1688 VETOES.

the practice which has worked satisfactorily in Baltimore City
may be continued. For this reason I am vetoing Senate Bill
No. 57.

Senate Bill No. 406 (Ch. 571) requires the payment of
taxes before tags can be issued in Somerset County, and House
Bill No. 66 (Ch. 701), House Bill No. 34Y (Ch. 247) and
Senate Bill No. 268 (Ch. 158) make similar provisions for
Baltimore County, Cecil County and Wicomico County. These
are all local bills which are unnecessary, because of my ap-
proval of House Bill No. 249, which is of state-wide applica-
tion. For this reason I am vetoing these four bills.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.

March 23rd, 1927.
Hon E. Brooke Lee,

Speaker of the House of Delegates,
Annapolis, Maryland.

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I beg to return herewith, without my
approval, House Bill No. 277 (Chapter 49), requiring the
County Board of Education of Anne Arundel County to fur-
nish free transportation to and from any public high school of
said county for all children residing in said county and en-
rolled, in such school, and give my objections thereto as follows:

The present law gives the school boards of every county of
the State full power to furnish free transportation to pupils in
the cases covered by this bill, but in no county of the State is
it made obligatory upon the school board to do so. 'The State
Department of Education is of opinion that the present bil]
embodies an unsound policy and that it is much preferable to
leave the question of free transportation to the discretion of
the local school authorities, so that they may be able to pro-
vide for the same in such cases as seem to them proper.

For these reasons I am returning House Bill No. 277 with-
out my approval.

Respectfully yours,

ALBERT C. RITCHIE, Governor.