Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-08-03
HISTORY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Of The State Of Maryland For The
Year of 1894 To Year
of 1904.
BY ELIHU S. RILEY, ESQ.,, HIS
TORIAN OF ANNPOLIS.
Contains 43o Pages And For Sale
By Mum & Co.. Publish
ers, Baltimore.

The origin of the General Assem-.
bly, of Maryland is due TO that inerad.
icahle principle-innate in every Bri-
toms breast-his belief in his right to
participate in the enactment of laws
by which he is governed. This prin-
ciplele was confirmed and preserved
in the charter of Maryland
The seventh section gave Lord Bal
timore the authority to make laws for
the government of the province, with
the advice. assent and appreciation of
the Free Men of the province. >" There
were hidden in this provision secret
springs of prerogative that evolved,
in time, an intricate and irritating
machinery, which fretted the Free
Men of Maryland, denied them often
of rights, and yet gave them poten.
tial check upon. the. .aggrandizement of
executive and governmental powers,
sources of authority too frequently
ready, under pretext and opportunity,
to absorb the privileges of the people.
the Judiciary and the legislature.
The colonists of Maryland had been
but twelfthmonth in their wilder
ness home, when n General Assembly
was called Unfortunately no record
of this session exists. Ii was declared
an illegal assembly and pains appears
to have been taken TO preserve its
journal The first legal session was in
1857. From that moment TO the pres
ent the sessions of the legislature have
been interesting. historic. instructive,
dramatic. The author has followed the
proceedings of the legislature, session
by session, from 1885 to 1904, each
session having its appropriate page,
every legislative age its chapter.
Preserving the quaint language and
photography of the time, the history
rises on an antique base of historic
interest. bearing the footprints of the
epoch. and every session becomes "A
new signboard along the highway of
Maryland history. The interests of
the Proprietary and the rights of the
people were often at variance, and as
the Governor, clothed with veto
power in colonial times. and the Up
per House we're the appointees of the
this clash OF authority
produced over and over again the most
enthugiastic and. sometimes, the most
situations. Wherever the |
author could he has made the Proprie-
tary, the Governor, the Upper House
and the Lower House tell their own
words.
The Lower House, as the delegates
of the Free Men of Maryland, reached
in the olimaxes of these dramatic sit |
uations, the loftiest planes of indepen-
dence, integrity and patriotism. Their |
sound down the corridors |
of time in accents of the loftiest cour-
age and principle, unbought by place. |
position or emoluments, undaunted by |
threats, uncoved by covert and owen |
effort to debauch them. In the Revo- |
lutionry period the Legislature of |
Maryland was prompt, martial and |
effective in its splendid legislation in |
behalf of the cause of American liber- |
ty. In the era of statehood tho Gen |
eral Assembly of Maryland preserved
the honor of the state, defended it |
from the dishonor of reputation, and |
been in spite of the corrupting infiu- |
ence of political ambition and public |
attendant upon all leg
islative bodies in the main public |
spirited, capable and without corrup-
tion
The pages of the history that in |
clude the period upon the Constitution |
of 1852 to the present. are live with |
the interesting incidents of Know
Nothing rule and handled. without |
gloves, the successive stages of legisla- |
tive proceedings, dominated by the
Civil War and the violations of public |
right by the Federal Government, the |
advent of the Conservatives under |
Governor Swami into the Democratic |
party, with the leading legislation |
and political events in every Cover
nor's administration. Governor |
Ligon's time down to and including |
Governor Warfield's unfinished term. |
The dramatic stages that led to and |
accomplished the Hon. Isidor Rayner's |
election as United States Senator form |
one of the most interesting situations
in the book.
The anthor talks plainly and, giving
honor where honor is due, brings the
prominent characters in this entertain
ing drama into bold relief midst most
fascinating environments. The growth
of legislation, from the settlement of
the Province to the present forms no
small part of the profit and entertain
ment in the book.
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