Middletown transcript., 1918-05-04
STATE
CAPITAL
Bills Disposed OF BY Governor.

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Bills Disposed Of BY Governor.
Annapolis
l. Governor Harrington disposed of thu
remainder of the bills-64 in number
passed by the Legislature and not pre-
viously acted upon, by signing 5 st.;
vetoing the other SO. As q =::tter Of
fact he did not aff1rmatively veto any
of the SO. but simply allowed them ia
die by Withholding his signature. The
fact that he vetoed so many was quite
a surprise, as it was believed he prob.
ably would sign more than he disap
proved
The bills signed were the Frick
measure permitting racing at Pimlico
after the city's limits are extended.
the Budget Appropriation bill, the bill
extending the powers of the Annapolis
Water Company, the bill charging the
powers Of the Mercantile Savings Bank
Of Baltimore, and the bill placing the
States Attorney of Garrett county on
a salary basis and giving him the right
to administer oaths in Gel hin cases.
Among the bills voted were the two
Prince Georges Racing bills-the one
prohibiting betting in the county and
the other creating racing commits
sion for the county, which he an.
nounced week ago he intended to
veto. He also vetoed the League
Blacklisting bill, the bill amending the
10-hour law for women and the bill
amending the Workmen's Compensa-
ton act
Another important measure vetoed
by him was the bill directing that all
fees collected by the different officers
connected with the administration of
justice in Baltimore city should be
placed into common fund so that the
excuses of some could be used to
make up the deficits of others.
With respect to the aforementioned
bill the Governor contended that moth.
ing would be gained by signing it. He
said that deficits reported by the
clerks of any of the Baltimore courts
are now made up by the State, just as
deficits in the County Clerks Offices
are made up.
He did object, though, to that fea-
ture of the bill which would allow sur
pluses shown by the States Attorney,
the Sheriff or the Register of Wills to
be used for making up deficits in any
Of the clerks Offices. He said that this
is not done in the counties and he
could see no reason why it should be
done in the city.
Senators Prick and Campbell con-
tended that the present principle is
wrong and that the State should not be
permitted to make a profit out of the
administration of justice
The Governor said he would not sign
the bill amending the Workmen's
Compensation act because it provided
that wOrkmen shall be entitled to COM
pensation from the date of injury in
stead of from two weeks thereafter.
He said that had the bill applied to in
juries resulting from accidents only he
would have signed 1t, but that, as it
was wOrded, he was afraid it would
lead to abuses and greatly increase
the expenses of the Industrial Accident
Fund.
The 10-hour bill was vetoed because
the Governor regarded it as untimely
on account of war conditions, and he
vetoed the Blacklisting bill because he
considered it's provisions entirely too
broad and probably as paving the way
for Matchmaking. His reasons for
vetoing the Prince Georges bills were
set forth in a statement given out by
him last week. He then said he would
not sign the Anti-Betting bill, because
he was convinced it was passed under
a misapprehension and that he would |
not sign the Racing Commission bill
because of that feature which provided
that successors to the commissioners
named in the measure should be desig- |
mated by the State Central Committee
of the parties to which such retiring
members belong
Other bills vetoed by the Governor
include that repeating the State Board |
of Barber Examiners act, the uniform
act for the extradition of persons of |
unsound mind, the bill making an ad- |
ditional appropriation to the Maryland |
School for the Blind, the Allegany |
cousty weights and measures bill, the |
two Dorchester county bank bills, tho |
tobacco inspection bill for Southern
Maryland, the bill increasing the
salaries Of the court stenographers in
Baltimore city and the bill authorizing
the. State Roads Commission to take
over the South river bridge.
The Legislature, according to the
records in the Governors Office, pass
ed total of Is joint resolutions and
489 bills. Joint resolutions do not
have to be signed. OF the 489 bills
passed the Governor signed 80, and this
represents the net results from the in
PRODUCTION in the two houses Of ap-
proximately 1900 bills.
The most important resolution pass
ed by the Legislature was the one
ratifying the Federal Prohibition
amendment. The most important bill
passed was the Annexation act. Most
of the bills vetoed were local measures.
Some, as was the case with two
Charles county measures, were dupli-
Gates of other bills already signed.
The bills signed by the Governor
were:
House Bill 484-Giving States Attor.
ney of Garrett county authority to ad-