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268 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
on Monday afternoon, the fifth day of September, at four o'clock, to deliberate
with us, and devise some means of rescuing our city from its present deplorable condition." Appended to this call were the names of over two thousand
of our best and best-known citizens—of men in every walk and occupation of
lile—merchants and tradesmen, professional men and mechanics; of members
of both political parties, and of men who had never been identified with either.
With one accord, these men, of every shade of politics, and all sorts of opinions, agreed in pronouncing the "present condition" of the city "deplorable,"
and in proclaiming the necessity of " devising some means," other than those
which the laws, existing at that time administered, afforded for the purpose
of rescuing it from its degradation.
In consequence of the inclement weather, the " Town Meeting" was
postponed to Thursday afternoon, the 8th of September, at which time about
ten thousand persons assembled in Monument Square. At the appointed
hour Charles D. Hinks, on behalf of the committee of arrangements, presented
the name of William Woodward, Esq., for president of the meeting, and
three gentlemen from each ward for vice-presidents, which were adopted.
After the appointment of a number of secretaries, Mr. Hinks read the
following resolutions, which were drafted by a committe3 appointed by a
large number of citizens, who had assembled a short time previous in the
Merchants' Exchange:
" Whereas, It is an established principle in ail republican governments that the power
of selecting men to fill the various offices of trust and emolument in the State is inherent
in and may be exercised only by the people at large, or by those to whom they may
delegate that power; and, /
" Whereas, In the city of Baltimore this principle has been departed from, to so
important a degree, that the authority to select and nominate for every office has been
of late seized and appropriated, without the sanction of the masses of the people by a
small minority of our citizens, who have in many instances, in a most disorderly and
violent manner, prevented a fair expression of sentiment on the part of the legal voters
of the city ; and,
" Whereas, It is impossible that in the present condition of affairs, there can be an
uncontrolled exercise of our elective privileges and franchises, either in primary meetings
or on election days at the polls; and,
" Whereas, We are convinced that our city is suffering both in her domestic and
foreign interests, because of the abuses which have resulted from this wresting of privilege and authority from the many and concentrating both in the few; and,
" Whereas, Many of our best citizens, both native and of foreign birth, are rapidly
losing cofidence in the ability or willingness of the people to protect their lives and
their property; and,
" Whereas, It is true that while political rule rests where it now does, many strangers,
business men and others, may think it unsafe to maintain existing relations, or form new
ones with us ; and,
" Whereas, There can be no question that apprehension hangs like a pall upon the
minds of a large number of our people, and that we are jeered and scouted by, our
rivals, and greatly censured by our friends of other cities, and of the country, for so long
permitting the grievances named to exist without an effort to abate them, and
| 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 | 00000299 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 268 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. on Monday afternoon, the fifth day of September, at four o'clock, to deliberate with us, and devise some means of rescuing our city from its present deplorable condition." Appended to this call were the names of over two thousand of our best and best-known citizens—of men in every walk and occupation of lile—merchants and tradesmen, professional men and mechanics; of members of both political parties, and of men who had never been identified with either. With one accord, these men, of every shade of politics, and all sorts of opinions, agreed in pronouncing the "present condition" of the city "deplorable," and in proclaiming the necessity of " devising some means," other than those which the laws, existing at that time administered, afforded for the purpose of rescuing it from its degradation. In consequence of the inclement weather, the " Town Meeting" was postponed to Thursday afternoon, the 8th of September, at which time about ten thousand persons assembled in Monument Square. At the appointed hour Charles D. Hinks, on behalf of the committee of arrangements, presented the name of William Woodward, Esq., for president of the meeting, and three gentlemen from each ward for vice-presidents, which were adopted. After the appointment of a number of secretaries, Mr. Hinks read the following resolutions, which were drafted by a committe3 appointed by a large number of citizens, who had assembled a short time previous in the Merchants' Exchange: " Whereas, It is an established principle in ail republican governments that the power of selecting men to fill the various offices of trust and emolument in the State is inherent in and may be exercised only by the people at large, or by those to whom they may delegate that power; and, / " Whereas, In the city of Baltimore this principle has been departed from, to so important a degree, that the authority to select and nominate for every office has been of late seized and appropriated, without the sanction of the masses of the people by a small minority of our citizens, who have in many instances, in a most disorderly and violent manner, prevented a fair expression of sentiment on the part of the legal voters of the city ; and, " Whereas, It is impossible that in the present condition of affairs, there can be an uncontrolled exercise of our elective privileges and franchises, either in primary meetings or on election days at the polls; and, " Whereas, We are convinced that our city is suffering both in her domestic and foreign interests, because of the abuses which have resulted from this wresting of privilege and authority from the many and concentrating both in the few; and, " Whereas, Many of our best citizens, both native and of foreign birth, are rapidly losing cofidence in the ability or willingness of the people to protect their lives and their property; and, " Whereas, It is true that while political rule rests where it now does, many strangers, business men and others, may think it unsafe to maintain existing relations, or form new ones with us ; and, " Whereas, There can be no question that apprehension hangs like a pall upon the minds of a large number of our people, and that we are jeered and scouted by, our rivals, and greatly censured by our friends of other cities, and of the country, for so long permitting the grievances named to exist without an effort to abate them, and |
