committee "to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill making it a high crime and misdemeanor for citizens to conspire against the constitution of the State;" but the committee reported that the existing laws were sufficiently stringent and no further ones were necessary. The legislature also set itself to work to amend the constitution, and by the amendments passed at that and the succeeding annual session the electoral college was done away with and the senate was to consist for the future of one member from each county and the city of Baltimore, elected by popular vote for a term of six years, one-third of the body going out of office Niles's Register, LI, p. 291. * Niles's Register, LII, p. 73. Revolutionary Scheme, p. 82, quotes from the Fredericktown Herald (Whig) a communication of some length written by a lawyer to prove that "the conduct of the 18 recusant electors" is "cognizable by the criminal law." He maintains with considerable ability that it is a crime to refuse to put the supreme law in operation." every two years. Vacancies in the body were to be filled by popular election, the executive council was abolished, the governor made elective by the people, and the basis of representation somewhat readjusted so as to give greater representation to the more populous counties of the State.1 The passage of these amendments left no excuse for the reassembling of the reform convention which had met in Baltimore,2 under the presidency of Mr. Horsey, in June, 1836, nor of that of November, 1836, of which Mr. Sewell was president. The cause of the advocates of a convention as the only practical method of amendment was lost and Mr. Horsey' regretfully gave up all hope of a convention. Mr. Sewell postponed the meeting of his convention to a later date, which came and passed, but saw no convention. When the first election under the reformed constitution occurred, on October 2, 1838, the Van Buren candidate for governor won by a very narrow margin, while the legislature was Whig by small majorities in each house. In January, 1839, the newly constituted senate was organized. The electoral college was a thing of the past. Its origin was doubtless in the attempt to replace the aristocratic council of provincial days with an equally aristocratic body. Its fall was caused by the democratic thought of the day and the inequality of representation in Maryland. The so-called "glorious nineteen" electors and their friends always claimed for themselves great credit for the change of the constitution, but it seems much more true that the change would have come without their existence, and that their struggle jeoparded rather than helped the cause of reform. Many in the State were ready for reform, not for revolution. The injection of national politics into the question by the nineteen Van Buren electors drove off their Whig allies in the larger counties and imperiled the success of the whole movement. It was, however, a noteworthy thing that a new constitution, when it came in 1851, was drawn up by a convention and ratified by the people-unconstitutional measures it is true, but such as were advocated by the Van Buren electors. Niles's Register, LII, p. 73. 2 Union reform convention. 3 Democratic reform convention. Ibid., p. 289. |