MARYLAND. 



stand to-day not only fivcnirn, hut vested with tho 

 ( suffrage as equal citizens in the Itind of our 



fatolvtd, That under God we owe the great result 

 \v hii-ii this day's proceedings celebrate to theBepub- 

 li.-;iu ( longresa !' tlm I'nitfd States, to tho great U< - 

 publioan party of tho country, and to the iDutriou 

 rand statesman who now occupies tin- pn .-i- 

 danoy. 



Halved, That to President Grant wo tender our 



\\ iii-iii acknowledgments that his first words in office 



lor the fifteenth amendment, and that his 



..nd patriotic policy has so essentially contributed 



ratification that he has the merit and the glory. 



which no American has had since Washington, ot 



consummating in peaco as President what he won in 



war as the leader of the armies of his country. 



Etsplved, That we pledge the newly-enfranchised 

 vote in Maryland to the Republican party, and that 

 we look forward with confidence ana satisfaction to 

 the day not long to be waited for when we shall 

 aid in placing our beloved State in line with the lie- 

 publican States of the Union. 



Setoloed, That education is not so much the quali- 

 fication for suffrage, as a right secured by suffrage, 

 and that we claim the right of education for all tne 

 children of the State, and exhort all our people to 

 avail themselves of every opportunity to educate 

 themselves and their children. 



Resolved, That wo cherish the strongest interest in 

 the prosperity of all tho interests of this State and 

 of all its people, and that we pledge ourselves that 

 there shall be no cause to regret that a new body of 

 citizens and voters are now, with fresh hopes and 

 free hands, and a bright outlook into the future, to 

 take their places in the contest of life as equal com- 

 petitors, able to promote the welfare of the State and 

 of the country as they never did or could do as serfs 

 or slaves. 



On the 9th of September, and about two 

 months prior to the election, tho Kepublican 

 State Executive Committee addressed a com- 

 munication to Governor Bowie, petitioning him 

 forthwith to call an extra session of the Legis- 

 lature, for the purpose of authorizing an exten- 

 sion of the time for registration. In the ac- 

 companying preamble and resolutions the 

 grounds on which this request was based were 

 stated as follows : 



Whereas, It is believed that at least sixty thou- 

 sand persons are entitled to be registered as voters, 

 under the fifteenth amendment or the Constitution 

 of the United States, and it has been represented 

 to this committee that the time prescribed in said 

 section of tho registration law of the State of Mary- 

 land is not sufficiently long to give to all citizens 

 of tho United States the same and equal opportunity 

 to become registered as voters ; and 



117,, ;, It i.s further reported that vacancies exist 

 in many of the districts ot the counties of the State, 

 in the officers of registration, which vacancies have 

 not been filled } thus practically nullifying the provi- 

 sions and requirements of the act of Congress enfor- 

 i-inj,' the right of persons to vote ; now, therefore, be it 

 .Resolved, That the attention of his Excellency tho 

 Governor be and is hereby most respectfully directed 

 to the limited time allowed by the act of Assembly 

 referred to, within which the registrars arc authorized 

 to comply with tho act of Congress aforesaid. 



Resolved, That we feel justified in appealing to his 

 Excellency, as the representative of the whole people 

 in the State, to call forthwith an extra session of the 

 Legislature for the purpose of extending tho time of 

 registration, in order that every qualified voter may 

 have full and ample opportunity to exercise the 

 elective franchise; and that we confidently hope, 

 from the fair and impartial course ho has heretolore 



pursued in the execution of the laws, that be will 

 not deny thin appeal. 



Governor Bowie declined to accede to this 

 request on the ground that, under the provinious 

 of the law, ample time was given to all persons 

 to register who wero entitled to do so under the 

 fifteenth amendment, and that the reasons set 

 fort li would not justify the expense of an extra 

 session of the Legislature. To the further com- 

 plaint that there were vacancies to he filled, the 

 Governor replied that ho was " not aware of a 

 single vacancy, spoken of in the resolutions, 

 existing at present, or having existed for a 

 fortnight past among the registrars/ 1 and closed 

 by saying: 



Could I believe that any considerable number of 

 voters would bo deprived of the elective franchise by 

 the causes stated in your resolutions, I would not 

 hesitate to convene the Legislature, notwithstanding 

 my great objection to extra sessions, and the opposi- 

 tion of the people of Maryland generally to them. 

 You cannot nave forgotten the strong pressure used 

 in the winter of 1869 for an extra session, and how 

 much opposed the Republican party was to my calling 

 one then. You will remember that, when convened, 

 the constitution allows the session to continue thirty 

 days. The expense might be very great to the State, 

 and, as I am fully convinced that no one need be kept 

 from the ballot-box by want of time to register, I am 

 constrained respectfully to decline tho request of your 

 committee. 



The receipts into the Treasury from all 

 sources, for the fiscal year ending September 

 80, 1870, amounted to $2,522,478.93. The 

 disbursements for the same period were 

 $2,475,069.17; and there remained in the 

 Treasury at the close of the fiscal year the 

 sum of $492,750.17. The aggregate funded 

 debt of the State, for which interest has to be 

 provided, is $13,317,475.77, of which the sum 

 of $6,052,888.88 is sterling debt, on which the 

 interest is payable in London. To meet these 

 liabilities the State has available assets to the 

 amount of $7,317,420.03, leaving the sum of 

 $6,000,055.74, on which the interest must be 

 provided by taxation, until the stocks now 

 styled unproductive shall become remunerative 

 to a sufficient extent to balance the account. 



The number of schools in operation in* the 

 State during the year was 1,347, and of enrolled 

 scholars 75,402. The sum of $486,336 was paid 

 for teachers' salaries, and $68,109 for school- 

 books. The total expenditures for school pur- 

 poses were $751,310. These statistics are all 

 exclusive of the city of Baltimore. The Agri- 

 cultural College is in a prosperous condition, as 

 well as the Baltimore Female College, the latter 

 having 128 pupils. The State contains 123 

 schools for colored children, with 5,458 pupils, 

 but the only official support tendered them is 

 the meagre proportion of taxes paid by colored 

 citizens, which in 1869 amounted to $951.26. 

 The number of schools in the city of Baltimore 

 is 119, with 23,913 pupils. The amount paid 

 during the year by the city for schools for 

 colored children was $26,322.08. 



The following statement, prepared by the 

 special committee of the House of Delegates 



