Hon. OLIVER MILLER,

Speaker of the House of Delegates of Maryland,
DEAR SIR :

I hasten with very great pleasure to reply to the following
Order of your Honorable Body, which, although it passed the
House on the 23rd uitimo, was only handed to me to-day :

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,

HOUSE OF DELEGATES, Jan. 31st, 1867.
Hon. Oden Bowie,

President Baltimore '& Potomac Bail Road Company:
DEAR SIR :

The following order passed the House of Delegates, Jan-
uary 23rd, 1867:

Ordered, That the President of the Baltimore & Potomac
Rail Road Company, be and he is hereby requested to furnish
for the information of this General Assembly, without delay,
a copy of the contract as made by said Company, for the con-
struction of said road; also, the name and residence of each
contractor, if more than one, together with a list of the stock-
holders, and the amount or number of shares subscribed by
each, as also the amount paid on each share so subscribed to
this date. And further, it the contractors have commenced
the work on said road, when and where, and the amount of
work done at this time.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,
W. R. COLE,

Chief Clerk.

I herewith enclose a printed copy of the contract and char-
ter and its supplementary acts, every provision of which, I
will remark, has been strictly and scrupulously complied
with.

The contractors and their residences are,

Clinton Lloyd, Esq., Williamsport, Penn.,

John B. Clarke, Missouri,

Martin H. Cassell, Illinois,

J. W. Parrish, Louisiana,

Gideon L. Walker, Washington City,

John W. Forney, Philadelphia.