Highland Beach, Maryland Board of Commissioners 1948-41 and undated HIGHLAND BEACH SUMMER COLONY MARYLAND July 24, 1928. TO THE MEMBERS OF HIGHLAND BEACH SUMMER COLONY. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I beg the liberty of writing to each member of our little community a short, private, personal letter. I am deeply interested in children. It is impossible for me to be otherwise. It is because of this interest that I take the liberty of calling attention to matters which pertain to their welfare. One of the crowning virtues of Highland Beach has been its traditional safety as a summer play-ground for children. Traffic dangers formerly did not exist there. The environments of the place were exceedingly wholesome and the forms of recreation were pure and healthful. Children were not exposed to the evil temptations and influences such as may be found in the cities during their vacation from school. I regret the recent trend of things at the Beach. General traffic has increased over a hundred percent thereby increasing traffic hazards to the children. These dangers should be reduced not increased. Highland Beach was planned originally as a peaceful, restful colony of congenial friends. It was never designed to become a commercial summer resort for the accommodation of the general public. The place is not large enough for that and the sanitary conditions would not permit it. If there are any steps which can be taken to preserve our former high standard of community life they should be taken without delay. At the rate we are going it will not be long before sheer gravitation will transform the place into an open, overcrowded, unwholesome public resort. The owners of property desire tranquility minus the general public, no matter how highly they may esteem the individual members of that general public. I believe we can do much toward preserving our original ideals of peace and quiet by restoring the original fence around Highland Beach which, at once, gave it the stamp of a private reservation as it should be. This would not interfere with the principles of incorporation nor would i interfere with the rights of the property owners. We should construct a gate-way of an appropriate design in token of respect to the memory of the founder, Major Charles R. Douglass. I believe there are no bona fide property owners who would fail to unite in this worthy proposal as a safeguard to the welfare of the children. It would add beauty to the place. It would furnish added protection to the children and would tend to inspire them with noble thoughts and purposes and ideals. I hope sincerely that the members of our community will see fit to take these steps in deference to the children. Yours very truly, (Signed) M. Grant Lewis -1- Highland Beach, Md., July 23, 1928 To the Townspeople of Highland Beach: It has been difficult to get citizens to attend either citizens' meetings or commissioners' meetings in large or representative numbers when constructive work has been contemplated. At the commissioners' meeting prior to March 1925 when the rate of taxation for the year 1926 was to be decided, and after notices had been sent to all citizens inviting them to consider lowering the tax rate, then 1% only two citizens appeared, Dr. Scurlock and Mr. O. T. Taylor. At a similar meeting in the following year only four or five citizens appeared at Mr. Murray's house. At the annual meeting following election, for the past three years the Treasurer has submitted a report of all monies received and expended and vouchers for the same. This, in the expressed opinion of the Commissioners' counsel, constitutes a legitimate form of public announcement if in addition thereto, the books may be open for inspection by any citizen at reasonable hours and times. In order that the people may be fully aware of the problems that have faced the commissioners, many of which still exist, and in order that you may be fully cognizant of the situation as we see it, we have prepared this statement. We are certain that intelligent perusal will enlighten many to whom only a biased account has been given, supported not by reason but by personal prejudice and arguments ad hominem. We have dealt with these matters frankly and openly, not in backdoor whispers with deceiving or malicious intent. We are appealing to your intelligence and not to your feelings and emotions, your likes or dislikes. We know that in the long run you will select men and women as commissioners who will sacrifice as much of personal comfort and time as we have done to make our town an improved, sanitary, pleasure-giving community for us and our friends. Many of the older heads of the days when only three or four modest homes dotted the acreage, when automobiles and broad roads did not bring many people, have gone from us. Every year seems to take its toll. The boys and girls of yesterday are running the town and will be followed by the boys and girls of today. The Following are the Problems and Issues of the Day: The Beach It has been claimed that Mr. Douglass owns the beach as his private property; that he could keep the citizens off; that he could sub-divide the beach except for a narrow strip; that he could fence it in, etc. We have contended that Mr. Douglass owns only the fee in the Beach but that all of the people who bought in recent years bought with the understanding that all that land in front of the house now facing the Bay with beach front. It is so indicated on the plat from which we selected our lots and which is the original one on record. A supreme court decision in the State of Maryland rendered in 1923, and which remains unchanged at this date and recorded in the case of King vs. Land, etc., Rep. 143 Md. 693 follows: "It was held that the RECORDING OF A PLAT OF WATERFRONT PROPERTY, AND CONVEYANCE OF LOTS BY REFERENCE THERETO, HAS THE EFFECT OF DEVOTING THE BEACH TO THE PUBLIC USE AS AN AVENUE." It has been inferred even in the light of this plain English that the right to walk at some designated point only across the Beach to the water is in compliance with the decision. The Commissioners have not been sure that policing the Beach, cleaning the Beach at public expense was justified until some definite advice has been given. If Mr. Douglass should die, or during his lifetime sell what rights he may possess, what might happen to us and our heirs with regard to the use of Beach? Although nearly every property subdivided along the Chesapeake carries expressed rights to the use of the Beach, in only one instance, in our knowledge has that been done here-in case of the Francis property. Could a corporation or an individual purchasing the Beach during the life or after the death of Mr. Douglass so commercialize it or restrict its use as to interfere with what we have considered our rights to its use? What should the Citizens who give thought to this possibility do? They should definitely assure themselves by individual or town action of their rights and provileges now and hereafter. The stock argument used to offset the above is that ownership of the Beach by the Town would open it to everyone. This is downright propaganda for selfish reasons. It is rediculous to believe that the Town cannot as effectively control -2- a piece of property for the use of its citizens owned by the town as well as any one owner can who may sell or die and leave its control to others who may not possess the ideas of the present owner. A statement in a will that could be destroyed after its making would be ineffective. Can a corporation, as the Washington Baseball Club, control its grounds? Certainly. The Streets The Plat of the sub-division of Highland Boach was recorded and still exists in the Land Records in the Courthouse of Annapolis. After this Plat was recorded, and sometime later, a missing heir turned up and by some court decisions a number of lots on the western edge of the Plat were awarded or sold for the benefit of this heir. The strip of land south of Douglass Avenue lots was awarded Mr. Joseph or Mr. Charles Douglass. For years lots were sold in Highland Boach and designed by lots and block number according to this original Plat, from which however some lots or ground had been taken. All of us who bought, bought from the description of this Plat. It was stated a few years ago to the present Commissioners, or to some of them, that Mr. Douglass could close the streets, open new streets, sell the described streets, and in other words do just what he might desire to do in view of the fact that he had not deeded his fee-simple title, claimed to be willed to him by Mr. Charles Douglass, to the town. In support of this argument the street designated on the Plat as Lynch Avenue running between Douglas and Bay Avenues was closed and one half of this street was sold to a citizen and the other half is listed. In another