Maryland free press., 1863-02-13
To the Mayor of Hagersto,on::

|. by with what you call "silent. Contempt" a
very proper mode Of treating many things, but
mode which is very often adopted as the hst
resort of conscious guilt. ltis the answer
often given to impertinent and obscure nsl-
dlers in things in which they have no. Ain
tercst, but more frequently given when any
other answer viii carry conviction to the he'd
of him who resorts to.it. ....s ..,,.. ~,
You are q public man, and are acting besfsIEa
fthe public, and for the public hayaE55ys
| ing to do with your private character, which
will do you the jhstico to say, ,has never bosn
questioned in my presence! But am one of
the Public, for whom you are acting, "a citizen
of The State, whose laws you have publicly,
and officially, wilfully, and knowingly set at
defance-a citizen of The town, whose faith
you believed you was plcdgng for the rcdemp-
ton of your illegal issues. ] have something
to do and TO say about You in your public
character. -.'.... 81. . .... ~
| Whether it WAS from gnorance-whcth her
from fear of the just punishment of the law,
or whether with, view to deceive, mislcad,
and injurc the. public ] will not say. But
you have net, only sent forth issues which are
prohibited by law, butas if to make them
still more worthless you have not issued them
in the name Of anything, "or person or associa-
tion of persons, known to the law. There Is
no such thing as the Corporation of Hagcrs-
| town." Nothing in law or in nature bears
that name, and you kne,cH il. Now, lid you dc
it to deceive? l have never heard that you
was dessembler. Did you do it in order to
avoid punishment have for twenty years
known you to be a man Of responsibility
Or will you, public officer, the chief of your
town, come out and say that you done il u,
ignorance?
If you done it in ignorance, then you are
fitted indeed, to exercise an enlightened and
intelligent supervision of public affairs outside
oflaw. If you are, or was ignorant of the
corporate name Of yoir oaea toacn, and you the
chief officer of that town, then you are a prop
or person truly to set yoursclfup as wiser than
the laws, and superior to the Constitutions. =
Ifyou did not know the nalno Of the cornorsa-
ton ,chose charter and ordinances you are ddi-
ty admuniste ing, then an ofic of your intel
ligence ought to be needed on subjects of
'.puJlic necessity" and questions so grave rs the
currency of the country, and so very and vital
ly important to the people. 1twas becoming,
in public officer of your enlightenment, TO
lend a helping hand to the struggles of an uns
educated uninformcd. and uncnlghtcncd pco.
pie,
Above all, so well informed, so enlightened,
public officer as you must be, is eminently
fitted to Judge TRAITORS" and ''secessionsts"-
point out who is "loyal," and who is "disloyal,'
and who shall be, and who shall not be ar
r.stcd.
But your currency. I know you have
browbeat people, and denounced them as
"traitors" for not taking it. This is one of the
standards Of "treason," you and your party
have set up. 1t is standard as fair and as
reasonable as any other that Rnss Judge your
neighbors by. But is there lnny fairness or
reason in dcnouncing as straitor" person
who refuses to take as ,49iiey issues which
are prohibited by law, ami are not made payA
able to any person. -
This currctcy of yours is worthless on its
face. 1st, Because sexistcnce is prohibited
by law. Cd. Because it is not issued in the
name of anything, OF any body, or any asso=
citation of men, known to the law. There is
no person to pay-no person responsibc-no
f,roi 10 D.,
gs. ..
4n double aspect your issues arc worth
less. What then have you done? Look at
the work of your hands. You can no mcfo
ask man to take one of your notes in pay
mcnt Of debt than you can ask him to take
a piece of wrapping paper, The one is as val
ueless as the other You might have made as
valuable currency by saying that the "NTan in
the Moon would pay, as by saying the Cor
poration of Hagerstown" would pay. YOU
have corrupted the currency, by flooding the
country with pieces of paper, which it was
unlawful to issue, which it is un awful to take
and which isnot issued in the name of sny
person, or any Corporation.
And yet YOU thought you was doing good
service to the people I feel. that ! can say
that much for you. But you have served ticin
with trash--with something which is of no
more value than the dust you brush from your
boots. u You could have done as we'll by stamp
ing pieces of iron, and calling that currency.
| am not surprised at this, because public
officer who did not know the name Of the Cor
poration of which he is the chief, can Lc cx-
cuscd for not knowing much clic.
'-1+E Yours, ''on thc sly"
...'- -. SWAMP Fox.
NEGRO REGIMEST.-It is stated that n
movement is already on foot among the coll