1734 VETOES.

Following the urgent suggestion of Police Commissioner
Stanton that the remaining Police Bills be vetoed, I am veto-
ing the following bills:

Chapter 279 (Senate Bill 333), Chapter 379 (Senate Bill
133), Chapter 391 (Senate Bill 268), Chapter 535 (House Bill
510), Chapter 537 (House Bill 558) and Chapter 623 (House
Bill 415).

The bills refer to salary increases for certain groups within
the department, a radical change in pension payments, and
elevations in rank through legislation of other members of the
force.

I quote the following paragraph from the Commissioner's
letter to me which fully explains the situation:

"A growing practice by members of the Department to make
salary raids upon each legislative session should be brought to
an end. This last session was the worst since 1930 and it
might be timely to have a survey of the salary scale and a
general set-up of the several Departments of the Police Force by
a non-political Commission and once and for all put an end to
these bi-ennial scrambles for increased pay in group move-
ments. The regulations require application to and approval
by the Police Commissioner for any such action on the part of
members of the Department, or that the offenders be amenable
to charges for failure to do so, but what a sorry plight would
be presented this year—it would mean that probably two hun-
dred or more members would be put under charges because in
but two instances that I now recall, was anything said to me
about their proposed action. If this situation continues, it
will bring about a complete breakdown in the discipline of the
Department and utterly destroy the control of the Commis-
sioner in one of the most vital functions of the office. "

The difficulty has been that increases in salary to members
of the force can only be secured through legislation and mem-
bers of the General Assembly have not had the benefit of a
comprehensive study and report on the salary scale of the
Baltimore City Department, Certainly the legislators cannot
be blamed for doing their best to adjust salary differences
when they were deprived of any detailed survey of the entire
department, which would have revealed any salary deficiencies
or inequalities.

In order that this "hit and miss" method may be discarded
and to the end that a businesslike approach may be made to
this whole situation, I am appointing a Commission to make a
thorough study of the grades, salaries and pension fund of the
Police Department so that when the next session of the Legis-