Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-05-24

tered; her public highways are seized and OBJ
strueted; her laws are suspended; her capital
is conYer ed into a militsry pos; her ieeisla-
ture is eeHpalled, in tAe language Of her eK-
eeutivs, to consult its "ssfety'' by boidlng it's
sessions a. distance from her Offices and ar
chives; troops are quaFtsFsd around ths peace
ful homsstsads cf hsr people; her citizens are
subjected to the Illegal and arbitrary violence
Of military arrest and confinement; her very
Freedom, in fine, all that distinguished her fram
a Neapoitsn province, before Naples was lib
Grated, is under TIE armed heel Of the Govern
msnt That sa-h fate is imposed upon her,
without constitutional authority; that indeed
no respect to the Constitution is even pfeten-
dsd in her regard; the frank admission Of the
/ Federal authorities TO the commissioners re-
Gently accredited to them by this legislature,
renders a mortifylng and almost intolsrsble
certainty.
The Safe OF MARYLAND is under military
rule. Partly for military convenience, and
partly for chastssmsnt, her free Institutions
have bsen temporarily suspended BY the War
Department, and her name blotted out, Tor the
tims. from the list OF free Governments. It is
not the desire Of the committee to aEgravsts
BY comment the humiliation which Is insepa-
rabls from these facts In their simplest state
meHt. It In not their disposition to provoke
review Of the unhappy policy, In her own
councils, which has costributed to plunge ths
State into so hopeless and helpless a condition.
They wish 20 deal only with the practical
cues ions it suggests for present determination;
and this brings them to consider the recon-
mendatious Of the message transmitted BY the
governor.
The committee understand bis excsllency as
recommending, in general terms, policy OF
peace. So FAR ss that naked proposi ion goes,
they give to II their warmest and hesrtiest con-
eurrsnee, but they are not sure that they eX-
setlV spprehend the mode in which the gov
ernor proposes that the policy be so favors
should be carried out His language is as fol-
lows: "I honestly and most earnestly enter
tain The conviction that the only safety Of Ma
ryiand lies in preserving a neutral position be-
tween eur brethren Of the North and South"
Hs then enters into a consideration Of the part
which Maryland has taken IL tbe sectional
contest that has been waged, and adds "En-
tsrtaining thess views, l cannot counsel Ma
rYland to take sides against the Federal Gov
eminent, until It shall commit outrages upon
US which would Justify US in resisting its au-
thority" What class Of outrages would fur
nish such justification for resistance he does
not announce, but proceeds to say; GAS con-
sequence, I can give no other council than that
we shall array ourselves for union and peace,
and thus preserve our soil from being polluted
with the blood Of brethren. Thus, II war
must be between tbs North and tie South, We
may force .he eontsnding parties TO transfer
the field ef battle from our soil, 90 that our
lives and property may be secure"
The committee confess their difficulty in
psrcsiviog how, consistently with policy
purely pacific, these counsels can possibly be
made available. no matter how decidedly and
enthusiastically we "arrsy ourselves for unlen
and peace,o it is impossible for US to preserve
our coil from the pollution Of fraternal blood,
unless we possess tue means and assert the
power to force back the tide Of war, IL 1t comes
surglng across the borders. And that we
should consolidate and employ such power to
the extent which the exigency may demand, is
Obviously the counsel OF The governor, for be
proceeds to tell US, that by the action he ad
vises, we may be able, "if war must be,'' 70
force the contending parties to transfer the
field OF battle from our soil, 80 that our lives
and properly may be secure" Surely we can
not "fores" bsligsrent armies from our midst,
without employing force Of our own. It is
out Of the question that we can prevent them
from making our homes their battle field, un-
less we have The strength to repel them, and
are willing and prepared TO use it.
No peaceful "array" whatever-no legisia-
tive protest--no executive remonstrance-from
Maryland, can stay the strife Of contending
squadrons. A dsputation from the peace
society would have been as sfectual in arrest
ing charge at Solierino. II, then, the "nes-
trality" Of the governor means anything,
(spesking with all rssrect,) it must mean
neutrality armed and rssolute-pTeparei to
assert It's policy, and able to vindicste it on
the fsid. Otherwise It would Be nothing aud
would come to nothing. Il would only irritate
both parties and stay the arm Of neither.
And yet although this is the result and the
only practical result of the Recommendation OF
the message, it is difficult 70 reconcile such a
rnffh he ot " rrvr rh ha
governor announces. @ On the authority Of
sour most learned and intelligent citizens"
be admis the right OF the Government to
transport lis troops across our soil. He re-
cognizes the unbroksn relation aud the
continuing loyalty sf Maryland TO the Union.
