The question recurred upon the provision
in relation to schools.
Upon this question Mr. HOFFMAN called for
the yeas and nay?, which were ordered.
The question being then taken by yeas and
nays, it resulted—yeas 36, nays 30—as fol-
lows :
Yeas—Messrs. Goldsborough, President;
Abbott, Annan, Audoun, Barron, Brooks,
Carter, Crawford, Cunningham, Daniel, Earle,
Ecker, Galloway, Hebb, Hopper, Keefer,
Kennard, Larsh, Markey, McComas, Mulli-
kin, Murray, Negley, Nyman, Parker, Pugh,
Ridgely, Russell, Sands, Sneary, Stockbridge,
Swope, Sykes, Valliant, Wickard, Wooden
—36.
Nays—Messrs. Belt. Bond, Chambers, Dail,
Davis, of Charles, Davis, of Washington,
Dent, Duvall, Edelen, Greene, Harwood)
Hatch, Henkle, Hoffman, Hollyday, Hopkins.
Johnson, Jones, of Somerset, King, Lee,
Mitchell, Miller, Morgan, Parran, Schley,
Smith, of Carroll, Smith, of Dorchester, Stir-
ling, Thomas—30.
The provision was accordingly adopted.
The question then recurred upon the clause
prohibiting the legislature from "granting
divorces,"
The question being taken, the clause was
adopted.
The question then was upon the clause pro-
hibiting the legislature from passing special
laws " relating to fees or salaries."
Mr. STIRLING. I really would like to know
what a local or special law in regard to fees
and salaries is. Upon my word, I do not
understand what it means. There must be
some offices in some of the counties which do
not exist in others. And in some parts of the
State the salaries are different from what
they are in others, and must be different.
You cannot pay anybody in the counties
what you do in Baltimore city. And when
you make a difference in the salaries, that
difference is a local or special law, it seems
to me.
Mr. BELT. In addition to what has been
said by the gentleman from Baltimore city
(Mr. Stirling,) suppose that we are so cir-
cumstanced in some parts of Prince George's
county, that we cannot get a decent consta-
ble without paying more than is paid in the
county of Charles. Are we to be deprived
of having a constable, because the law re-
quires the same salary to be paid all over the
State?
Mr. STIRLING. And suppose you give a
constable in the counties mileage, and do not
give it to him in Baltimore city;, that is
local legislation. Nobody gives a constable
mileage in Baltimore city; but you must
give it to them in the counties.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I wish to say a word or
two in explanation. My colleague (Mr. Stir-
ling) shows that he understands the question
better than he supposes, a great deal. He |
will probably remember that last winter
there were applications here from a dozen
different counties asking to have the fees
of constables and magistrates increased in
their several counties. Sometimes it was a
single constable who wanted his fees in-
creased. And when a general law had been
framed which might affect the whole State,
then you would see gentlemen rise in their
places, and ask that this county, and that
county, and another county, might be ex-
empt from its operations, until I believe one
of the general laws, which were passed for the
whole State, on one of these subjects, was
reduced down so that every county in the
State was exempted but two.
This provision is designed to accomplish
this purpose; that the salaries and fees of
any office shall be the same throughout the
State. Take the very instance which my
colleague has cited. What objection can
there be to framing ageneral law allowing
constables a certain amount of mileage? If
they do not travel the miles in Baltimore
city, of course they cannot demand it, any
more than they can in the counties if the
miles are not travelled there, if a man in the
county has a warrant to serve at his own
door, he does not get mileage. And the
same thing in Baltimore city; if he does not
travel the miles, he can have no claim to
mileage. I can see no difficulty in regulating
this matter by general law. All these things
are paid to persons by the counties. And
when you come to make the payment, if it be
necessary that any discrimination should be
made there, what does the legislature know
about it? How can gentlemen from Wash-
ington, Frederick, Cecil and Worcester coun-
ties say but what they can get just as good a
constable in Prince George's county, and for
the same fees, as just over the BORDER=1 in
Charles county? But the local authorities
there can understand and decide that thing;
and there is the place where it should be de-
cided, I am for having those authorities
decide these things who are interested in
them, and who know something about it.
After all, it comes to about this; that the
person, who really has the money go into his
pocket, coroes up here with an ex parte obli-
gation, influences the delegation from his
county as such men perhaps can influence
them, gets at report from them in favor of his
application, and then it is passed through the
legislature on the ground that it is purely a
local matter. Now I say, if it be such local
matter, then let the authority over it be dele-
gated to the local authorities, if it is not a
local matter, then ie', a general law be passed
to regulate the whole thing.
Mr. STIRLING. I agree with my colleague
(Mr. Stockbridge) in that. If this provision,
instead of saying that the legislature shall
not do 80 and so. it stated that the legislature
shall authorize the county authorities to do |
