348 



MARYLAND. 



mined by the decennial census, compared with 

 similar returns for 1890: 



* Decrease. 



Finances. According to the report of the 

 Comptroller for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 

 1900, the total treasury receipts were $3,622,493.- 

 42, which, together with the balance of $707,926 

 in the treasury on Sept. 30, 1899, and $206,326.80 

 to the credit of the funds account, makes a total 

 of $4,536,746.22. The disbursements aggregated 

 $3,480,534.26, being $169,189.81 less than in 1899. 

 This decrease is accounted for by the fact that 

 there was paid during the fiscal year of 1899 

 to the "consolidated loan of 1899" $522,579.14, 

 which was the proceeds of the bonds issued. The 

 receipts for 1900 to the sinking funds, including 

 the balances to the credit of those funds on Sept. 

 30, 1899, aggregated $686,587, and are held in the 

 sinking funds for the benefit of the loans men- 

 tioned, as follow: Consolidated loan of J899, 

 $523,587; penitentiary loan, $113,000; insane 

 asylum loan, $25,000 ; general sinking funds, $25,- 

 000; total, $686,587 ; deduct balances Sept. 30, 1899, 

 $374,813.18; actual receipts, $311,773.82. The 

 funded debt was shown to be at the close of the 

 fiscal year $6,309,326.13, an increase of $600,000. 

 This increase is accounted for by the issue on 

 Jan. 1, 1900, of the remaining $300,000 of the 

 " consolidated loan of 1899 " for the completion 

 of the Fifth Regiment Armory, as authorized by 

 the Legislature in 1898, together with the issuing 

 on July 1, 1900, of a part of the " State building 

 improvement loan," amounting to $300,000, and 

 authorized by the Legislature in 1900. As an off- 

 set to this interest-bearing debt, the State holds 

 bonds, stocks, and cash aggregating $3,424,057, 

 leaving the net debt on Dec. 30, 1900, $2,885,- 

 269.13. 



River and Harbor Improvement. The Na- 

 tional Government authorized the expenditure of 

 $221,000 for the improvement of Spring Gardens 

 Channel in Baltimore, with an appropriation of 

 $88,000 for the coming fiscal year. The total cash 

 appropriation for the harbors of Maryland 

 amounted to $113,000, and in addition to the 

 improvement of Spring Gardens Channel there 

 was authorized the expenditure of $5,000 each for 

 Cambridge, Rockhall, Queenstown, Clayborne, and 

 Breton Bay. The appropriations for the improve- 

 ment of the rivers in Maryland were as follow: 

 Choptank river, $8,000; Chester river, from 

 Crumpton to Jones's Landing, $5,350; Warwick 

 river, $2,000; Pocomoke river, $3,000; Elk river, 

 $10,000; Patuxent river, $6,000. 



Coal. The total coal production of the year 

 1900 was 3,900,000 tons, against 5,080,248 tons in 

 1899. The value of this coal was $4,173,000, com- 

 pared with 1899, when the production was valued 

 at $4,318,211. The coal in 1900 was worth on an 

 average $1.07 a ton at the mine, while in 1899 it 

 was worth only 85 cents a ton at the mine. The 

 reduction in the output was due to the strike of the 

 united mine workers, which lasted four months. 

 The mine workers demanded 60 cents, but failed, 

 and after four months of idleness returned to 

 work at 55 cents a ton. An inadequate car 

 supply interfered with the shipments of coal 

 subsequent to the resumption of work. The ship- 

 ments of coal over the Baltimore and Ohio Canal 

 during the season aggregated 175,000 tons, com- 

 pared with 192,423 tons in 1899. 



Mason and Dixon's Line. In 1900 the re- 

 survey of the famous Mason and Dixon's line 

 was begun by the United States Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey, under the authority of a resurvey 

 designated under the acts of Pennsylvania and 

 Maryland for 1899 and 1900. It was to be made 

 without expense to the States, but $5,000 was 

 appropriated by each State to be devoted to the 

 expenses of subordinate members of the survey 

 to the purchase and. location of the monuments, 

 and other contingent expenses connected with 

 the actual remark- 

 ing of the line. The 

 history of the orig- 

 inal running of the 

 famous Mason and 

 Dixon's line was 

 the result of an 

 agreement between 

 the Calverts and 

 the Penns, con- 

 cluded in 1760, 

 after protracted 

 negotiations. There 

 had been a conflict 

 in the grants of 

 Maryland and 

 Pennsylvania, and 

 there were other 

 complications af- 

 fecting the titles. 

 The Penns were 

 fortunate in hav- 

 ing friends at 



court, and Calvert was finally coerced into con- 

 ceding everything Penn demanded. The orig- 

 inal grant to Calvert placed the northern limit 

 of his domain at the fortieth parallel, while 

 the grant to Penn placed his territory north 

 of Maryland. The map of Virginia made by 

 John Smith represented the fortieth parallel as 

 running below the head of the navigable waters 

 of the Susquehanna, and it was urged by the 

 Penns that the spirit of the grant, based upon 

 the assumption that Smith's map was used, 

 should be followed rather than the letter of the 

 charter, which permitted Lord Baltimore to gov- 

 ern the inhabitants of the principal settlement in 

 Penn's colony. On the other hand, the Calvn t * 

 insisted upon the letter of the grant. A com- . 

 promise resulted, and the claim for a portion of 

 Pennsylvania was abandoned by Lord Baltimore. 

 At that time a commission \vas appointed to sur- 

 vey the line between the two colonies, but its 

 progress was so slow that Charles Mason and 

 James Dixon were engaged to complete the work. 

 They arrived in Philadelphia in November, 1764, 

 and began their survey in the following spring. 

 They continued work two years, reaching a point 

 244 miles from Delaware riVer and 36 miles short 



JOHN WALTER SMITH, 

 GOVEBNOR OF MARYLAND. 



