Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1866-03-23

Great, new, living issues are before us. Let
it not be said OF us in this day. nor yet passed,
Of our country's greatest trial and agony
that there was party for Caesar, party for
Pompey, and a party for Brutus, but no party
for Rome; but let all patriots, by whatever
distinctive name heretofore styled, rally in all
sections everywhere, to the support of him,
he he who he may, who bears the standard
with " Constitutional Union " engraved on its
folds President johnson is now, in my judg-
ment, the chief great standard bearer of these
principles, and in his efforts at restoration he
should receive the cordial support of every
wel-wisher of his country"
What more obedience--what more loyalty
to the government-whatm more exalted patriot
ism and craftsmanship is wanted than this ?
Other men may pride themselves upon their
excessive loyalty-they may demand more
blood and more power, but, for myself am
free to say, should vastly prefer TO see the
| destines OF the government in the hands OF
| this honest patriot, than in the hands of a
/ thousand such men as Sumner and Thaddeus
Stevens These men are now the only obstacle
TO a complete and thorough restoration OF the
Union. Admit the members Of the Senate and
House of Representatives from every Southern
State, without any oath but the usual oath of
allegiance to the Constitution; take your
! Freedmen's Bureau agents away from the
Southern States send every officer and
soldier to his home TO go to work. stop all
military interferences and suppressions; give
the masses of the people the same political and
civil privileges they had before the war, and
| believe the Union will be fully finally and
forever restored. In q word, as President
Johnson says, trust The people Of the South.
We know that the Young men of Maryland
who went into the rebellion are now entirely
reconciled to the government, and, perhaps,
without single exception, are quiet, law
abiding citizens, attentive to their business.
| know many of them personally-was the
| school-boy companion of many Of them-and
| know them TO be brave, honorable and
generous. They will not only abide in good
| faith by the result of the war, but will fight
manfully in future, if necessary, under the
glorious old stars and stripes. With all my
heart, want to see these young men exercising
! every right they had when the troubles of the
country commenced, | want to see them
voting and attending Fourth of July ceebra-
tons, and applauding the institutions Of their
| country, as of old.
The second resolution, above, recognizes no
| distinction in dsunionists, whether from the
North or from the South, and invokes the
same penal power of the government upon one
that has been exercised against the other.
This principle have always chung to. When,
in the early part of the war, my friends, with
whom unfortunately differed, were in the
habit of arguing that the Abolitonists were
ASSEMBLING and overriding the Constitution,
they will bear me witness that my answer in
yariaby was that that was no reason why 1
should abandon it, that was rs much OPP
posed to the Abolitionists as ] was to the
Secessionists. And now propose to act with
consistency, to make that declaration good,
and not to favor rule against one class Of
offenders which | would not enforce against
the other. ! always believed that the Constitu-
ton Of the United States had principles i'm
bedded within it, which of themselves would
redeem it from destruction. have lived to
see my friends and relatives appealing to il as
the only ark of safety, and defending it
against Radical assaults and / have now
but two immediate political wishes first, to
see the people of Montgomery county in per-
feet concord and, secondly, to see the Presi-
dent victorious, and the Radicals scattered
and routed by the people. am no politician
Il seek no Office, no favors, at the hands of
any political party-and now, as ! sincerely
believe, these two wishes are about to be fully
realized am content to leaves the political
arena to those whose fancies and whose talents
better adapt them to it.
AS personal enemies and envious calumni-
ators have striven to make something very
horrible out of my association with the At
torney General of Maryland in the argument
of the case which originated in shs county to
test the constitutionality Of the Registry law,
will add word or two on the resolution
presented by me advocating the removal Of
that law from the statute book. / have never
said or written that | was in favor Of this Re-
gistration business, and no man can truthfully
charge that ] ever intimated that | consd-
cred it just and righteous law. On the con-
trary, ] very. much doubted its expediency on
The first day that gave it perusal, and it
required but very little observation of its
practical working to convince me that IT ought
not TO have been enacted. Under date of July
25th. 1865, before the officers Of Registration
had held their first meeting, in a communities
ton TO this paper, in answer to some inqui-
ries made to me by some gentlemen as TO the
legal Interpretation Of that act, ] wrote as
follows
O. may express my hope, however, that eV-
cry vestige OF the terrible civil convulsion,
during which this act was conceived to be
necessity, may soon pass away, and that at no
distant day, every man excluded by it from
the exercise Of the elective franchise, may. be
deemed to deserve, and fully enjoy, that in
estimable privilege"
This paragraph can be found over my own
signature in the Sentinel Of the 28th of July
1865, and do not think it reads much MS If
wanted to see any Of my fellow-citizeus dis
franchised. ! repeated the same hope in the
arguments which had the honor to make in
the Court of Appeals, and in every CONVERSE
ton which have had with any gentlaman on
the subject; but what had my wishes with re-
gard to the duration or repeal Of the law to
do with the great legal and Constitutional
principles which it was my duty to discuss?
As soon as / examined few authorities on
the subject. felt convinced that the authors
of the petition for ma,,damus could not sustain
themselves in court; that no matter how I'M
wise and inexpedient the law might be, it was
for the Legislature to repeal it, and not the
Courts. The Courts could not say that the
Constitution Of the State was void, for they
had assumed its validity-had derived their
very existence from it-had organized and ex-
ercised functions which had been conferred on
them by it, for nearly year This was the
very ground upon which the Circuit Court for |
this county based its decision, and the very |
same ground upon which that decision was
affirmed by the Court Of Appeals. The Balti- |.
more San took the same view, both before and
after the decision, and expressly said it had |
never looked for redress to the Courts, their
duty being to administer the laws and not TO |
make or unmake them. But why have not
the Courts been charged with DISTINGUISHING |
the people2 The Attorney General and my
self had no power TO make them decide in IA
vor Of the riew which we held. They decided |
under free will, and under an oath Of office ]