made and kept in order. Other places are
mountainous and rough, and in their manu-
facturing and mining operations there is so
much hauling and teaming, that a great deal
of attention must be paid to the roads. A
system which would be good for Queen Anne'
county, would be very imperfect for Allegany
and the upper part of Cecil county, I pro
pose to make the provision to suit their vari
ous wants and conveniences.
Mr. DANIEL. In order to get at that I
think another amendment will be necessary
You should give the county commissioners
the right to determine the powers and duties
as well as the number of the road supervi-
sors. If you merely strike out the latter
clause, it 'will leave the county commission-
ers to determine as to their number and noth-
ing else.
Mr. SCOTT. Will not that come under the
duties of the county commissioners ?
Mr. DANIEL. Not with reference to road
supervisors. If this is stricken out I will
move to amend so that it shall read that " the
number of said supervisors, as well as their
powers and duties, " shall be determined by
the said county commissioners.
The amendment to the amendment was
rejected.
The" amendment offered by Mr, SCHLEY, to
strike out all after the word'' commissioners"
line six was agreed to.
Mr. DANIEL submitted the following amendment
Insert after the word "supervisors" in the
fourth line, the words as well as their pow-
ers and duties."
Mr. VALLIANT, I am decidedly in favor of
that proposition. Under the operation of
that amendment the county commissioners
can make such contracts with the supervisors
of roads as may conduce to the improvement
of the roads. The county commissioners of
Talbot will make such a contract as the condition
of the roads in that county may require.
The county commissioners of Washington
county will make a different contract for such
work as the condition of the roads of that
county may require. That I understand to be
the operation of this amendment, and there-
fore I am decidedly in favor of it.
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. ABBOTT, it seems to me that we are
fast resolving ourselves into a legislature,
and are performing legislative duties. I
move to strike out the fifth section entirely.
The motion was not agreed to.
SURVEYORS.
The sixth section was read as follows:
"Section 6. The qualified voter of each
county and the city of Baltimore shall, on
the — day of — in the year —, and
every two years thereafter, elect a surveyor
for the counties and the city of Baltimore
respectively, whose duties and compensation |
shall be the same as are now prescribed by
law for the county and city surveyors re-
spectively, or as may hereafter be prescribed
by law. The term of office of said county
and city surveyors respectively, shall com-
mence on the first Monday of January next
succeeding their election. And vacancies in
- said office of surveyors, by death, resigna-
tion or removal from their respective conn-
ties or city, shall be filled by the commission-
ers of the counties, or the mayor and city
council of Baltimore respectively."
Mr. PURNELL submitted the following amend-
ment,
Amend section six, by striking out all
•after the word "the," in the second line, to
the word "and," in the third line, and insert
" Tuesday next after the first Monday of
November in the year eighteen-hundred and
sixty-five,"
The amendment was agreed to,
Mr. BELT. I perceive that it will be neces-
sary to move a similar amendment to those
in the Other two articles. There can be no
question on the face of the earth that the
office of county surveyor is one that apper-
tains exclusively to the courts. Most of the
important business that he has to do arises
out of litigation. In reference to that office
it, is extremely important that there should
be a competent officer. There is nothing in
which the people are so much interested as
in having a man qualified to perform the du-
ties of the office; and it is a matter of public
notoriety that under the present system we
cannot have that requisite, I propose there-
fore to give the appointment to the judge
of the county. I move the following amend-
ment:
Amend by striking out lines one to five,
inclusive, and inserting the words following:
"Section 6. The judges of the circuit
courts residing in each county, and of the
superior court of Baltimore city, shall, on
or before the Tuesday next after the first
Monday of November, in the year 1865, and
on or before the same day in every second
year thereafter, appoint a surveyor for the
said counties and districts respectively."
Mr. MILLER. I hope that that amendment
will be adopted. The office of county sur-
veyor, as already said by the gentleman from
Prince George's county (Mr. Belt,) is of vast
importance to the county; of more impor-
tance, when the incumbent has the requisite
qualifications, than almost any local office in
the county. He has to make surveys under
the direction of the court in cases arising in- •
volving boundary lines, and in many cases of
legislation he makes all the surveys. This
officer, I think, should be appointed by the
court whose duty it is to see that these sur-
veys are properly made. The court will be
competent to judge of his qualifications better
than almost any man in the county. To have
such officers as road supervisors and survey- |
