Methodist chapel, gome small Presbyterian
church, or some other small church, which is
not in the habit of receiving donations as the
other church is, day by day, the year round.
Applications were made in several instances
to the Legislature at its last session, in refer-
ence to small donations of $100 or $150,
made to some church struggling for exist-
ence in some portion of the State, where it
was highly important that it should receive
the donation as a means of continuing its
existence.
In regard to the great church establish-
ments to which the gentleman refers, I know
them in Baltimore, and know how they work,
and that this article presents no obstacle to
them. These munificent gifts are bestowed,
and are received, and are held; they find no
difficulty on that point.
Mr. MILLER. Can land be deeded to that
church?
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE, Land is given and it is
held. It is done in this way; it is given,
sold, or willed to a certain officer of the
church, not to him as an officer of the church,
but as an individual. Yet his ecclesiastical
connection is such that he never has any
direct heirs; is such that all he has is at all
times arranged in such a manner that in case
of death it passes at once to some other mem-
ber of that great denomination. I could give
the names of the churches, and of the men
who hold the property, if the gentleman
chose to hear them. I know that hundreds
upon hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth
of property are held by a single man; not
deeded to the church, but deeded to him;
not deeded to him as a priest, but deeded to
him personally, and as an individual. I
know that men so holding this property have
held it year after year, and then it has passed
by a form of deed of sale to another digni-
tary of the church, while the one holding it
before, has been transferred to some other
field, has gone to Europe it may be. The
property bag been held by his successor, until
transferred to another dignitary of the church ;
these dignitaries always holding the same
official position, yet neither the devise nor
the deed alluding to that position, nor in
any way recognizing it. That is done every
day.
Mr. THOMAS All I have to say about it is
this: if such deeds as the gentleman men-
tions are made, and the property held by any
ecclesiastic, minister or priest, then those
deeds are void under this bill of rights.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. Not at all. This article
says—"gift, sale, or devise of land to any
minister, public teacher, or preacher of the
gospel, as such.''
Mr. THOMAS. I admit that. But it also
says "to or for the support, use, or benefit
of."
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. Certainly "as such."
The way it is done is just this: Suppose that |
my friend is a bishop; a deed is made to
him, not as bishop, not in trust for any
church or church establishment; but it is
made to him, his heirs and assigns forever;
or a devise is made for the benefit of him, his
heirs and his assigns forever. Yet by a pri-
vate regulation, under certain private oaths,
he never has that property in his hands one
day that there is not an arrangement made
by which, if he were to die, that property
would go to some other person, not as bishop,
not in trust for the church; but to some
other person distinctly and by name, yet one
who holds a certain official position in the
church. And so it is held and managed year
after year. I can trace back for more than
half a century particular pieces of ground so
held and regulated.
Mr. STIRLING. I agree to what my col-
league (Mr. Stockbridge) says; but that does
not strike me as an objection to this section.
Everything contained in this article is right
and true. The only effect of his argument it
seems to me is to show that the article is not
fully carried into effect. But if you strike
out the article entirely you open the door
still wider to the very difficulty the gentleman
suggests. It is possible for any one to
come to the Legislature and get their assent
to any rightful and proper disposition of
property. But it does strike me, as it strikes
my colleague, (Mr. Thomas,) that if the facts
can only be proved, all these deeds the gen-
tleman speaks of are void. If they are in
point of fact made for the actual benefit of
any religious sect, then they are void, for
there is no principle of law more clear than
the principle that the law does not allow any
trick or device to accomplish what it does
not allow to be done directly. The only
difficulty is the practical difficulty of discov-
ering the device. Of course the assumption,
on the face of a deed, is that the property is
given to A. B. his heirs and assigns forever.
But a court of equity can enquire whether
there is any reservation in fact, whether that
property is held for anybody else, and if they
prove the fact that it is a secret trust, then
the deed is void. It so happens that these
accumulations of land have not gone on to
such an extent as to awaken public fear. If
they do; then, under this article, the public
has the power to come in and set them aside.
I believe there is no denomination in this
State that has so much property as to excite
any distrust. And anything contrary to law
can be got at without any interested party
bringing the suit. Whether anybody will
take the trouble to do it is another thing.
But the right to enquire into it on the part of
the State always exists. If it doe's ever reach
a point to excite the apprehension of the peo-
ple it can be reached under this article.
I will go as far as any one to maintain
every denomination of Christian belief, by
all proper pecuniary assistance. But I believe |
