St. Mary's gazette., 1866-06-28
The Issue IN Maryland


The Issue IN Mar yland-
Whatever rrusain4ng Aevbts may have
existed in the public mind in regard to the
position Of sHe radieaa party IN tins state
in reference to negro suffrage, have Sesh
di.pellel by the ,.eent action OF that par
tv upon ,hc aan"nlr.erss psoposesi by 'ht
C,ngro,s,rrss5 eF,.ryrnitsec Of Thirteen 10 be
made TO the Constitution Of the tnltcd
States. In previous article, we have
shown that these proposei amendments
present 70 the Southern, and also b. those
Border States in which slavery was oEace
recognized. tho alternative - negro sui
Sraee or such re1uctTon of their rcprc*en-
tative strength as will rcR'lcr theEn n-arly
AZ feebl. and 7nypotcBt as are tire teFrHo-
sies in our political system With tn"
exception Of 4 newspaper or two on the
Eastern Shore, the whole radical press of
the Stsse aye outSpoken IN favor of these
proposed amendments, a- are also all the
radcal orators, whether native or impor
sed, who have figured at reccut radical
meetings III Maryland. The issue they
present is, the election of mon te the next
Legislature who shall be pledged to accept
these amendments, and thus to make them
a part of our orgalsn, faw. The conscrva-
tive republienns, On tho other hand are
seeking to compass the EesDrn to the Leg
islature of men pledged to oppose these
amendments, and pledged, consequently,
against making MARYLAND party to Their
adoption This is tho accepted ISSUE, and
upon it. the sHo factions into which repub
Ecauiszs s divided have gone before the
jury, Gov. Swami representing the con-
servative and Senator Cresswell the rad7-
cal elements Of that party
In this conditiea Of things, the inquiry
arises what are democrats sodo? 1t is frank
~ acknowledged thatthey arenot sufficiently
strong, weakened as they arc by the pres
ent Ubiquitous system of registration, to
make straight out pastg fight in tho State
with any psobabsBty of success What,
then, a-r they TO do 70 throx down
their arms and withdraw from the
Geld altogether? Such c9sasse would
not only be suicidal but it would
ko both craven and unpatriotic, and
there is not democrat, vo ,l'y of the
name. in the whole State who would listen
TO it for : nsoners What then, are they
70 do They are to do the best they can
under the circumstances, and the best they
can do u1ul.r THE circumstances, is to make
common eaasse for the tiule being with
the conservative wing Of the republiean
party to prevent the adoption by the next
Legislature Of the proposed constitutional
amendments which, if accepted by q snfh
eient number Of States, will either deprive
Maryland Of two-ffths of her representa-
tive strength in Congress or devote her to
negro suffrage and equality,
And upon the registration question also,
democrats have mere to expect from the
conservative than thr radical wing of the
republican party. The game Of rac radi
cal, of this State, as developed by the New
York Tribune, is to maintain the registry
law in all Of its exelusivcness until demo-
erats have beca sufficiently reconstructed
~ purchase their own admission to the
rights Of suffrage by favoring the extcn
son of similar privileges TO the negro
As long. thcretesc, as dsseeTata ceatinue
to oppose this extension. so Sng VII they
continue to be disfraneisased. and as they
are certain to oppose 1t Sr'all time 80 come,
their distranehisemen, may be prc'iicated for
/. corresponding period Of time if radical
ISM rssrsSa.. sh the ether hand, from
late manifestations. and particularly from,
recent speech of Gov. Swami in Ba,ti
more. we infer that the conservative re-
pnblicanS Of the State had determined to-
trv law or had determined at least that !,
ehouh not be made an Instrument IN the
hands os sindictive radical agents to force
negro sufirags and negro equality upon
the State i shall see. saws COY.
Swami that it is no. administered IN .
spirit Of intolerance and oppression, OF
which rcgrcs :" say, there has been to"
tao murh in Tho Oast
Upon this showing, the duty of demo
erats in the coming Fall election, Is made
too plain. in our Judgment, to require any
argument 10 enforce it, It is clear. whilst
preserving their distinct identity as demo
sra.s. that they should avail themselves.
not only ,f ANY agency that may be of-
fcrcd them to enlarge the elective pow
,r of their pasty. but avail themselves
also Of any agency that they may be all"
to use to maintain the present repres,nta-
tive strength Of their State in congress snd
Ia say. her. and her Southern sister States