St. Mary's beacon., 1862-01-23
The MARYLAND Iegislature.

From the hurried ronvocation Of this
body BY his late Excellxncy. Gov.
Hicks. and fr"m the alacri,y with which
his summon was responded to. VIC had
concluded that roth his Excellcncy and
the Legislature had discovered, that ur-
gent necessity existed for speedy legisla-
ton upon matters connected with the
affairs Of State. And, We were the more
strongly impressed with this conviction
from the a.'. that the time for the
regular session was near at hand, and
that his Exccllency had on all former
occasions stcrnly refused to convene the
Legislature though repeatedly peii,ioncd
aud appealed to upon the subject 1t is
true. that. on past occasion, Gov.
Hicks did call the Legislature together.
but let It be remembered. to his lasting
shame. that regard for his personal safe
ty. and not obedience to the ayewsel
wishes II the people or his own sense
at right. prompted him then to yield
Now. We propose to enquire. wherein
lied the necessity for this late extra scs-
sion Of the Maryland Legislature: Was
it necessary for the Legislature to meet,
that the people of this State should Le
afflicted with another Of the fawning and
bringing productions of the parasite
Hicks IRE the ermine Of State should
slip from Lis shoulders? Was it ncces-
sary that they should be officially notified,
few weeks in advance, that a portion
OF the tax, consequent upon the var Of
snhjugation which has been levied upon
their brethren Of the South, would haze
to be paid by them: Was it necessary
that an extra session should BE- convened,
that the seat Of Mr. Ycllot, whom polit-
i:al prescription had driven out Of the
State, should be declared vacant: Or
was it that Gov. Hicks might have another
opportunity to vauutingly alludc to the
happy and prosperous condition Of our
State, when compared with the other Bor-
der Slave States, and to say to the people
Of Maryland, for the ninety ninth time,
this is all my work-bchold what l have
done for you! For what other purposes
was the Legislature convened? 1t is true,
it passed some resolutions endorsing the
policy Of the Washington Government,
and repealed. that "vile and traitorous ell
actment' of its predeecssors-the "Amncs-
ty Bill"
But, enough Of the extra session. What
has the Legislature done since, and what
Is it doing nowI With hot haste. it
seized upon the Mason Slilcll affair aud
assumed most pugnacious attitude. Upon
no considerations were the insslent aud
arrogant demands Of England to be Listen
ell to for moment. The cry on all sides
was-no surrender. The "Old Maryland
Line" had successfully encountered Brit
ish regulars before, and-and-thcy could
DO it again. The Government, however,
took different and moro rational view Of
the affair and based its action accordingly.
1t very wisely determined that these
lIick.itcs. who were for neutrality few
months ago, when the National Capitol
was in danger, should not enlanger it
again by Plunging the country into war
with England.
They next took up the negro emancipa-
ton scheme and declared to the Govern
mcnt their thorough and united opposition
To it; yet. they favor a peace that will
leave Maryland attached to the North
when they know emancipation must iucvi-
tsbly follnw. They seek the favor Of the
Government With the one hand and pat
their constituents on the shoulder with the
other. Intercrt prompts them to give the
Government, ut present. unmistakable evil
dences Of loyalty. whilst in the future they
discern some dim forebodinss Of the con-
sequenees that must inevitably ensue from
too close an alliance with Black Republi-
eanism. Indeed. these Maryland Legis-
la,ors have got themselves into a pretty
bad fix. They are smart enough to know
that this var cannot last always. and are
shrewd enough 10 guess that, upon their
Legislative action now. depends their po-
liticsl status hereafter. They want the
Militia Of the State enrolled. but are puz.
zled about how they shall cas-. out til,
TRAITORS The thing might be readil,
enough brough. about BY the adoption o
the test oath as the standard Of loyalty
but the aversi"n, which Marylandcrs lav.
heretofore manifested towards fighting fol
the Government in the present war. wil
probably suffice as warning against th'
riskius Of this experiment. They, also