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264 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
at the hour of noon, Colonel Shutt, the independent candidate for the
mayoralty, finding it impossible for those favorable to his election to approach
the ballot-box without the risk of incurring great personal danger, issued
the following address:
" Fellow-citizens :—It being now clearly manifest that a deliberate purpose actuates
the Mayor of this city to countenance the general combination which now prevails between
his police and the armed bands of lawless men who have since the opening of the ballot-
boxes held possession of the polls, to the exclusion of all voters opposed to Mayor
Swann, and it being urged upon me by many of our best citizens that any persistent
attempts to vote upon the part of my friends can only be attended with loss of life and
the general disorder of the city, I feel it my duty to yield to their judgments, and withdraw my name as a candidate for Mayor.
"A. P. SHUTT.
" Wednesday, October 13th, 12 o'clock M. "
Comment upon the condition of things which this letter discloses, would
be superfluous. Yet the condition of the city was but the natural consequence of the encouragement, active and passive, that had been given in past
years to lawlessness, and to the impunity with which it had been permitted
to flourish, under the scarcely veiled protection of the municipal authorities.
If we needed further evidence to show the manner in which the election
was carried, the figures would be sufficient comment. There certainly must
have been illegal voting, and a great deal of it to have enabled the Eighth
ward to give 3,307 majority for Colonel Shutt, and the fourth ward to give
2,507 for Mr. Swann. The mere formal record of votes sufficiently explains
the character of the election. Out of the entire poll of 28,866 votes, Colonel
Shutt is reported to have received but 4,859, and of these—3,428 are represented to have been cast in a single ward, leaving 1,430 as the whole number
of the ballots which were deposited in his favor throughout the rest of the
city.
To our citizens these facts and figures were quite intelligible enough of
themselves, and told, too plainly, of their shame and humiliation. The
details and particulars of the various outrages that were committed by the
ruffians, who held undisturbed possession of the polls, were in every mouth,
and were repeated and discussed by every fireside, and in every counting-
room, store, and tavern in the city. They were retailed from house to house,
and from man to man, until there was scarcely an individual in the community who had not heard, or did not know of some neighbor, friend, or
acquaintance, who, on October 13th, was driven and beaten from the polls, or
was threatened, insulted, and intimidated, in the vain attempt to exercise the
right of suffrage. From the opening of the polls in the morning until their
closing in the evening, in nineteen wards of the city, they were occupied and
held by bands of armed bullies, who, as the returns will show, permitted
scarcely any to vote who did not openly show, and as openly vote, the
" American" ticket. That ticket, moreover, was so marked upon the back
with a blue chequered pattern, that, however folded, it could be recognized
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000295 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 264 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. at the hour of noon, Colonel Shutt, the independent candidate for the mayoralty, finding it impossible for those favorable to his election to approach the ballot-box without the risk of incurring great personal danger, issued the following address: " Fellow-citizens :—It being now clearly manifest that a deliberate purpose actuates the Mayor of this city to countenance the general combination which now prevails between his police and the armed bands of lawless men who have since the opening of the ballot- boxes held possession of the polls, to the exclusion of all voters opposed to Mayor Swann, and it being urged upon me by many of our best citizens that any persistent attempts to vote upon the part of my friends can only be attended with loss of life and the general disorder of the city, I feel it my duty to yield to their judgments, and withdraw my name as a candidate for Mayor. "A. P. SHUTT. " Wednesday, October 13th, 12 o'clock M. " Comment upon the condition of things which this letter discloses, would be superfluous. Yet the condition of the city was but the natural consequence of the encouragement, active and passive, that had been given in past years to lawlessness, and to the impunity with which it had been permitted to flourish, under the scarcely veiled protection of the municipal authorities. If we needed further evidence to show the manner in which the election was carried, the figures would be sufficient comment. There certainly must have been illegal voting, and a great deal of it to have enabled the Eighth ward to give 3,307 majority for Colonel Shutt, and the fourth ward to give 2,507 for Mr. Swann. The mere formal record of votes sufficiently explains the character of the election. Out of the entire poll of 28,866 votes, Colonel Shutt is reported to have received but 4,859, and of these—3,428 are represented to have been cast in a single ward, leaving 1,430 as the whole number of the ballots which were deposited in his favor throughout the rest of the city. To our citizens these facts and figures were quite intelligible enough of themselves, and told, too plainly, of their shame and humiliation. The details and particulars of the various outrages that were committed by the ruffians, who held undisturbed possession of the polls, were in every mouth, and were repeated and discussed by every fireside, and in every counting- room, store, and tavern in the city. They were retailed from house to house, and from man to man, until there was scarcely an individual in the community who had not heard, or did not know of some neighbor, friend, or acquaintance, who, on October 13th, was driven and beaten from the polls, or was threatened, insulted, and intimidated, in the vain attempt to exercise the right of suffrage. From the opening of the polls in the morning until their closing in the evening, in nineteen wards of the city, they were occupied and held by bands of armed bullies, who, as the returns will show, permitted scarcely any to vote who did not openly show, and as openly vote, the " American" ticket. That ticket, moreover, was so marked upon the back with a blue chequered pattern, that, however folded, it could be recognized |
