St. Mary's gazette., 1863-11-19
Governor Braafords Reply 10 President
Lincoln.
The Difficulty Betreem the State and the
Military Authorities.
STATE or MAINLAND.
EXECUTIVE DsPARrMsEf.
ANNAPOLIS, November B, 1868


HIS Ezceueney, A6raham Limcoln,
f President Of tie United States:
SIR-Yours of the I'd instant, in reply
TO mine Of the 31st ult., reached me to-day
after bad already read it in the Balti-
more papers of this morning. Ysur Ex-
e'llency has in this respect the advantage
Of me. for though following your example,
| shall send duplicate Of this 10 the
Press. the probabilities are. looking to re-
cent events, that the military authorities
will not allow It's publication. t3s., IAe
When | wrote to you on Saturday last,
had not been able to procure copy Of
the military order in reference to the
election, and acted merely On the ramors
of its character. When / saw it, as I did
for tho 6rst time on Sunday. found it
even a.ore ehiectiouxhle, than. .runor. had
npreSentsd 1t; and when I vas shown on
the same day copy Of your letter to Mr.
Swami, in which you trust there 10 mo
just ground for the suspicion" hs had ex-
pressed, and declaring that you fslt
mortified that shers could be q doubt
upon this point Of your (his) inquiry" !"
which point was q suggestion by"Mr.
Swami, ''that the election about 10 take
place vii. be attended with undue intsrfer-
-ence on the part of persons claiming to
represent the wishes Of the Government, y
! rested satisfied that should receive from
You a prompt eountermand Of the order in
questioh. sa -
If the sending out of one or more rsgi-
meats Of soldiers. distributing them among
several of the counties to attend their
places Of election, in de6ance Of the known
laws ef the State prohibiting their pre-
sence; ordering military officers and Pro-
vcst Marshals tn arrest voters guilty, in
the opinion ofsuch officers. Of osrtain Of
fences; and msnacing Judges Of Elections
With the power Of the inilisry arm in
ease this military order WAS not respected.
10 not an "undue interference" With ths
freedom of dee.iops. I oosfess nyseli
unable to imagine what II il. The pur-
port Of your Excellency's resusrks. in yasr
letter to me. il confined chiefly to juHti-
fcation Of the exclusion or disloysl vosera
from the polls By ,ueahs sf the sdmin;stra-
tion of All oath. Of allegiance. Wishoss
stopping 70 analyze the particular oath in
qurstion, IL may be ssfhcient to soy that
this clause Of the order is by lar Als least
objectisaable Of the three.
Ii any who we're once citisens Of the
United States have been guilty Of such
conduct - justly disfranchiscs them, les
them take the consciousness. / for one
have not ipferfered and shall not interfere
to prevent it, But insist that the Judges
whom the State has provided are the ex-
elusive JUICES of the question Of such
citizenship, and that they shall be allowed
to exercise their own judgment upon TINT
question. aud l shall never cease to prp-
test against any attempt Of the military
power. in legal State. to control. thst
judgment--and especially against the use
OF aay threats tending to oocres Aan obser-
vance by these Judges of any Lao which
Itch power shall undertake 20 prescribe.
The frst and third aestiea of the ar,lsr
are the most remarkable itesns Of the sr-
bltrary authority it assumss. The irat
places all perscns supposed to have given
''aid and comfort or emcoavaosssenS'' ,si
persons sngAged in the rsbelliou, susl
tAose WHO ''do not recognise their sllsgi-
snce y the listed States" & the nero I
Of nilitsry of6eer sad Provost Mirshai.
and orders the latter to arrest them whesn
.'spprasshing the polls. p Ac., aud ,hr
third clause intinstss to the Judges III
Electlon, in very unmissskaI,ls terms. CIV
dnuoera fl,ev inrur In ru~. shcx, .l;..l....