534 



MARYLAND. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



may be fully exerted and your purposes Ixj carried into 

 complete effect by the eimctment of ftdaqocfee laws. 



The Republican State Convention met nt 

 Cambridge on the Cth of October, and nom- 

 inated Thomas S. Gorsuch, of Frederick, for 

 Compt roller. The resolutions adopted set forth 

 the indissoluble union of the States ; the su- 

 premacy of the national Constitution and the 

 laws passed in pursuance thereof over any State 

 !:i\vs and ordinances passed by any other au- 

 thority whatsoever ; the complete independ- 

 ence of the executive, legislative, and judicial 

 departments of the government, and the right- 

 ful supremacy of each in its own sphere; the 

 equality of all citizens before the law ; the free 

 and fair expression of the will of the people 

 through the ballot-box ; the honest count or 

 declaration of the will so expressed, and the 

 duty of all to acquiesce in the popular will so 

 ascertained ; the honest payment of the public 

 debt; the maintenance of the public faith, 

 credit, and honor; a stable metallic base of the 

 country's currency for the security of the peo- 

 ple's business and savings, and at par with the 

 monetary standards of the commercial world ; 

 an honest, efficient, and economical public serv- 

 ice, and its exemption from political fluctua- 

 tions ; the right of the people to have all offi- 

 cial positions filled by the most capable and 

 honest, regardless of any other consideration 

 whatever ; the promotion of general intelli- 

 gence, so far as can constitutionally be done, 

 at the public expense ; the strict enforcement 

 of laws for the protection of the civil rights, 

 the person and property of the citizen; the 

 promotion of national industry ; the develop- 

 ment of the national power, wealth, and inde- 

 pendence, and the increase of the happiness of 

 the people ; that it is the duty of Congress at 

 once to provide an improved method of ascer- 

 taining the result of the presidential election, 

 and make further provision for a case of va- 

 cancy of the presidential office ; also, to revise 

 and make more efficient the laws designed to 

 protect the ballot-box in national elections, 

 and to refuse to admit to seats in that body or 

 to any official position under the national Gov- 

 ernment any man whose right to such seat or 

 position rests upon or is tainted by bribery, 

 fraud, or violence. 



The platform also states that registrations and 

 elections as conducted in Maryland are a bur- 

 lesque upon republican institutions, and the 

 demand of the Republicans of the State two 

 years ago is repeated, that Democratic higgling 

 with the registration of votes shall cease, and 

 that the Legislature shall in good faith pass 

 such laws as will secure an honest registry, 

 free vote, and fair count; that primary elec- 

 tions be recognized by law, and bribery and 

 other means of fraud punished at legal elec- 

 tions; condemning the creation and continu- 

 ance of superfluous offices, extravagant sala- 

 ries to State officials, and prostitution of the 

 public works of the State for the purpose of 

 political corruption as grievous and unneces- 



sary burdens upon the people, and asking for 

 a reduction of expenditures ; for a system of 

 public schools worthy of the State ; for a sys- 

 tem of free public roads for better intercourse 

 between sections; a revision of the license 

 law, whereby burdens of taxation shall rest on 

 capital and not as now upon enterprise and in- 

 dustry, and the abolition of distraint for rent ; 

 that no debt shall be entitled to more stringent 

 means for collection than that for labor done. 

 The resolutions declare that the leaders of the 

 Democratic party have betrayed the trust re- 

 posed in them by their utter disregard of all 

 pledges, and all good citizens of the State are 

 called upon to vote for the Republican nominee 

 for Comptroller, and for worthy men placed in 

 nomination for the Legislature by the Repub- 

 lican party, so that a good and honest adminis- 

 tration may be obtained. 



MASSACHUSETTS. The legislative ses- 

 sion of Massachusetts commences annually on 

 the first Wednesday of January. In the Sen- 

 ate, Robert Bishop was elected President by 

 a unanimous vote ; and in the House Charles 

 J. Noyes was chosen Speaker by a vote of 

 yeas 232, blank 1. Soon after a resolution 

 was adopted, appointing a committee to unite 

 with a like committee of the Senate to inform 

 the Governor that both Houses were ready to 

 proceed to public worship. They did so, and 

 reported that the Governor awaited their move- 

 ment. An adjournment was at once made, at 

 3.30 P.M., and the Governor with his Council, 

 the members of the Senate, and the members of 

 the House, were escorted to King's Chapel by 

 the First Corps of Cadets, in which the elec- 

 tion sermon was preached. 



The preacher took for his text the words of 

 Proverbs xxix, 18, "Where there is no vision, 

 the people perish," and said : " The excellent 

 custom which we observe to-day is peculiar, 

 so far as I know, to our own Commonwealth. 

 Connecticut had election sermons for a long pe- 

 riod, New Hampshire and Vermont have had 

 a few, and Rhode Island and New York a very 

 few. But in this State the custom has been 

 preserved from the year 1G64 to this day." 



The session thus begun continued one hun- 

 dred and twenty-nine days, and closed on May 

 13th. Three hundred and five acts and seventy- 

 two resolutions were passed. Some of these 

 acts were to the following effect: 



The penalties for drunkenness were fixed 

 thus: A fine of one dollar, and such portion of 

 the costs as the court may determine, for a first 

 offense ; a fine of five dollars and costs for a 

 second offense ; and a fine of ten dollars and 

 costs for a third offense. For second and third 

 convictions the alternative of two months and 

 of one year's imprisonment, respectively, is 

 provided. 



The law of 1880, prohibiting at the discre- 

 tion of licensing boards the maintenance of any 

 obstruction to public view of the premises upon 

 which intoxicating liquors are sold, was made 

 compulsory. 



