visions of section 17, Article 2, and. section 30, Article 3, of
the Constitution:

"An Act to amend the Act of January session, 1865,
chapter 70, entitled an Act to authorize the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company to build a Railroad from a point on

a line of its road within the State of Maryland, between
Knoxville and the Monocacy Junction, through Frederick
and Montgomery counties, to the boundary of the District of

Columbia, so as to make a direct connection with the city of
Washington, by amending and re-enacting the fourth sec-
tion of said Act."

But I feel that it is due to the position I have taken in
favor of the taxation of all railroads in the State, equally
with other property, to submit to the Senate a portion of the
message I had prepared to send with the bill returned with-
out my signature, as I had intended to return it; and to give
the reasons why the bill was subsequently signed instead.
In that paper I used this language:

This bill, introduced in the Senate March 8th, was hurried
through that body on the following day by a suspension of
the rules, was carried to the House of Delegates on the suc-
ceeding day, and passed without reference to a Committee,
as required by a rule of the House, having received its three
readings and passage on one day by two suspensions of the
rules, and without giving members time or opportunity to

examine its details.
This hasty legislation, which by Article 2, section 17, of

the Constitution, the veto power was conferred upon the Gov-
ernor to " guard against," was entirely unnecessary in this
case, from the fact that the bill passed through so inform-
ally and hastily, because of the argument of its supporters
that it was necessary to preserve the charter, was not pre-
sented to me for my approval until March 19th, after the
adjournment of the Senate, nine days after its passage, and
only two days (one of which was Sunday,) before the expira-
tion of the charter intended to be renewed.

But my objection to the bill is not so much because of the
"hasty" as the "partial legislation" it confers, and which

the Constitution in the same section delegates the power to
the Governor to "guard against."

The power conferred by the bill is given to the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company to construct this road. The
Act of 1826, chapter 123, exempts "the shares of the capital
stock of said Company from the imposition of any tax or bur-
then," Under this Act the Company claims that all their
capital, shares, and real and personal property, are exempt
from taxation. It may well be questioned whether the Legis-
lature of 1826 exempting the amount of the then capital
stock (three millions of dollars) of this Company from taxa-