instance an effort was made to sell thirty or forty feet of Bruce avenue on which a citizen lives and the statement was made that ten feet would be enough for a street for the present and future builders of homes on this street. This fact arroused those citizens concerned. Those who were considering the future of the town had an attorney to present the following extracts from Law. "Tiffany on Roal Property, 2nd edit., p 1326 as follows: "IT IS FREQUENTLY STATED THAT IF ONE SELLS LAND, OR CONVEYS IT, WITH REFERENCE TO A PLAT, ON WHICH PLAT APPEAR STREETS, SQUARES, QUAYS OR THE LIKE, THE PLAT IS IN EFFECT MADE A PART OF THE TRANSACTION OF SALE OR CONVEYANCE, WITH THE RESULT THAT THE VENDEE OR GRANTEE ACQUIRES A RIGHT TO INSIST THAT, INSOFAR AS THE PROPERTY BELONGS TO THE VENDOR OR GRANTOR, THE PARTS DESIGNATED ON THE PLAT AS STREETS, SQUARES, QUAYS, OR THE LIKE, SHALL CONTINUE TO BE DEVOTED TO SUCH PUBLIC USE FREE FROM INTERFERENCE BY THE GRANTOR OR ONE CLAIMING UNDER HIM." Another universal rule with respect to this question is summed in section 43 Vol. 18, Corpus Juris as follows: WHERE THE OWNER OR REAL PROPERTY MAKES A PLAT OF IT AND DIVIDES THE LAND INTO BLOCKS AND LOTS, INTERSECTED BY STREETS AND ALLEYS, AND SELLS ANY OF THE LOTS WITH REFERENCE TO THE MAP OF A TOWN OR CITY, IN WHICH HIS LAND IS LAID OFF, HE THEREBY DEDICATES THE STREETS AND ALLEYS TO THE USE OF THE PUBLIC, UNLESS IT APPEARS BY EXPRESS STATEMENT IN THE CONVEYANCE OR OTHERWISE THAT THE MENTION OF THE STREETS WAS SOLELY FOR PURPOSE OF DESCRIPTION AND NOT AS A DEDICATION THEREOF. On several public occasions it has been stated that the streets would be formally deeded to the town as soon as a now Plat was made. Mr. Haley Douglass has a new plat on record in which the street mentioned has disappeared, some lots have rearranged, a 15 foot walkway is designated leading to Venice Beach, and Walnut Lane a 30 foot road way is on the western end of the town. This was done two or more years ago and upon request for the deeding of these streets to the town nothing has been done. If Mr. Douglass desires to close the fifteen foot walkway, or Walnut Lane, what would prevent him? Removal of Obstacles from the Streets A few years ago the Commissioners saw the need for widening the streets and removing certain trees to provide for the traffic which was inevitable when so many people were building and the hotel began operations. Here Mr. Douglass claiming his ownership in the streets invoked the services of the Forestry Commission without conferring with the Commissioners who had outvoted him in the matter of the removal of the trees, and the threat was made to cause legal action. The Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to remove the trees from the street and the holiday -3- and Sunday travel proves the wisdom of their action. Acting upon the belief in this private ownership of the streets, Mr. Joseph Douglass has taken the liberty to to remove between 50 and 100 loads of dirt, clay, from one of the streets on which the tax payers have spent more than $300. There is an ordinance carrying with it a penalty for doing this but in the interest of peace and knowing this cannot go on for long, the Commissioners have not desired to add ferment. Some legal action must at some time be taken to test the reasonableness of the ordinances of the town. Survey of the Town The present commissioners a few years ago provided for a survey of the town by Mr. Bousch. The survey indicated a very extraordinary situation with regard to certain boundary lines. Iron pipes were driven at certain corners of streets from which in the future measurements can be taken. For $2. many of the property owners were able to have their lots surveyed at a saving of nearly $8. Five lawyers and a Judge are now trying to untangle one of the messy problems we have predicted. Assessment and Taxes A few years ago advice was given some citizens at a meeting urging that they do not be too anxious about going to the courthouse and seeking to lower their assessments following the receipt of cards from the assessors inviting citizens to complain if they felt unduly assessed. This seemed strange advice. It was asserted that such action might lead to a consideration of our properties leading to higher values. Yet some who did go had their assessments lowered. Now what is the real situation. Some of the following assessments are made for next year which list is public property furnished your commissioners and might be posted: Daly 250. Murray 1100. Wormley 2450. Lewis 800. Harris 300. Lucas Sr. 1800. Myers 825. Scurlock 1150. Wharton 3300. Wells 1750. Burwell Williams 4550. Brooks Ware 5000. Matthews Guy 1450. White 250. Reed 800. M. A. Francis 1750. Flagg 3550. B. Francis 1700. Washington 1450. in H.B. Terrell 1500. Freeman 1700. Walker 1500. L. Douglass 2050. J. Douglass 1400. H. Douglass 2450. We find that nearly every lot owner on Douglass Avenue facing north is assessed for one lot $250. for two, $500. About five other owners have lots assessed at $200. a lot. Francis, Terrell, Chase and Murray listed as having Bay Front Lots are assessed at $300. a lot while H. Douglass which two Bay Front Lots is assessed at only $200. a lot and J. Douglass is assessed at $100. a lot for four lots in addition to an assessment of $1000. for his residence. How fair is this? H. Douglass is listed as being assessed for 23 lots, two of which, Bay Front lots, #3 and 4 are assessed at $200. a lot, while 21 lots are assessed at ONLY $50. a lot. This is based upon the provision in the articles of incorporation which is as follows: "that all property in said corporate limits used for agricultural purposes shall only be assessed as such agricultural property and not as town lots." YET CAN ANY CITIZEN REMEMBER WHEN THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN USED FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSE within the past five years? This property if assesseda t even $200 a lot would raise the assessment to approximately $5600. and if there is any value to streets and Beach belonging to Mr. Douglass does it not seem probable that his assessment would mount for higher? If the property was used for agricultural property, the dense thicket of woods that cuts off breeze, view and favors mosquitoes and wild animals would not exist. This is not presented for mere speculation, but in view of the fact that the money spent from the taxes we all pay into the town treasury is spent in its -4- largest amount to improve the streets and the town, and since improvements have made the value of the lots for sale purposes run from $200. or less years ago to $500. and $750. now, it seems to us that fair taxation should add many more dollars for up-keep of the streets. Especially in view of the fact that the streets, have not been released from the name of the owners and dedicated to the town. This growing amount of public money spent on such streets should be secured by more equitable basis of taxation. Maudlin sympathy for one whose property is valued at thousands but pays taxes on hundreds should not be used to keep people blind to their economic and social interests. We advise the people to see the assessors, if they judge they are assessed wrongly as some have done, and have had their taxes reduced. Last year the citizens desired that the assessors see their homes when open and not when closed to avoid determining a value based on walls and paint, and this was done. We have also discovered that one individual at least was charges with two lots when he only has one. Addresses and names of owners are on the records wrongly. A number of people who have purchased and have not recorded their lots are not assessed at town rates but are probably paying on the assessment of lots as "Agricultural" property. This may be a saving to them but it is not bringing in a tax to the town as lots recorded are. As long as Mr. Douglass carries these lots on a $50. assessment basis, unless he is collecting taxes on a higher basis and turning it over to county and corporation, we feel a very serious situation exists. We sometimes think that this aired grievances and alarm propaganda about "wide open towns" is the result of the "nickel under the foot idea." Rumors of Mishandled Finances For the first time in the history of Highland Beach an attempt was made by a citizen of H. B. to give authorities at Annapolis the impression that your commissioners were mishandling or mis-directing funds. An article was caused to appear in the Annapolis Gazette to this effect. Your commissioners, or four of them because one gentleman could not find time to go, visited Mr. Hodges, the county treasurer, who was quoted as saying that had he known some things he would not have forwarded the town its tax check. We desired to know why he would take the information coming from a gentleman