xii

Baltimore be divided into three separate collection districts,
as laid down under the provisions of the Constitution for the
representation of Members of the General Assembly, and
that a Collector be appointed by the city authorities for each
of said districts, subject to the same regulations provided for
the collection of taxes in other parts of the State.

The receipts from auction duties have never amounted, in
any one year, to the sum of twenty thousand dollars. The
State not receiving any revenue until they exceed this sum, I
would suggest a change in the law requiring the auctioneers,
after paying for their licenses, to account with and pay over
all auction duties to some officer of the city of Baltimore.
The receipts under the present system, being paid into the
Treasury are withdrawn immediately afterwards by the city
authorities, upon a statement furnished from this office, and
applied to the improvement of the channel in the Chesapeake
Bay and Patapsco River. By this change the unnecessary
trouble and labor of being, as it were, the accountant between
the auctioneers and the authorities of the city, would be
avoided.

The receipts from the Inspection of Tobacco during the fiscal
year for 1863, was $28,096.68. This, as compared with the
present year, amounting to $14,643.91, shows an excess of
$13,452.77 for 1863 over 1864. The salaries of the five In-
spectors increased by the last Legislature from $1200 to 2500,
for part of the year 1864, made the payment for this item,
alone $7,991.85, which with the insurance and ground rents,
left the nett profits small as compared with those of preced-
ing years. The erection of State Warehouses for the storage
of Tobacco was commenced as early as the year 1826, since
which time the State has freely loaned her credit for the pur-
chase of real estate, wharves and the erection of other suita-
ble buildings for the accommodation of the wants of the pro-
ducers of this staple. A distinct fund has been created known
as the "Tobacco Fund Debt," under the Acts of 1835, ch.
350; 1843, ch. 310; 1845, ch. 97; 1846, ch. 348; and of 1853,
ch. 381, which exists as a subsisting indebtedness, amounting
to $198,689.97. The revenue arising annually from these
Inspectors have not been sufficient to extinguish the interest,