ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 51

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW—HALL OP RECORDS—SEC. 29 OF

ART. 3 OF THE CONSTITUTION DOES NOT FORBID

REPEAL BY IMPLICATION—LAND OFFICE—EARLY

RECORDS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE OPERATION

OF THE LAND OFFICE ARE TRANSFERRED TO

THE CUSTODY OF THE HALL OF RECORDS

COMMISSION

November 8, 1935.
Edgar F. Czarra, Esq.,
Land Commissioner,
Annapolis, Maryland.

DEAR SIR:

I have your letter of November 1st, referring to my opinion to
the Hon. Carroll T. Bond dated April 25th, 1935, in which I held
that the clause in Chapter 18 of the Acts of 1935, conferring the
custody of certain records previously held by the Land Office, upon
the Hall of Records Commission, was constitutional. You inquire
whether my opinion went to the extent of holding that the present
Act repealed Chapter 573 of the Acts of 1904, and if so, whether
the attempted repeal could be effective, under Article III, Section
29 of the Maryland Constitution.

Chapter 18 of the Acts of 1935 expressly provides that "all
papers, records, relics and other memorials, connected with the
early history of Maryland not required for the necessary operations
of any other office, shall be under the supervision of and belong to
the said Commission/' Sec. 2 of the Act expressly provides for the
repeal of all inconsistent laws. Section 29 of Article III of the Con-
stitution has never been so strictly construed as to prevent repeal
by implication. Davis v. State 1 Md. 158.

Chapter 573 of the Acts of 1904 merely provided for the trans-
fer of the custody of certain records, including the records of the
Prerogative Court, from the custody of the Register of Wills for
Anne Arundel County to the Land Office, and authorized the pay-
ment of a certain sum to the Register for his previous indexing ser-
vices. The Act was not intended to have any continuing effect,
except insofar as it imposed the duty of custody upon the Land
Office, which duty has now been imposed upon the Hall of Records
Commission, to the extent that the records mentioned fall into the
category described in the Act of 1935.