Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-02-09
MAYoR's OFFICE, Oily of Washin9ton,l
Eehrnaru a 1851

MAYORS OFFICE, Ony OF WGshinofonl
I- rJ February A, 1861. ,l
DEAR SIR:-l have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt Of your letter Of the 1st instant, re-
questing me to send you, at my earliest con-
venience, q list of the names and residences Of
the police force Of this city, for day and night
service Wy iI' : /
The reason assigned by you for making this
request is, that 'if the assistance Of the po-
lice be required, II 10 important to have the
means OF reaching them as early as practical
ble." ~ v-y,.a'
When, by whom, or upon the occurrence Of
what contingency the service of the police
force may be required, you DO not state, but
am left TO infer that some extraordinary emer-
gency Is, in your judgment, likely to arise,
when 1t will be incumbent upon me to divest
myself Of my official functions as chief Magis-
trate of the oity, and to transfer to you, as
Major General of the District militia, the con-
troll of the police force, placed by the laws
exclusively under my direction. In other
words, am gravely requested by you, in the
absence of any reason whatever therefor, yr-
tually torelinquish one of the most important
prerogatives of the Mayors Office, and, in do.
ing so, to subordinate the civil authority of the
city OF Washington to the military power of the
District Of Columbia.
The police Of the city has been constituted and
organized for the sole purpose of maintaining
the public peace, of enforcing the laws and OF
affording adequate security and protection to
the persons and property of our citi-
zens. To this end its control has been assign.
ed exclusively TO the mayor, and know Of no
act of Congress or ordinance OF the corporation
which clothes him with discretion to place the
police force, in any emergency, under the or
ders Of any officer or person, civil or military,
other than those to whose charge it is express
ly confined by law. Still less am sensible OF
the existence of any legal provision which en-
powers miltay officer, however high in rank,
even in the presence of the most imminent dan.
ger, TO assume command of the police, or to
make requsition upon the mayor for its service.
On the contrary, have understood it TO be
universally conceded that the military ia cxpec
ted and required, except only when martial law
is proclaimed, to be held in strict subordination
to the civic authority; and it is only in cases
where the latter Is inadequate to maintain the
public peace or to enforce the laws, that the
aid of the former can be lawfully invoked.
With such views of the relations between the
civic and military establishments, and of nv
own powers and duties, you will readily discover
| the impossibility of a compliance on my part
with your request, without violation Of what
hold to be paramount official obligation, even
had you furnished me with probable evidence Of
Q contemplated violation Of the laws, or an in
tended invasion of the peace Of the city BY com
bnations of lawless men,or by organized bodies,
under color or pretense OF lawful authority.
| At the same time l feel that should be
wanting in candor and render myself Justly liable
to the imputstion Of disingenuousness, were In
this connection to affect entire ignorance of the
causes which have probably impelled you to
look to the services Of the police force Of the city
upon the occurrence Of the contingency to which,
! presume, your letter refers. l am not igno-
rant of the reports which have been extensively
circulated and are still rife throughout the
land, to the effect that secret organizations
have been set on foot and are now Id existence
in this city, and in the adjoining States of Ma
ryland and Virginia, for the purpose Of seizing
upon the District Of Columbia by force Of arms,
with q view, by preventing the Inauguration of
the Prerident elect on the 9TH of March next. of
effecting revolution in the Federal Govern
ment.
Nor an wholly insensibte to the fact that
| in certain high quarters no small measure of
credence seems to have been accorded TO these
reports; and that to oppose and thwart the sun
posed conspirators in the execution of their nm
holy designs, orders have been issued ard are
in process Of execution, for enrolling, arminR,
and disciplining the militia of the District.
while, ior the same purpose, unusual numbers Of
federal troops are being concentrated ct th
point, and quartered In various sections of the
city. As It's chief magistrate, charged with the
mantainance OF the public peace, 1t became nv
solemn duty, In the presence of all these sur,
Foundings, to employ every means Of which
was possessed, to ascertain upon what founda-
tion Of fact the reports in question NAV have
rested, and, If satisfied of their truth, to exert
the whole power of my Office to ferret out and
expose the individuals engaged in the nefar-
ious plot, 10 prevent the preparation of their
wicked designs, and TO subject them TO the inst
punishment awarded by the law to so heinous a
crime.
In performance Of this duty, no ayeaue to
information has been left unexplored; no indi.
yidual, at all likely to be possessed of knowl.
| edge on the subject, has remained unouestion-
cd; every agency at my command, whether Sc
cfet OF open, has been put into requisition, and
men In high places equally interested with nv.
self In opposing the alledged conspiracy, have
been invoked to furnish me with such proofs as
might be in their possession. Up to this mo.
ment every effort to obtain information has
proved vain and abortiye, and not one title of
evidence OF this stupendaous and wicked plot
has been elected, or can be CLEANED even from
those who affect to attach credit to its rumored
existence. ssac1 issf ju7 lsT p ~
!, Under such an extraordinary state Of circum.
letanoes, i am compelled TO declare, az now
most solemnly do, my entire disbelief in the ex.
istence of any combination whatever, either
here or elsewhere, to interfere with or obstruct
the ordinary operation of the laws within the
District Of Columbia, before or at the time as
signed for the Inauguration of the President
elect of the United States, or for the purpose of