The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1866-10-26
hat Does it Mean

We were unable to attend the Radical
Mass Meeting on Tuesday, except for
very short time, during the speech of
MIR. Mcpherson, of Pennsylvania, who is
rather pleasant speaker, but was evil
IDENTIFY the artful dodger of the occasion.
But we are informed that Mr.. Thomas
made the speech Of the occasion, in which
lie stated that he would, under any cir
cumstancos, occupy scat in the next Con-
Gyess, and that the gentlemen that day
nominated would take theirs in the House
of Delegates. Now does Mr.. Thomas
mean by this sort Of talk that he is to &C.
cupy seat i'll t. torticth Congress.
against the will Of the people Of this con-
gressional district, and that the gen.
tlemen referred to, are to have their plac, 4,
in the Legislature, against the will Of the
people Of this county? Certainly, if this
was his meaning, the people in these late
days have become of very little account.
Are we hereafter to elect men to high
places, purely for their especial benefit,
and without any regard to our own wish.
es! Is this obedience to the laws Of the
the land ? What would have been
thought CT such proposition ten years
ago? Would the people have tolerated
it for one moment? And what more
reason is there now, that we should ig-
more our own rights, at the bidding of
tnirdrate politicians, than there was
then? Are these people kings or prin-
ces, and we their serfs and slaves, that
we should thus be told that it is not our
will but theirs that must be done ? Are
laws and constitutions but cobwebs and
ropes of sand, that they are to be broken
and disregarded whenever they come in
contact with Tom, Dick or Harry, who
desires place of profit or trust? If not,
then we claim the right to say who shall
represent us in the legislative bodies of
the State and nation.
No man or set of men can legally rep
res ent the people Of this State anywhere,
except by their sanction. If, then,
these gentlemen should be beaten at
the ballot-box, do they then propose
to claim places denied them by the peo-
pie? Surely, we would think not, vet
this looks very like it, The very acts
which now make punishable resistance to
the laws of this State, are the enact,
ments Of these very men, or their party,
who are teaching resistance to the law.
when 1t fails to suit their selfish purpos-
es. Law, then, is to have no binding force
on these terribly loyal offce-huuters.
We are quite mistaken in the masses of
the Republican party, if they sustain
these monstrous doctrines. These itine-
rant political lecturers proclaim all disloyal
who differ with them, or refuse to feed
them from the public crib. Who constitu-
ted them judges of loyalty, that their edicts
should be final? Have some of them
changed their positions since the 10Th of
April, 1861? Have any of them, like the
Baltimore american, discovered that loy.
atty consists in being on the strong side,
and that when you happen to find your
self deserted by the masses who, disguised
with the corruption OF their leaders and no
longer acting with them, that then loyalty
consists in resistance to the law made by
themselves, and that no law has binding
force, which does not feed aud clothc
parcel of petty third Or fourth rate politi.
clans.
We have now, and have had for some
time, a parcel OF men thrown upon the
surface by the upheaving of the times,
who assume to be our leaders, and who
crowd our legislative halls, that are
without capacity to control country
debating society, much less the destinies