the Legislature, at each regular session thereof, on joint ballot, who shall receive an annual salary of Two Thousand Five Hundred dollars; and the terms of office of the said Comptroller and Treasurer shall be for two years, and until their successors shall qualify; and neither of the said officers shall be allowed, or receive any fees, commissions or perquisites of any kind, in addition to his salary, for the performance of any duty or services whatsoever. In case of a vacancy in either of the offices, by death, or otherwise, the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall fill such vacancy, by appointment to continue until another election, or a choice by the Legislature, as the case may be, and until the qualification of the successor. The Comptroller and the Treasurer shall keep their offices at the seat of Government, and shall take such oath, and enter into such bonds for the faithful discharge of their duties as are now, or may hereafter be, prescribed by Law.

Thomas v. Owens, 4 Md. 189.

SEC. 2. The Comptroller shall have the general superintendence of the fiscal affairs of the State; he shall digest and prepare plans for the improvement and management of the Revenue, and for the support of the Public Credit; prepare and report estimates of the Revenue and Expenditures of the State; superintend and enforce the prompt collection of all Taxes and Revenue; adjust and settle, on terms, prescribed by Law, with delinquent Collectors and Receivers of taxes and State revenue; preserve all Public Accounts; decide on the forms of keeping and stating Accounts; grant, under regulations, prescribed by Law, all warrants for money to be paid out of the Treasury, in pursuance of appropriations by Law; and countersign all checks drawn by the Treasurer upon any Bank or Banks, in which the moneys of the State may, from time to time, be deposited; prescribe the formalities of the transfer of stock, or other evidence of the State Debt, and countersign the same, without which, such Evidence shall not be valid; he shall make to the General Assembly full Reports of all his proceedings, and of the state of the Treasury Department, within ten days after the commencement of each Session; and perform such other duties as shall be prescribed by Law.

Billingsley v. State, 14 Md. 369.

SEC. 3. The Treasurer shall receive the moneys of the State, and, until otherwise prescribed by Law, deposit them, as soon as received, to the credit of the State, in such Bank, or Banks, as he may, from time to time, with the approval of the Governor, select, (the said Bank or Banks giving security, satisfactory to the Governor, for the safe keeping and forthcoming, when required, of said Deposits,) and shall disburse the same for the purposes of the State, according to Law, upon warrants drawn by the Comptroller, and on checks, countersigned by him, and not otherwise; he shall take receipts for all moneys paid by him; and receipts for moneys received by him shall be endorsed upon warrants, signed by the comptroller; without which warrants, so signed, no acknowledgment of money received into the Treasury shall be valid; and upon warrants, issued by the Comptroller, he shall make arrangements for the payment of the interest of the Public Debt, and for the purchase thereof on account of the Sinking Fund. Every Bond, Certificate, or other Evidence of the debt of the State, shall be signed by the Treasurer, and countersigned by the Comptroller; and no new Certificate, or other Evidence intended to replace another, shall be issued until the old one shall be delivered to the Treasurer, and authority executed in due form for the transfer of the same filed in his office, and the transfer accordingly made on the books thereof, and the certificate or other evidence cancelled; but the Legislature may make provisions for the loss of certificates, or other evidences of the debt; and may prescribe by Law, the manner in which the Treasurer shall receive and keep the moneys of the State.

SEC. 4. The Treasurer shall render his Accounts quarterly to the Comptroller, and shall publish monthly in such newspapers as the Governor may direct an abstract thereof, showing the amount of cash on hand, and the place or places of deposit thereof; and on the third day of each regular session of the Legislature he shall submit to the Senate and House of Delegates fair and accurate copies of all Accounts by him, from time to time, rendered and settled with the Comptroller. He shall at all times submit to the Comptroller the inspection of the money in his hands, and perform all other duties that shall be prescribed by Law.

SEC. 5. The Comptroller shall qualify and enter on the duties of his office on the third Monday of January next succeeding the time of his election, or as soon thereafter as practicable. And the Treasurer shall qualify within one month after his appointment by the Legislature.

