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636 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
"'The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd,
slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
" ' That the legislative, executive and judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other, and no person exercising the functions of one
of said departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other.
" 'That no power of suspending laws or the execution of laws, unless by, or derived
from, the Legislature, ought to be exercised or allowed.
" ' That no aid, charge, tax, burthen or fees ought to be rated or levied, under any pretense, without the consent of the Legislature.
" ' That no man ought to be taken and imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties
or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life,
liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.
"' That no person, except regular soldiers, mariners, and marines, in the service of this
State, or militia when in active service, ought in any case to be subject to, or punishable
by martial law.
"'That in all cases, and all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination
to, and control of, the civil power.'
" We protest, that the said order and resolutions are in direct conflict with every
Article of the Declaration of Rights above quoted.
" The losses and spoliations referred to, whatever they may have been, were occasioned
by the acts of the public enemy of the United States, with whom the United States are at
open war; and against which it was the duty of the general and State governments to
have protected all their citizens. There is certainly nothing in the constitution and laws
of the United States which can authorize the President, and still less his military subordinates, to make such assessment as is required by the said order. On the contrary, the
exercise of any such power would be an unprecedented and unparalleled outrage upon
every principle of justice, and every maxim of civil liberty and constitutional government.
" Since the war began the Congress of the United States and the General Assembly of
Maryland have been composed of an overwhelming majority of so-called Union men;
have held repeated sessions, and passed laws to punish every offence which it was supposed possible to be committed by those who are amenable to their respective criminal
jurisdictions. In those criminal laws is to be found full authority to punish,' with due
process of law,' every violation of those laws; and surely, with the unlimited power now
exercised by the President in the employment of provost-marshals, spies and detectives,
there ought to be no lack of evidence, if the facts exist, to convict' those who persistently
refuse to obey the laws.' The constitution which the President is solemnly bound ' to
preserve, protect and defend,' declares that' in all criminal' prosecutions the accused shall
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, etc'
" We protest that the constitution and laws have- not required private and peaceful
citizens of this State ' to register on oath their allegiance, submission and obedience to
the United States,' and that 'to banish beyond the lines of the army, or imprison during
the war,' persons who shall not have been duly tried and convicted of some offence to
which such punishment is affixed by law, and to carry into effect the said order would be
a palpable and despotic usurpation of power, would endanger the security of the life,
liberty and property of our citizens, to the certain injury of every material interest of the
State thus threatened with all the horrors of anarchy.
" In behalf of the people we represent, and of all the peace-loving and law-abiding
people of Maryland, and in behalf of all the fundamental principles of civil liberty and
constitutional government, we enter this, our formal protest, against the said action of
the said delegates to this convention:
| 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 | 00000671 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 636 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. "'The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. " ' That the legislative, executive and judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other, and no person exercising the functions of one of said departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other. " 'That no power of suspending laws or the execution of laws, unless by, or derived from, the Legislature, ought to be exercised or allowed. " ' That no aid, charge, tax, burthen or fees ought to be rated or levied, under any pretense, without the consent of the Legislature. " ' That no man ought to be taken and imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. "' That no person, except regular soldiers, mariners, and marines, in the service of this State, or militia when in active service, ought in any case to be subject to, or punishable by martial law. "'That in all cases, and all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and control of, the civil power.' " We protest, that the said order and resolutions are in direct conflict with every Article of the Declaration of Rights above quoted. " The losses and spoliations referred to, whatever they may have been, were occasioned by the acts of the public enemy of the United States, with whom the United States are at open war; and against which it was the duty of the general and State governments to have protected all their citizens. There is certainly nothing in the constitution and laws of the United States which can authorize the President, and still less his military subordinates, to make such assessment as is required by the said order. On the contrary, the exercise of any such power would be an unprecedented and unparalleled outrage upon every principle of justice, and every maxim of civil liberty and constitutional government. " Since the war began the Congress of the United States and the General Assembly of Maryland have been composed of an overwhelming majority of so-called Union men; have held repeated sessions, and passed laws to punish every offence which it was supposed possible to be committed by those who are amenable to their respective criminal jurisdictions. In those criminal laws is to be found full authority to punish,' with due process of law,' every violation of those laws; and surely, with the unlimited power now exercised by the President in the employment of provost-marshals, spies and detectives, there ought to be no lack of evidence, if the facts exist, to convict' those who persistently refuse to obey the laws.' The constitution which the President is solemnly bound ' to preserve, protect and defend,' declares that' in all criminal' prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, etc' " We protest that the constitution and laws have- not required private and peaceful citizens of this State ' to register on oath their allegiance, submission and obedience to the United States,' and that 'to banish beyond the lines of the army, or imprison during the war,' persons who shall not have been duly tried and convicted of some offence to which such punishment is affixed by law, and to carry into effect the said order would be a palpable and despotic usurpation of power, would endanger the security of the life, liberty and property of our citizens, to the certain injury of every material interest of the State thus threatened with all the horrors of anarchy. " In behalf of the people we represent, and of all the peace-loving and law-abiding people of Maryland, and in behalf of all the fundamental principles of civil liberty and constitutional government, we enter this, our formal protest, against the said action of the said delegates to this convention: |
