The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1874-04-25


Friday legal holiday. The subject is excit-
ing considerable attention, and some of the
secular papers have spoken quite freely in re-
gard to it. The public mind is very sensitive
in regard to any interference by the civil
| thorities in the domain of ecclesiastical faith
and practice. Yours truly, --
Il Small Legislative GRAB.
| The Baltimore correspondent of the Washing
ton Capital has unearthsd a small grab on the
part Of our Maryland Legislature. He writes:
The Maryland Legislature is popularity sup
| posed to sit ninety days. Like many other pop
uar beliefs, this idea is utterly fallacious, the
| following will show In 1864 the duration OF the
| session was not limited. The per diem then
| five dollars, but no member was allowed to
ceive more than $500 lin the way OF salary for
| the entire session. On the adoption of the pres
ent constitution in 1867 some change was made
in the provision bearing on this point. Section
| Is, article 3, on compensation OF members OF the
| General Assembly, says leach member thereof
| shall receive a compensation OF tive dollars per
diem for every day he shall attend the session,
but not for such day as he may be absent, uness
absent on account of sick aess by leave OF the
| House of which he is member &" 1t was also
| provided that the session was TO extend t'fuf a
| period not longer than ninety days" What con
| stitutes these ninety days? In computing them
should Sundays be included and also tae inter-
vening days between an adjournment and a re-
assembling of the body during the session Every
| honest voter and taxpayer in the State would
answer most emphatically in the negative were
| this query put to them.
| Here is what the members of the late L-gisla-
| ture themselves have put record on the subject.
| The General Assembly met at Annapolis Jauua-
ry I, and adjourned sine die Apr G. The num-
| Der OF days embraced within these two dates is
| precisely ninety. During this time there were
thirteen Sundays and sixteen week days on which
| the Legislature was not in session, it generally
adjourning over from Friday to the following
Monday or Tuesday, and on or two occasions
for longer time. This made twenty. nine days
| on which the members did not ''attend the ses.
sion" leaving only sixly-one working days.
| Yet each and every ono OF the twenty -four Sen
| ators and eighty-six delegates, one hundred and
| ten in all, drew pay for each and every one of
the ninety days. How is this for salary grab
| Computing the pay Of the members at FIVE dollars
per day, with three dollars per day extra for each
of the two presiding officers, the aggregate for the
| twenty nine days is just SIG 1874.
Add to this the amount paid the various officers
| of both houses and thu total will approximate
| $40, 600. And the State OF Maryland has been
defrauded of that sum by her law makers Not
single member offered to devote his salary for
| these twenty-nine days to some charitable insti-
| tuition eleemosynary object. They all pocket
ed the steal without comment. II they did differ
on some points their unanimity on the per feet
propriety of taking 500 900 of the people money
for services they rendered was complete -
| When it is taken into consideration how mach
| important and necessary legislation that was left
undone could have been transacted in twenty
nine days, the infamy OF the whole proceeding is
more apparent
| Ee- The following letter is rom former resi-
| dent of this neig bborhood who, quite recently,
removed with his family to Ohio The route
west was by way OF the Baltimore ard Ohio
| Railroad. The writer SAWS
| The scenery was very beautiful during sur first
| days ride, but more adapted tor the artists eye
and for romantic thoughts than to please plain
old farmer. Wheeling was reached in the even
| ing and we had to lie over there till A. NJ
We arrived at Dayton the next night where
we should not have gone to rs ougAt-t0 have
| gone direct to Urbana but having gone as,ray
and as the fares were lower than We had expected
we took the matter good humorediy aud remain
ed there till moan the next day We SAW the
ladies in companies at the saloons praying and
singing, but Day oa is very large place and al
though there were six different parties of pous
ladies yet the majority Of the liquor sellers had
hearts which had aot then been softentd sufficient
ly to close up their stores.
We arrived at our journeys end in the after
noon, and of events which followed and of some
very exciting unlocked for occurrences affecting
our prospects apparently unfavorabE at first but
which now promise good to spring out of evil l
will treat on in a future letter.
The country from Day ton TO UrbanA is rich in
The extreme. Such valley as had never seen
before in the United States and from the latter
place right on to Marion. the chief town Of Mari
on county, succession OF unexhaused rich bot
tom land meets the eye every side with the ex-
ception Of some Woodlands not yet cleared |
was in Marion yesterday and had the honor of
dining with one of the principal inhabitants, and
am about to enter on a several years contract 10
carry on mixed system of agriculture, dairyiug
and sheep husbandry, but which will not for
reasons (present engagements) commence till
after another harvest
saw land yesterday which grew about forty
five bushels of shelled corn per acre last harvest
and which has been in corn TOR thirty Years, the
gentleman owning thousand OF acres and being
of course very rich This land has never had any
manure or any kind OF application whatever, and
in Marion the livery stables have this year sue
ceeded in persuading the gentleman who enter
tanned me to haul away 200 wagon loads of horse
manure without charge. Think OF this, Je Bal
timoreans am astonished beyond measure at
the length of time this soil holds fertile but
nevertheless some portions have begun to decrease
in yield and clover is Sown TO reinvigorale this
is where the subsoil is lighter and porous
In Urbana and every village aud town to Ma
ron the retail aud bar trade in liquor has ceased
We attended church aud being so large fam
lily it made our numbers more conspicuous in
small village. Since have received kindness
and offers Of every cow nieht article OF furniture
till we have time to provide ourselves with requi-
sites Mrs. u. heartily wished we had never left
our comfortable home in the E4s, whea she first
arrived, and the weather being an, thing but
cheering and everything being strange we all
had more or less OF the ''hups - but the brighter
side of the view has opened and ii IN " be that
cloudy morning may BE- the harbnger of a fine
and happy day
To the many friends whom promised to write
to privately, will add the, shall hear from ME
soon But all farm work is very back ward here
and there is great dea! to do for there are hun
dreds OF acres Of corn still in the fields, not husk
ed, and blowing only just begun, The soil here
being too tenacious to work or cultivate in any
way while wet
The sugar camps" MS the woods OF maple are
called, are great item here. and there is scarce
ly n farmer who bias not made hundreds OF dollars
OF the syrup and sugar. while The larger ones have
made thousands This givest poyment al good
wages to many al n dull time This has been
long and geod season, the frequent changes o.
weather making great flow Of sap.
We have the authority Of the New York
Sun for stating that Mr.. Robert Bonner, of the
Ledger, was last week offered one hundred Mous-
and dollars IN gold for his celebrated trotting
horse Dexter. The offer was fused.
Mrs Mary C. Geary, widow Of the late
Governor Geary Of Pennsylvania, was married
at Carlisle, Pa .on the 9th instant, to Henry
Earnest Goodman, NJ. D., of Philadelphia.
MARRIED.
On the 10th inst by the Rev. A. Kurtz, j.
HARTMAN SCHONE and Miss LOUISE NJ
HOFSTETTER, both of Baltimore county.
DIED