Mr. GRASON rose, he said, not with a
view to object to the propositions of the gentle-
man from Cecil, (Mr, Constable,) but to answer
the objections which had been made to the pro-
position of his colleague. The gentleman from
Cecil, is unwilling to confer power upon the
Legislature, to contract debts to the amount of
one hundred thousand dollars, because, to that
amount, the money might he applied to any pur-
pose whatever. If the gentleman would examine
the articles, submitted by his colleague, (Mr.
George,) he would find that it could not be ap-
plied to the use of societies, corporations, or to
purposes of internal improvement. His col-
league had not enumerated the objects to which
it might be applied, because it was impossible to
forsee all the contingencies which might occa-
sion a deficiency in the treasury. It was obvious,
however, that the current revenue might occa-
sionally he insufficient to pay the interest on the
public debt, and meet the necessary expenses of
the State. The statehouse or the tobacco-ware-
houses, might he destroyed by fire and the Legislature
should have the power to borrow a limited
amount to meet such contingencies as they arise.
The gentleman from Cecil apprehends that the
Legislature, if this power were conferred, would
enter into every kind of wild speculation; but
as the amount of debt to be contracted was limi-
ted to one hundred thousand dollars, and was to
beaccompanied by a tax, and could not be ap-
plied to the use of corporations or to the pur-
poses of internal improvement, there could be
no danger of an abuse of the power. If the immediate
representatives of the people could not
be trusted to this limited extent, it would be bet-
ter to abolish the Legislature.
Mr. DONALDSON said the amendment of the
gentleman from Charles, (Mr. Merrick,) was
suggested, he believed by a clause of the section
which he, (Mr. D„) had proposed some days
before, and which the Convention had rejected.
The purpose of that clause he had explained at
the time, to be mainly to provide for a tempora-
ry deficit: of revenue, if any such should occur.
The treasurer now, under an Act of Assembly,
had the power to make such a loan, and he con-
sidered it important to the credit of the State
that the power should not be taken away. He
had before explained how, on account of the ine-
quality of the expenditures of different quarters.
there might be a deficiency at the particular day
when money was needed, although the whole
year might show a large surplus. If some great
calamity were to happen to our public works in
the course of any year, and we are bound to
consider such contingencies, we might find the
power to borrow absolutely necessary, to save
the public faith, and yet, the sum borrowed,
could so soon be repaid out of accruing revenue,
that the levying a new tax would be useless and
absurd. These considerations, however, had
had no weight with the Convention. Under the
influence of a panic, proceeding from the recol-
lection of former extravagance—gentlemen must
excuse him for saying so—the power had been
entirely destroyed. Time would probably show
who was right on that point.
53 |
But he had stated that another purpose of the
last clause of the section he proposed, was to
enable the state to redeem its loans when they
became payable, in case there were not adequate
funds in the treasury, by borrowing at a lower
rate of interest if money were then abundant.
The gentleman from Cecil, (Mr. McLane,) bad
then misapprehended the purpose of that clause,
supposing ii to mean that money should be bor-
rowed at a low rate of interest, to buy up the
State loans not yet due and at premium in the
market. He agreed with that gentleman that
such a courge would be had financiering. He
now understood that gentleman to say that if
loans, when they became redeemable, were dis-
charged, as they could be, at par, with money
borrowed at a lower rate of interest, the state
would of course be the gainer by the difference
is the interest.
Mr. MCLANE assented. He had so said this
morning.
Mr. DONALDSON continued :
This part of his proposition was now urg-
ed as a separate amendment by the gentle-
man from Charles, (Mr. Merrick.) He, (Mr.
D.,) considered it well that such a power should
be given, but with great deference to that gentle-
man, he must say, that its importance had been
very much overrated. We never could save any
great amount of money by the operation contem-
plated; for the simple reason, that the mass of
our debt was not redeemable until the years
1870 and 1890. Before the first named period,
he hoped that all our debt would be extinguished;
for, if our tax system remain untouched, the
sinking fund and the surplusses will have absorb-
ed the whole. It was only, then, to so much of
our debt as was now redeemable, or would soon
become so, that the amendment could apply; and
the gain to the State, in any case, could not be
very considerable. As a matter of course, the
holders of our stock would not surrender the
stock for par when it commanded a premium in
the market, and we could not commute for a low-
er rate of interest until the time fixed for redemption.
The gentleman from Charles had
probably forgotten at what distant dates most of
our loans were payable.
There was much force in what the gentleman
from Cecil said on the danger of protracting the
the time of final payment of the debt by new loans,
even at a lower rate of interest than the old. It
might lead to a reduction of taxes, and he agreed
that such a result: would more than counteract
the benefit to be derived from the saving in in-
terest To meet this view, it was better to place
some limit of time, as suggested by the gentle-
man from Kent, (Mr. Chambers,) within which
the new loans should certainly be redeemable.
Mr. D. declared his great satisfaction at the
strong expressions of the gentleman from Cecil,
in favor of continuing in full force our present
system of taxation until our whole debt is dis-
charged. He himself had taken occasion a week
ago to express his views on that subject, in an-
swer to the gentleman from Frederick, (Mr.
Thomas,) and his friend from Kent, (Mr. Cham- |
