Mr. DELLINGER withdrew the motion to refer
to the committee on accounts.
The question was upon adopting the
order.
Mr. RIDGELY. I ask leave to amend this
order. I have been mistaken in the amount
of per diem named, I had supposed that the
present constitution provided an extra com-
pensation of two dollars per day for the
speaker of the house of delegates; but upon
examination. I find it allows but one dollar a
day additional. I therefore ask leave to
strikeout "seven dollars" and insert "six
dollars."
No objection was made, and the order was
modified accordingly,
Mr. STIRLING. The act of assembly says :
"and the said convention shall have power
to appoint such clerks and other officers as
they may deem necessary to facilitate the
transaction of the business of the convention,
and to fix their compensation." Now I sub-
mit that the president of this convention is
an officer of this convention. I find that the
same interpretation was put, upon the act of
1849 by the convention of 1850, and a pre-
cisely similar order adopted. The bill under
which that convention was called fixed the
per diem at four dollars. That convention,
acting under precisely the same authority
that we are acting under, under a bill of pre-
cisely the same language in this respect,
passed an order granting the president of that
convention two dollars additional per diem,
as an officer of the convention distinct from
a member.
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS EXTRA MILEAGE.
Mr. LEE moved to amend the order by ad-
ding the following:
"And that the committee on accounts be
hereby instructed to audit the mileage ac-
count of each member of this convention ac-
cording to the joint resolution of the general
assembly of this State at its last session, ad-
justing the mileage of the members of that
body."
Mr. ABBOTT. I move to lay that amend-
ment on the table.
The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Purnell.) That carries
the whole subject with it.
Mr. ABBOTT. Then I withdraw the mo-
tion.
Mr. DANIEL. I hope this matter will be
acted upon now. We voted upon this mat-
ter the other day, and voted it down 'by a
very large majority, so large that a motion
was made and adopted to withdraw the pro-
position and have no mention made of it on
the journal. I understand now that it is pro-
posed by the committee on accounts to allow
this extra mileage, I do think that before
they allow it, it ought to be determined by the
house. The committee on accounts I know are
in difficulty and trouble about this matter,
and I think it is a proper thing for the house |
to determine. For one I do not think any
member is entitled to it any more than 1
think the members of the last legislature
were. Therefore I shall vote against it. But
I think the house ought to pass upon it now,
and relieve the committee on accounts from
all further trouble in regard to the mat-
ter.
Mr. NEGLEY. I move that the whole sub-
ject be referred to the committee on accounts,
with instructions to inquire into the law and
report accordingly.
Mr. MILLER. The amendment that has been
offered, and is now before the house, is sim-
ply carrying out, as I conceive, the provi-
sions of the law as it now stands. With the
propriety or impropriety of the action of the
last legislature this body has nothing in the
world to do. The convention bill under
which we are assembled, and which declares
that the per diem of members of this body
shall be five dollars, and the mileage shall be
the same that is fixed by law, is the law to
guide us in this matter. Our per diem is
fixed absolutely at five dollars. To what law
are we to go to ascertain what is our mile-
age? What has been done inreference to
mileage? Mileage has been a matter of leg-
islative determination from the time the
legislature was first established in this State,
and has been changed from time to time from
then till the present. In early times, when
railroad facilities for travel and communica-
tion were wanting, mileage was allowed at a
certain rate. It his been modified from time
to time, by acts of the legislature, down to
1864, when the legislature by joint resolution
raised the mileage for considerations set forth
in the preamble. That joint resolution is
just as much a law as if it had been passed
under the words "Be it enacted by the gen-
eral assembly of Maryland's That joint res-
olution was passed in just the same way as
every other law was passed. And then comes
in the convention bill, which says that we
shall receive the mileage allowed by law.
Mr. JONES, of Somerset. It says "the mile-
age allowed to members of the general assem-
bly of this State."
Mr. MILLER. Exactly; and the law, in the
shape of a joint resolution, says that there
shall be allowed as mileage to members of the
general assembly so much. Therefore it is
the law which allows mileage to the general
assembly, and we are covered by that law.
If we are going to do as they did in the long
parliament, pass a self-denying ordinance,
and make ourselves out to be great patriots
by not taking what the law allows us, then
let us take that ground at once. But will we
say that the legislature has not fixed the mile-
age that we are to receive ". or shall we say,
under that law, that we are not worthy to re-
ceive it, and we will deny ourselves and will
not take it? It seems to me that standing
upon the matter of law, this is the true con- |
