Mr. Thomas wag another; and there were
others. However, we are not to be governed
by the action of the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road company in this respect.
The idea which has been suggested that
this is increasing the expense of the State, is
altogether a mistaken idea, as much so as
any idea that ever was presented, it is just
the reverse. The State, since this office of at-
torney general .has been abolished, has not
only actually paid more than it did before,
but it has committed—I will not say fraud—
but great injustice in many cases. You
know, Mr. President, as well as I do, a case
In which I was concerned for one month.
The president of this convention was the spe-
cial judge. That was eight years ago, and
to-day I have not received one dollar for my
cervices in that case.
Some gentlemen in the house, when they
hear of a lawyer receiving one or two hun-
dred dollars for his services, think it a very
great affair, and go to talking about what a
day laborer receives. But notwithstanding
all this injustice, which I suppose has been
perpetrated upon others as well as myself,
the actual coat to the State has been greater
than when we had anattorney general. Let
gentlemen take up the statutes and turn to
the comptroller's account and they will find
that the State has paid more for these legal
cervices than it would coat to have an attor-
ney general at three thousand dollars a year.
We have suffered nothing but evil, inconve-
nience and mischief, since the destruction of
this office. We all know that at the last convention
this office was discontinued, not from
any belief that the office wag unnecessary,
but purely from personal considerations, hav-
ing relation to the individual who it was supposed
was going to have the office. It wag
abolished not in consequence of any judg-
ment formed in regard to the expediency of
the matter, but solely from personal considerations.
Now let gentlemen listen a moment to the
duties to be performed by this officer, and
they will find that it is perfectly impracticable'
for him to do anything else, if indeed be
can discharge all the duties required of him
by this section three of the report.
" It shall be the duty of the attorney gen-
eral to prosecute and defend, on. the part of
the State, all cases which at the time of his
election and qualification, and thereafter,
may be depending in the court of appeals, or
In the supreme court of the United States, by
or against the State, or wherein the State
may be interested; and he shall give his
opinion in writing whenever required by the
general assembly or either branch thereof
the governor, the comptroller, the treasurer
or any State's attorney, on any matter de
pending before them," &c.
Every county in the State is to have its
State's attorney, and every attorney of every |
county is to ask the attorney general, just as
often as his own ignorance may require, for
information which the attorney general i»
obliged to give. But that is not all,
"And when required fry the governor or
the general assembly, he shall aid any State's
attorney in prosecuting any suit, or action
brought by the State, in any court, of this
State; and he shall commence and prosecute
or defend any suit, or action, in any of said
courts, on the part of the State, as the gene-
ral assembly, or the governor, acting accord-
ing to law may direct."
Now, how can any individual occupying
this position, and liable to be sent off to any
part of the State at any moment, attend to
any private business? Talk about three thou-
sand, dollars being a large sum ! It is payable
in the present currency, and in point of fact
it amounts in good money to less than fifteen
hundred dollars. What an enormous sum !
for the whole time of a man, who, unless he
is one of the first lawyers in the State, is not fit
for the place. You expect to obtain a man
possessing the first legal abilities of the State,
and you propose to pay him fifteen hundred
dollars for the performance of duties which
will separate him entirely from his own pri-
vate concerns. I do hope this house will
give this officer the highest salary which has
been named, for it i» not one cent too large.
The question was on the motion of Mr. AU-
DOUN to make the salary of the attorney gen-
eral three thousand dollars a year.
Upon this question Mr. MAYHUGH called the
yeas and nays, and they were ordered.
The question being then taken, by yeas and
nays, it resulted—yeas 30, nays 31—as fol-
lows ;
Yeas— Messrs. Goldsborough, President; Au-
doun, Blackiston, Bond, Briscoe, Brooks, Car-
ter, Chambers, Clarke, Dent, Duvall, Earle,
Galloway, Hopkins, Kennard, Lansdale,
McComas, Miller, Negley, Nyman, Parker,
Ridgely, Russell, Smith, of Carroll, Sneary,
Stirling, Stockbridge, Sykes, Wooden—30.
Nays—Messrs. Abbott, Annan, Billingsly,
Brown, Crawford, Cunningham, Daniel, Da-
vis, of Charles, Ecker, Edelen, Gale, Hatch,
Hebb, Hopper, Horsey, Keefer, King, Lee,
Markey, Mayhugh, Mitchell, Mullikin, Murray,
Parran, Purnell, Robinette, Schlosser, Smith,
of Dorchester, Swope, Todd, Wickard—31.
The motion was accordingly not agreed to.
Mr. ABBOTT, when his name was called,
said: As compared with the salaries paid for
other services, I do not believe that there is a
lawyer in the State whose services are worth
more than two thousand dollars a year.
Mr. ECKER, when his name was called, said :
I am in favor of making the salary of the at-
torney general twenty-five hundred dollars,
and therefore cannot vote for this proposition,
though I never did like to see anything mean.
I do not want a man to work for me for
nothing. But there is another thing which |
