combinations are formed which can carry
through any measure, and party influences
and party control cannot check legislation of
this sort. And there is no power to check it
unless you impose some such restraint as this
in the Constitution. And it is a very salu-
tary one. Our legislation has degenerated
from measures for the public good into mere
legislation for various local interests in the
several counties. We have seen it illustrated,
day after day. Now, as I understand these
provisions, proposed by the gentleman from
Baltimore city (Mr. Stockbridge,) are in-
tended to check that very evil; not intended
to deny to the legislature any of the general
powers belonging to it. It merely provides
that the legislature shall not pass these mere
local laws that are jerrymandered through
this hall by local influences to the detriment
of the public interests of the people of this
State, That is the purport of these propo-
sitions. Gentlemen say they cannot vote for
some of them because it may deny the general
power over the subjects to the legislature.
Now, it does not affect the general power of
the legislature. It is intended only to restrict
the legislature in the exercise of special
powers to the injury of the general powers
that ought to be exercised for the benefit of
the public interests of the State. That, I
presume, is the object of the gentleman from
Baltimore city. And if the gentleman will
accept of this amendment—"unless recom-
mended by the governor and officers of the
treasury department," I will vote for it.
Cases will necessarily arise in which per-
sons have overpaid into the treasury. And
if it has been done in error, and honestly, it
should be repaid. But instead or coming
here and appealing to members, very fre-
quently resorting to improper influences, one
measure made to depend upon another, the
votes of members from one county upon one
measure influenced by votes of members
from another county upon another measure ;
and fifty of these local bills being carried
through by combinations which ought never
to exist in legislative bodies—instead of that,
let them appeal to the proper department and
then if their claims are proper, and are certi-
fied to by the governor and treasury officers,
the legislature would have no difficulty in
passing them, for the books of the treasury
department would show the true state of the
case. In fact that is the law now. The
comptroller is required to certify to the legis-
lature all cases of improper payment, and
the legislature upon the faith of his certifi-
cate, does refund to the party all over-pay-
ments of money. Under the general provis-
ion of the law under the Constitution the
party has his remedy.
But is it confined to this? Why, I was
going to say millions of dollars, certainly
thousands of dollars were .appropriated last
winter for purely local purposes, by purely |
local laws, and not at all with any regard to
the certificates of the officers of the treasury
department. So great was the flood of these
bills, that one of the senators, when I went
into the hall the last night of the session, told
me that he had to move an adjournment of
the senate for the purpose of saving to the
State of Maryland thousands upon thousands
of dollars which be knew would otherwise be
appropriated by the passage of bills before the
senate. Whether that was so or not, I heard
the senator make the statement, and the
senate did adjourn some half hour or so be-
fore the expiration of its regular session. And
I believe it was more from the dread of this
thing than from any other cause. They said
we Would have no treasury if they continued
much longer in session. And I thought the
senate did a wise thing when they did ad-
journ.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I will cheerfully accept
the amendment suggested by the gentleman
from Talbot (Mr. Goldsborough,) to come in
at the close of so much of my proposition as
may be adopted.
Mr. KING. As I understand it the refund-
ing of this money is to depend entirely upon
tie governor and treasury officers; and the
legislature will have nothing to do but what
they say. I can only say that I had no idea
the legislature was such a corrupt body until
the gentleman from Talbot (Mr. Goldsbo-
rough) addressed this convention. I am op-
posed to this amendment.
The question recurred upon the first clause
of the proposition of Mr. STOCKBRIDGE, pro-
hibiting the legislature from passing special
laws " refunding money paid into the State
treasury * * * * * * unless recom-
mended by the governor and officers of the
treasury department."
Upon this question Mr. MILLER called for the
yeas and nays, which were ordered.
The question was then taken, by yeas and
nays, and resulted—yeas 46, nays 16—as fol-
lows:
Yeas—Messrs, Goldsborough, President;
Abbott, Annan, Barron, Bond, Brooks, Car»
ter, Chambers, Crawford, Cunningham, Dail,
Daniel, Davis, of Charles, Davis, of Wash-
ington, Earle, Ecker, Galloway, Greene,
Hebb, Hoffman, Hollyday, Hopkins, Hopper,
Keefer, Kennard, Larsh, Markey, McComas,
Mullikin, Murray, Negley, Nyman, Parker,
Pugh, Ridgely, Russell, Sands, Schley, Smith,
of Carroll, Smith, of Dorchester, Sneary,
Stockbridge, Swope, Sykes, Valliant, Wick-
ard, Wooden—46.
Nays— Messrs. Belt, Dent, Duvall, Edelen,
Harwood, Hatch, Henkle, Jones, of Somerset,
King, Lee, Mitchell, Miller, Morgan, Parran,
Stirling, Thomas—16.
The clause was accordingly adopted.
The next question was upon the second
branch of the clause, prohibiting the legisla-
ture from passing special laws "releasing |
