organizing new counties, locating and remov-
ing county seats, and changing county lines,
but no new county shall be organized with-
out the consent of a majority of the legal vo-
ters residing within the limits about to form
said county, nor shall any new county con-
tain less than four hundred square miles, nor
less than ten thousand white inhabitants, nor
shall any county be reduced below that
amount of square miles, nor below that num-
ber of white inhabitants."
Mr. RIDGELY. I move that the rules be sus-
pended in order to enable me to offer an
amendment. I desire to move to insert after
the words " legal voters residing within the
limits about to form said county," the words
" nor shall the lines of any county be changed
without the consent of a majority of the legal
voters residing within the limits of the lines
proposed to be changed."
Mr. STIRLING. That proposition was offered
by my colleague (Mr. Stockbridge) upon the
second reading of this report, and it was vo-
ted down.
Mr. RIDGELY. I cannot help that; I pro-
pose to offer it again.
The question being then taken upon the
motion to suspend the rule, upon a division
—ayes 44, noes 16—it was agreed to.
Mr. RIDGELY. I now move to amend sec-
tion one of this report by inserting after the
words " about to form said county'' the words
" nor shall the lines of any county bechanged
without the consent of a majority of the
legal voters, residing within the limits of the
lines proposed to be changed."
I will in a very lew words explain the ob-
ject of that amendment. The previous part
of the section provides that in the event of
organizing a new county, the consent of the
majority of the legal voters residing within
the limits about to form said new county shall
be first obtained. It is also proposed that
any portion of the lines of a county may be
changed; but there is no provision made to
consult the residents within the limits of the
lines proposed to be changed. Now I under-
stand very well the effect of this provision
about changing county lines, and I have no
objection in the world to it. I am free to
confess that Baltimore city must necessarily,
by reason of its constantly accumulating pop-
ulation, find its way within the limits of Bal-
timore county, it is the result of that sort
of law which nothing in the world can pre-
vent. In time it must find its way there;
and I do not propose lo throw any obstacle
in the way of that end.
But I simply ask that the people, residing
within the limits of the district proposed to
be included within the increased limits of
Baltimore city, shall be consulted, for the
same reason that yon would consult the peo-
ple residing within the limits of a new county
that you propose to form. I ask that the same
theory be applied to the people of Baltimore |
county, in relation to an increase of the lim-
its of Baltimore city, that you would apply
in relation to the organization of new coun-
ties in the State. I know that Baltimore city
must increase and expand, until in process of
time it shall absorb a large portion of the
area of Baltimore county, and I say God-
speed to it. I do not propose to throw any
obstacles whatever in its way. But I simply
ask that when they apply to the legislature
for an extension of its boundaries, there-shall
be a limitation upon the power of the legisla-
ture to grant, which shall require the assent
of the people residing in the portion of the
county asked to be included within the limits
of Baltimore city. It will have a very serious
effect upon our county treasury. The very
largest proportion of the taxes received by
the county, is derived from the suburban pop-
ulation of Baltimore city; and the extension
into Baltimore county of the limits of Baltimore
city, of course very essentially affects
the financial ability of that county to sustain
itself.
And I ask, in view of its importance to our
community, that you will at least put in here
a provision that the people shall be consulted
and their consent obtained before any such ex-
tension of boundary shall be granted to Bal-
timore city.
Mr. STIRLING. So far as this matter applies
to Baltimore city, I certainly have no desire
that any thing should be done in respect to
extending its limits, which would be unac-
ceptable to the people interested in the mat-
ter; anything which would be unjust to Bal-
timore county. So far as I have any personal
interest in the matter, it is rather against any
increase of the city limits, than otherwise.
But this proposition affects all the counties
of the State; it seems to me it is too broad.
It says the legislature shall not change the
lines of any county, except upon the consent
of those who reside within the lines proposed
to be changed. Now it may be necessary to
change a county line for a few yards, or a
few hundred yards. There might be but one
or two people residing within the limits of
the proposed change. One man might hold
the whole of the land within those limits,
and thus you would give to him the abso-
lute control over the matter.
This applies more particularly, however,
to Baltimore city, I do not suppose there is
any prospect of any increase of the limits of
Baltimore city for some time to come. It is
not needed at present, although the city
limits do run about on the line of the houses,
and there are a great many streets laid out
beyond the city limits. Still, if there should
be any extension of the limits, it would not
be much, not more than a half mile or so
beyond where the limits now are. You
could not embrace within the limits of Balti-
more city whatever is suburban; only the
portion where the streets are built out. Now, |
