The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-12-28
THE PENINSULA COUNTIES.
The Eastern Shore Law Designed 10
Protect the Western Shore in the
Possession of One Senator-Sena-
tors, COmptrOllerS and
Governors


tics, was 300, 100, distributed as follows.
Delaware, 1863, 593: Maryland, 1874 o97; Virginia
1906. The same year the population of
Rhode Island, the smallest State in area, was
5,.06. and Of New York, the mr populous
STATE. j.997, s53.
THE PENINsULA'S REPRESENT r!oN.
The peninsula. as now cons ,utrd, has
NOR" political power, nationally. than any
political division OF the Union. FIR lOGyenrs
it has had II representation of ta.ee in the
United States Senate. 1t has had four. and
will have again if Virginia takes one Of her
5 majors from het own Eastern Shore. Us she
has done. and if She takes them both from
that section. rs may happen. the peninsula
would have five United States Senators. ana
if the Maryland Eastern Shore law be re-
pcGied, and both Maryland senators were
taken from the Eastern Shore. as might hat
pen, there is possibility Of the peninsula be-
ing represented in the Senate of the United
States by * senators ut oun tim poss.-
bIhy that io"s not apprrtHiH 10 any other
part OF I'll" tntt'i States. !rt j. Uu carried as
il mly, VITA u population e. $780, ,G.
In the IIou-" OF Representatives. the pcuin-
suIa, under the present appointment. must
always hayetwo members. II ma, have four.
I "as had iOur- one from Delaware. one
!rDNl the first Maryland district. one from
Cecil county. which is II part ui thr s,.uua
Maryland district. AMI one from the Virginia
district III" summary is: The peninsula
.
> in both nous ;: it may have Senator, and
Representatives,. 10 in both houses. New
York AMI Texas ar" not in it. either in actual
tits or possibilities
The recent article in I'll" Sua on the East
ern Shore senators developed three interest
ing lact-:
OF the Senators who served during the
seventy years from Henry to Pearce three
of them have sons living They are Robert
II. GoldsborouSh, John Leeds Kerr and
james Alfred Pearcr. Although Talbot had
the greatest number Of Senators. Kent had
the largest period Of service. Caroline is the
only one OF the Old Eastern Shore counties
that has never the State United States Sen
ator. Nor has Governor ever been taken
from Caroline. And it is believed. though
the record is not at hand. that county has
furnished the State with but one representa-
tive in Congress- John Cnlhrpth. who was 4
member eighty years ago.
EASTERN SHORE GOVERNORS.
What ha, the Eastern Shore done as to fur
nishing the State with Governors Underth
State government from l777 to 1897 there were
twenty seven Governors, counting elections
not consecutive OF these twelve were from
the Eastern Shore During this period Gov
crnors wern not elected 10y the people, but
LtESlsure. In 1897 amendments to
the constitution gave to the voters the cleo
ton of Governor, and William Grason. of
Queen Annc's county, elected in 1883 for three
years, was the first Governor of Maryland
elected by the people.
The next Eastern Shore Governor was
Philip Francis Thomas. of Talbot county,
elected in 1917 The reforms instituted in
1887 by the Legislature, and which grew out
of demand backed up by Il strong, vocifer-
Gus and somewhat turbulent public sentiment
which threatened revolution and subversion,
ent of one-third of the State. That reform
divided the State into three gubernatorial
districts. from each of which the Governor
was required to be taken in turn. The East
ern Shore counties composed the first district;
Frederick, Carroll, Hartford, Baltimore,
Washington and Allegany the second district.
and the remaining counties, with the city
D.I4
going round" was William Grason. as above
said, Francis Thomas and Thomas G.. Pratt.
When the Eastern Shores turn came again
after Philip Francis Thomas, Thomas Holiday
Hicks. of Dorchester. was taken. Since then
the Eastern Shore Governors have been James
Black Groome, Henry Lloyd and Elihu f.
Jackson. Since 1887. Therefore, the
Eastern Shore has furnished the State with
six Governors out of total of nineteen. SO
that this section of the State has not been
badly left in this regard.
A look into the Comptroler's Office. to see
how the Eastern Shore has Jared there. NAV
not be uninteresting. This department of
the State government was organized in 1851.
Robert p Graham, OF Wicomico county, cleo
ted last November. will be the fifteenth COMP
troller and the twelfth Eastern Shoreman to
fill that Office. OF these twelve four we're
from Talbot one from Worcester, one from
Cecil, one from Caroline. two Counting Ora
ham, from Wicomico, one from Somerset,
one from Queen Ann@'s and one from Kent.
GENEROUS CONCESSION.
All this goes to show that the Eastern Shore
is amply able to take care of herself politi-
cally as well us otherwise, and when the
statute which provides that one of the United
States Senators shall be an inhabitant of the
Western Shore and one of the Eastern Shore
is repealed, it will happen frequently, possibly
in most instances, that the Eastern Shore
will be called upon to furnish both Senator'S
1t will not be surprising to find in the near
future Eastern ShOremen advocating the
repeal of the statute, as it really puts limita-
tons to the capacity and ability Of this see
ton in furnishing United States Senators, lin
iting it to one when il could easily and fire.
quently make two. Evidently the law was
passed for the protection of the Western and
not of the Eastern Shore
The political review Of the Eastern Shore.
us given in this article, warrants such IL con
clusion and demonstrates that the Western
Shore needs such a law Baltimore iSuH.