MARYLAND. 



477 



promote the cause of temperance, but they 

 were defeated. 



The election took piace on the 10th of Sep- 

 tember. The whole number of votes cast was 

 102,058. Of these, Selden Connor received 

 53,585 ; Joseph H. Williams, 42,247 ; Henry U. 

 Munson, u Greenback " candidate, 5,291 ; John 

 C. Talbot, 736 ; other candidates, 199. Con- 

 nor's plurality over Williams was 11,358; ma- 

 jority over all, 5,112. The proposed amend- 

 ment of the Constitution regarding the qualifi- 

 cations of electors was defeated, the vote being 

 20,530 for and 25,242 against it. The amend- 

 ment relating to municipal indebtedness was 

 ratified by a vote of 39,300 to 5,882. The 

 Governor issued his proclamation on the 20th 

 of December, declaring that the latter would 

 take effect and become a part of the Constitu- 

 tion of the State on the 1st of January, 1878. 



MARYLAND. The total receipts from all 

 sources into the State Treasury during the year 

 ending September 30, 1877, were $2,109,194, 

 which, added to the balance in the Treasury 

 September 30, 1876, of $401,434, made a total 

 of $2,510,628. The expenditures during the 

 same time, including the amounts disbursed 

 from the " funds " so called, amounted to $2,- 

 179,814, leaving a balance in the Treasury on 

 September 30, 1877, of $330,814. The receipts 

 and disbursements of the "funds" comprise 

 the Sinking Fund and Free-School Funds ; tho 

 revenues from certain stocks held by the State 

 being required by law to be distributed to the 

 Free Schools in addition to the amounts they 

 annually receive from general taxation. The 

 sources from which the general receipts were 

 derived are as follows : 



Licenses $488,615 57 



Taxes 1,0(58,958 54 



Sale of State stock 219,816 00 



War claims, United States 61,362 64 



Northern Central annuity 90,000 00 



Susquehanna canal 80,000 00 



State live stock 18,443 00 



Tobacco inspection 15,740 21 



State wharves 4,05515 



Agricultural college 6,903 00 



Baltimore and Ohio dividends 60,918 74 



Excess of fees 18,689 82 



Interest on debt 17,457 79 



Fines and forfeitures 8,228 71 



Grain weighers 5,950 88 



Interest on bonds 6,800 00 



Miscellaneous 2,252 65 



Total $2,108,19170 



The purposes for which the disbursements 

 were made were as follows : Agricultural so- 

 cieties in counties and State societies, $6,500 ; 

 charitable institutions, $92,474 ; indigent blind, 

 $12,550; public buildings (construction and 

 repairs), $67,608; interest on public debt, $645,- 

 275 ; redemption of, $221,176 ; purchase of, 

 for sinking fund, $33,396 ; pensions, $34,060 ; 

 reformatory institutions, $102,827; special ap- 

 propriation, $15,281 ; survey of Baltimore har- 

 bor, $5,000 ; schools, including colleges and 

 academies, $647,344; expenses of State Gov- 

 ernment, including oyster navy, $296,822 ; to- 

 tal, $2,179,814. From the above it will be seen 



that, deducting from the total expenditures 

 the sums paid for interest on the public debt, 

 redemption of the overdue sterling debt, and 

 for the support of the public schools, acade- 

 mies, and colleges, amounting in the aggregate 

 to $1,513,795, there will be left a balance of 

 $666,018, of which $369,196 was expended in 

 donations, special appropriations, construction 

 of public buildings, pensions, charitable and 

 reformatory institutions, surveys, etc., and 

 $296,822 was used to defray the expenses of 

 the State Government. 



The treasury has suffered a severe loss dur- 

 ing the last two years by the suspension of 

 dividends on the State stock of the Washing- 

 ton branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 

 and also from the failure on the part of that 

 company to pay over to the State one fifth of 

 the gross receipts derived from passengers by 

 that route, in accordance with the terms of the 

 contract with the State. The change made by 

 the act of 1876, chapter 248, by which the li- 

 cense to foreign insurance companies was re- 

 duced to $100, has produced a loss to the State 

 of about $40,000 a year. The Tidewater & 

 Susquehanna Canal Company has, for the last 

 year, failed to pay tho interest on the mort- 

 gage due to the State, so that the loss to the 

 treasury from the above-mentioned sources 

 may be stated as follows : on State Stock of 

 Washington Branch, two years, $110,000; from 

 reduction of insurance licenses, two years, $80,- 

 000; Susquehanna & Tidewater Canal, one 

 year, $60,000; total, $250,000. The funded debt 

 of the State, September 30, 1877, was $10,758,- 

 078. After deducting $4,862,355, the value of 

 stocks and bonds held by the State, on which 

 interest is paid, and which are considered pro- 

 ductive assets, there is left a net debt, on which 

 interest must be provided, of $6,396,323. It 

 must be noted that among the assets claimed 

 to be productive are included stock of the 

 Washington Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio 

 Railroad and the mortgage of the Tidewater 

 & Susquehanna Canal. As an offset to the 

 funded debt given above, the State holds un- 

 productive assets estimated at $20,000,000. 



The total valuation of the property of the 

 State under the new assessment, authorized by 

 the law of 1876, is as follows: assessed value, 

 $478,468,028 ; aggregate value, $547,044,270. 



The assessed value is the value of tho prop* 

 erty subject to a State tax ; the aggregate val- 

 ue includes railroad property. The value of 

 railroad property, as assessed under the act of 

 1876, is $25,532,650. The assessed value of 

 property in 1867 was $492,658,472, and the 

 aggregate value, $528,809,584. During ten 

 years there has been an increase of $25,582,- 

 650 in the aggregate value. 



A large amount of property, corporate and 

 individual, real and personal, has for years es- 

 caped taxation in Maryland from legal exemp- 

 tion or otherwise. The principle sought to be 

 established by the law of 1876 was, to do away 

 with every exemption on which it could oper- 



