Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1858-04-23

which, including the subscription here
by authorized on the part of the State to
the stock of said company at the par
value thereof, will be adequate to the con-
st,uctioa Of said railroad, y that then
and in that case the million dollars set
apart for and intended 10 be appropriated
to said work, shall Do held sacfed and the
JaiM Of the State is Hereby pledged, that
the said million of dollars shall be applied
to the erclastre purpose Of acorhs Of IN
istsie5 isil eatts eli He Hestefa Shore
and for no other purpose whatever; and
shall be subject to disposition BY any
future Legislature for This purpose"
The next and last appropriation was
made in'lS30, amounting to 81 325 COO,
making for tho Western Shore a grand
total of more than fifteen millions of dol
lars, and only ONE solitary million to the
Eastern Shore.
Let us now see how far the two Shores
have received the benefits which these
appropriations were intended to confer.
Of those made for the Western Shore all
have been paid. The greater portion Of
this has been hopelessly sunk in the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; 1,500,-
600 have also been given up to the Bal
timore and Suspuehanna Railroad, (sincc
the adoption Of the present constitution)
and the portion which has paid any divi-
dends has been comparatively small.
The Western Shore has therefore had
the use of this immense sum for period
Of more than twenty years, during which
time the arrearages of interest have
amounted to nearly if not quite as much
as the principal, making the sum of which
the Western Shore has had the actual
benefit about $4,000, 600. 1t should
also be borne in mind that various mod
ifications in the terms Of these loans
have been made from time to time for
the advantage Of the companies on the
Western Shore, whereby all their works
have been finished and the full benefit of
them enjoyed; whilst we have been in-
iurcd by the influx Of western produce
at the season when we are compelled to
force our grain upon the market, and by
the increase Of representation of the
Western Shore, arising from the increase
of population caused by her public works.
On the other hand large portion Of
the back interest was funded and added
to the principal Of the State debt, thus
increasing the amount Of interest for
which the direct tax had to be laid. OF
this tax the Eastern Shore has paid its
full proportion more paaictuolty than the
Western Shore. And now let US sec
what has become Of the solitary million.
the benefits of which were secured to the
Eastern Shore by solemn pledge of the
State faith--a pledge which has been so
well kept in the case of the direct tax.
The very Legislature which granted
the last appropriation to the Western
Shore passed an act in direct opposi-
ton to the wishes and efforts of the
Eastern Shore Railroad Company, direc-
ting that the affairs Of that company
should be wound up, provided The act
ras acloptedby tie Stockholders, the State
herself holding a majority of Tie stoch !;
and requiring her directors to vote for
accepting the act and never to this day
has the Eastern Shore derived any ben
eft whatever from this single appropri-
alton, whilst she has contributed in tax.
es more than the amount she was to have
received. The large amount which has
been thus wrenchcd from us by the tax
gathcrer has deprived us of the means
of constructing the public works which
are so much needed on this shore; and
it was only after they were brought into
our reach by the enterprise of our neigh
bors iu Delaware that we were ena-
blcd again to undertake them for our
selves. In 1858 we were ready to
commence our first work, and as the
sessions Of tho Legislature had then been
made biennial, we proceeded to do SO
without awaiting the payment of our APP
preparation.
We relied implicitly on the faith of a
State which prides itself upon its pune
tualiiy 10 its /qeiga creditors, and which
in revising its constitution had express
ly provided "Hut all HaJHtties incur-
red shouid remain as if his constitution
had not been dtopted."
But what enactment, however solemn,
can add to the force of an obligation
which rests upon that basis from which
the constitution itself derives its whole
force aud efficacy.
State ruth is the rock on which alone
we rely for the security Of all our rights
and liberties. When that is once dcs-
troyed constitutions and laws become as
worthless as the paper upon which they
are written.
In 1906 we applied for the payment
Of our appropriation, through the united
voice Of all the representatives from the
Eastern Shore. The bill was passed by
the lower House, but failed in the Senate
for want Of proper time, owing to the |
Limitation of The sessions adopted BY the
State since the passage Of The appropria-
tion bills for the Western Shore. A re-
cord Of this fact was made by the Senate
on the journal of their proceedings. A
convention Of delegates from four coun-
ties was also held at Easton, carly in
April, 1856. and issued an address to
the people Of the State, giving A full
statement Of the claim, and the reasons
for an extra session at that time YET no
effort was made by the State to redeem
her plighted faith by the call Of an extra
session for that purpose, and The Eastern
Shore was thus subjected 70 the loss Of
300, 900 in the interest on her appropri.
alton for two years, in addition to the