increasing obligations. The journals of the Legislature and the voices of an approving constituency testify to the manner in which he discharged his responsible duties. A new treasurer had been appointed, and many changes were to be made in the organization of the department. The treasurer, George Maccubin, was an able and faithful officer; and, with his aid, such ways and means were suggested as put the treasury in a condition to meet all demands upon it.

About this time the state commenced her system of internal improvements. Mr. Chapman advocated it; and, looking to the probability of large demands to be made upon the treasury, he prepared and reported a general system of taxation, to reach all the property in the state. A direct tax had been in exist. ence since the war of 1812, but it had been reduced to thirty thousand dollars, and was kept up as a nucleus upon which to raise additional means when necessary. That tax was levied upon the visible property of the state, ratably by the counties. It is reported to have been unequal in its operation, and unjust, being paid mainly by the agriculturalists; it was defective as the basis of a system. Mr. Chapman thought that, according to the Bill of Rights, every man should contribute according to the actual value of his real and personal property. This principle met with opposition from the moneyed interests of the state. It was understood that an informal agreement existed on the part of the Senate, that, if the House would pass the appropriation bills for the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road Company, the former body would pass the General Tax Bill, as all such bills must first be passed by the House of Delegates. The House passed both bills and sent them to the Senate, which last-named body passed the Appropriation Bill, but rejected the Tax Bill. It is said that Baltimore influence defeated it. This apparent breach of faith naturally led to some irritation. The existing direct tax of thirty thousand dollars depended upon annual enactment; and, although Mr. Chapman was then speaker, he left the chair, and made a report from the Committee of Ways and Means recommending a discontinuance of that unequal and inadequate tax, and effected it. The principle of the bill which Mr. Chapman had reported is now the basis of the system adopted by the state. He defends it as the correct principle, and insists that if it had been adopted when the bill was first reported, the state would never have suspended.

The primary school system in Charles county owes its success more to Mr. Chapman than to any other individual, although many others labored long and arduously in the cause. Through his exertions, a sufficient fund was accumulated by reinvestments of a small annual surplus to put the system in operation.

The Washington Monument in Baltimore presents another subject of interest, in respect to which, we believe, we are not mistaken in attributing to Mr. Chapman the credit of obtaining satisfactory and successful legislation. That work had cost a large sum. The state had appropriated to its completion the avails of the lottery system, in addition to a special lottery grant; but, believing that there had not been the necessary prudence in expending these means, the Legislature had stopped the application of the funds; an investigation was made by the Committee of Ways and Means; a detailed report followed, and a bill, appropriating the necessary funds, was reported and passed. Under that act the monument has been completed.

It is every where known that the State of Maryland has encouraged and aided a system of improvement beyond her means. It is asserted, however, that her embarrassments have been produced by unwise management and improvident expenditures on the part of the companies more than by extravagant appropriations; and that, if the state bonds had not been wastefully sacrificed, her works would have been comparatively free from debt.

Those who advocated a liberal and enlarged system deny all responsibility for the waste and misappropriation of the funds. From the commencement of the system, Mr. Chapman has never doubted as to its propriety. Some of the views which have controlled his conduct in respect to it, we find thus expressed by himself:

"The situation of Maryland is, in many respects, a delicate one, as regards her position and relations to the Union. Looking to the possibility of a dismemberment, I have considered it important that the ties which bind us together should be strengthened, and that, in the event of a rupture, Maryland should hold the key of the Western trade and commerce. We are nearer to a larger portion of the Mississippi Valley than any other seaport that is accessible, and, with proper and prompt

efforts, should have secured the trade of the West upon terms more advantageous to her. Again, in any political division which might be formed after a dismemberment, Maryland would be a frontier state, exposed to all the evils of such a situation; and it is not a consideration devoid of interest to which division she would belong. Her institutions would lead her to a Southern union, while her geographical position and other relations would incline her to the North. I have ever looked to these works of improvement for the richest advantages which were expected to flow from their construction. That part of the state in which I reside requires no canals or rail-roads; we have navigation almost to every man's door. But other considerations besides those of local advantages, or an ephemeral popularity, have prompted me in my course and efforts on the subject of internal improvement. I believe the policy of Mary. land to have been correct, notwithstanding the improvident management of the concerns, the wasteful expenditure of her means, and the sacrifice of her bonds; and I look forward to the time when she will reap the full fruits of her noble efforts." In the fall of 1845 Mr. Chapman was nominated and elected a member of the national House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1847 without opposition. His votes in that body have been guided by those principles which have marked his political course through life. He has sustained the appropria tions demanded for the prosecution of the Mexican war. He has, in an especial manner, directed the attention of Congress to the oppressive restrictions under which a great staple-product of his own state labors by the legislation of European countries, and has in vain endeavored to procure some enactment looking to their mitigation. A speech delivered by him in February, 1847, contains views from which, considering the importance of the subject to the people of Maryland, it seems proper to ex tract some of the prominent points.

