St. Mary's gazette., 1863-10-15

Your petitioner regrets TO have to state
that rumors are current tlIa, il is the in
tcIftin of the Government over which
your Exccllcncy presides to interfere An
some way, either TO prcreut votrrsA from
voting or to cm!,arrass tie Exercise Of That
great1 priyHsge.sasThese rnnors rscrlvc
.son,c Dsts.cufsh from the fsiets sl'st shs tso
last sIcciiosx in this Snte. rs also the late
clection inzihc State 81 Kspiucky. we're
opc,sy in,crfcrcd Witt. and she voscss D.
tinii ssrd In persons II Ole emplaymens
of WI. L uit,sd states, and ossensibly IA, the
sauihority of the General Government.
~ Your petitioner is not aware that any
reLuke for this conduct has as yet issued
from your Excellcncy, nor. on the other
hard, has lie seen that, BY any expression
or act of yours, it receives your approval;
indeed. an inference may lie drawn, from
the well considered letter of your Excel
lcney TO the Springfield (Illinoi~) Mass
Meeting, that you entertain. too high nm
cstiuate Of the great priuilege-of the'bal-
lot to sarctauu The acts ailu led to. In that
letter your Ex-clicncy declares :'that
among frcencn there can DC 10 successful
appeal frnn the ballot to the bullet, and
they who make the appeal arc sure to lose
their case lind pay the costs" 1t is Diff
cult to ccuelude that your Exeelleney. SO
soon after using such language. would Or
der the bullet TO be used to prevent the
ballot or that any force over which you
! had control should be allowed to intcrpose
between the voter and the ballot box.
| Your petitioner would state, however, that
| the public is In a state of uncertainty and
excitement on the subject which is like
| ~ TO increase as the day of election ap.
proaehes. aud it would secn. that it is en-
! titled. under the circnns stances. to some
decided assurance from your Excellency.
| May il therefore please your Exccllehcy
to n,ake public, at some early day, an or
der prohibiting all persons in the 'mpl"y-
mrut of The United States from interfering
in any way with the free sx"rcisc of il.
privilege Of voting at the cn>ing election
hy thc people of this State?
All of which is respectfully submitted.
BENZ. u. HARRIS.
LEoNARprowS, OcToBER 6, 1863.
We fully concur in The opinion of the
iut,Vtgcncer, that tho posi'i u Of the Presi-
dent is already defined on the question
upon which Mr. Harris petitions. His
letter to the Springfield: Mass Meeting
gives most decided aft rmativc to the
prayer OF the Petitioner, whilst it cmbodirs
the true theory upon which our elective
System is tased. We. therefore, anti
pate favorable response from his Excel
trEcy; or, if he remains silent, shall
conclude that he has not changed his
opinion during the short time that has
clarscd since his Springfield letter was
written. |, would be. very gratifying.
however; TO the people Of tins section Of
The State. TO have Mr. Harris petition
frankly answered. The PRONUNCIATION of
<ueh an orGcr as is prayed for could Ger
tairly do no harm, whilst it would rcas-
sure our people, that the ''hallo,''. mt
the bullet" is the true medium through
| which The Voice of an American .;.iu..n
may lie heard, whilst it is the only one
through Which he can lave LIS supposed
grievances redrcss,d.