Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-01-17
MORNING, JANUAR

similar officer caused every ballot offered {
be examined, and unless it was the favOre
lone the voter was required to take til
OATH and not otherwise; and In another
again, after one vote only had been giyenl
4 the polls were closed, the judges all arrest :
ed and sent out Of the county, and military
4 Occupation taken of the town. But will
not detain you with q recapitulatiOn of all
| the abuses that these statements dis
close. / have caused copies of them
to be transmitted to you. and they
IcannOt fail to arrest your attention. They
present q humiliating record, such rs had
never supposed we should be called upon to
read in any State, still less in loyal one
| like this. Unless it be indeed fallacy to
suppose that any rights whatever remain to
lsuch State, or that any line whatever
marks the limit of Federal power, bolder
estride across that line that power never
made, even in rebel State, than it did here
on the 4th of last November. A part of the
army which generous people had supplied
for very different purpose was on that day
engaged in sitting the freedom of election
in faithful State, intimidating its sworn,
officers. violating the constitutional rights
of its loyal citizens, and obstructing the
usual channels of communication between
them and their executive. If l have depre-
Gated such proceedings, have been actuated
in SO doing scarcely more by the sense of
what was due to the laws and Constitution
of the State, than by a regard for the safety
and success of the Union and the mainten-
ance of that popular respect for and conf
dence in its constituted authorities so i'm
portant to the triumph of the great cause
they have in charge. The moral influence
of such sentiments is worth to those ad-
ministering the government far more than
the results of an election where such pro-
ceeding are tolerated. MISUNDERSTANDING
their occurrence, / trust and believe they
will never cause you TO forget your duty to
your country, cool your ardent devotion to
the Union, lead you to feel the slightest SYM
pathy with those who have assailed it. |
or to seek fellowship with them that
do. Major-General Dix, when in COM
mand of this department, at the time
of the election in 1861, and, when. too, |
rebeldom was backed by its organ
lied supporters in our very midst, took the |
true and statesmanlille view of the policy1
proper on such an OCCASION when, in direct |
ing his provost marshal, he said. that whilst |
there was no difficulty in controlling Mary |
land by force, that this was not what was |
wanted, but that we wished to control it by
the power of opinion, and that to satisfy the
country that the people were on our side,
we must leave them to an unbiased express
sion of their wishes. They were left to that
unbiased expression, and such was its char
acter that had supposed no one would still
require evidence of their loyalty. General
Dix was even appealed to by some of the
judges of election to authorize an oath to
voters of doubtful loyalty, and although it |
appears, from the tenor of his reply, that
the oath suggested was nothing more than
an oath to support the Constitution of the |
United States, he refused to order it, saying |
to them, among other things, 'the ConStitu- |
ton and la,cs Of Maryland prouide for the ec- |
erctSe Of the elective franchise By regulations |
10Th achich haze no right to Interfere" A |
copy of this letter, dated November |, 1861, |
and addressed to the judges of an election |
district of Carroll county, is herewith COM
municated, and commended to your atten-
ton. Had the department commander who
issued the recent order taken the same view
of his duty, it would, in my opinion. have
been fortunate conclusion of his military
administration, which had been previously |
distinguished by marked ability and
success. So far, however, as con-
Germs those more Immediately con-
nected with the preparation of that
order, it will doubtless appear, should its |
unwritten history be ever published, that
the commanding general deserved less CEN
sure than those who instigated it, and to
whose influence he probably yielded the !
more readily, as such instigations came
partly from our own citizens. Such con-
,sideration, however, is by no means calcu- |
lated to diminish the danger of such prece- |
dent. If men interested in accomplishing
certain political results can by any influ- |
ence enlist in their behalf such a tremendous |
instrument Of power as was here employed, |
no election will probably ever occur in
which the same means will not be again at |
tempted. You will perceive by several of
the communications have received on this |
subject that have been appealed to to |
withhold commissions or certificates of
election in districts where these abuses were
practiced. possess, however, no such
power, my duty in the premises being SIM
ply ministerial one consequent upon the
official returns of the judges of election. So
frequent were the applications to me to this |
effect that deemed it proper subject for
legal advice, and having consulted the
Hon. Reverdy johnson, he forwarded to
me a written opinion sustaining the views
| had entertained, and a copy of which is |
herewith furnished. 1t becomes you to con-
slider whether there is any remedy within
your power by which such proceedings |
may be in any degree restrained. The Com
SJllUUlOH ueclareS UnaJ all elections snail DC |
by ballot, and would earnestly recommend |
that you secure the benefit of that provis- |
ion by an effectual prohibition of all such
marks upon the ballot as are calculated to
expose its contents or to distinguish one
ballot from another. If by use Of colored
paper or other means of designation such |
exposure is effected, the whole object of
the Constitutional requirement is defeated.
Again, if that provision of our law which
has so long existed and been so universally
considered as one of the safeguards of free
elections, which forbids the mastering of
armed troops in the neighborhood of the
polls, be indeed no longer admissible or ap-
propriate to our condition, it should be re-
lpealed, or otherwise you will see the pro-
priety of adopting some provision which
shall, if possible, cause it to be respected.
It might, probably, be accomplished by re-
quiring the judges of election to certify in
their return that no military or other armed
force had appeared at the place of voting or
interfered In the election, and making such
certificate a condition to any executive ac-