The House being in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, and having under consideration the bill to increase the revenue derivable from imports, he offered the fal lowing amendments:

"And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, there shall be paid twenty per centum ad valorem, in addition to all other duties, on the following articles,

that is to say on woolen cloths and cassimeres; on all manufactures of cotton, which are dyed, colored, printed, or stained; on all laces; on bleached and unbleached linen; worsted stuff goods; all manufactures of silk, or of which silk is a component part; on leather; on spirits distilled from grain or other materials; on hemp and cordage; and on all kinds of wines: Pro-. vided, That whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the President of the United States that the tobacco, the produce of the United States, is admitted into the several ports belonging to any foreign state, kingdom, or government producing or manufacturing any of the said enumerated articles, at a duty not exceeding the maximum or highest rate of duty chargeable on any of them, and that any American citi. zen may export the tobacco of the United States directly therefrom to any port or place of any such foreign state, kingdom, or government, and there dispose of the same upon as good terms as any citizen or subject of said state, kingdom, or gov ernment, so far as any regulation of government may affect the same, then the said additional duty of twenty per centum shall be remitted, so far as regards such of the said articles as are of the produce or manufacture of such state, kingdom, or government as shall admit the tobacco as aforesaid: And provided further, That according as any foreign state, kingdom, or government shall hereafter, from time to time, reduce the rate of duty imposed upon the tobacco, the produce of the United States, below the maximum or highest rate of duty imposed by this act upon the foregoing enumerated articles, and whenever the said reduction shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the President of the United States, then shall said duties imposed upon said articles, to wit, on woolen cloths and cassimeres; on all manufactures of cotton, which are dyed, colored, printed, or stained; on laces; on bleached and unbleached linen; on worsted stuff goods; on all manufactures of silk, or of which silk is a component part; on leather; on spirits distilled from grain or other materials; on hemp and cordage; and on all kinds of wines, be reduced upon a like scale or corresponding reciprocal ratio, so far as regards such of the said articles as are of the produce or manufacture of such state, kingdom, or government as shall admit the tobacco as aforesaid.

"And be it further enacted, That from and after the first

day of July next, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on the importation of the articles hereinafter mentioned, the fol lowing duties, in addition to those now levied under the act approved the thirtieth day of July, 1846, entitled 'An Act reducing the Duties on Imports, and for other Purposes;' that is to say, on iron in bars, not manufactured in whole or in part by rolling, fifteen dollars per ton; on bolt or bar iron, made wholly or in part by rolling, twenty dollars per ton; on all manufactures of iron, twenty per centum ad valorem, in addition to the present duties now levied; on coal, two dollars per ton; on all vessels or wares, articles and manufactures of cut glass; on plain, molded, or pressed glass, and on all other glass-ware; on chinaware, porcelain-ware, earthen-ware, stone-ware, and all other ware composed of earth or mineral substance, an additional duty of twenty per centum: Provided, That whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the President of the United States that the tobacco, the produce of the United States, is admitted into the several ports belonging to any foreign state, kingdom, or government producing or manufacturing any of the said articles herein enumerated, upon a duty not exceeding the maximum or highest rate of duty chargeable on any of them, and that any citizen of the United States may export the tobacco of the United States directly there from to any port or place of any such foreign state, kingdom, or government, and there dispose of the same, upon as good terms as any citizen or subject of said state, kingdom, or government, as far as any regulation of government may affect the same, then the said additional duty upon iron, not manufactured by rolling; on bolt or bar iron, made by rolling in whole or in part; on all manufactures of iron; on coal; on all vessels or wares, articles and manufactures of cut glass; on plain, molded, and pressed glass, and on other glass-ware; on china-ware, porcelain-ware, earthen-ware, stone-ware, and all other ware composed of earth or mineral substance, shall be remitted, so far as regards such of the articles above recited as are of the produce or manufac ture of such state, kingdom, or government as shall admit the tobacco, the growth of the United States, as aforesaid: And provided further, That according as any state, kingdom, or government shall hereafter, from time to time, reduce the rate of duty imposed upon tobacco, the produce of the United States,