who was not an officer of the town and who was strong-armed with only his opinions. The reply was satisfactory. We immediately considered securing the best attorney we could to advise us in view of threats to invoke law against the commissioners. Mr. Nicholas Green, former state's attorney, advised with us and is preparing further advice. With regard to the expenditures of monies received from taxes, the commissioners are not limited to spending the monies upon the streets, roadway and bridges in Highland Beach. The language is plain. Any knowledge of English shows that only that sum returned by the county, which is three-fourths of the total amount collected as a county road tax, must be spent on the streets, etc., in Highland Beach. Other assessed taxes may be spent for the best interests of the citizens of Highland Beach with reasonable limitations. Boundaries of Highland Beach The Maryland Legislature established the boundaries of Highland Beach to be "all that ground which was included in a deed from Robert Moss, trustee, and et. al. to Joseph H. Douglass, dates April 10, 1893 and recorded in Liber S. H. No. 43 folio 346, etc." No person can arbitrarily add to or take from such act. A part of Mr. Myer's land is located within the boundary of Highland Beach. For several years he was assessed and levied upon for taxes for Highland Beach corporation. Last year he cast a ballot at the election and signed it. This year the Second District Tax records show his property listed as "Near" Highland Beach. His property should bring a corporation tax as long as any of it physically is within the established boundaries. The so-called "Strip" laying back of the lots south of Douglass Avenue is not in Highland Beach. Like Venice Beach it simply is outside of Highland Beach, hence owners of any part of this property are not thereby owners of Highland Beach property. This is an important fact. The Pavilion Back at a Citizen's Association meeting in 1925, $63. was reported as having been collected towards a pavilion. This pavilion was desired to be placed -5- on the Beach for the comfort and enjoyment of the citizens. Mr. Douglass would give no satisfaction as to a grant for such location. Every year the Committee appointed from the Citizen's Association reports added money until now a sum of either $300., or approximately that amount and probably increased by many dollars of interest money growing for the past four years, is now in hand. The question of a site for the pavilion is still in the air. We don't believe the pavilion will ever be placed on the Beach if we wait for permission from Mr. Douglass. We hope we are mistaken. If the citizens were in earnest, they could force condemnation of a street thru to the water, pay the awards, and erect the pavilion. Until that time the money in bank should be subject to control by a bonded committee of citizens in a business like way, since the citizens are contributing every year to entertainments for this purpose. Minutes of a Former Administration The retiring commissioners have been trying for several years to get the minutes of a secretary to Mayor Douglass. We have sent committees, made personal calls, and had a lawyer requested to write for them, but to no avail. We bequeath to some other set of Commissioners the task of completing the records of the town. We have done everything we can do to get records that should have come over from other administrations. A County Road The minutes of the Citizen's Association for several years prior to 1926 are filled with motions to secure a County Road leading into the Town. Nothing was actually ever done of direct nature. About ten years ago some of the people living here put in $25. to raise a fund of $400. to make passable the swampy section of road leading in. At the same time one of the Highland Beach citizens gave personally $100. to make passable the bridge over the Walnut Creek. Since that time much effort has been made to raise money to repair the road. Quite a number of people who live here who did not own cars and many lot owners did not pay or pay the same amount. This method of raising funds was considered so inequitable that the project of incorporation was launched by motion of Mr. Douglass. The taxes the people of Highland Beach and Venice Beach pay entitle us to a County Road. It is going to be increasingly difficult to raise funds to maintain yearly a suitable road. Right now $1000. would be necessary to build and maintain for the year a good road. We can have that road if the people want it. The amount of tax paid to the county and state is sufficient to get such a road. Why do we not have it? There are some benighted and ignorant people here who would prefer a dangerous bumpy car-destroying road to a broad well kept County Road. This bad road might keep out large expensive cars but would invite the wrecks that infest the roads. We hope you will never regret this 18th century idea of roads. A few uninformed or selfishly inclined persons are indicating that it would be difficult to control the town and traffic if a good road, a county maintained road, existed leading to our town. This is arrant nonsense as the county officials and our lawyers advise. The present Commissioners have only intended to petition that the county road continue from the present county road to the junction of Venice Beach, Highland Beach and Myer's property. We have not intended to carry it to the Beach as some have been informed falsely. Bay Highlands and Highland Beach This scare crow has been held up at nearly every meeting for the past 3 years by Mr. Douglass. He has stated that the sale of lots in this property and the establishment of residences would bring a tremendous problem. "Highland Beach was too small a Beach." It has been also intimated that a less desirable set of owners might locate there. In spite of this warning, Mr. Douglass informed some of us two years ago that he was expecting to dispose of Bay Highlands under some arrangement with the owners. This doubtless would have provided for the use of the Beach and probably the selection of buyers of half of acre lots. Mr. Douglass stated these would be offered first the residents of Highland Beach. For some reason Mr. Douglass' proposition fell through. He probably did not consider that the owners of acre and half acre sites would subdivide and sell and thus increase the people. Now, the owner of Bay Highlands has sold over a half -6- hundred lots. The restrictions guarantee better sanitation than our own town at the present promises in its fast growing state. Nearly 7 acres devoted to public park is provided for and many other uptodate features of modern subdivisions. 90% of the lots sold have been sold to present residents or owners in Venice Beach of Highland Beach. If Mr. Douglass had been made the agent our Beach would have been large enough. Opening The Town Another bugbear is fed up to timid people to keep their minds off the essential problems: taxes, streets, beach, our comforts. This also submerges in some minds the inequitable tax burden, pavilion site, desire for paternalistic government, etc. The Commissioners have consistently thru the appointment of a town Sergeant, and personal efforts maintained that the Beach was for the use of the residents and their guests. Ordinances limiting parking, bathing from automobiles, picknicking, etc., have been passed and enforced. The Commissioners did not sell lots nor provide for hotels. The hotels have violated no town ordinances and as long as they conduct business according to law your commissioners have no authority to interfere. Our opponents have stated in some cases that a "nuisance" may be declared. Well, some other commissioners will have this job. One of the weak arguments lately heard is that Incorporation is a bad thing. They would dissolve it. This is in spite of the fact that improvements are made with a sum of money that is increasing beyond several hundreds of dollars, that without incorporation would go to the county to be spend anywhere else. There are now listed only about 28 lots registered on the tax books as not sold. There are nearly a dozen people paying as much or more in taxes than Mr. Waley Douglass. The property of the town is assessed at more than $50,000 and Mr. Douglass' property at a little more than $2,000. Why would any sane American born people want to go back to the old state. The experiment of self government is the result of Anglo Saxon trial and error government for a thousand years, one of the most priceless of heritages, and yet a few like the ancestors of some of our group who preferred slavery to freedom, would talk to giving up this boon and instrument of self government. Of course we don't believe there is enough lack of intelligence in the community to make an impression in this direction. In a few years the present owners will be a memory but our children and some of you will see a beautiful town in the making that some of the older people now dead hoped it would become. To talk of dissolving a corporation would be like jumping from the frying pan to the fire. In one year twenty to thirty towns applied for incorporation and only two from which nearly everyone had moved dissolved the town. Only ignorance and weakness could dictate such a course, and prove that we were intellectually unfit for democratic government. Signed: M. A. Francis E. B. Henderson B. J. Walker N. L. Guy BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS HIGHLAND BEACH, MD. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY July [*12, 1936*] To the Voters of Highland Beach, Maryland: SPECIAL NOTICE! The election of Commissioners of Highland Beach, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, will be held Saturday, July [*25. 1936*]. Polls will be open between the hours of 3 and 8 o'clock P.M. New voters and others who are eligible to vote but whose names are not recorded in the list below must present their credentials to the Town Clerk before the opening of the polls Saturday, July [*25, 1936*], or their votes cannot be counted. To be a voter the person's name MUST appear on the deed to the property owned in Highland Beach. ALL VOTERS MUST APPEAR IN PERSON. No voting by proxy. The attention of all persons desiring to be candidates for any elective office is invited to the following Ordinance enacted by the Board of Commissioners, June 30, 1930, which has been posted and promulgated and effective July 5, 1930. An ordinance to avoid confusion at the time of election and facilitate voting by providing for the printing of an official ballot containing thereon the names of all persons desiring to become candidates for elective office in Highland Beach, Maryland. Any person desiring to become a candidate for any elective office, shall at least ten (10) days before election file or cause to be filed, with the Commissioners of Highland Beach or clerk thereof, a petition stating that he or she is a candidate for the office, which petition must be filed by such person and endorsed by at least five (5) persons entitled to vote in the next Town election. Upon the filing of said petition the Commissioners shall print such person's name upon the ballot with a square opposite each of the names on the ballot, and there shall appear a statement instructing the voters as to how many persons to vote for. Done by order of the Board of Commissioners of Highland Beach, Maryland, this 5th day of July, 1930. Attest: [*J. Washington ???*] Town Clerk THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE VOTERS WHO APPEAR ON OUR RECORDS AS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN 1933 Irene Leake Rachel Bell Carroll Brooks Mrs. Carroll Brooks Nannie Burroughs Hartford Burwell Mrs. Hartford Burwell Victor Daly Edward Dickerson Evelyn Douglass Haley Douglass Fannie Douglass Walter Dyson Mrs. Walter Dyson Carolyn Evans Armstrong Clayton Roscoe Evans Edith Clayton Milton Francis Henry Freeman Mrs. Henry Freeman Eula Gray Louise Guy Sarah Hall Richard Hall Mrs. Richard Hall Grace Harris Dorothea Francis Edwin Henderson Nellie Henderson Tally Holmes Harmon Howard Marietta Howard Audie Lewis Alice Lewis [*?????*] Kellene Lewis M. Grant Lucas, Sr. M. Grant Lucas, Jr. LeCount Matthews Mrs. LeCount Matthews Edith Minton Henry Minton Ethel Murray Ethel Rattley Graham Reid Elinor Russell Herbert Scurlock O. N. Simmons Mrs. O. N. Simmons John Matthews Mable Matthews [*??? + Mrs. Snell*] Osborn Taylor Marry Terrell Beatrice Walker Richard Ware John Washington Virginia Washington William Wells Lillian Wells Erma West Rebekah West Ulysses Wharton Lena White Jennie Wilder Mrs. Thomas Williams Imogene Wormley Mrs Terrell Constitution High Land Beach Article I (Name) The name of this association shall be the Highland Beach Citizens Association. Article II (Object) The object of this association shall be to unite the property owners and residents of Highland Beach, for the purpose of cooperation for mutual benefit and the general improvement of Highland Beach. Article III (Membership) Section I The membership of this association shall consist of the property owners and wives and husbands of same. Section II (Fees) The membership fee shall be $3 a year. Article IV (Officers) The officers of this Association shall be a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, who shall be elected at the annual meeting held at Highland Beach the last Saturday in August. Article V. There shall be an executive committee, consisting of the officers of the Citizens Association, who shall represent the Citizens of Highland Beach at the Commissioners Meeting. Article VI (Committees) The president shall appoint the following standing committees: Roads, Fine Arts, Sanitation, Finance and such other committees as may be provided for by vote of the Association. At the August meeting each committee shall present a written report of activities and recommendations. Article VII (Regular Meetings) The regular meeting shall be held the first Tues. in each month. Article VIII (Finance) Section I All checks, orders or drafts for expenditures of the funds of the Association shall be valid only when signed by the Secretary and countersigned by the president. Section II No indebtness or obligations shall be incurred by the Association in excess of $25, unless a written notice of at least five days has been given each member. Article IX (Amendments) These articles or parts thereof, may be amended at any regular meeting of the Association, by a two thirds vote of the members present: provided however, that a written notice containing a copy of the proposed amendment shall have been presented to the members of the Association previous to the meeting. Article X (Quorum) Seven members of this Association shall constitute a quorum. Mr. Haley Douglass, Chairman Mr. M Grant Lucas Mrs. Eula Grey We thank the Commissioners of Highland Beach For this [oven?] we dedicate today We look at it with joy and pride Its an ornament to Chesapeake Bay-- I thought so much about this oven[?] and my speech that I dream last night the Grand United Order of the [????] of the U.S. A had [?] held a convention in the city of Porkopolis in the State of Pigisippe and had sent a delegate here to thank the Commissioners for erecting this oven in their honor They [say???] the [???] had always felt degraded and had been disgusted at the manner in which they had previously been roasted on the sands of the beach--But now that this oven had been erected in their honor they felt they had been placed on absolute equality with other kinds of meat--And now said this delegate we evermore can look any chicken or piece of beef [?] or leg of lamb in the face and say we are just as good as you are for an oven barbecue erected in which to roast we[?] [???] have been built to roast you L La Follette, Senator Robert, Sr, 360 La Follette, Senator Robert, Jr., 360 4.58 La Follette, Mrs. Robert, Sr., 360 2.79 Lamont, Thomas, 350 Lamont, Mrs. Thomas, 350 Lancaster, Ohio, Chautauqua, 242, 243 Law Enforcement League, Mattiesburg, Miss., 325 Law Enforcement Organization, Washington, D. C., invites me to dinner at Mayflower Motel, then recalls invitation, 424 League, Colored Women's, Washington, D. C., 145-150 League, Women's, International, for Peace and freedom, 329, 336- Member of Executive Committee, 360 Leave of Absence from War Camp Community Service requested and granted, 329 LeDroit Park, Washington, D.C., 113, 114 Letter from Grandmother Emmeline's master, 2-5 Lewis Lucy Biddle, 330 Liberal Club, Harvard University, 178 Lincoln Congregational Temple, 114, 279 Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church, 114 Lincoln, President Abraham, 106, 154, 179, 280, 281 Liverpool, 348 London, 348, 402, 403, 404 London and National Society for Women's Service, 404 Lorain, Ohio, 54 Louvre, Paris, 67, 211 Loyalty's Gift, 410 Sesquicentennial, Luxembourg Gallery, 210 Lynching, 172 Lynching from a Negro's Point of View, North American Review, June, 1904, 225, 230, 231, 224 Dedicating the Oven at Highland Beach, July 29, 1941 This is a great, grand and glorious occasion for the citizens of Highland Beach. We have come to dedicate this oven today and to thank the Commissioners for being so thoughtful, considerate and obliging as to provide it for us. I feel that a great honor was conferred upon me when I was chosen to make this dedicatory speech. I decided right then and there to deliver a wonderful address. But when I tried to decide what I would say, I discovered that there were no words in the English language big enough and long enough and grand enough to express the thoughts which I wish to convey. I made up my mind therefore that I would just tell the Commissioners that