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547
We can hardly suppose, nor do we believe, that the powers
granted in the Ordinance of 1865, to use for this purpose
half a million of bonds, ever authorized the mere beginning
of a building, the ultimate cost of which was to greatly ex-
ceed the amount set apart, and beyond which they had no
right to go. The sum appropriated contemplated payment
in full for a finished building, not to lay the foundation and
rear outer walls, merely or partially construct the edifice, but
to finish it in all its detail and in every part. If any other
purpose was contemplated it does not appear upon the face of
the law, and the Commissioners are not at liberty to go be-
yond its clear requirements, nor could the Mayor and City
Council grant any powers to them in the premises not pre-
viously authorized by the Legislature.
The Mayor and City Council in their powers are limited by
Legislative enactments, and the Commissioners are limited
by the ordinance, and neither can go beyond them. If the
Commissioners appointed under the Ordinance of 1865, or
the Mayor and City Council had the power to exceed the sum
authorized, then they could as well have proceeded without
any authority. To exceed the law is as grave an offence as
to proceed without law, and to do so is so grave an offence
that the seal of public condemnation should be set upon all
who participate in it.
The continued increase of the debt of Baltimore City is a
subject of painful anxiety to its citizens. Each returning
year has brought its augmentation, until now the burthens
are intolerable, and its effect must be disastrous to the pros-
perity of the City and to the State also. From the fear of
heavy taxation, capital will shun us, personal property will
hide itself, and thereby the basis of taxation will diminish
while the debt increases, and thus the burthen must, and
will, in the end, fall with crushing weight upon real estate.
The effect of public debt upon communities, is the same as
debt upon individuals. It shuts the door of hope—dispirits
and paralyzes their energies. A public debt is a public
calamity that curses the living, and wastes the estate of the
dead. Its enormity at this time in the several departments
of our government, is a source of serious alarm to the pru-
dent and thoughtful. So great is the debt of the Federal
and State Governments, that when added to those of a local
and municipal character, an army of agents and tax-gather-
ers, at great expense to the people, have to be maintained to
gather from them the means to pay the interest, much less
the principal. Every branch of industry feels the bur-
then; every transaction, great or small, has some burthen
upon it; property is burthened; the earnings of toil,
whether of body or mind, is visited; the home that shelters
is taxed; the garments we wear are taxed; the bread that
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