The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-04-03
AN EXTRA SESSION =?
A Most Remarkable BIunder
Makes 1t Inevitable.
ROGERS FORGOT BILL FIXING TAX LEVY
1t Had Passed the Senate and Was In His
Care. State Onicials Consult With Ref
erence to tho Subject. VIII Mean Use
less and Great Expense to the State.


to be no way of avoiding an extra ses-
sion of the Legislature now greets the
people of Maryland.
Attorney General Rayner was at
Annapolis yesterday and was in con-
ference with Governor Smith and
Comptroller Herring on the subject.
He examined the law as thoroughly
as he could, but Governor Smith
asked him not to make final decis-
ion for a day or more. Mr.. Rayner
returned to Baltimore to make the
the most careful kind of an investi-
CATION before sending a written opin-
ion to the Governor The cost of an
extra session for even three days, it
is estimated, will be about 100000.
This startling condition is due to
the fact that the House failed to pass
the bill setting the tax rate for the
years 1902 and 1908 and apportioning
the various items Of the levy. 1t is
claimed that the bill, which had pas
sed the Senate, was left to die on the
Undertaking file of the House, and
that 1t was found in the list of dead
bills Tuesday when they were gone
over.
The bill was supposed, of course, to
have been in the care of the chairman
of the Ways and Means Committee,
Mr.. Rogers, of Howard county, who,
from his position, was popularity sup
posed to be the leader of the House.
All fiscal matters of this sort were I'M
der his care, including the general
appropriation bill and the new $780,
900 loan, the omnibus appropriation
bill and the bill regulating the State
tax rate. There is no other assump-
ton but that he had neglected his
duties in the matter, for a word to
the Speaker would have brought the
bill out ct any moment
Any intimation that the bill was
allowed to die because it bore Sena-
tor Jones name is, of course, the yer
lest nonsense, and bears all the ear
marks of having been put forward as
an official excuse for a totally mex
cusable blunder. Speaker Mitchell
was confronted with pile of 176 Sen
ate bills on their third reading when
he went to bis desk Monday morning.
All day long he pulled and hauled
over the files trying to bring out the
most important bills, and that he
missed this one can hardly be set
down to him when there was man
sitting in the House who had been
honored with the position of chair
man of the Ways and Means Commit
tee, and whose especial business it
was to look alter this special bill.
There was not a man in the House
who would have voted against the
bill, and had suggestion been made
as to its presence on the files there
would not have been a doubt as to
its enactment at once.
Late at night, in their anxiety to
rush things through, Delegates were
passing four bills at a time, and
man was sitting in front :of the desk
manifolding roll calls, which were
slipped into them. The titles were
hardly read in the scrimmage to clear
the files, and though Delegate Finzel
of Garrett county called the Speak
er's attention to the fact that he had
seen four bills handed down at once
and the title of only one of them read,
the practice was continued. Each
bill requires roll call, showing a con-
stitutional majority in favor of it,
with the names of those voting for it,
and it is the habit of the clerks to
hurry through these at the close of
the session without waiting for any
one to answer to their names, if there
seems to be no objection to the bill.
1t is also the custom of the members
not to answer to their names on these
bills, but anyone objecting can secure
a careful roll call and proper consid.
Grafton of his objections. 1t was in
this way that the bills were railroaded
through the House on Monday, but
even this is no reason for the over
looking of the most important bill of
the whole session-that fixing the tax
rate and apportioning the various
items of it.
1t has been intimated in some
sources that the bill was allowed to
die in order to give Governor Smith
chance to call an extra session, and
that this was occasioned by the fail
ure to pass the Shepherd oyster bill,
for which the Governor lobbied so
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