Montgomery County sentinel., 1891-06-19
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
~. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.

Nv, COUNTY COMMENSURATE
Under Section /, of Article z, Of the Con-
stitution of Maryland, as II now stands, the
County Commissioners are elected ON gen
eral ticket every two years, and 1t is pro-
their compensation, powers and duties, shall
be such as are now, or may be hereafter
prescribed by law"
Chapter 255 of the Acts of 1890, proposes
to amend this section by substituting the
following in lieu thereof
"County Commissioners shall he elected
ON general ticket of each county by the
qualified voters of the several counties %.
the State, on the Tuesday next after the rsL
Monday in the month Of November, com
mencing in the year eighteen hundref and
ninety. one their number in each county,
their compensation, powers and duties shall
be such as are noS or may be hereafter pre-
scribed by law, they shall be elected at such
times, in such numbers and for such periods,
not exceeding six years, as may be pre-
scribed by law"
The object and the wisdom of this amend
ment must be apparent to every one For
a great many years the volume of local leg
islation has increased at every session of the
General Assembly, TO the exclusion of mat
ters of general interest of far more import
ance to the people. While there has been
no doubt of the power of the Legislature to
confer quite extensive powers upon the
County Commissioners, the wisdom of do.
ing so when their terms of service were so
short, and an entire new board was liable
10 be elected every two years, has been ques-
toned and this amendment is the result of
a very general demand for longer terms,
which would enable Commissioners to be
thoroughly acquainted with county affairs.
The length of term is left to the Legisla-
ture and will be determined in each county
by the wishes of the people. The drift of
opinion throughout the State is that the en-
tire Board of County Commissioners should
not go out of Office at one time. Their work
is almost exclusively Of detail character,
with which time alone can make one famil-
lar, and until that is accomplished, ones
opinions OF county affairs are of little worth
In our own county, for instance, if the term
of service were six years, one commissioner
going out every two years, and leaving the
majority of the board always composed of
experienced men, there can be no doubt that
its business would be attended to more
promptly and efficiently than it can be done
under the present system. We do not
mean TO reflect upon the present Board of
Commissioners or their predecessors-they
have done all that any set of men could do
under their environment; but the very diff
ficulties that have beset them, seem to EN-.
phasize the necessity for change which
will give them greater scope and better OPP
portunities to perform the peoples work 10
the peoples satisfaction. L
Ia11e sectioh~oi the county there is prac
ticaa town population to deal with,
whose demands and needs are different from
those Of the farming communities, and the
steady increase in the number of taxpayers
and in the basis of taxation, and the general
progress of the county, are such as to de.
mand more time and closer attention from
the Commissioners, than were dreamed OF II
few years ago.
We cannot, at this time enter into dis
cussion of the particulars which should
characterize the legislation which should
follow the adoption of this amendment;
but there can be scarcely two opinions as
to the proprlety of affording the means of
securing promptly such action as the needs
of the community suggest This will be ac-
complished by enlarging the general powers
of the Commissioners