gentlemen to seek to bring in here lexico-
graphers and dictionaries with which to deter-
mine the meaning of the word " mileage." It
has a very wide and comprehensive meaning.
If we take the meaning adopted by the gen-
eral government heretofore, we will find
" mileage " to be a very different thing from
what gentlemen would confine it to here.
I hold, upon theories which I advanced
here the other day, and which I regard as
still stronger than the theories derived from
the law itself, that this law is the funda-
mental law. It is fixed by the people who
have prescribed what your compensation is
to be, and you cannot go behind their ver-
dict. They have said that you shall receive
the mileage allowed to members of the gen-
eral assembly of this State. It is a right
which belongs to members of this body, and
I trust there will be no extraordinary fastidi-
ousness of conscience upon the subject. If
there are gentlemen here who do not feel that
they can conscientiously take this money,
then I hope they will not take it; and I trust
they will make no mistakes when they come
to settle up their mileage accounts. It is
perfectly easy for them to adjust those ac-
counts without mistakes. For my part, I
feel that I am asking no favor—that I am re-
ceiving no gratuity—that I am receiving
nothing at the hands of this body but what
my constituents and the great body of the
people voted to me, and if it is withheld by a
vote of this house, it is withheld under a
mistaken sense of duty.
Mr. ECKER. It is rather presumption in
me, I know, to get up here and say one word
after the very able argument of the gentleman
from Baltimore county (Mr. Ridgely.) That
gentleman says this hundred dollars was re-
ceived in addition to their mileage,
Mr. MILLER. In addition to their usual'
mileage.
Mr. ECKER. Every man got a hundred dol-
lars besides his mileage. I got one hundred
and twenty-four dollars. But according to
the construction of the gentleman, I should
have taken the twenty-four from the hun-
dred dollars and received seventy-six dollars
If they bad adjusted the mileage in that kind
of style, taken the usual mileage from the
hundred dollars, how would it halve worked "
We had a very worthy friend from Anne
Arundel county, who resided in the city of
Annapolis. He would have got his hundred
dollars straight out, because he had no mile-
age to deduct from it, while the members
from Allegany and Worcester and Washing-
ton and Somerset, would have got their one
hundred dollars, with their mileage off.
Now this whole thing is nothing more nor
less than a raid upon the State treasury
When I reached home last Saturday morn-
ing, my friends asked me, when we were going
to adjourn? I said, "We have got all
through, except stitching the pieces together |
and making a book of it "—and then I added
in a joking way—"No, there is forty thou-
sand dollars of the appropriation left yet, and
we are going back to distribute that on Mon-
day and Tuesday next." Now, from indica-
tions here, I am beginning to be afraid that
what said as ajoke will turn out to be the
fact. I should be very sorry to have my
words prove true, I therefore move that we
adjourn.
The motion to adjourn was not seconded.
Mr. BOND. The mileage now claimed un-
der the amendment of the gentleman from
Queen Anne (Mr. Lee,) is claimed as a
matter of law, as an absolute right of mem-
bers of this convention, under the existing
law of this State, It seems to me that there
are one or two lawyers here who differ from
that opinion. Yet the other lawyers are of
the opinion that this claim is right according
to the law. Now, if it be that there is a
doubt as to whether this be the law or not,
then I say there are circumstances now exist-
ing which ought to give that doubt in favor
of those claiming this mileage.
What is the state of the case now as com-
pared with the state of the case when this
resolution number four was passed? On that
day—and I have looked at the record for the
purpose of ascertaining that fact—gold was at
a premium of 67 1/2—now it is 1.50 percent, pre-
mium, And if the reason then given for in-
creasing the mileage was a good one, how
much stronger is the argument now? in point
of fact five dollars a day now is very little more
than two dollars a day in coin; and yet that
is the rate at which we are now being paid.
It is for this reason that I say that if there
be any doubt about the matter at all—though
1 do not think there is any—if there be any
doubt at all upon the question of the law,
it should be given in favor of the claimants',
But this question, according to my judg-
ment, has been settled; and I confess I have
had but little experience in the construction
of statutes. The legislature undertook toad-
just—what? To adjust the mileage to which
members were entitled. Was it necessary
that, according to my friend from Baltimore
city (Mr. Stockbridge,) they should have de-
scended to count the number of miles that
each member lived away from here, and say
that he was entitled to so much mileage?
No, sir. They had the right to give the gross
sum if they chose. They did give it—whether
rightfully or wrongfully as regards the differ-
ent members it is not for us to inquire. The
matter of adjusting the mileage was referred
to the committee on accounts. They did ad-
just the mileage, and under that adjustment
they awarded one hundred dollars to each
member of the legislature. Then came the
law calling this convention together, which
says, that in addition to the five dollars per
diem, the members of the convention should
be entitled to the mileage allowed to mem- |
