506 



MARYLAND. 



age of one hogshead, it will produce several 

 grades of tobacco, and the planter who only 

 cultivates one or two acres was compelled to 

 mix the various grades, thus injuring the sale 

 of the best, without getting any higher price 

 for the inferior grades. The Legislature has 

 repealed this compulsory clause. The planter 

 may now send his tobacco where he pleases, 

 but the inducement of free storage is offered 

 him to come to the State warehouses, which 

 are managed by five inspectors appointed every 

 two years by the Governor, who are required 

 to give bond in the sum of $30,000, and are 

 prohibited from having any interest in the buy- 

 ing or selling any tobacco except of their own 

 growth. The bill reducing the fare on the 

 city railroads of Baltimore to five cents, and 

 requiring the car-companies to pay 9 per cent 

 of their gross earnings as a park-tax, was also 

 passed. Among other facts elicited in the dis- 

 cussion of this measure was the following state- 

 ment of the condition of these car companies : 



Kevenue of the city passenger railroad companies. $651,651 10 

 Loss of revenue by reduction of lares to five cents. 116,943 27 



$534,707 83 



Estimated expenses, based on average for five 

 years 364,790 15 



$169,917 63 



Park-tax $64,164 84 



Othertaxes 20,000 00 



84,164 84 



Net revenue for dividend $85,753 84 



This net revenue for dividend exceeds by 

 $5,000, 8 per cent on the nominal capital stock, 

 which is $1,000,000, of which only half is paid 

 in, making it really a dividend of 16 per cent 

 on the actual investment. Efforts were made 

 to curtail the appointing power of the Governor, 

 and to defeat many of his appointments, which 

 were only partially successful. Measures were 

 passed for the more perfect registration of 

 voters, for securing fair elections, and an ex- 

 cellent bill punishing owners of gambling-tables 

 with fine and imprisonment; and a bill author- 

 izing the city of Baltimore to contract a loan 

 of $5,000,000 for the purpose of constructing 

 a sewerage system, was also passed. The Legis- 

 lature adjourned by constitutional limitation on 

 April 3d. Owing to the illness of the Governor 

 at the time of adjournment, and to the subse- 

 quent illness of Mr. Keilholtz, Speaker of the 

 House of Delegates, considerable delay and 

 difficulty arose as to signing a large number of 

 bills passed before the close of the session. The 

 question as to the legality of these acts signed 

 more than ten days after the adjournment has 

 been raised, and will be tested in the Court of 

 Appeals. 



The protection of the oyster-beds of the 

 Chesapeake Bay against the depredations of 

 home and foreign dredgers is regarded as a 

 necessity, or the oyster-fisheries will soon be- 

 come a thing of the past. While there is rea- 

 son to believe that the evils complained of are 

 not as great as they are represented, it is true 

 that the average yield for several years past 



has been gradually decreasing. It seems to be 

 universally admitted that the existing laws for 

 the protection of the oyster-fisheries are inade- 

 quate, and that the means employed to enforce 

 them are wholly inefficient. Arbitrary and in- 

 visible lines are drawn between shore-points, 

 on one side of which is the forbidden ground 

 for dredgers. Occasionally a poaching dredger 

 passes the line and is caught by the oyster-po- 

 lice, but most of the trespassers escape. In the 

 exceptional case of a capture, the captain and 

 crew are sent to the county town. The latter, 

 who have been obliged to obey their captain's 

 orders, are put in jail, the skipper gives bail 

 and goes free, the owners of the vessel pay the 

 fine, and thus the captain, who is presumed to 

 know the forbidden from the free waters, re- 

 ceives no punishment, although he is the really 

 guilty party. The greatest injury to the oyster- 

 beds is done by the men from Delaware Bay, 

 New York, and Long Island Sound, who come 

 into the Chesapeake in the spawning- season 

 and catch oysters for the purpose of transplant- 

 ing them. They do not pretend to cull the 

 oysters, but sail away as soon as they have 

 scooped up a load, each one of their stolen 

 oysters representing a dead loss of as many as 

 its spat would have produced. These thefts 

 have been perpetrated annually for several 

 years, and in April and May of this year were 

 more extensive than in any previous year. 

 Governor Hamilton has appointed a commis- 

 sion, consisting of Professor Brooks and Messrs. 

 Waddell and Legg, all competent men, to re- 

 port to the next General Assembly suitable 

 measures for the adequate protection of the 

 oyster-beds. 



In March the miners of the Cumberland coal 

 region, at the instigation of the Knights of La- 

 bor, struck for higher wages and other regula- 

 tions as to time and quantity of work. They 

 demanded sixty cents per ton, and that no miner 

 should be required to dig more than five tons 

 per day. The coal companies refused to com- 

 ply with these terms, alleging that they could 

 not pay the price demanded and mine coal at 

 any profit. After many months of suffering 

 from March to the end of August the miners 

 were compelled to yield and asked to be al- 

 lowed to go back to work at the price fixed by 

 the companies. Some were re-employed, but 

 many failed to get work, as the companies had 

 filled their places. The companies refused to 

 accede to the regulation giving only five tons 

 per day to each man, on the apparently just 

 ground that it requires them to employ a 

 greater number of men than is necessary. In 

 one or two cases the strikers refused to work 

 unless the entire old force were re-employed. 



The following are the total shipments for 

 the year, as made by each company : 



COMPANIES. Tons. Cwt. 



American Coal Company SS^e 1 ) 16 



Blaen Avon Coal Company 7,012 18 



Borden Mininff Company 87,!^4 01 



Buffalo Valley Pennsylvania Company 2,252 1 1 



Consolidation Coal Company 97,011 05 



