Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1873-05-22

namental, we nope his services Will be dis
pensed with, and dredging either prohibit
ed, or some one placed in charge of the
force who will enforce the law, and see
justice done the State and the tongmen,
who pay license for guaranteed protect
ton which they.do not now receive.
How Capt. Timmons can make the plea
of want of authoity to arrest is singular
indeed, and not thought of until it entered
his brilliant brain. Sec. 81 Of chap. 1854,
gives power of arrest to s:any Sheriff, con-
stable or other officer, created 1,acler this ar
| ticle," and Sec. % makes it sthe duty of
the officer in charge of the Oyster Police
of the State" to 0overhaul and examine
the license of all vessels, and to arrest all
persons who may be found violating, or
aolo mag haze been guilty, of any violation
of the provisions of this article" If this
does not give power to arrest on warrant,
then is the law humbug, and the police
an useless and disgraceful imposition upon
the people of the State.
| [CoMMUNIcATED.l
The Times correspondent, &C.," wrote
last week about the Southern Maryland
Railroad. He evidently knew nothing of
his subject, and his effort was only a fail
ure to vindicate an acknowledged scamp.
The poor excuse of bad weather is notsuf-
fcient to reconcile our defrauded people
to Smiths successful rogueries. The sur
prise excited by CO.'S" gratuitous an
nouncement of the astonishing liberality
of the Southern Maryland Railroad officials
is but more than equalled by the surprise
that the divine Mr.. Smith should be The
selected subject of the Company's astound-
ingly liberal benefactions. &C." admits it
is usual for railroad corporations, in deal
ing with their contractors, to reserve ten
per centum of the amount agreed upon to
be paid and received, but then &C." whis-
ties very foolish extravaganza, or extrav-
agant foolishness, when, from blind ador-
alton of youthful Presidents" he permits
himself to be humbugged into the belief
that Mr.. Shoots corporation has waived
the usually reserved per centage. Why
has it been waived? What end was to be
accomplished by it? Was the treasury of
the Company at any time OVERLOOKING with
green backs and gold so that reckless
distribution of funds became necessary to
relieve its plethoric Golfers? Or, was the
waiver necessary to enable the Company
to secure the effective services of such en-
bodiments of honesty as Smith represents
&C." evidently designs to play upon cred
ulity when he intimates that the Southern
Maryland Company waived its right to the
usually retained ten per cent, and that, too,
Qor he gives no other reason,) simply be-
cause that corporation is unusually fortu-
nate in the unusual liberality and unusual
enlightenment of its unusually youthful
President" The raising of money by
bonds at an illegal rate of interest may be
rich evidence of liberality, but the honesty
of the connection between that transaction
and the waiver of the usual ten per cent.
does not clearly appear. When Mr. Smoot,
the youthful President" tells our people,
whom Smith, the sharp contractor, delib-
erately robbed, that he has overpaid that
same sharp Smith by large amount, then
the thing assumes such unusual proper
lions that no credulity is weak enough to
laeeent itN-..N by -.zzaas money borrowed at
illegal interest by the Company Was it
done to enable soulless corporation to
waive its right to retain ten per centum of
the amount payable to its employees, and
then in addition pay large bonus, by way
of rewarding rascality, as was done in the
case of innocent Mr.. Smith by the alleged
over payment? 1t is scarcely enlighten-
ment which induces a struggling corpora
ton to pay high rates ofinterest for money,
on the investment of which, it generously
consents to lose ten per cent. and pay a
bonus for the opportunity. Some people
are old-fashioned enough to think that
even the youthful President has no right,
legal or moral, to waive his rights under
or vary the terms of his contract when such
proceeding works a fraud on those in
terested in and operating under the con-
tract, and solely on the faith of just com
pliance with its provisions as betweenthe
Contracting parties. 1t is not true that
the Company has uniformly given satisfac-
ton in its transactions with contractors,
otherwise the. suit recently instituted in
Washington, by Mr.. Merrick, in behalf of
Starr & Ridenour, would never have been
authorized. The whole amount of it is,
Smith has robbed his laborers and Col.
Smoot, when informed of it, declares that
he has done the very unusual thing of
largely overpaying Smith, as well as re-
leasing the usual ten per cent; all this, too,
while the Company has its bonds, predi-
Gated on mortgage, in the market, striv-
ing to raise money at exorbitant rates OF
| interest. r.