viii

in the year previous. It was probable that the reverse of this
agreeable result would have been experienced, owing to the
law passed at the late session of the Legislature, providing
" where an executor or administrator shall renounce his com-
missions he shall not he taxed thereon."

The Act of the General Assembly of 1860, for the relief of
one of the sureties of Nathaniel Hickman, late Register of
Wills for Baltimore city, has had the effect of staying pro-
ceedings against Hickman's bond, and nothing therefore has
been received into the Treasury on this account,

It is gratifying to be able to state that in the past year
punctuality has generally characterized the transactions of the
Registers of Wills with this Department.

EXCESS OF FEES.

The revenue derived from the excess of Officer's Fees, un-
der the 1st section of Article X of the Constitution, and sec-
tion 9 of Article XVIII of the Code, for the fiscal year,
amounted to $10,814.57, being less by the sum of $675.12
than was received on the same account in 1859, but more,
with that exception, than was received in any previous year.
Of the amount received into the Treasury, the Clerk of the
Superior Court of Baltimore city paid $5,200; the Clerk of
the Court of Common Pleas, 617.67 ; the Clerk of the Crimi-
nal Court $2,180, and the State's Attorney of Baltimore city
$2,816 90.

The attention of the Legislature has been repeatedly called
to the difficulty and embarrassment attending the enforce-
ment of the Xth Article of the Constitution—the propriety of
a Legislative construction, and the necessity of some enact-
ment to render it effectual, but it has been without avail. In
the absence of Legislative action, such an interpretation as
was deemed fair and reasonable has been placed upon that
provision of the Constitution, by my predecessors in office,
and adopted by me—mindful at the same time of the interest
of the State in receiving the excess, and of the interest of the
community in securing the services of faithful and competent
officers.