There are only two members from my county, and only six from Baltimore city. Therefore I do not think a vote taken to-night would be a test vote, The question was upon agreeing to the amendment of Mr. sChley, to add to the motion a." Mr, nEgley the following : " And that said special committee be in-structed to report a provision for the sale of the works of internal improvement, in which the State is interested as stockholder or creditor," Upon this question Mr. abbott called the yeas and nays, which were ordered. The question was then taken, by yeas and nays, and resulted—yeas 6, nays 49—as follows : Yeas—Messrs. Abbott, Baker, Clarke, Farrow, Harwood, Schley—6. Nays—Messrs. Goldsborough, President, Annan, Audoun, Belt, Berry, of Prince George's, Blackiston, Brown, Chambers, Cun-ningham, Cushing, Dellinger, Earle, Ecker, Edelen, Galloway, Greene, Hebb, Hollyday, Hopkins, Hopper, Horsey, Jones, of Somerset, Kennard, King, Lansdale, Lee, Marbury, Markey, McComas, Mitchell, Miller, Mullikin, Murray, Negley, Nyman, Parker, Parran, Peter, Pugh, Purnell, Robinette, Sands. Smith, of Carroll, Sneary, Stirling, Stockbridge, Swope, Todd, Wooden—49. The amendment was accordingly rejected. The following explanations were made by members, pending the call of the yeas and nays, as their names were called : Mr. clarke. i will state that I am in favor, under certain limitations and certain restrictions, of having the public works exchanged for the debt of the State. If a provision of that sort could be carried out I would vote for the proposition. As this does not confine the committee to reporting any particular mode of sale, but embraces the exchanging this interest for the existing debt of the State, I shall vote " aye." Mr. edelEn, as I think the adoption of this amendment would destroy the very purpose of a reference, and fetter the hands of the committee and tie them down to a certain course of action, I shall vote " no." Mr. king. My present impression is that 1 should be friendly to the sale of these works. But as I am opposed to giving instructions to this committee, I shall vote "no." Mr. todd. while I am favorably disposed to a sale of the public works, I am opposed to trammeling the committee with any instructions. I therefore vote " no," The question recurred upon the motion of Mr. nEgleY for the appointment of a special committee of nine, &c. Mr. nEGley. as this is a matter more especially in charge of the gentleman from Baltimore county (Mr. Ridgely,) I would ask permission to modify my motion so as to pro-

vide that he (Mr. Ridgely) be the chairman of this committee. The pRESIDENT. the Chair always appoints the mover of a committee as its chairman, unless by general consent some other member is designated. Mr. stiRling. I move to amend the motion by inserting after the words, "with instructions to report, " the words "in favor of omitting all reference to the sale of the public works in the legislative article,' ' The effect of that amendment, if adopted, will be to strike out this thirty-ninth section from the report of the legislative committee. The question being then taken upon the amendment submitted by Mr. stiRLING, upon a division—ayes 25, noes 25—it was rejected. Mr. belt. 1 desire to have an amendment read, before this committee is raised, in order that it may be considered by the committee together with the amendments which have been offered. The pResident. the Chair does not think the proposition of the gentleman is exactly in order at this time. After the committee has been raised it will be competent for any member to introduce propositions and ask to have them referred to the committee. Mr. beLt. I will read it then as a portion my remarks, and say that if this committee is not raised, and the house proceeds to the consideration of this section, I will, when the opportunity offers, submit this as a substitute for the section. It was very nearly covered by the motion for instructions made by my friend from Baltimore city (Mr. Stirling.) " The general assembly shall have power to pass laws providing for the sale of the State's interest in all public works or corporations, whether as stockholder or creditor, whenever it shall deem such sale to be advisable." That is a practical turning over of the whole subject to the general assembly. Mr. claRke. I move to amend the motion of the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Neg-ley) by inserting after the words, '' with instructions to report," the following : " A section for disposing of the interest of the State in all public works and banking institutions in exchange for bonds or registered indebtedness of the State now owing." Mr. neGley. Does not that embody the same proposition as submitted by the gentleman from Frederick (Mr. Schley, ) and rejected by the house 7 Mr. claRke. I do not propose to provide a general rule for money; but to provide for the State disposing of her interest in the public works provided she can exchange, or the parties will pay, for the State's interest in all public works or corporations by bonds or the registered indebtedness of the State. Mr. stirling. Does the gentleman mean to exchange the amount of interest in the pub-