The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1841-10-02

TO THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND
The following is an extract from the
llth No. of these ESSAYS.

llth No. of these essays.
SIN giving q particular account of The
cmbarraSsments into which the STATE has
been dram By the 'viid spirit of Internal
improvement, my object is 10 cali the at
tention Of the Legislature 10 the necessity
Of guarding against an dseTsG.s IF eris-
ting ecils, aud Of prouiding, if possible,
for the gradual redemption of the public
dett 1 do mol perceire how these objects
can be effected withort resisting the fur
McriSsae andhypoiheca'ion Of State stock,
reducing the public expenditures 5yarigid
system Of economy; and Increasing the re-
rennc By a moderate tar on real and per-
sonal estate. till 1t is sufficient 10 pav the
interest and lcare q SMALL SURPLUS to
be applied 10 the principal of the Public
de6t. Two hundred thousand dollars a
gear, in addition to the present rcrcnue,
ronId probably be sufficient, if RAISED
AT ONCE; BUT TIE LONGER TIE
TAXES ARE POSTPONED THE
HEAVIER THEY MUST BE- AT
LAST. Tile opinion mag he held BY
SOME FEW that Gds debt isRot 6inding
on the State; and by OTHERS that, #
binding, 1t willneuer be paid, because Tie
PEOPLE aciE not consent 10 be Mrcd.-
But 1t has been CONTRACTED and
CONF!"NED by successive Legisla-
tnres, SANCTIONED by the PEOPLE
themselves. IN Tie continued RE-ELEC-
TlON Of Representatives RHO rcyc most
prominent in creating IT.; and the oJHga-
tons ofMc State are in the han&s of men.
mho rclicd upon her good fljih, ard lct0sc
borrowed moncyhas d3em erprad, d onhcr
morkS. II is IMPOSSIBLE to question
The validity Of The debt, and unreasonable
to plead inability 1cithom first making an
effort to discharge it,"
Thus spoke Governor Gragon to a
House of Delegates, majority uf which
was composed his own political friends
being of the party then striving to rc-clcct
Martin Van RlGgs.a /. ~ ? -. -rncy--
slty Of tax; and with The nerve and can
dor OF an honest statespnr, he Id not
hesitate to recommend ii. Let us not
forget, either, that this recommendation
ives made at the opening Of the session eff
1889, and before the extraordinary sacri-
fees OF the States bonds, by reason of
Mr.. President Thomas mismanogement,
had become known; for, beyond all cavil,
that msmanagemf incrca led the neces-
sIly OF lcvying the tax.
well, IN the face of all these FACTS
and OF this urgent recommendation of
direct tax, we find Mr.. President Thomas
appearing in person before the Legislature
and Employing a further issue of bond, to
the amount Of 100000 dollars, &C. r..
1889, State Llbrary.) we further find the
Committee Of Internal Improvement Com
sisllng of gentlemen ofthe Van Burer par
ty, with Mr.. John Thompson Mason at
their head reporting bill proposing the
Issue OF bonds to Mr.. President Thomas
to the amount Of 100000 dollars. to
meet the ''eXlgencies Of the year, and de-
ciarlng that the policy at that time of a.
oandonlng the canal would be "unwise
and disastrous" in the extreme, fRep.
Com Int. Imp. 1889, State Library;) and
we further find the Van Buren, members of
the Legislature, nearly to a man, voting for
this very bill proposing to entrust the sale
OF Sl,5oO,OUO more of the Peoples mo-
ney-not to the usual financial officers Of
the Government; oh, no, that they refus-
ed: but (save the markD to the custody
and discretion Of Mr.. Francis Thomas.
who had, by falling "nto the hands of
scoundrels," (poor fellowO souandered
MILLIONS the very year belore,
Well, what further do we fnd? While
the same Van Buren, gentlemen are striv
ing to increase the public debt to the a.
mount of Sl,3O0,000, to meet "present
exlgenries," they resolved to avoid Go
vernon Grasons recommendation of d.
rect TAX, by exhausting al the states re-
sources-the remaining portion Of the sur
plus pledged to the counties for
the support Of Primary Schools-2nd the
States Bank Stock-and thereby throw
the responslbility-the odium, as they
contended-upon subsequent Legisla-
ture, of providing system for the liqui-
dation of the interest accruing on The pub
lie debt, although at the same time thew
confessed, there was no ESCAPE from a
DIRECT TAX after the year l8ll. We
will convict them Of this out of their own
mouth s, and then we shall have done.
The Report Of the Committee Of WAYS
and Means of the session OF 1899. NAV be
found in the vol. Pub. Doc. 1899, State
Library. It now lies before us, and bears
the signature of four gentlemen, ali Van
Buren, members--to wit: William A. Spen-
Ger, OF Queen Anne's county-John Nc
Pherson, of Frederick county-C. Hum
phreys, of Somerset county, and John
James Graves, of Baltimore city. The
oAowIGg are extracts from the Rspor,