44 THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT

"In all such cases it is held that the intent of the Legislature,
which is the test, was not to devolve a mere discretion, but to
impose a positive and absolute duty.

"The line which separates this class of cases from those
which involve the exercise of a discretion, judicial in its nature,
which courts cannot control, is too obvious to require remark.***"

In applying these rules to the Act before us, it is pertinent to
inquire into the meaning and purpose of this law, and, if it is not
mandatory, the resulting effect of its enactment. At the outset it may
be observed that unless the Act of 1945 is mandatory, it is difficult
to perceive that it added anything to the existing law, because Section
127 of Article 41 furnished the necessary authority for public officials
to deposit their records with the Commission. We are forbidden to
conclude that the Act of 1945 is meaningless and that no significance
can be attributed to it. The Act was intended to gather into one place
the ancient public records to which it refers in order to preserve them
against the ravages of time and the hazards of fire and theft. Its title,
after reciting that it enacts a new Section to be known as Section 126A
of Article 41 of the Code, gives its purpose as "directing the transfer
to the Hall of Records Commission of all papers, records and docu-
ments in the Court Houses of the State, which were made prior to
April 28th, 1788 * * * ." The preamble of the Act recites that many
of these records are in need of repair and are not sufficiently safe-
guarded against fire and deterioration, that the Hall of Records is
equipped for the proper filing, storage and indexing thereof, and that
it is desirable to have a central place in which they may be preserved
and safeguarded from fire and other hazards. Then follow the pro-
visions which state in terms that those records "shall be transferred
as soon as practicable" to the Hall of Records Commission.

The preservation of those ancient records of the colonial days
is surely a matter of great public interest. Their loss by fire could not
be compensated by insurance. The State recognized the need for an
adequate repository and as a result it constructed and equipped, at
great public expense, the Hall of Records Building at the seat of
government at Annapolis. After operating for a decade under a law
by which every public official was "authorized and empowered, in his
discretion" to deposit his records with the State, it was felt, no doubt,