Flaccomio v. City Council of Baltimore

Marbury, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The City of Baltimore passed ordinance No. 65 on the 27th day of October, 1947 , by which it authorized the acquisition by purchase or condemnation of certain property on the northwest side of Pratt Street, for addition to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House. The ordinance on appropriations for the year 1947 , under the heading bf “Miscellaneous”, contained an item “Flag House, $65,000”. The testimony shows that this money was for the purpose of purchasing this property and making improvements on it.

The Flag House is located at 844 East Pratt Street and is the place where Mary Pickersgill made, or started to make, the flag which flew over Fort McHenry during the bombardment by the British in 1814. This was the flag which, when seen at dawn on the morning following the attack, inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. This Flag House is now a museum, and is currently operated by the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Association, a private patriotic corporation. The ordinance provided for the acquisition of the land in the square bounded by Granby Street, Albermarle ²⁷⁸ Street, Pratt Street, and Slemmers Alley.

The intention was to make this whole tract, which is the block in which the Flag House is situated, a symbolic park or memorial. The appellant owned the property, 842 East Pratt Street, which is next door to the Flag House, and since the City authorities were unable to agree with her on the purchase price, condemnation proceedings were instituted in the Superior Court of Baltimore City. As a result of these proceedings, the City condemned the property and the appellant was awarded $6342 as owner of the property, and a certain James Tangiris, who was a tenant, was awarded $1829. Tangiris did not appeal, but the appellant did.

She raises three questions, the first being that the property was not taken for a public purpose; the second, even if the City did have power of eminent domain, it was not exercised as required by the City Charter; and third, the tenant should not have been allowed anything, because his lease terminated when eminent domain proceedings were instituted. On the first question, there have been a number of cases in this State determining whether the right of eminent domain can or cannot be exercised for certain specific purposes. In the case of Marchant v. City of Baltimore, 146 Md. 513 , 126 A. 884, 887 , property was being condemned for the development, and improvement of the harbor, the acquisition of sites and the construction of wharves, docks, piers and warehouses, and some of these properties were to be leased by the City. It was contended that this constituted the taking of private property for private uses, but the Court said “The public character of the use to which the harbor structures are devoted is not affected by the fact that they may not all be made available for the indiscriminate use of the public.

By the allocation or lease of certain docks for the separate use of persons or corporations having a regular or continuous need of such conveniences, the city does not convert into a private use the public port service which is thus in part provided.” In the case of Finan v. City of Cumberland, 154 Md. 563 , 141 A. 269, 270 , ²⁷⁹ the question was the validity of an issue of bonds by the City of Cumberland, the proceeds of which were to be given to a private corporation which conducted a general hospital in the City. It was not a condemnation case, but the point was made that the Legislature could not validly give the power to the City to give public funds to a private corporation. This Court, speaking through Chief Judge Bond, held that the appropriation would be valid, and said “what is a public purpose for which public funds may be expended is not a matter of exact definition; it is almost entirely a matter of general acceptation.” In the case of Johnson v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 158 Md. 93 , 148 A. 209, 213 , 66 A. L. R. 1488, the City condemned property for the use of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which was a private corporation. The Court held that this was a public purpose, and the City was authorized to condemn, saying “At the present time it is generally recognized and conceded by all thoughtful people that such institutions form an integral part of a system of free public education and are among its most efficient and valuable adjuncts.

An enlightened and educated public has come to be regarded as the surest safeguard for the maintenance and advancement of the progress of civilized nations. More particularly is this true in republican forms of government, wherein all citizens have a voice. It is also true that education of the people ought not to and does not stop upon their leaving school, but must be kept abreast of the times by almost constant reading and study. It would therefore seem that no more important duty or higher purpose is incumbent upon a state or