Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-03-01
Senatorial Injustice and tssrpatisn--Nfsfs
shall Lamsn.


words, to abrogate the old Maryland laws in ref.
erence to negroes, which have been In force here
since the District was FIRST ceded to the Federal
Government. IL would have been well II the
Senator, and those who have united with him in
District, had made this motion before beginning
their wanton and unjust attack upon public on.
Ger, whose only onense consisted in permitting
his subordinates to execute laws which wefe
upon the statute-book. and had been enforced,
day after day, during all the years these Senators
have been acting az Legislators for the District
They have at last reached the point where they
should have begun their correction Of abuses,
on account Of which they alone are cepsurable
(for having % long permitted them to exist
In the mean time, however, gross and glsring
injustice has been done to the Marshal Upon
testimony proved to be utterly irresponsi ble ma.
licious and false, he has been publicly charged
by honorable Senators with ofenses Of which he
Is az guiltless as themselves; less guilty, in fact
than they, who have for years failed to avail
themselves OF the opportunity to repeal obnoxious
| laws which he was bound by his oath Of ONCE to
| execute. and for the performance Of which duty
ne has been; as it were, convicted upon false tes
heard In his own defense-a privilege accorded
/ by the laws to the veriest criminal In the land
Since the exposition Of the groundlessness Of
the charges preferred against Marshal Lannon,
the Senators who have joined in this inexcusable
persecution should blush for their course in the
premises. He had been regularly appointed and
confirmed by the Senate. III any charge against
him sufficient to warrant bis removal exist, the
laws provide mode by which Il NAV be done
But Senators have been found whose intemperate
zeal In striking at all nearly connected with the
present Administration, has induced them to re-
sort to means for the accomplishment Of their
purposes which they cannot fail to condemn as
| outrageous and Infamous, IL employed by any
others than themselves.
| The oni,1ys ~ this sssaplt unon The H..,A., q.
manifested in the following extract from the
| speech OF Senator Sumner upon the bill to ap-
| point Warden to the Jail:
| 90 IL the President allows him 10 continue IL
belongs to the Senate to take such steps az are I'm
its power to see that be is removed Therefore,
| ! say, the Committee on the District Of Columbia
have not done their full duty The chairman
will pardon me He ought to have reported a
bill to abolish the office in this District so that
| the Marshal should have ceased to hold any
once under the Government Anothe, b,H mig Ht
| aHstc; and then we should have a Marshal who
would have the appreciation of the Senate
There is In the history Of the Government no
precedent for such an attempt to usurp the powers
| ana privileges OF the executive and judicial
branches Of the Government The people may
| well stand aghast when such an avowal can be
made by Senator upon the floor Of the Senate
OF deliberate Intention to evade law and outra
| hostility.
1t is now apparent that this Is the whole and
only cause OF the recent assault upon the Marshal
| IL was based ostensibly upon representations
made by an individual whose statements have
been proved false by sworn and reputable testi.
mony, and who has himself been proved guilty
OF the very ofenses he malclously ascribed to the
| Marshal. The fasity Of the charges preferred by
Ammon Duvall against Col Lamon have already
been conclusively shown. There remains to be
disposed OF only the single point dwelt on by
Senator Wilson, Of the alleged illegal i'm prison.
| ment and rendition Of a negro from Charles
county, Maryland, and the process Of "cobbinen
resofted to at the jail as punishment for an
| attempt to break jail. As will be seen from the
following afadavits, the attempts to raise a hue
and cry against the Marshal on this account ia
purely Fictitious. The negro alluded to was
arrested not simply AZ fugitive from service,
but as fugitive from justice, upon the applica,
tion Of the sheriff Of Charles county, MARYLAND.
In whose custody he had been placed, charged
with criminal offense-an assault with intent To
XIII, and from which custody he had escaped by
District Of Columbia, Washington eonnfv. 10
I'll, John H. Wise, Of the city Of Washing
ton, do, on my oath, say, that sometime In No
paper published at Port Tobacco, Maryland. that
negro slave named Abraha m Taylor the propertv
OF Andrew Chapman, OF Charles county, Mary
land, had been committed to the Jail Of that
county, charged with a deadly assault on the
overseer "a white mani Of Mr. Chapman and had
succeeded In breaking Jail and making his escape,
and was supposed TO be In this District. An &C.
curate description Of the man was given to me,
and was requested t arrest him. Sometime I'm
the month Of November discovered this man,
Abraham TAYLOR, and he was taken before Esquire
Walter, Justice Of the Peace Of this District
who committed him as a runaway, as well a. [
now recollect. The commitment, which 10 at
the jail, will show the date, and the cause of
commitment The commitment is In the name
Of John Hawkins.
gave notice to the Sheriff, or late serin Of
Charles county, and subsequently the present
Sheriff OF that county came here, identified him,
and procured an order for his release, and at the
same time paid the jail fees and the reward for
his apprehension to myself, and divided n
among the guard at the jail, including Mr.. Ammon
OF the jail list and taken away by the Sheriff.
They lef the Jail to procure passes to enable them
to take the negro back to Port Tobacco
was absent from the jail, which was then
under my charge, when the same negro was
brought back and committed under his true
name, as understood from himself, of Abraham
Taylor.
T,ras Informed that the Sheriff. MIR. Hunt. had
failed In his application for passes, and had him
committed. The commitment will show the
date and cause Of commitment
lie remained In Jail until last Sunday night
week, when he effected bis escape by cutting
the ceiling Of the room In which he was confined
making rope Of his blanket and letting himself
down from the roof about four O'Clock in the
morning. Either the rope was not long enough
or 1t broke and he fell, which aroused the attsn
ton of the guard. was not at the Jail, and the
account have given Of his escape Is from hear
say, as also what follows. Mr.. McGowan and
Wsfc uIst OI tnc guards who redche
him, and found him within the enclosure, but
some distance from the Jail, secreted behind
box. Mr.. Robi nson, another guard, came up
and they arrested him and brought him back to
the jail There were three others assisting him
In making his and their escape, but they aid NOT
get beyond the loft Of the jaif
came to the jail about nine o'clock In the
morning and found all three Of them in a safe cell
on the ground foor Of the jail, and received the
foregoing report Of the facts from INV assistants
l had the negroes punished by tying their hands
around barrel They were stripped and whipped
on their posteriors with a paddle, but not With
any undue severity.
then put them hack into the cell. Last Mon.
day, Mr. w heller, the ex-Sherif of CHARLES coun-
ty, and who was Sheriff, (as l understood, } when
Taylor made his escape, came to the jail and
claimed him. He asked me to carry or send him
to Baltimore. agreed to do so. On Tuesday
morning, paid Mr.. Ammon Duval IS for his
services; with his assistance took TAYLOR To the
cars In this city, and thence took him to Balti-
himtn the private jail Of Mr.. Campbell a, that
place.
l have resigned my office az Tailor since thu
attack made upon me In the Senate Of the United
States, by Mr.. Wilson, Of Massachusett have no
cOnnectt0n w nor INT In,