664 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Mar. 21

Bills, which I have introduced and am responsible for the
care of; and it has been particularly harassing to me to be
constantly referred to by the Press of Baltimore city, almost
unanimously, as an obstructionist in this body. I have been
called by the Baltimore Sun an obstructionist, by the Even-
in News, I am held up as a man who is down here obstruct-
ing the passage of Bills, using my position as chairman and
my position in this body, and in some mysterious way throw-
ing my personality across the Legislature of Maryland and
obstructing the Legislation, and the Baltimore American this
morning heads a long editorial in which I am referred to as
the man who has introduced a refuge of lies, behind which all
the friends of Baltimore city are raising protest against an
obstructionist to those honest people who are aiming to do
good to my city and that I am causing delay in the passage of
the Annexation Bills. I want to say, Mr. President, that it
is known to the Committee that I have done everything in
my power to have action taken on these Bills. We brought the
Bills down without recommendation, and when they were to
be considered in this Senate, when an opportunity would be
given to hear the truth from my side of the case, which had
been denied by the Press, and when an opportunity to hear the
truth was presented that night, the agents of those who are
in favor of one Bill and against the other spread among
the members of the Senate and informed them that a com-
promise was about to be agreed upon, and all they had to do
was to recommit the Bills, and we would speedily have these
matters considered by the Senate. The Bills were committed,
under my protest, acting, of course, as an obstructionist. They
remain in the Committee to this day and four times I have
attempted to bring them down in one form or another, par-
ticularly to bring the Bill down that those who are alone
standing for Baltimore city, and who are for the only true
and only righteous Bill—that Bill I have attempted to bring
down four times. Every time those who stand for that Bill
have objected to its coming from the Committee, and I have
been informed that we would, at last, find a place of com-
promise, and yesterday morning, at the invitation of Solicitor
Field, in Baltimore city, I visited his office, and for the first
time, a proposal looking to compromise was offered to me,
which has not been offered to the Committee. It was ex-
ceedingly small to cover the wide difference between us as the
manner of the treatment of Baltimore city in this proposed
change of its relation to the new territory. They originally
proposed that the new territory shall be taxed ninety-five