The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-04-15
A WISE VETO.

Governor Warfield decided to with
hold his approval Of the amended Ha-
man bill enacted at the late session at
the earnest solicitation Of Mr.. Hannah
himself and Of other strong advocates
of the Hannah bill. That he did it in
the interest of oyster planting there
can be no doubt, says the Baltimore
San. 1t will be far better to wait two
more years to start great enterprise
right than to start it now upon an i'm
perfect system. The effect of a bad
beginning might be to discredlt the
whole oyster planting scheme and
give it backset, from which it might
not recover in many years. The bill
as presented to the Governor differed
essentially from the original Haman
bill. The amendments added to it not
only destroyed its value, but would
have made it barrier to further pro-
eress. The Governor action was
wise and is strongly to be commend
ed.
Thus the session has ended without
putting on the statute books any oys-
ter planting law. And yet no one
who has observed the trend OF events
can doubt that the cause Of the Ha-
man bill has been won and that at the
next session it will se made law
without serious opposition. If some
of the inland county members of the
Legislature, and especially in the Sen
ate, had not betrayed their constitu-
ents and traded off the best interests
of the State for political considerations
or for trivial local measures, the Ha-
man bill would now be law. This
cannot happen again. Public sentl-
ment will assert itself and the repre-
tatives of one fifth Of the people Of the
State will not again be able to hold
the other four-fifths by the throat.
At tie late session there was a gen.
eral admission both inside and outside
the Legislature that the oyster indus
try of the State is about expiring. No
practical measure except the Hannah
bill was even suggested, and to that
bill its opponents, as we'll as the peo-
pie who want the State to prosper,
must finally come, and they will come
to it at the next session. We will not
again witness the spectacle OF mem
bers of tie Legislature from Garrett,
Washington, Allegany and Caroline
counties voting aGains. their own peo-
pie at the orders Of small politicians
Such men will not be sent to the Leg
islature next year.
For 10 years Nj. r Howard Haman
has been contending for his bill to
make the barren bottoms of the bay
and rivers of the State fertile and
productive. No man ever conducted
a contest with stouter heart or more
patriotic motives. No man ever en-
dured misrepresentation and abuse
more patiently or overcame it more
completely. In the beginning be
could scarcely get respectful hearing
but he kept on showing the people how
they are neglecting their greatest
source of wealth and missing their
greatest opportunity to make Mary
land the most prosperous State in the
Union. Finally the people have not
only listened to him, but tue represen-
tatives of Baltimore city and ofall the
rich, prosperous and progressive coun-
ties of the State came TO the support
of his views. And to day it is safe to
say that nine-tenths of the people OF
MARYLAND want the Haman bill enact
ed into law. They not only desire
that it shall lie enacted, but they will
insist upon it at the next session.
The misguided longing people, who do
not understand their own interests,
recognize this fact, and that is the rea-
son they urged the Governor to APP
prove the mutilated Hannah bill, be-
lieving that it was the only way to es-
cape the enactment Of the real Haman
bill at the next session.
The defeat of the bill at This session
is only temporary defeat. 1t pres
ages victory.
Chairman Murray Vandiver, of the