The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-01-22
The State Farmers Convention.

Upwards of one hundred delegates attended
the meeting of the State Farmers Convention,
in Baltimore, on the 18th instant.
Judge Edward Stake, the President, de-
livered an address, in which he said the
American famer need not look abroad for a
market for his products, and predicted, with
rose-colored hope, that the time would come
when the demand for farming products at
home would equal the supply.
He favored q system of annually listing all
the property in the State for taxation and
some method Of taxing mortgages. He also
advocated the protection of forests and better
roads.
DR.. F. E. Parsons, representing the United
States Department of Agricultural, addressed
the convention on the general work of the
department.
Major Henry E. Alvord, President of the
Maryland Agricultural College, told them
what the Legislature could do to promote the
interests of farmers.
Col Frederick Raine, editor of the German
Correspondent, advocated the organization of
an association for spreading information with
regard to our State that would attract Eng
lish, German and Scandinavian settlers to
Maryland.
N. G. Elzey offered q resolution requesting
the Legislature to adopt uniform system of
taxation in which only churches and grave
yards shall be exempted.
r. 8. Cole offered one requesting Maryland
congressman to endeavor to have the tariff
tax on tin.plate reduced to one cent pound.
MIR. Armstrong wanted law empowering
county commissioners TO abale the tramp
nuisance
Mr.. W. Beatty Harlan spoke in favor of q
State Road Engineer and presented the draft
Of the law relating thereto which was adopted
by the Hartford Farmers Convention last
week.
All these matters were referred to COM
mittee.
By vote of "a to 6 the convention agreed
to recommend the passage off law for the an
nual meeting Of commissioners, and also, if
new assessment law is passed, that the board
of county commissioners be made board of
review. A committee of one commissioner
from each county was appointed to confer
with the Senators and Representatives of
their respective counties as to the feasibility
ofextending the term of office of commission
ers and other matters relating to their best
interests, the committee to meet in Annapolis
on January %. The convention then ad-
journed subject to the call of the chair.
The member of this committee named for
Hartford county was DR.. W. D. Scarboro.
The delegates to the convention from Har
ford were VIM. L. Amoss, George E. Silver,
w. Beatty Harlan, William Webster, James
Lee, George r. Stephenson, Daniel P. Hol-
lingsworth, Lawrence Mccormick and Chas.
L. Vail.
On Friday the convention united in de-
mand upon the Legislature for new assess
ment and for the listing system of assessing
taxes. The latter, as explained by President
Stake, il as follows:
"Instead of dividing the State up into as
SCISSOR districts, as is now done in Maryland,
the listing system requires each citizen of the
State to make application to the county COM
missioners every year for an official blank.
This the applicant fills up, giving his real and
personal property and Its estimated value.
The estimate Ia made under oath, and each
taxpayer becomes his own assessor By this
smethod the personal property that now es-
Capes taxation, such as stocks and bonds, is
found, and experience has shown that very
few false returns are made. If false returns
are suspected, the county commissioners are