He does not impeaeh the constitutiona!ity Of
the action OF the Federal authority. His pro-
test sgainst the landing Of the troops, and the
seizure OF -he railroad at Annapolis, are based
upon no denial OF the rlght. They amount to
remonstrsDce and advice, but to nothiHg more
His theory is, and be has always steadfastly
maintained It., thst nothing has occurred to
alter the reciprocal rights and oblls ations Of
this Sssts and the General Government The
Constitution, be believes, is still over both,
and TIE old bonds still unite them together. II
all this be true, then the State Of Maryland
can hold no neutrality when the Union is at
war. She is part OF The Usion; at war when
d
stakes sidesn against it the instant that she
fails to taks sides with It. Neutrality, in such
a case, is notification 7ure asd simple, and an
srmed neutrality is merely rebellion, and not
union or peace. The position OF his excellency
in the premises is, therefore, in the juIgmsnt
OF the committee, wholly untensble, and 1t is
noi surprising that L should have placed bin
at so obvious a disadvantage, in the cores
ponience which be has furnished the house
4 A. a.
Government.
d ffsring from the Governor in opinion as to
the course and rights OF the Federal authori-
ties, 70 the wide extent herein before indicated,
the Committee have no hesitation in asserting
and maintaining the right Of the State, and its
dztF, to protest against the unconstitutional
action Of the Administration, and refuse ODE
dience to its unconstitutional demands. Re-
cogniZng, however, to the sams extent as the
Governor, the fact that Maryland is still a
State OF the Union, the Committee cannot
counsel this honors bic body or the people
whom it represents to assume, under the guise
Of ssnsutrality," hostile relation to the Gov
eminent, or attempt by any policy whatever,
to "forcs'' it from ,he position in which It is
sntrsnched. II no better argument existed
against such a project, sufficient one would
be found in its hopSless futilty.
The prssent-snd the only possible present
attitude OF the State toward the Federal Gov
eminent is, in the Judgment Of the committee,
an attitude Of ubniasion-vol1ntary and
cheerful submission on the part Of those who
can persuade themselves that the Constitution
remains inyiolate and the Union unbToken, or
that the Union can survive the Constitution-
unwilling and CALLING submission on the part
Of those who think and feel differently but
still, peaceful submission upon both sides. It
is not for the COMMITTEES to ignore this state Of
things because Of the humiliation which comes
with it. They feel It their duty to confess the
inexarsble logic Of facts, and leave the future
to be shaped by the people Of Maryland, to
whom, exclusively, that prerogative belongs,
and who, doubtless, will exercise It in their
own way and at their own good time.
This expression Of the views Of your com
mittes, at so much necessary length, leaves
very sbvious the recommendations which they
ask leave to report, Epon fbe two leading sub
iscts submitted to their elaboration the call
ing Of a sovereign convention Of the people,
and the reorganization and arming Of the mi
litia Of the State.
At the time when the legislature was called
together, there WAS certainly but little differ
encs OF opinion among its members, Of all psr,
ties, a. to the prorrlety Of speedily adopting
measures TO secure both the objects referred to-
Since that time, the rapid and extraordinary
development OF events, and Of the wRr-lke
purposes Of the Administration the coneen-
tration Of large bodies Of troops in our midst
and upon our borders, and the actual and
threatened military occupation Of the State,
have naturally enough produced great changes
Of opinion and feeling among our citizens.
The members of the committee, Judging from
their oTn correspondence and that OF their
! fellow members, OF all shades Of opinion, as
well as from the memorials and other expires
sions OF public will, which have reached the
hoase, hsVe no hesitation in expressing their
belief, that there is an almost unanimous feel
/ ing in the state against calling a convention
/ at fhe present time. The reasons for this con
1 Siasion are doubtless various, m different por-
tlons Of the s;ats, and the opinions OF individ-
uals as TO the probable result Of the dslibera-
tions Of eenvsntion, at this moment, are OF
course very wide apart
I To the committee, the single fact Of the mil-
I itsry occupation Of onr soil, by the northern
troops 10 the service Of the Government against
/ the wishes Of our people, and The solemn pro-
/ test Of the State executive Is a sufitient and
| conclusive reason for postponing ths SUBJECT
/ to period when the federal s5an shall be no
/ longer upon us T. does not become ihe digni-
/ ty Of the State Of Maryland to attsmpt the
] performance Of an act Of sovereignty, absolute
I or qualified, at a moment when not only her
/ sovereignty but Der federal. equality is subor-
! dinated to the law Of the drum-hesd No slse-
/ ton, held At such time and with such sur
roundings could by possibility be fair or free