THE MARYLAND PATRONAGE 15

In English speaking countries political controversy usually turns
on some financial issue. Characteristic of Maryland finance were
low internal taxes, high customs duties (which however attracted
little notice), and high officers' fees. These last were notably
higher in Maryland than in Pennsylvania or Virginia. For in
Pennsylvania all fees were paid at once in money; and in Virginia,
among a larger population, officers had more business and could
afford to act for smaller sums. ⁷ Popular opposition turned then
in Maryland against fees, revolving about two perennial questions:
How high ought they to be ? And who might regulate them ?

Responsible persons usually agreed that officers' fees " ought
not only to be sufficient to pay them for their Labor, But Large
enough to Encourage Industry and Integrity in men of Ability to
Administer the Affairs of Government.... "⁸ Nor should fees
be so far reduced as to " discourage men of good Learning
Integrity and parts to accept of... the inferior offices... [or]
lessen and debase the State and Dignity of the superior officers
who... ought to be handsomely supported according to their
Several Characters not only for the sake of their own meritt and
Capacity but the Honour of the Government itself whereof they
are the immediate ministers. " ⁹

Unfortunately, agreement in principle did not prevent endless
quarreling at the practical level over this or that actual table of
fees. Baltimore wanted them kept high to preserve the value of
his patronage and in consequence his power. His chief officers,
sitting in the Upper House, wanted them kept high to preserve
their private incomes. But the delegates sought to lower them,
partly to save the people money and partly to reduce His Lord-
ship's influence.

Baltimore's authority to regulate fees, confirmed by the best
legal opinion, arose from his charter right to establish offices.
The Lower House, however, argued that fees had the character
of taxes and so could be regulated only by laws of Assembly.

Each party asserted its position by word and deed. The Gover-
nor in 1642 proclaimed a full table of fees which, at that early
time, went unchallenged by the Lower House. ¹⁰ In the second

⁷Cf. report of conference on officers' fees, Sept. 10, 1745 (Ibid. XLIV, 33).
⁸ Lords Baltimore and Guilford to Assembly, read April 21, 1720 (Ibid,
XXXIII, 543). "

⁹Upper House to Lower House, June 29, 1714 (Ibid., XXIX, 372).
¹⁰Ibid., I, 162.