viii Letter of Transmission.

On June 3, the House voted to censure the Sheriffs of Prince George's
County for taking undue fees, by a vote of 25 to 13. The Proprietary party
voted in the negative: viz., Harris and Hynson of Kent, Hanson of Charles,
King, Henry and Gale of Somerset, Hooper of Dorchester, George, Colvill and
Rumsey of Cecil, Wright of Queen Anne's and the Annapolitans. On June 8,
by the close vote of 22 to 20, the House voted to prohibit the exportation of
Indian corn that year, because of a scarcity of grain. The majority included
the four St. Mary's members, Harris of Kent, Carroll of Anne Arundel, Smith,
Weems and Brome of Calvert, the four delegates from Charles, Stoughton of
Somerset, Thomas of Talbot, Sheredine of Baltimore, Ennalls of Dorchester,
the Spriggs and Magruder from Prince George's, Gordon from Annapolis and
Wilkinson from Queen Anne's. Sixteen of the 20 negative votes came from
the Eastern Shore.

On June 9, in the largest vote of the Session, 23 voted to send for the Prince
George County justices to censure them for levying tobacco instead of money,
while 20 voted nay. The negative was a full Proprietary party vote: Read,
Waughop and Aisquith of St. Mary's, Calder, Harris and Hynson of Kent,
Hanson and Middleton of Charles, King, Henry and Gale of Somerset, Thomas
of Talbot, Hooper and Trippe of Dorchester, George, Rumsey and Pearce of
Cecil, Wright of Queen Anne's and the Annapolitans.

On June 13, the House voted, 20 to 19, to give Sewall reversion of 2032 and
not 1396 acres of land. The majority included the Proprietary party and more:
viz., the four from St. Mary's, Calder of Kent, Carroll, Hall and Denton of
Anne Arundel, Smith of Calvert, Hanson and Middleton of Charles, Robert
Lloyd of Talbot, Hooper of Dorchester, George and Colvill of Cecil, Wootton
and Osborn Sprigg of Prince George's, Wright of Queen Anne's and the
Annapolitans. When the Committee on Aggrievances reported that excessive
charges were made by ferry keepers, the Annapolitans found only Henry of
Somerset voting with them against the adoption of the report, while 36 voted
for it, on June 15.

On the same day, by decisive votes of 31 to 8 and 32 to 7, the House refused
to put the question of laying an export tax, to pay for arms, or the bill for the
relief of debtors. Middleton of Charles, Gale and Henry of Somerset, Trippe
of Dorchester and the Annapolitans voted in the minority in both divisions,
joined by Hanson of Charles and Hooper of Dorchester in the former one and
by Edward Sprigg of Prince George's in the latter one.

Bladen's first legislative session occurred between September 21 and Octo-
ber 29, 1742. It was a new legislature. Aisquith, Courts, Denton, Gist, Han-
son, Harris, Henry, Hooper, Hynson, Middleton, Read and Rumsey had been
succeeded by John Griffith and Robert Chesley in St. Mary's, John Gresham and