SEC. 6. Whenever during the recess of the Legislature charges shall be preferred to the Governor against the Comptroller or Treasurer for incompetency, malfeasance in office, wilful neglect of duty, or misappropriation of the funds of the State, it shall be the duty of the Governor forthwith to notify the party so charged and fix a day for a hearing of said charges; and if from the evidence taken, under oath, on said hearing before the Governor, the said allegations shall be sustained, it shall be the duty of the Governor to remove said offending officer and appoint another in his place, who shall hold the office for the unexpired term of the officer so removed.

ARTICLE VII.

SUNDRY OFFICERS.

County Commissioners-Surveyor-State Librarian-Commissioner of the
Land Office-Wreck Master.

SECTION 1. County Commissioners shall be elected on general ticket of each County by the qualified voters of the several Counties of this State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and on the same day in every second year thereafter. Their number in each County, their compensation, powers and duties, shall be such as are now, or may be hereafter prescribed by Law. Com'rs of Washington County . Nesbitt, 6 Md. 468. Com'rs of Public Schools v. County Com'rs of Allegany Co., 20 Md. 459.

SEC. 2. The qualified voters of each County and of the City of Baltimore shall on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, in the year eighteen hundred and sixtyseven, and on the same day in every second year thereafter, elect a Surveyor for each County and the city of Baltimore, respectively, whose term of office shall commence on the first Monday of January next ensuing their election; and whose duties and compen

sation shall be the same as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by Law. And any vacancy in the office of Surveyor shall be filled by the Commissioners of the Counties, or by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, respectively, for the residue of the

term.

SEC. 3. The State Librarian shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall hold his office during the term of the Governor, by whom he shall have been appointed, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. His salary shall be Fifteen hundred dollars a year; and he shall perform such duties as are now, or may hereafter be prescribed by Law; and no appropriation shall be made by Law, to pay for any Clerk, or assistant to the Librarian. And it shall be the duty of the Legislature, at its first Session after the adoption of this Constitution, to pass a Law regulating the mode and manner in which the Books in the Library shall be kept and accounted for by the Librarian, and requiring the Librarian to give a Bond, in such penalty as the Legislature may prescribe, for the proper discharge of his duties. Marshall v. Harwood, 5 Md. 423. Silver v. Magruder, 32 Md. 387.

SEC. 4. There shall be a Commissioner of the Land Office, who shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall hold his office during the term of the Governor, by whom he shall have been appointed, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. He shall perform such duties as are now required of the Commissioner of the Land Office, or such as may hereafter be prescribed by Law, and shall also be the Keeper of the Chancery Records. He shall receive a salary of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, to be paid out of the Treasury, and shall charge such fees as are now, or may be hereafter fixed by Law. He shall make a semiannual report of all the fees of his office, both as Commissioner of the Land Office, and as Keeper of the Chancery Records, to the Comptroller of the Treasury, and shall pay the same semiannually into the Treasury.

SEC. 5. The Commissioner of the Land Office shall also, without additional compensation, collect, arrange, classify, have charge

of, and safely keep all Papers, Records, Relics, and other Memorials connected with the Early History of Maryland, not belonging to any other office.

SEC. 6. The qualified voters of Worcester County shall, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and every two years. thereafter, elect a Wreck Master for said County, whose duties and compensation shall be the same as are now or may be hereafter prescribed by Law; the term of office of said Wreck Master shall commence on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and a vacancy in said office shall be filled by the County Commissioners of said County for the residue of the term.

ARTICLE VIII.

EDUCATION.

SECTION 1. The General Assembly, at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall by Law establish throughout the State a thorough and efficient system of Free Public Schools; and shall provide by taxation, or otherwise, for their maintenance.

SEC. 2. The system of Public Schools, as now constituted, shall remain in force until the end of the said first session of the General Assembly, and shall then expire; except so far as adopted or continued by the General Assembly.

SEC. 3. The School Fund of the State shall be kept inviolate, and appropriated only to the purposes of Education.

ARTICLE IX.

MILITIA AND MILITARY AFFAIRS.

SECTION 1. The General Assembly shall make, from time to time, such provision for organizing, equipping and disciplining the Militia, as the exigency may require, and pass such Laws to promote Volunteer Militia Organizations as may afford them effectual encouragement.