Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1860-06-14

We will give in our next, the Constitution
and Bylaws adopted by this Convention
OYSTER WAR.
The only news Of stirring interest from St.
Marys, is in reference to the oyster beds of that
county Messrs. Long, Hutchins, Morgan, Tip
pet and Miles, as mentioned in our last, attemp-
ted to appropriate to themselves the right to
STIR up the oysters and very unexpectedly stirred
up the people of old St. ,Mary's large pub
lie meeting was held at Leonardtown week be-
fore last and some funny developments made
1t seems that MIR. Miles, State Senator from St.
Mary's, introduced in the Senate, at the last
session of the Legislature, the following bill,
which passed the Senate without negative
vote, and on reaching the House, was referred
to select committee of three, Mr.. Durant, of
st. Mary's, chairman, who reported it back for
second reading. On the third reading it passed
the House with only two dissenting votes, Messrs.
Bayless, of Hartford, and LintLcum, of Dorches-
ter.
SECTION BE it enacted by the General assembly
of Maryldnd That the seventeenth, nineteenth,
twenty-sixth, twenty seventh, twenty eighth and
thirtieh sections of the fifty third Article of the
Public General Laws, hereby repealed and the
following inserted in lieu of the same, that in lieu
of the seventeenth Section-Any person desiring to
take up vacant or Escheat Lands. shall obtain
warrant from the Commissioner of the Land Office,
directed to the Surveyor of the County in which the
land lies, to which it may be contiguous, requr-
ing him, his deputy authorized agent, to survey
the same and return certificate of survey to the
Land Office within year from the date Of the
warrant and such warrant may be in the form
! heretofore used in the Land Office and may be
ton OF escheat warrant, or a warrant of resurvey
as may be best suited to the case of the party ap-
plying for the same: That in lieu of the nineteenth
section, any per son may obtain common warrant,
special warrant, or proclamation warrant for all
kinds of public or unappropriated lands of this
State, by applying to the Commissioner of the Land
Office, and by paying the said Commissioner the
patent shall issue the return of said warrant
and the accompanying certificate of survey, unless
the sum of fifty cents per acre be paid the said Com
missioner before issuing the same, unless the land
lies in Allegany, or Washington counties. and in
that case patent shall issue unless twenty cents
per for all lands in Allegany, and twenty five
cents for all lands in Washington county, be pre-
viously paid. That in lieu of the twenty-sixth
ton. Any person who has obtained warrant to
survey vacant escheat lands shall within one
year from the date of such warrant unless the same
be renewed, pay for the land included in the
tifcate of survey at the rates prescribed by the
nineteenth section of this article, and shall in adj
diton pay for such Improvements may be on
such vacant land That in lieu of the twenty ghth
section, the person who first applies to the Com
missioner of the Land Office for a warrant during
business hours shall be entitled to the same upon
paying the usual fees and charges. That in lieu of
the thr tcth section, any certificate of survey may
from the date of the warrant, and it shall at all
times be the duty of the Commissioner to renew
said warrant by request and at the time designated
By the party suing out the samc at any time pre-
its exDiratiOn. and the said renewal Sha1 III
be held to be original warrant, and shall convey
all the rights powers and privileges granted by its
preceding issue. and the rights which any person
may have acquired previous to the issuing Of any
warrant, shall not be effected by the same.
Immediately upon the passage of the bill thus
Morgan, Miles, & Co., applied at the Land Of
fee for patents covering ego thousand acres of
land under the waters of the Potomac, St.
Mary's, Patuxent and other Rivers and the
Chesapeake Bay, in fact all the oyster beds of
the State on both~'shores. They obtained the
warrants necessary and commenced troubling
the waters, by surveying and soon found the
people troubling them rather seriously. We feel
some interest in the matter, as they have also APP
proprated to the same Company, all the fine
patuxent oysters, even within the limits of old
Charles.
We published last week sketch of the first
proceedings which came to us, and also the let
ter of Messrs. Long, Morgan, Miles, & Co. This
week we enabled to lay before Our readers
the bill as enacted by the last Legislature, as an
amendment to the Code.
At the peoples meeting held at Leonardtown,
the following preamble and resolutions were
adopted:
Whereas, the public mind is justly agitated and
excited by the late attempt of certain parties in this
county claiming the power to locate immense war
rants covering six hundred and sixty thousand
acres of the oyster lands of this State And where
as the Government of this State formed, insti-
tuted and adopted for the mutual security, protec-
ton and prosperity of the people-And whereas the
right claimed by these parties, is in violation OF
the inmemoriaf and vested rights of the people at
large
Therefore, be it Resolved That the recent act of
the Gener; Assembly of Maryland, repeating GER
tain sections of the 53rd Article of the Code of Pub
lie Laws is wrong and lays open the way ifnpro-
per and unwarrantable appropriations Of public or
iinoccupit lands.
And, Be it further Resoued, That the action Of
Messrs Miles and Morgan, as members Of the Sen
ate and House of Delegates, respectively, in at
tempting to avail themselves of the provisions o.
law passed during their ncumbeney in Office
and by the direct agency of Mr.. Miles, is especial
" to be condemned by all who would preserve in
purity the acts of Legislators, in their Legislative
capacity.