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440 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
The Legislature, which was then in session, viewing with indignation the
usurpations of General Banks, and the suppression of the rights and liberties
of the people, on the 7th of August passed the following eloquent "resolutions protesting against the unconstitutional and illegal acts of President
Lincoln."
" Whereas, The military authorities of the government of the United States, in Baltimore, have assumed to remove from office the Marshal of Police of that city, an officer
of the State of Maryland, and to appoint his successor; and have further assumed to dismiss from office the Board of Police of Baltimore, a body clothed with high powers by the
State of Maryland for the protection of its citizens, and have actually put an end by force
to the exercise by said Board of its lawful and important functions, and have appointed
sundry individuals, in large numbers, to govern said city as a Police, in contempt of the
constitutional rights of the State of Maryland, and in open violation of its laws; and,
" Whereas, The Congress of the United States, instead of rebuking the wrong and
usurpation aforesaid, has justified and approved the same, under color of a ' military
necessity,' not known to the institutions of the country, and fatal to its liberties ; and has
appropriated large sums of money for the said unlawful Police force, so that the members
thereof are maintained thereby in daily and oppressive hostility to the laws of Maryland
and the rights of its citizens, and constitute, in fact, a civil government established by
Congress, over the chief city of the State; and,
" Whereas, Charles Howard, "William H. G-atchell and John W. Davis, Police Commissioners aforesaid, having been arrested by orders of the General commanding the army
of the United States, and imprisoned at Fort McHenry, under frivolous and arbitrary
pretexts, without oath, warrant or presentment of a Grand Jury, or lawful cause disclosed,
or trial had, have since been removed by military force, under the same order, to Fort
Lafayette, in New York, where they are now held as ' prisoners of State,' at the arbitrary
pleasure of the President of the United States and the officers under him, at a distance
from their homes and families, in defiance of law and the Constitution, and in criminal
violation of the plainest and dearest rights to which American citizens are born; therefore, be it,
"Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That we solemnly protest in the
name of the State and her people, against the proceedings aforesaid, in all their parts, pronouncing the same, so far as they affect individuals, a gross and unconstitutional abuse of
power, which nothing can palliate or excuse, and in their bearing upon the authority and
constitutional powers and privileges of the State herself, a revolutionary subversion of the
Federal compact.
" Resolved, That we appeal in the most earnest manner to the whole people of the
country, of all parties, sections and opinions to take warning by the usurpations aforementioned and come to the rescue of the free institutions'of the country, so that whatever
may be the issue of the melancholy conflict which is now covering the land with sacrifice
and sorrow, and threatens to overwhelm it with death and ruin, there may at least survive to us when it is over, the republican form of government, which our fathers
bequeathed to us and the inestimable rights which they framed it to perpetuate."
These remonstrances did not however, redress the wrongs of our people,
for notwithstanding the Union men of-Maryland alleged that a large majority
of the people of the State cordially sustained the measures of the administration, she was still subjected to all the indignities of an armed occupation.
Our great avenues of commerce were closed against us, and all our sources of
trade were deliberately cut off. If her "loyalty" was unimpeachable, the
| 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 | 00000471 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 440 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. The Legislature, which was then in session, viewing with indignation the usurpations of General Banks, and the suppression of the rights and liberties of the people, on the 7th of August passed the following eloquent "resolutions protesting against the unconstitutional and illegal acts of President Lincoln." " Whereas, The military authorities of the government of the United States, in Baltimore, have assumed to remove from office the Marshal of Police of that city, an officer of the State of Maryland, and to appoint his successor; and have further assumed to dismiss from office the Board of Police of Baltimore, a body clothed with high powers by the State of Maryland for the protection of its citizens, and have actually put an end by force to the exercise by said Board of its lawful and important functions, and have appointed sundry individuals, in large numbers, to govern said city as a Police, in contempt of the constitutional rights of the State of Maryland, and in open violation of its laws; and, " Whereas, The Congress of the United States, instead of rebuking the wrong and usurpation aforesaid, has justified and approved the same, under color of a ' military necessity,' not known to the institutions of the country, and fatal to its liberties ; and has appropriated large sums of money for the said unlawful Police force, so that the members thereof are maintained thereby in daily and oppressive hostility to the laws of Maryland and the rights of its citizens, and constitute, in fact, a civil government established by Congress, over the chief city of the State; and, " Whereas, Charles Howard, "William H. G-atchell and John W. Davis, Police Commissioners aforesaid, having been arrested by orders of the General commanding the army of the United States, and imprisoned at Fort McHenry, under frivolous and arbitrary pretexts, without oath, warrant or presentment of a Grand Jury, or lawful cause disclosed, or trial had, have since been removed by military force, under the same order, to Fort Lafayette, in New York, where they are now held as ' prisoners of State,' at the arbitrary pleasure of the President of the United States and the officers under him, at a distance from their homes and families, in defiance of law and the Constitution, and in criminal violation of the plainest and dearest rights to which American citizens are born; therefore, be it, "Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That we solemnly protest in the name of the State and her people, against the proceedings aforesaid, in all their parts, pronouncing the same, so far as they affect individuals, a gross and unconstitutional abuse of power, which nothing can palliate or excuse, and in their bearing upon the authority and constitutional powers and privileges of the State herself, a revolutionary subversion of the Federal compact. " Resolved, That we appeal in the most earnest manner to the whole people of the country, of all parties, sections and opinions to take warning by the usurpations aforementioned and come to the rescue of the free institutions'of the country, so that whatever may be the issue of the melancholy conflict which is now covering the land with sacrifice and sorrow, and threatens to overwhelm it with death and ruin, there may at least survive to us when it is over, the republican form of government, which our fathers bequeathed to us and the inestimable rights which they framed it to perpetuate." These remonstrances did not however, redress the wrongs of our people, for notwithstanding the Union men of-Maryland alleged that a large majority of the people of the State cordially sustained the measures of the administration, she was still subjected to all the indignities of an armed occupation. Our great avenues of commerce were closed against us, and all our sources of trade were deliberately cut off. If her "loyalty" was unimpeachable, the |
