these subjects, which came under his supervi-
sion whilst acting as President of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal Company, and Governor of
Maryland. He would now leave the whole sub-
ject in the hands of the Convention.
Mr. THOMAS said that he had not submitted
his proposition until after other gentlemen had
presented views of such a character that he could
not coincide with them. From the commence-
ment, up to the present time, he had been in a
position antagonistic to the proposed board of
public works, and for this reason : The proposition
for a board of public works seemed to be
borrowed from other States in which the system
of public improvements was entirely different
from that of Maryland, New York, Pennsylva-
nia and Ohio had boards of public works, with
large salaries to the officers; but in those States,
that board managed the whole of the arrange-
ments of the canals and rail roads within those
States—acted in lieu of President and Directors.
In this State there were no State works to be
controlled by State officers, in Maryland the
State was merely a stockholder and a lender of
money to corporations; a stockholder in the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad in the Susquehanna
rail road, and in the Chesapeake aid Ohio
canal, and a lender of large sums of money to
various canals and rail roads. The State could
not appoint commissioners to supersede the Pre-
sident and Directors of any of these works. All
that the State could do was to appoint commis-
sioners to represent the State as one of the stock
holders, and to cast the vote of the State in pro-
portion to the amount of stock held by the State.
There were now five agents of the State who ex-
ercised this very power. It was a power which
no one proposed to abandon. In the Chesapeake
and Ohio canal the State had invested some seven
millions of dollars in stock and loans, and owned a
majority of the Stock upon which the interest
would be four hundred and twenty thousand dol-
lars annually, to pay which the present system
of taxation had been, in a great degree devised.
The agents of the State were now elected by the
concurrent vole of the House of Delegates and
the Senate. The people of the State had an im-
mense interest in the selection of their agents,
and his proposition was to submit it to the people.
No branch of the government was of greater
moneyd power than the management of the
Chesapeake and Ohio canal. The office of Go-
vernor was connected with far less power; for,
up in the management of that canal depended
the light or heavy character of the whole taxation
system of the State. The Legislature had before
them questions concerning money only, more
directly affecting the whole people of Maryland
than these agents whenever voting upon the
choice of officers who are to regulate the toll
upon that great thoroughfare. Holding this
view, he could not do otherwise than to propose
their election by the people. He could not con-
sent that a majority of the Senate of Maryland
should have the entire control of this matter.
That majority might be formed of members re-
presenting little more than one-third of the popu- |
lation of Maryland, while the whole tax-paying
population were interested. He did not propose
to create an office with a large salary. He had
left the fixing of the salary to the Legislature.
Heretofore the amount had been fixed at one
hundred dollars. He did not contemplate, in fra-
ming this measure, a salary of more than one or
two hundred dollars to pay travelling and other
expenses. He was opposed to the board of pub-
lic works for the very reason that it was a very
unnecessary expense. If, as in New York, Penn-
sylvania and Ohio, this board could not only exercise
a supervision over, but manage the works,
there would be some reason for a large salary.
The duties being only those performed at present
by the agents, the salary should be small; but, as
the Legislature were to have the power to add
such duties as they thought best, the amount of
compensation ought also to be left to them.
Again, when the tax upon the whole people
was so great, he did hot wish to place it in the
power of any concentrated local vote to control
the whole matter. He had, therefore, divided
the State into four districts as early equal in
population as possible. It was specially import-
ant to do this, because of the rivalry existing
between the different modes of conveyance from
the mineral regions of the interior to the sea-
board. This rivalry and competition might now
or hereafter produce disastrous results, and these
he was anxious to guard against. The only effi-
cient mode appeared to be to place the election
of these agents in the hands of the whole people
of Maryland, divided into districts equal in popu-
lation,
Mr. MERRICK made some remarks, which will
be published hereafter.
Mr. THOMAS said the gentleman from Charles
(Mr. Merrick,) did not attach more importance
than he (Mr. T,) did to the necessity of having
the supervision of the internal improvements,
under the direction of some highly competent
and vigilant agents on the part of the State. He
was sorry he could not see how this Convention
could authorize the Legislature, by joint ballot,
to elect a President of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal Company. The Legislature could pass a
law instructing the agents to give a particular
vole at the meeting of the board of directors;
but the president was to be elected in the mode
prescribed by the charier of the Company, and
beyond the charter, they could not go one step.
The mere fact that the State held a majority of
the stock, gave the Convention no more power,
except, in so far as numbers of votes were concerned,
than a private stockholders. The United
States held $2,500,000 worth of the stock, Vir-
ginia a large amount, and he believed private
citizens a considerable amount also. Then, as a
matter of course, and with just as much propriety,
Virginia could undertake to name one of the
managers of this public work, and the United
States another, as that we should do so. If the
gentleman [Mr. Merrick,] intended that the Le-
gislature should do nothing else but appoint
agents, he [Mr. T.,] should say it was hardly necessary
for us to take much time in changing the |