we are very grateful to them indeed. I want to assure them that we shall plenty of Wienies. We will not only roast Weenies but we shall roast everything else except human beings. We thank the Commissioners of Highland Beach For this oven so big and strong When we roast the good old Weenies in it We'll wish they were along. Sept 23 '39 RELIABLE FOR 34 YEARS PAGE ELEVEN [??]ES ARE HIT BY RULING Trouble Starts At Highland Beach When Group Attempts To Keep It Exclusive (Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of several articles giving a brief sketch of the history and background of Highland Beach, Maryland, its highlights and set-backs in its struggle for existence and its efforts to reach the goal set by its founding fathers.) By Florence Murray With conflicts arising at Highland Beach, incorporated Maryland town and summer resort on the Chesapeake Bay, one of the most vital and long-drawn-out fights was the matter of a public hotel. Control of the beach had been divided into three camps-those who aimed to make the resort commercial; those who looked forward to making it a political center in Maryland, and those who desired to keep it strictly residential and exclusive to the point of having its facilities open to the use of property-holders only and their friends. To permit a hotel to be operated in the township, then, was one of the focal points around which these camps revolved. This matter also caused the resort much publicity in the weekly press, a good bit of which was unfavorable. Charges that the community was attempting to discriminate against visitors because of their color, ancestry and social standing were given in a series of articles appearing in a Washington newspaper. These charges were for the most part the result of an attempt by community officials to keep out visitors who had no invitations to visit the homes of the beach residents. Bowen Takes Lodgers However, we are ahead of our story. Getting back to the hotel question: Long ago, when there were only a few houses at Highland Beach, George T. Bowen, a steward from Baltimore, built a large cottage to house his family. Since he was an excellent cook, he was asked by the few cottagers to board and lodge some of their friends who did not with to burden their private homes with the extra preparation needed to care for them during their frequent visits to the resort. Mr. Bowen consented to do so, and for many years thereafter his large, rambling house became known among those frequenting the beach as a boarding house or hotel. But Mr. Bowen never advertised his place as a public hotel, and the few lodgers whom he took were friends of the cottagers. This was between 1895 and 1915. In 1919, a Washington man, Richard Ware, built a small frame hotel at the beach. Then the fight on hotels began, with opinions divided among the Highland Beach residents. Ware's hotel burned down and he built a new and larger one in 1930 with its front in Highland Beach and its rear in another tract called Venice Beach. Crowd Swarms In He advertised the hotel in newspapers, and with the advent of automobiles priced low enough, and good roads, many of the "thrill-a-minute crowd," as one community official put it, began to find their way to the hotel... Before this time, the men of the Highland Beach families could remain in the city at their work during the middle of the week, leaving their wives and children at the summer homes knowing that they were practically safe from harm. No doors to the homes were locked when the villagers left their cottages to go to the nearby town of Annapolis to shop, or to go down to the bay to swim. The closely knit community had no fears of strangers, burglars or ruffians. But this hotel crowd-- that was different. Some of the wives of the residents were frightened by the strange men walking in their cottages demanding water, or a place to dress, or other things. Children could not safely run about this place. Things got so bad that even the opposing elements got together and decided to do something about this nuisance. The town authorities deputized some of the residents as policemEn and constables to watch the beach and the entrance to the resort. They were to keep out undesirables by turning back any unknown visitors who could not give the name of a person whom they were going to visit. Causes Protest This action caused a storm of protest throughout Washington, Baltimore and other parts in the country when the matter was publicized. Some persons contended that the township was public and therefore had no right to keep people off its grounds. Concerning a previous article which he had written in a Washington newspaper in which he was said to expose the high-handed actions of the beach dwellers in their plans to be exclusive, Louis Lautier, a Washington news reporter wrote in a later issue of the paper: "Since the exposure was made, two of the property owners in Highland Beach have come out with invitations to their friends generally to visit them. They are the mayor, Edwin B. Henderson, and Miss Nannie Burroughs. Deny Undesirables "The unauthorized stopping of automobiles entering the village was continued last Sunday. In one case Roscoe Evans, The town clerk, and Barrington Guy turned an automobile crossways the road, stopped and incoming automobile and turned it back when its occupants were unable to give the name of any person or hotel they were on their way to visit. "Highland Beach is an incorporated town by act of the state legislature. Not withstanding its incorporation... ...a majority of the commissioners have decided that they have the right to deny to any person whom they may term undesirable the use of the town streets, just as the colored persons are denied the right to live in some southern towns. Home of Mrs. Terrell was not constructed until 1916. Previous article stated 1908. She was asked by Frederick Douglass before he died to buy the lot next to his and build her home adjoining his lot. Of this fact she is very proud. SUMMER HOME BUILT BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS AT HIGHLAND BEACH Trouble Starts at Highland Beach when Group Attempts to Keep it Exclusive (Editors Note: This is the fourth in a series of several articles giving a brief sketch of the history and background of Highland Beach, MD, it's highlights and set-backs in its struggle for existence and its efforts to reach the goal set by its founding fathers.) By Florence Murray With conflicts arising at Highland Beach, incorporated Maryland town and summer resort on the Chesapeake Bay, one of the most vital and long-drawn-out fights was the matter of a public hotel. Control of the beach had been divided into three camps - those who aimed to make the resort commercial; those who looked forward to making it a political center in Maryland, and those who desired to keep it strictly residential and exclusive to the point of having its facilities open to the use of property- holders only and their friends. To permit a hotel to be operated in the township, then, was one of the focal points around which these camps revolved. This matter also caused the resort much publicity in the weekly press, a good bit of which was unfavorable. Charges that the community was attempting to discriminate against visitors because of their color, ancestry and social standing were given in a series of articles appearing in a Washington newspaper. These charges were for the most part the result of an attempt by community officials to keep out visitors who had no invitations to visit the homes of beach residents. Bowen Takes Lodgers However, we are ahead of our story, getting back to the hotel question: Long ago, when there were only a few houses at Highland Beach, George T. Bowen, a steward from Baltimore, built a large cottage to house his family. Since he was an excellent cook, he was asked by the few cottagers to board and lodge some of their friends who did not wish to burden their private homes with the extra preparation needed to care for them during their frequent visits to the resort. Mr. Bowen consented to do so, and for many years thereafter his large, rambling house became known among those frequenting the beach as a boarding house or hotel. But Mr. Bowen never advertised his place as a public hotel, and the few lodgers whom he took were friends of the cottagers. This was between 1895 and 1915. In 1919, a Washington man, Richard Ware, built a small frame hotel at the beach. Then the fight on hotels began, with opinions divided among the Highland Beach residents. Ware's hotel burned down and he built a new and larger one in 1930 with its front in Highland Beach and its rear in another tract called Venice Beach. Crowd Swarms In He advertised the hotel in newspapers, and with the advent of automobiles priced low enough, and good roads, many of the "thrill-a-minute crowd", as one