Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-03-17

State o. MARYLAND has no r;gh. to issu. s-i,,
taeias. These are four Of the iupor,an
Paia's you are 10 connect t,.e,h.r. Tan
confident. from the srganeat Of th. Sen.
aior fron Baltimore county. he is eonvin.
ced OF the fact th.s there Is co-par,ner.
ship existing. He has established th,,
fact core 'u>ivsly 10 nv miad and 10 the
whole S.oste that co-partnssship did
exist. Ifsuch eo-partnershia exists DO.
tween che State and the C,mp.ny, there
is no law in the laed that will gi 70 author.
isy to the State 20 issue seire faeias to
annul the charter Of the Baltimore and
Ohio Company. will take thee qaes-
,ions up serinsia. and although in the
enunciation I shalt make I u,y take nv
departure from this hall, a. rredictei b.
the Senator from Baltimore eouaty, I
must say that do il. knowing tha. [ a,s
Tor tie best interests Of toe Ssae acoor.
ding to my own judgment. Nov, sir. to
that most important point. to that poin,
to which have given some attention, I
will announce the fact here that l think
the capisa,inn tax upon the Baltin,r, and
Ohio Washington Branch is uncoa.,i,u.
;ional. not only from the facts presented
in the Nevada case aud the high authori
,y and legal opinion Of Reverdy J ,hnson
bu, believe it from my own construction
Of the law OF 1882 and the acts Of the As
scmb'y which imposed tha. oue-ifth tax
upon the Washington Branch Of the Bal.
timorc and Ohio Railroad. I will no.
read the act, but will call your attention
to the 9Th section OF the act Of 1892
that section which. it is said. Mr. Car
rest has ignored iu oil his communication.
to the Legislature. I will taks that as
the great section upon which will at
tempt to defend this position. What does
the act say? Tha. the State mus. havs
one-6fth Of the receipts of this road to 90
into the Treasury Of Maryland. Does i,
stop there7 Had it stopped there. there
would have been some donb, Of eans,ruc-
tisn. The act of assembly does not
stop there. but says that the State shall
have one-6fth. aud you shall not charge
each passenger less than s. SO. r. the
State had charged 6sty ccu.s on each pas
senger. it would have been considered a
capisa,ion tax. 1. requires but q small
amount Of calculation. aud no great de-
gree Of learning to discover the mode by
which this result is reached We are to
have one-ffth ~ 20 into the Treasury Of
Maryland, and that one fifth is to be of
the amour. of $3.50. Is it no. easy to
conclude that oue-tith is fifty cents So
The constitution and laws prohib;, tha, to
be done Indirectly which canuot b done di-
.rcct!y. What do the other portions Of
that section say? That the L,g; stature
shall not decrease or diminish the price
charged the individual passing from Bal.
timore to Washington, without the CON.
sent OF the Legislature. Aud whyf b..
cause tho Legislature had 6xsd her tax
as half dollar upon each individual
passing ever that road and that halt dol.
lar shall not Be diminished until the Leg.
lsiaturc save her consent. BIT will
not stop there. The last provision of,ha,
section Is more powerful yet. and the
closing portion Of which is Of that charac.
ter which convinces me thoroughly tia.
1t is capisation tax "a specific cap,tatiou
tax. 1t also says, after the Legislature
shai! give its Permission to reduce this
amount from $3.50 to any amount they
may choose to select.
The act says tha. the State Of Mary.
land shall not receive less than twenty.
five cents upon each individual passing Z
over that road; that the State shall re-
ceivs twenty five cents tor every iudivid.
ual that passes over that road. not carin e
how or what amount the price Of traysi
over the Washington Branch shalt be re.
duced. Is not the one-ifth fthe sc.ipt,
special capi.ation tax. from the begin
ming to the end? B,c,use. suppose the
Baltimore and Ohio R,ilroai or the Wash
ington Branch desired to charge fly
cents suppose she desired now to charge
fifty cents. does the State of Maryland
get one-ffth Of the receipts into the Trea-
sury of Marylandf She does no., but
more. she gs.s twenty-five cert'-on,-
half Of the whole amount. Ifthis amour.
to be paid by the Washington Branch of
the Baltimore aud Ohio Road from, B,lti-
more to Washington happens to be City
cents. does o.e-iih 60 int, the Tcel-
sury Of the State Of Maryland o. one
half? II one-issh is claimed, why one
half?
Mr.. Maddox then proc c.eiei to argue
the question of set-ofi, and the malicious
intent Of the President CT the Ro,i as
controlling his action 10 this matter, aud
then. after speaking Of the gre,. benefits
derived by the State from tho railroad
he continued:
Such are the services, such the beue.
fits tha. have accrued to your State aud
commercial! metropolis. from the far reach.
ing and energetic wisdom tLa, have mark
ed the administration of the Baltimore and
Oaio Railroad, under the auspices Of Pres.
ident Garrett. In composing Ills grea,
success; in forec,stiug devices to na,ur.
alize or reconcile opposing Interests; in
regulating aud . ;jas.ing the complica,el
parts of SO gigantic corporation. mis.
takes may have been male. errors c1m.
united, tui success, ma agniticeRt aad over
shaiosirg success, Is the granl result.
IN that success. in that accuuulatiou
Of wealth and power. you have hsd you,
share, the State Of Maryland has had be,
account and her ample reward, and ia
view OF these facts. the Bli,iraore aud
Ohio Railroad has righ. - kinder treat.