The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-09-05

Governor rather than to some othe
officer or board, but the reasons wer'
convincing to every member of thu
commission, and 1 am confident viii
be found so by the great majority o
careful thinkers.
The plan is to be submitted to the
General Assembly within 20 days af
ter it convenes, in order to give am
pie time for its consideration, but a
the same time is illustrated the care
with which the control of the repre-
sentative branch of the government
is preserved, in the provision that the
Assembly may extend this time if il
! is deemed necessary or desirable tC
give further time for it's preparation
Theplan is not the arbitrary OF
unaided idea of the Governor. He
is required to act upon estimates and
statements from all the departments
boards and agencies in the State, as
to the anticipated revenues of the
State. rs compared with those of the
tive preceding years, and as to the
reasonable and probable needs OF
such departments, boards, etc., as
we'll as of all institutions applying
for State aid, and both he and they
have The right and may be required
whenever requested by either House
to ap r and answer queries rela-
tiv t0Vhe plan; and the Governor
may require public hearings on all
estimates submitted to him before
acting upon them.
Each budget is to be in two parts
designated, respectively, govern
mental appropriations" and general
q nj, Y-rN.N1s lott
embrace Cd those for the General
Assembly, just as certified to the
Goverslor by the presiding officer of
each house; (2) those for the exc
cutive department.; CD those for the
judiciary as provided by law certi-
fled b. the Comptroller to the Gov
ernor; (4 for principal and inter-
est of the public debt as required by
the Constitution; 60 for salaries as
provided by law; co for mainte-
nance of public schools as command
ed by the Constitution, and CD for
any other purposes made mandatory
by the Constitution.
This constitutes a segregation of
items, analogous to fixed and over
head charges, and results in deter
mining a general balance of estimat-
ed revenue available for general ap-
preparations, which embrace all
those not designated as government
tai appropriations, and which, how
ever proper and necessary under the
scheme of modern government pre-
vailing in all the States of the Union
are not strictly speaking part of the
machinery of the State, and which
Tor that very reason require more
caution in granting them. The Cen
eral Assembly may amend the budget
Dill by increasing or decreasing the
items Tor their own expenses and by
increasing the items for the judici-
airy. but may not otherwise alter the
bill except to strike out or reduce
items therein, provided that officers
salaries shall not thus be reduced
during their term of office.
In acting upon the General Budget
bill, as 1T may be properly designat-
ed, the. General Assembly may not
increase any item, except as above
mentioned. This is an apparent but
only apparent, restriction upon its
power 70 grant appropriations. The
amend2 makes specific and ample
n-cv1 s--eesss7rf sp7rfemcntaI appro-
pTfE[ S at pleasure, after the len
eral Budget bill has passed both
Houses, subject only to the require
ment that each bill for supplemental
shall be limited to a
single object or purpose stated there
in, that it shall provide the neces
sary additional revenue by a tax to
be laid as directed in the bill, and
that 1t shall receive in each House
a majority of all the members cleo
ted thereto. Thus, while the exer-
else OF the right to make appropria-
tions is regulated as to the time of
its exercise. the ultimate power is
undiminished.
No meritorious object which would
have received the approval of the AS
sembly, if included in the general
bill, need ever fail when presented
in a supplemental bill; while many
an unwise or excessive appropria-
tion, which would have slipped thru
under the present mode of procedure.
would be relegated to the discard.
This provision, the members of the
Commission felt to be most vaIu-
able feature of the amendment, full
ly meeting and disarming hostile
criticism as respects any impairment
OF the power of the legislative
branch, and strongly commencing the
whole amendment to every taxpayer
and to every citizen jealous of the
good name and credit of the State.