community official put it, began to find their way to the heretofore exclusive summer resort. Since there were no bathing facilities on the beach, some of these persons, instead of paying for rooms at the hotel, caused the community officials many headaches. They undressed from their cars, threw broken liquor bottles about the beach and grounds, got drunk, accosted the children and insulted the women cottagers and proceeded to shockingly disturb the privacy of the resort dwellers. Before this time, the men of the Highland Beach families could remain in the city at their work during the middle of the week, leaving their wives and children at the summer homes knowing that they were practically safe from harm. No doors to the homes were locked when the villagers left their cottages to go to the nearby town of Annapolis to shop, or to go down to the bay to swim. The closely knit community had no fears of strangers, burglars or ruffians. But this hotel crowd-that was different. Some of the wives of the residents were frightened by strange men walking into their cottages demanding water, or a place to dress, or other things. Children could not safely run about the place. Things got so bad that even the opposing elements got together and decided to do something about this hotel nuisance. The town authorities deputized some of the residents as policemen and constables to watch the beach and the entrance to the resort. They were to keep out undesirables by turning back any unknown visitors who could not give the name of a person whom they were going to visit. Causes Protest This action caused a storm of protest throughout Washington, Baltimore and other parts in the country when the matter was publicized. Some persons contended that the township was public and therefore had no right to keep people off its grounds. Concerning a previous article which he had written in a Washington newspaper in which he was said to expose the high-handed actions of the beach dwellers in their plans to be exclusive, Louis Lautier, a Washington news reporter wrote in a later issue of the paper: "Since the exposure was made two of the property owners in Highland Beach have come out with invitations to their friends generally to visit them. They are the mayor, Edwin B. Henderson, and Miss Nannie Burroughs. Deny Undesirables "The unauthorized stopping of automobiles entering the village was continued last Sunday. In one case Roscoe Evans, the town clerk, and Barrington Guy turned an automobile cross ways the road, stopped an incoming automobile and turned it back when its occupants were unable to give the name of any person or hotel they were on their way to visit. "Highland Beach is an incorporated town by act of the state legislature. Notwithstanding its incorporation, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Home of Mrs. Terrell was not constructed until 1916. Previous article stated 1908. She was asked by Frederick Douglass before he died to buy the lot next to his and build her home adjoining his lot. Of this fact she is very proud. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a majority of the commissioners have decided that they have the right to deny to any person whom they may term undesirable the use of the town streets, just as colored persons are denied the right to live in some southern towns under the admonition to 'read and run; if you can't read, run anyhow." (To be Continued) Bolster Faculty Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 22 - At the beginning of the fifty-ninth year at Spelman college, changes in the personnel have been made strengthening the faculty and staff, and also changes have taken place in, the physical arrangement of the buildings. SUMMER HOME BUILT BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS AT HIGHLAND BEACH BUD WANTS PHOTOS FR FOUR RED HOT DANCERS Defend CHILDREN's PAGE TWELVE Canadian Girl Is Planning Contest Would Like To Find Your Ideal Swing Singer Dear Bud: I received my card and button and was pleased beyond words to get it. Almost instantly came fifteen letters and I am thankful that they welcome me as a new member. Bud, we should devote a little space to our member and heroine who was among the 12 famous women of the world to be presented at the fair - the interesting part is that she is not a woman, just a mere seven year old child prodigy - Phillippa Duke Schuyler. Well, my main reason for writing is that I would like to have a contest with the children writing to me to name their favorite bands and singers. I would send in the results. I would be happy to have you arrange something like this for me, as it would help me to be an honest to goodness member, and let me have a little responsibility. please print this in the paper for the members to see, and write if they are in favor of it. - Jack Washington, C. P. R. Sleeping Car Dept., Winnipeg, Manitoba. A New Member From British West Africa Dear Sir: I am very glad to write you this letter, asking you to join your most interesting club. Please enroll me as a member of your club, and in returning, please kindly send me one of your badges and if you have club cards, please send me one. I would like to correspond with some boys and girls. I am eighteen years of age. Ending here with best wishes and compliments to you, I am your new club member.-C. H. A. Williams, P. O. Box 141, Cape Coast, B.W.A. (Editor's Note: All letters to Africa carry 5 cent postage.) Short Stories BEEHIVE VENTILATION At Hampton If you look at a beehive on a warm day, you will notice a number of bees buzzing round the entrance. There are two groups of these bees, one inside the hive and the other outside, both of them facing the entrance. They vibrate their wings continuously and vigorously, and in this way ventilate their hive, for this fanning action by the bees creates a draught that lessens the heat considerably. Towards midday as the heat increases, more and more bees take up the task, and if the nights are warm, too, the fanning is continued. The bees work in relays, and as one team becomes PAGE TWELVE Canadian Girl Is Planning Contest Would Like To Find Your Ideal Swing Singer Dear Bud: I received my card and button and was pleased beyond words to get it. Almost instantly came fifteen letters and I am thankful that they welcome me as a new member. Bud, we should devote a little space to our member and heroine who was among the 12 famous women of the world to be presented at the Fair - the interesting part is that she is not a woman, just a mere seven year old child prodigy - Phillippa Duke Schuyler. Well, my main reason for writing is that I would like to have a contest with the children writing to me to name their favorite bands and singers. I would send in the results. I would be happy to have you arrange something like this for me, as it would help me to be an honest to goodness member, and let me have a little responsibility. Please print this in the paper for the members to see, and write if they are in favor of it. - Jack Washington, C. P. R. Sleeping Car Dept., Winnipeg, Manitoba. A New Member From British West Africa Dear Sir: I am very glad to write to you this letter, asking you to join your most interesting club. Please enroll me as a member of your club and in returning, please kindly send me one of your badges and if you have club cards, please send me one. I would like to correspond with some boys and girls. I am eighteen years of age. Ending here with best wishes and compliments to you, I am your new club member. - C. H. A. Williams, P. O. Box 141, Cape Coast, B.W.A. (Editor's Note: All letters to Africa carry 5 cent postage.) Short StorieS Beehive Ventilation If you look at a beehive on a warm day, you will notice a number of bees buzzing round the entrance. There are two groups of these bees, one inside the hive and the other outside, both of them facing the entrance. They vibrate their wings continuously and vigorously, and in this way ventilate their hive, for this fanning action by the bees creates a draught that lessens the heat considerably. Towards mid day as the heat increases, more and more bees take up the task, and if the nights are warm too, the fanning is continued. The bees work in relays ,and as one team becomes exhausted, it is replaced by another. The draughts caused by these bees are sometimes so strong that they will put out a lighted candle if it is placed near the entrance to the hive. - Um Tetele Wa Bantu. *** Pioneer Public Library A Very early, if not the first, collection of books for public use in Illinois was established in 1818 at Albion. The library was begun, it is said, by several lawyers, who fitted out one of the rooms in the market house and placed on the shelves their own books as well as some sent by friends and relatives in England. Richard Flower, the guiding force behind the library, in one of his letters gave an example of one pioneer's attitude toward books, say research workers of the Illinois Writers' Project, WPA. A Captain, whom the writer described as "a sensible and intelligent backwoods At Hampton Henry Peoples Son of Mr. and MRs. John Peoples, of St. Louis, Mo., who entered Hampton Institute, last week. He is a 1939 graduate of Summer high school, St. Louis. Juanita Likes History and Her English Annual Report to the Board of Commissioners. Highland Beach, Maryland. 