Maryland free press., 1866-09-20
lfsy As Free Press. ]s4gsshA.
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Mr.. EDITOR:
IN u ft.may not tc uniniereesting 10 youtg7
readers to know what account Ex-Gov. Thomas
gives of his stewardship in the late Congress, and
particularly of his vote i'm favor Of negro suf.
fagc i'm the District OF Colufnbia. All could
have beer gratifed if they had attended the %
inject ng beldin Boonsborof on ThutsdAy ast.-.T..
He began by saying TINT N woaid be stdianse M
one who had been in political life as long as ss
had, had made no mistakes. He thought ~
probable he had. He then passed into an erauu=;,
iination of President Johnson's policy wtsu hsp
spoke of as ''the assassin Booth appointed" ana
of the Congressional; plan of reconstructien<
which, of course, be endorsed. odisiq slrr. a.
1t was amusing tor hear how no PROVED that
negro suffrage was not ar issue In the prsscusc
campaign. i.'. Triumphantly openidg q. COPY Of
the present Constitution of Maryland, he there
read that all elections hereafter to be held sbs,i
be by ballot and call whites" who had thes
proper qualifications, shall be allowed to vote ):
This, he said, excluded negroes from voting,
which no one denies. This was his whole proof, ,
Mr.. Thomas must have q poor opinion Of the in
telligence of his audience to have -imagised thas
Trey blind to the effect of is
amendment, which forces, If adopted, MARYLAND;
to allow her negroes to vote, or reduces. as 9
punishment, her Congressional representation a.
least one-third. Besides, how long would Ma
yland be without negro suffrage if the Southern.
States adopt it, as he and his friends wish? Thu
votes of the Republicans in Congress, in favor of
negro suffrage, and the proceedings of the recent
Fred Douglas Convention assembled at Phila.g.
delphia, show that Maryland will be without Il
only so long as they are deprived of the power to
grant it. oa-s t e1a "a. er-,f .ao vrn .
Mr. Thomas denounced Mr.. Seward as stthe !
most dangerous man in the country - said he s.
was the author of the Presidents policy, and de-
sired to make the President dictator. He said
there was a conspiracy between the two to receive
Southern Congressman and murder the Union !,
members! and in order to prevent another New ?
Orleans massacre, in Washngton,--whcre The
Mayor, police, and all tho citizens were rebel.-
he had voted for universal suffrage, so that the
negroes by their ballots, we'll as by their arms.
could protect Congress from, this awful catastro-
phel This, then, is the key to the gentleman's
VOTE 1t sounds very funny and is doubtless
thought by his friends to be master stroke -
When it is remembered that this vote was given
tefore there was any actual break between Con-
grcss and the President, and therefore, no an.
pretended danger, its truth will at once be seen
There were other points in his speech which it Il
unnecessary to notice. ei a.s.
| Mr. Stockbridge spoke of night. lie has MOTH
ing OF the orator about him, aud reminds one Of
q long winded, prosy parson. Withal, be APP
pears to be candid man and gentleman. ri
There were other little pop-guns on hand. -
| Buhrman, from Frederick county, spluttered -
Watkins James followed in vulgar witticisms
and vile blackguardism. He was the noted ne
gro-whpper when overseer at Brien's Iron
Works, Sc me years ago, and just before the close
of the war went to gentleman's house with
handouts to buy two negroes to take them to-
Baltimore to sell to the government. Now he is
great philanthropist. a,rv n.
He was followed by Peter the Fleet His
speech was Characteristic. In tho presence Of
ladies he declared that rebels were SD d--n
set of scoundrels," ''d-n traitors &C. He
said that every Johnson man in Washington
county who had been union man, had been
'JougM up, purchased, bribed;" that s'Bob Fow-
Ter and Tom Swami had bought up COL Sn,ve-
ly, Dorsey Herbert A. X. Stake and Denton
Jacques, with offices on the cal nal. This was the
refined language of the man who lives in the,
splendid residence" over the way. Frank
Thomas and MIR. Stockbridge had some dignity
and decency about them, but We doubt if Neg
ley and James know what the terms mean.
Sept. 10. ..