Introduction. xxvii

After thanking the members of the Lower House for having taken favorable
action about the construction of a lighthouse on Cape Henry, Governor Eden
promised to let them have the data which they had requested (p. 276 and Ap-
pendix VII; also see Arch. Md. LXI, xlv-xlvi). Although nothing further was
done at this session, the Maryland Assembly in 1773 did appropriate money
for building and maintaining a lighthouse at Cape Henry (Hanson's Laws of
Maryland, November-December session, 1773, Chap. XXIX).

So far the relations between Eden and the Delegates had been pleasant
enough. On October 30, 1770, the Lower House received a report which ended
this cordial relationship. It was submitted by the Committee of Grievances
and Courts of Justice, which, as we have seen, was appointed at each session
of the legislature. The report charged that William Steuart, as Clerk of the
Land Office, had taken, contrary to the law, "notes of hand" for the payment
of excessive fees and that he had also imposed an oath as Justice of the Peace
not required by law. It appears that Steuart claimed that as the fees had been
authorized by Benedict Calvert and George Steuart, Judges of the Land Office,
their collection was not illegal (pp. 294-295).

This report involved one of the most controversial acts ever enacted by the
General Assembly. It was entitled "An Act for amending the Staple of Tobacco,
for preventing Frauds in his Majestys Customs, and for the Regulation of
Officers Fees." It was enacted in 1763. The reason this act was important
was that tobacco was still the currency of Maryland. In order to prevent
changes in value it was given a fixed specie value. In certain cases specie could
be paid instead of tobacco at the fixed rate. As is stated elsewhere, the act was
the subject of much discussion between the Upper and Lower Houses (pp. xxix-xxxi).

Some sort of a compromise might have been worked out but for
the unyielding attitude of the Upper House on the question of the fees of public
officers. The Councillors would not consider any reduction in these fees.

This attitude was subject to criticism. Members of the Council held the most
lucrative positions in the colony. Walter Dulany was the Commissary General
(p. 298), a position previously held by Daniel Dulany (p. 409), and Benedict
Calvert and George Steuart had been appointed Judges of the Land Office.
These men were naturally opposed to any reduction of their fees. Unfortu-
nately, as members of the Council they also constituted the Upper House.
Accordingly, when, in the latter capacity, they argued against the reduction
of their fees as colonial officers, the members of the Lower House could hardly
be expected to believe that the position taken by members of the Upper House
was free from personal interest (p. 430).

The act for amending, or regulating, the staple of tobacco, which had been
passed in 1763, expired on October 22, 1770, while the Assembly was in session.
This is why Benedict Calvert and George Steuart had instructed William
Steuart, their clerk and agent, to charge the same fees as provided for in the

act which had expired. This action of Calvert and George Steuart was con-

demned in the report of the Committee of Grievances and Courts of Justice.
As a result of that report the Lower House, on November 1, took action. The
Delegates asserted that they had the sole right to impose or fix taxes or fees