1941 1941 finds our country face to face with a great national emergency which demands the best efforts of all organized groups in the direction of national defense. It is expedient that the citizens of Highland Beach unite more firmly than ever to exclude subversive and disrupting influences and continue the constructive work of which we are so justly proud. In 1930 the residents of Highland Beach and the neighboring communities successfully resisted the building of a public highway through our property to the waters of Chesapeake Bay which if completed would have exposed our tax- payers to untold hardships. Our report of that year contains this statement, "While it is difficult to foresee all the problems that will arise in the future, we have adopted a set of ordinances designed to safeguard the interests of our residents. It should be fully understood that the land within Highland Beach is owned and maintained by its citizens and that its roads, beaches, and grounds are reserved for the exclusive use of the residents and their house guests; and further that no land within Highland Beach has been dedicated to the general public. Our charter gives us the right to regulate our affairs by ordinances consistent with state and federal laws. Our most vexing problems arise from outside interests with all to gain and nothing to lose." Again in the 1940 general election we helped to defeat the Zoning and Planning Bill which if passed would have delivered us to outside hands. Now that Annapolis is growing as a great naval and yachting center the scenic beauty and natural advantages of the Chesapeake area are appreciated and sought by wealthy investors. We here at Highland Beach have something which if once lost will never be regained. We wish that more of our residents would vote and thereby exercise their legal rights for their own protection. The Board of Commissioners has done all in its power to preserve and promote the welfare of the community but some vexing problems persist and we must ask for the cooperation of all our citizens. There is need of a properly regulated dining room where our residents and their guests may be served but it must be remembered that under unsympathetic management a hotel catering to large clubs, picnics, and the general public will force upon our taxpayers the burden of added road wear, and the menace of epidemics arising from overflowing sewage. The present hotel structure was designed to evade the building regulations of Highland Beach on a permit to build in Venice Beach near the boundary, then a main entrance was extended over into our community in order to use our facilities, build up a big hotel business catering to bathing parties, picnics, and transients in general, and with the purpose of eventually destroying us as a private residential community. Since the former proprietor went out of business the case has rested. The use of firearms and air guns is now generally prohibited in residential areas as dangerous and destructive to life and property, and we must again urge the parents to give consideration to this problem. Our children should be encouraged to build bird baths and bird shelters and taught to appreciate the friendly service of the little creatures in destroying germ carrying insects. Shooting out the electric bulbs on the street lights is another annoying and expensive pastime growing out of the use of rifles. We have had complaints about irresponsible workmen who have dumped trash on private property, dug holes in removing sand and soil, and have left smoldering fires which constitute a real menace when fanned by a rising wind. Our engineer commissioner has recently visited and inspected beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes and has returned to us with many valuable ideas. He has saved us a great deal of money in the grading of the beach and roads, building stone ovens, and installing a new street lighting system. The present Board of Commissioners has continued the practice of handling the community funds and keep- the records open for inspection in the manner prescribed by law. We have taken the added precaution of consulting the Attorney for the Board of County Commissioners before beginning the projects voted by our Citizens Association. Doubts concerning land records, titles, and assessments, must be satisfied at the Court House in Annapolis. H. G. Douglass, Chairman. The Negro Soldier today and in the Past. Dunbar High School Feb. 14, 1944 When received the letter from the Committee and the principal of the Dunbar High School who honored me with an invitation to speak here this morning, to make an open confession which is good for the soul [??] language often used by us girls and boys. I was simply scared to death- the magnitude of the subject assigned me The Negro Sold [*THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS*] To the Citizens of Higland Beach: The following information is thought worth consideration by the citizens. It is also hoped that the commissioners will provide for more publicity concerning vital matters of the interest to us whom they represent. In 1922, five commissioners incorporated the town of Highland Beach. Only three are alive; all three are near 60 years old. In a short while the affairs of the town will be in the hands of our children or our heirs. Some of the problems ought to be solved while we are still active, if we would insure for them the kind of a town we have enjoyed. The commissioners are our officers. They should always be willing to keep us informed of all important matters affecting the town before they take decisive action. They should be mindful of what we, the majority of people who live here want done. We are sure they agree with us in this. The following are some of the matters that should be considered and discussed by us and the commissioners: 1. When the town was incorporated, the boundaries established by the Legislature of Maryland at our request were those boundaries outlined on a plat drawn by Chas. P. Calvert at the request of Major Douglass, and recorded in Land Record Brook SH, volume 43, page 346. Both deed and plat are there now for your observation. This was a tract of land amounting to 26 2/3 acres and was sold to Joseph Douglass on September 6, 1893. On March 24, 1897, Joseph Douglass transferred to Major Charles Douglass all of this property except the streets, the beach, and about a dozen lots that had already been sold to Laura Douglass in 1894, to Dr. John R. Francis in 1895, and to others. Later on the lots in Block 11, and other lots in Blocks 5, 8, 9, 10, a part of the Myer farm, were awarded to an heir of the previous owners of the original farm. To compensate Major Douglass, he was given a strip of land, 47 feet wide running along the southern boundaries of Highland Beach. This strip is not in Highland Beach as incorporated in 1922. That is this strip was not in the land that was chartered in 1922 by the Legislature. It could only be added by act of the Legislature as provided for in the amendment adopted in 1933. It is the contention of all who are acquainted with law and government that no individual or other body can add to or take away from a chartered town except by action of the Legislature andproposed in a manner designated by law. See Amendment, Sec. 32 A of the Charter. This means that the land owned by Myers north of the southern boundary line of Highland Beach, is still in Highland Beach. It also means that the caretaker's house and the land purchased from Mr. Douglass is not in Highland Beach. Of course, the land in the Myer tract south of the boundary of Highland Beach is not in Highland Beach. It is also true that Mr. Myer voted as a citizen of Highland Beach, and the earlier assessment books in the courthouse designate Mr. Myer's property, in part, as in Highland Beach. Later on he told the assessment authorities that he did -2- not live in Highland Beach, and his property was assessed as being "near" Highland Beach. No taxes have been paid into Highland Beach on this property since then. They can be collected for four back years, and the commissioners should see to it that his tax is collected. These questions are suggested: Why have not the commissioners caused this tax to be collected? Upon what authority has the ground been purchased and a building erected on land outside of Highland Beach? Have the