St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1862-05-15

he Baltimore American WHOSE nOtcS,
ike those Of jealousy, wild hy turns and t"
n.ahing fixed, which may be black with
unveracity to-day while Tomorrow it VIII
put on the whitencd robes of a mawkish
lnritanism. OILY the better to brguile !;
changing its opinions as often as it does
its temper. which is just an frequent as
ally one can be found To take the trouble
tn expose lis f.lschoods and crrors--may
well be- entitled to the cpi'hct OF the Cam
eleon Journal"
We propose to cxamin" aud expose one
of its most recent sumncrsaults an a sub
ject Of moment"ns aud vital Importance tc
the State of Mary land aud the nation at
iargc-thc abolition d slavery in the Dis
trirt Of Columbia In it's issue of the 10Th
instant, referring TO the passage of the
lill by Congress, the American dclibrrat-
ly said:
.'Th. fate Of slavery in tho District Of
Columbia. AZ dependent on the action Of
Congress is at last determined. only the
ps,ssihle veto OF the President interpnsing
to prevent the final co,,su,nmati"n. In
considering a matter of such signal import
I. Maryland we regret that We are ccnI-
piled {" look uron it rs an act &c uad
faith on the part "f Congress towards on.
State. and of something worse than bad
p licy in regard t" the general aspects Of
tl.c rebellion. Not predful at all at the
Present time. especially. it appears to b.
omc of those idundrrs, at least, that ap-
prnximatc towards crime and if it is
true in any case--as asserted hy the ga.
French dillornstist that hluader i
worse than crime this would seem To be-
most emphatically onc nf The instances t"
illustrate th force of tha remark, since it
may aggravat largely the co.nnissi"n
of new crimes such as now arpall the
world with their frequency and magnitude
in the attempt to over hruw the Govern
m"nt"
Aud then to fix the blame of the .'blnn-
der worse than crimc." which lead to
the commission Of new crimes. such as now
al pail the world. where all men nf sense
and reason know it rightfully belongs. it is
Immediately added
IF VIC recur to the condition If things
one year ago. the conduct Of those WIN
have forced this matter to a conclu.ion
has greatly changed Appalled, by the
first conflict then confronting thcn-tlc
result. in part. of their own ultrai>m-
they professcd for the time to ignore these
irritating issues their sole purpose was
I" rigiLly adhere to that policy which look
c'l only to restoration Of the Tuion to
the vindica!ion o! the Constitution lc.,-
ihg slavery where it was, to lake care of
itself. Over aud over they declared a
purpose not to interfere with slavery
''~here II crisis" And yet. what have
they done? What but .lisregardrd their
specific. as we'll as their implied pledges.
in forcing Upon rs the act in question. for
II is impossible for them to take shelter
under amy trcbnicality by which to Justify
their action"
The bad faith with Maryland in the
dominant party of Congress. in pushing
forward 4 measure calculated TO alarm and
irritate her people. and to create distrust
among the loyal Of every State South as
WILL : the ultrsism of the same party
which year ago, went clinging implor-
i"gly to Mr.. Critenden and his colleag CUES
from The Border States. upon whom the
hopes of compromise for our national truu-
tles rested, are forcibly exposed and STERN
ly rcbuked. Then, it is declared. their
conciliatory declarations We're promptly
liac-d upon record, but that quiet de-
pertinent is far removed Fl ON the arrogance
which Is Witnessed now.
At present neither Mr. Crittenden or
any of his patriotic friends from the Bor-
der States eau of late venture to hint the
necessity of strictly abiding by the Cons;-
tuition without biinging upon their devoted
heads . Storm of impatient iuvrctive. as
upon men wLu hare ceased to have rights
ON the floor Of Congress
The small number or value of the slaves
in the Di.tric. would not in the writer's
judgment affect the question. it was mat
ter of principle aud Involved the plighted
faith of the Government, for he ell. phati-
cally says;
''Th. fact that the interests legisla.ed