112. Politics and Elections.

to feel their responsibility, carefully prepare a list of all necessary expenditures, to be submitted to the legislature for final action.1 At the present time there are two great political parties in the United States, the Democratic and the Republican. To make clear the principles and doctrines of these great parties would require much explanation, and they do not belong particularly to our state history.

Chapter V contains an account of politics in Maryland during the Civil War. After the close of the war the Democrats were found to be greatly in the majority, and they won in the state elections until 1895, when a Republican governor was elected. In 1911 another Republican governor was chosen, but with a Democratic majority in the legislature, while the elections for president of the United States and members of Congress have sometimes favored one party, sometimes another. These facts show that we have a large number of independent voters, - men who will not vote regularly with a party, but each time decide what candidates and measures should be supported for the best interests of the state and nation.

In early times men voted viva voce, or "by the living voice." This caused so much trouble that in 1802 a law was passed in Maryland to compel voting to be done by ballot; that is, on a written or printed slip of paper. In 1890 the state adopted a plan known as the Australian ballot, by which voting might be entirely secret, and in 1896 a law was passed to throw additional safeguards about voting. The state prints all the ballots. In March, 1901, the General Assembly, being in special session, passed a new 'election law, which has since been amended from time to

1 This amendment was prepared with the advice of President Frank Goodnow of the Johns Hopkins University, an eminent authority on government, who served for several years as constitutional adviser to the president of China. The Maryland budget system has aroused interest in all parts of the country.

time, especially in 1912 and 1914. The voter is not permitted to use any ballot except the one prepared by the state officers, on which the names of all candidates must be printed in alphabetical order under the head of the respective offices. The ballot shows the party of each candidate by printing the party name in plain type, but no symbol or emblem of any kind is allowed. It is difficult for persons who cannot read to vote such a ballot. A stringent Corrupt Practices Act was passed in 1908 and extended in 1912, imposing severe penalties for bribery and other dishonest acts committed in connection with elections. In 1914 a law was passed authorizing the use of voting machines whenever the election supervisors of Baltimore city or of the respective counties so desire, but "any improper, illegal, or fraudulent act" in connection with this method of voting is subject to the same penalties as if committed in connection with the use of ballots.

Beginning in 1910 a series of laws have been passed establishing what are called "direct primaries." Under this plan the candidates of the several political parties are nominated and the party officials chosen directly by the voters who belong to the party, the election being conducted by officials of the state with safeguards similar to those of a general election. This replaced an older method by which the primary elections were controlled by the party organization according to party custom. It is the purpose of the new law (such as most American states now have) to prevent frauds and to allow the whole body of voters belonging to a party to help manage its affairs.

113. Industries. Though Maryland is no longer a purely agricultural community, the cultivation of the soil continues to be a leading industry. In the western part of the state excellent crops of wheat, corn, buckwheat, and grass are raised and many cattle are fattened for market. On the mountain slopes are

raised peaches of the finest quality, apples, and pears. Wheat, corn, and grass are raised in northern and central Maryland, while there is much market gardening and important dairy products. Southern Maryland is largely devoted to truck farming and fruit raising; tobacco has lost its old-time importance but is still cultivated, and the state

ranks tenth in tobacco production. On the Eastern Shore wheat, corn, fruits, tobacco, and vegetables are extensively raised. In the forests of western Maryland the sugar maple abounds and a large amount of maple sugar is profitably produced every spring.

The most valuable of the mineral products of Maryland is soft coal, of which great quantities are found west of Cumberland. No coal of the kind in the United States is supe

rior in quality. The mining of iron was once an important industry, but the discovery of a better quality of iron in other parts of the country has nearly destroyed it. The same is true of copper. Excellent red sandstone is found in Montgomery and Frederick counties; roofing slate in Harford county; marble in Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick counties; and a fine quality of granite in

Baltimore, Howard, and Cecil counties. The making of bricks is still an important industry, as it has been since colonial times. Tile and terra cotta are also made from Maryland clay. Maryland granite has been used in the construction of such important buildings as the Capitol and Congressional Library in Washington and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis; the red sandstone, in the Smithsonian Institution of Washington.

Maryland gives employment to greater numbers in the work of catching and preparing the products of the water than any other state in the Union. Of these products the oyster is the most important, those of the Chesapeake region being the finest in the world. Vast quantities are consumed at home and great numbers are canned and sent all over the world. For several years there was an alarming decline in this industry, and a strong and determined sentiment was aroused that led to the passage of laws providing for scientific oyster culture, beginning in 1906. Virginia and Rhode Island adopted this plan earlier and practiced it

successfully. B. Howard Haman of Baltimore was for years one of the most active and persistent workers for such laws in Maryland. Crabs abound in practically unlimited numbers in the bay and its tributaries. The diamond-back terrapin is considered a great delicacy and brings high prices. The shad is the most important fish; the supply has been enormously increased since a means of artificial cultivation was adopted in 1880. Mackerel, herring, and other fish are taken in large numbers. An important industry has grown up in catching menhaden for use in making oil and fertilizer. The Potomac river yields more of this fish than any other river on the Atlantic coast.

Manufacturing is a very important industry of the state. Baltimore and its environs form one of the great manufacturing centers of the Union. It is the greatest center of the world for the manufacture of fertilizers,1 cotton duck, straw hats, and canned goods.1 Baltimore is sometimes called the "Mother of the Canned Goods Industry," because it led the way in the use of machinery and the successful canning of food products for commerce. The packing

1 But the state as a whole is exceeded by Georgia in the production of fertilizers and by California and New York in canning and preserving.