commissioners recorded deeds to the properties in the name of Highland Beach? II Did the commissioners discuss with the citizens the vital questions concerning the change in procedure at election, that is the matter of requesting a slate of nominees for commissionership? Does this not make impossible the sections which indicate that the persons receiving the largest number of votes up to five shall be commissioners? Sec. 4. Section 5 requires "that if it shall happen that any of the persons elected shall fail to qualify...the person receiving the next highest number of votes shall be deemed to be elected." If only five are nominated, how can there be a next person? Section 8 provides that "The President of the Board of Commissioners...shall report annually to the Board of Commissioners at their first annual meeting, the general state of affairs of the town, with an accurate account of all monies received and expended during the preceding year to be made public for the information of the citizens." Where and when is this made public? The keeping open of the books is in another section and is not the same thing as making, "public for the information of the citizens." Section 9 provides that the "Commissioners of said town shall meet regularly at least once a month in the months of June, July, August and September, and as often during the remainder of the year as they may deem proper, for the dispatch of business". Perhaps the records of the commissioners will show that this has been done. However it is suggested that the meetings in July and August should be held in Highland Beach at a definite time and place and the citizens should be notified of this. This would give to the citizens who do not live in Washington a chance to sit with the commissioners. At this annual meeting in July the statement of the Mayor could be read, and the budget for the ensuing year be discussed. III It is evident from a perusal of the relative assessment values that many citizens are paying more taxes than they should. There should be a committee of citizens or a citizen appointed by the citizens to accompany the assessors in helping them to arrive at a just valuation of properties. No self appointed person should assume this job. IV. Most of us would like to have a better and less dangerous road leading into the town. We have been assured that this is possible even through condemnation proceedings if the majority of citizens express this desire. We have also been assured that it is possible to get such a county road into the town without endangering our control of the Beach. These are just a few of the matters that we should discuss. It is not possible at this meeting to talk about all of the implications of these items. It will have to be done at other meetings. We believe that the commissioners should make public to us all important proposed legislation. Of course any amendment to the charter should be definitely brought to us before action. Some of us who are interested present these matters for your consideration. Signed: M. A. Francis--Ethel Murray Dr. Milton A. Francis--John Matthews- A. Claytor Mrs. Beatrice Francis E. B. Henderson Name Improvement Land Total Claytor 1500 150 1650 Bell 700 300 1000 Burwell 1275 200 1475 Burwell, A. - 400 400 Hotel 3000 500 3500 Dickerson - 200 200 E. Douglass - 200 200 - 300 300 Joseph Douglass - 50 50 Fannie Douglass 800 300 1100 Fred Douglass III - 200 200 Haley Douglass 800 - - Payne (J. Garland Harris) - 400 400 E. B. Henderson 1025 300 1325 T. Holmes 1000 300 1300 Herman Howard 1500 300 1800 Grant Lucas, Sr. 1200 250 1450 Grant Lucas, Jr. - 250 250 Audie Lewis 400 500 900 John Matthews 2025 200 2225 Edith Minton 1525 250 1775 Harry Minton - 250 250 Norman Murray 800 300 1100 Eleanor Russell - 200 200 Marion Sabbs 1500 200 1700 Mary and Marion Sabbs - 200 200 H. C. Scurlock 900 375 1275 Alfred and Leona Smith 2400 500 2900 Rev. E. C. Smith 750 200 950 E. C. Smith - 100 100 Dr. S[??]mons 1200 100 1300 O. Taylor 550 300 850 Mary Terrell 1250 300 1550 B. Walker 1500 500 2000 B. and J. Walker - 50 50 J. Washington 1025 600 1625 Dr. Wells 1800 625 2425 F. E. West 1200 200 1400 Rebecca West - 400 400 Cordella Wharton 2650 600 3250 Evelyn White - 250 250 Mary E. Williams 4250 500 4750 Imogene Wormley 2500 450 3100 150 - plus 50 200 250 Eleanor and Chas. Williams - 300 300 Dyson 2100 500 2600 C. Evans 800 200 1000 " " - 200 200 R. Evans - 130 130 Dorothea Francis 1000 300 1300 Freeman, Dr. 1100 500 1600 E. Gray 600 250 850 Gregory - 225 225 Guy, Louise 1150 250 1400 Hall, Sarah 800 250 1050 Francis, M. A. 1000 300 1300 Annual Report to the Board of Commissioners of Highland Beach , Md. In obedience to Section 8, Charter of Highland Beach , Maryland, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Highland Beach respectfully submits the following report : The Board of Commissioners has confined the expenditure of the community funds principally to the repair and development of roads within Highland Beach. It has carried out its intention of taking action in keeping with the wishes and advice of the taxpayers as voiced in the motions of the Highland Beach Citizens Association. By arranging to attach street lights to private meters we have reduced the cost of lighting from thirty dollars per light to six dollars per light. The recently adopted ordinances, which together with former ordinances are attached to this report, will serve to remove many of the problems which at present confront the community . We earnestly invite the cooperation and advice of all of our citizens with respect to sanitation , fire hazards, and conduct of visitors. We insist that there is at the present time no land within Highland Beach dedicated to public use and for this reason we shall do all that we can to protect the property rights of our citizens. We respectfully suggest electric power be utilized to provide inside toilets with running water and septic tanks, thereby doing away with unsightly and unsanitary out buildings. Much unpleasantness will be avoided if the parents in the community will impress upon their children a full regard for the property of their neighbors and forbid them from disturbing the fruit , flowers , and birds on private property. We have also experienced some serious unpleasantness from vicious dogs running at large without being properly muzzled. We therefore urge the abundant use of discretion in the treatment of our neighbors. As far as possibly we suggest that money expended for improvements be distributed in proportion to the paid up taxes in the immediate neighborhood of the taxpayer. The treasurer's report of all monies received and expended is now open to any citizen who cares to inspect it. ##### Ordinances of Highland Beach , Maryland. To safeguard the interests of Highland Beach , Anne Arundel County, Md. as a residential community , and in order to preserve good order, health , and beauty within its corporate limits, the Board of Commissioners of Highland Beach , Arundel County md. has adopted the following ordinances: Building I. Before the erection of any structure or addition the prospective builder shall present to the Board of Commissioners for approval the plans and the estimated cost of the said structure or addition and shall secure from said Board of Commissioners a permit therefor. II. From the side lines of the following streets building lines are established as follows: From the south line of Douglass Ave. 20 ft. ; From the west side of Langston Ave. 20 feet; From the south side of Bay Ave. 20 feet. Business III. The proprietor of any business for profit or gain operating within the corporate limits of Highland Beach shall secure a license from the Board of Commissioners of said town before the first day of June of each year. Fires. IV. All persons within the community shall observe reasonable caution in disposing of inflammable materials, shall clear about their buildings, and shall watch and control small fires until they are thoroughly extinguished. Fireworks V. The setting off of fireworks shall be confined to the water's edge along the beach front. Visitors VI. There shall be no public picnics or excursions. All visitors must be the house guests of a householder or householders residing within Highland Beach. Trespass VII. There shall be no removing of property or materials from the premises of any resident of Highland Beach except with the written permission of said resident. Noises VIII. Al disturbing noises, such as singing, instrumental music, dancing, loud talking and laughter, auto horns, fireworks, etc. shall be unlawful between twelve o'clock midnight and eight o'clock a.m. Firearms IX. There shall be no carrying or discharging of firearms or other dangerous weapons. Parking X. No parking in front of private property without owner's consent. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.