struction, and no other construction can he
put upon it. As I understand, the amend-
ment offered by the gentleman from Queen
Anne (Mr. Lee) has been offered for the pur-
pose of relieving the committee on accounts
from all doubt. That doubt it seems to me is
removed by the act of assembly. As some
gentlemen have requested it, I will read the
reasons for passing that joint resolution :
"The committee on accounts, to which
was referred an order of the house of the
second day of March, 1864, instructing them
to readjust the mileage of the members of the
general assembly."
They were instructed to readjust it, to. fix
it as a readjustment of the mileage, which it
was perfectly within the power of the legisla-
ture to do.
"—respectfully report, that the consti-
tution of Maryland provides that the members
of the general assembly, shall receive a per
diem of four dollars, and such mileage as may
be allowed by law. This constitutional pro-
vision seems to justify the conclusion that
while the per diem of members is fixed un-
changeably, their mileage is left to be ad-
justed according to the varying circumstan-
ces which might arise. The committee hav-
ing in view the unprecedented condition of
the currency of the country, and the greatly
enhanced cost of travel and living in conse-
quence thereof, have deemed it just and right
to provide as near as may be for equalizing
the compensation of members with that of
previous legislatures,"—
That is the ground upon which they put it.
It is an equalizing of the compensation of
inembers with that of previous legislatures.—
And nobody can doubt that four dollars a day
ten years ago is infinitely superior to five dol-
lars a day now.
"—and therefore, respectfully recom-
mend the adoption of the following joint res-
olution:
'' Resolved by the general assembly of Ma-
ryland, That the sum of one hundred dol-
lars, in addition to their usual mileage, be
paid to each of the senators and delegates of
the general assembly."
Then our convention bill comes in and says,
we shall receive the same mileage as members
of the general assembly. Is not this joint
resolution the law for our guidance? I ask
lawyers of this convention to say whether
that is so or not. Personally, I do not care
whether the hundred dollars comes to me or
not; I do not care a straw about it. But I
say that the law is clear upon that subject,
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. From the determined
assurance with which the gentleman who has
just taken his seat (Mr. Miller) has spoken,
one would suppose that this whole matter of
mileage had been arranged by law upon some
fixed principle in this State, time out of mind.
He said it was regulated by act of assembly,
which had been modified from time to time.— |
Now I suppose, as a lawyer, that statement
would have been entitled to much more
weight if he had referred to the acts of as-
sembly by which mileage has been regulated
and modified from time to time. But I say
it would have been no easy task for him, or
any other gentleman, to have produced any
such authority.
The earliest reference to mileage which 1
find upon the statute books of Maryland, is
in 1796, chapter 41, which fixes the per diem
of members at four dollars, and then at the
close simply says "besides the accustomed
itinerant charges and ferriage " That is the
earliest act of assembly upon the subject which
I have been able to find. In 1811 there was
an increase of fifty cents a day made to the
per diem. It was so construed, although the
words " per day " were left out, simply pro-
viding that members of the general assembly,
should have an additional fifty cents. The
same phraseology is used. there inn reference to
mileage "the accustomed itinerant charges
and ferriage." I find no other modifications
or changes. So far as I have been able to
discover, it stood so until the adoption of the
constitution of 1850. What does that consti-
tution say upon the subject?
"The senators and delegates shall receive
a per diem of four dollars, and such mileage
as may be allowed by law."
That is all with reference to their pay. " A
per diem of four dollars, and such mileage as
may beallowed by law." What the per diem
is everybody understands; it is arate of four
dollars a day. Now what is mileage? Wor-
cester says—and Webster uses precisely the
same language—"Mileage: Fees paid for
travel by the mile." That is mileage. It is
competent for the members of the general as-
sembly to receive four dollars a day, and a
certain allowance, fixed by law, as "fees for
travel by the mile." There has been no mod-
ification of the law on the subject of mileage
since the constitution of 1850 was adopted.
It is not in the power of the general assembly
to vary their per diem, for that is fixed by the
constitution. But a desire having been felt
to receive some compensation, or some money
out of the State treasury, beyond " the four
dollars per diem, and the amount of fees for
travel by the mile which was fixed by law,"
a very innocent looking order was intro-
duced :
" Ordered, That the committee on accounts
readjust the mileage of members."
A readjustment of the mileage could be but
one of two things: a re-regulation of the num-
ber of miles travelled, to conform to the change
of roads, or the mode of communication; or
an increase or decrease of the amount allow-
ed for travel. Did the general assembly at-
tempt to do either? I say, and I ask the at-
tention of the convention to this one thing—
they did neither the one nor the other. They
did not touch, or attempt to touch, the mile- |
