356 Assembly Proceedings, May 14-June 6, 1719.

U. H. J.

A Bill for Laying the Publick Levy for this psent year 1719
A Bill for the Limitation of Officers Fees.
Bo.th read and Assented to by that house.
And the Bill for Laying the Levy being read in this House
is Assented to.
On reading the Engrost Bill for Limitation of Officers
Fees the Question is Put whether it shall Pass or not.

p. 117

Thereupon M^r Phil Lloyd Esq^r one of the members of this
House Enters his Protestation against it as follows Viz.

June 6^th 1719

Philemon Lloyd Esq^r Deputy Secretary of Maryland by
way of Protestation against the passing of the Bill for the
Limitation of Officers Fees now in Reading in this House
Declareth the said Bill to be the Only Infraction that hath been
made of this Kind upon the Rights of the Secretarys of this
pvince since their first Appointment And Tends very much to
the lessening the Dignity of such Officer by Depriving him of
so Great a part of those pquisites and Emoluments of his
Office w^ch were att first Designed by the Lord Prop^ry to be an
handsome Support of that Character and Originally Annexed
to the Secretarys Office by an Act of Assembly without Limi-
tation of time untill after the Revolution that Sundry Disputes
Arose Between Gov^r Copley and S^r Thomas Lawrence then
Sec^rty of this pvince by the Appointment of King William the
third Upon which Difference the Country took the Advantage
and made those Fees that were before the Proper Rights &
pquisites of the Secretarys Office to Depend upon Temporary
Laws renewed from time to time where the Fees were ffre-

p. 118

quently mutilated in some particular only untill now that the
whole List of Sec^rtys, if this Bill Pass will be Reduced at least
One fourth Part without Distinction of the nature and Qual-
ity of some Services which Deserves a Proportionable ffee or
Reward as Particularly in the Case of a Writt of Injunction
out of the Chan^ry Office which by this Bill is Rated at three
Shillings and nine Pence for the whole Charge of that Writt
untill it Come to the Scale Computing Tob^o at One Penny p
pound the consequence of all which will be that the Lord
Prop^ry will find himself concerned in the curtailing those Fees
which were by his L^pps noble Ancestors Annexed to the Sec^rtys
Office for the Better Supporting the Dignity of that Officer
the Gentl who are his Lordships Principall Secretarys at this
Time will in the next Place have but too Just Cause of Com-
plaining that they shall if this Bill pass into an Act be thereby
Deprived of the full Benefitt of their Office as Granted unto
them by the Right Honble Charles Absolute Lord & Prop^ry &c.