Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-02-17
!CcNxuyicArED.

2 NJ. Editor.-vhc L-eisl.in-. ~ Ms
rylsnd ..,s sssel IN relation n Ire -
called Fiaesrti kmcn'wrn. nF'he Corsf:-
fusicr. in s-@anner wlr;ch must commend
Tn, ,pprss1tnf their constituents. They
have gone through the forms Of consia-
erinr-thc pssrcsition ou' ofrespect 10 the
United States. bus their unarimrus re-
lection of Il. and the entire absence o.
comment upon it. disrlsy the strong
ceilings Of ~epsemrss which they .~nisr-.
.aincll sor she n-nrosisi~n its-lf. I k.ve
no d.'uhs this silence indicated q stern re-
so've to meet IN he min. manner the
ex;gesciss that may arise ont OF che mat
ter. The Fifteenth Amendment win M
doubt he proclaimed - the su~rema law
If the 'and, but ] salcmnlv believe INST
there is no. m honest patrios in the i,na.
not m intelligent. honest negrr. no! not
even the Congressional knsvaa themselves
who hav. forced L upon the COUNTRY, W"
win shisk l. Of k;ndiae faees - lsv. Il
| is veil knosa that even after tha impro-
per sdnsissioa Of aev 6tsias ant of the
Territories. without tho requisite popu'a.
ton necessary to th-ir adm;ssicn. tire
amendment veull not have been adopted
nv tho consent Of thrre-fourihs Of the
States. That consent vas shsnlnsely ne
ees.ary. Congress does not deny that by
their tyrannical acts they forced the South
srn States TO sdopt this amendment. and
they impudcntly call this suoh q cnnsens
ns TO make !: binding rot only upon those
States. bu. through their enforced adop-
ton by them. upon oil the other States
Of the Union. They use durcss and call
il free consent. They usc force to make
Virginia sign a bond which operates 70
depriyr Maryland OF her undouhted rights.
over Which they do not rretend to have
any power whatever. I will not argue
abeu. it. but confess that the mere state
ncnt Of the matter is sufficient to rouse
tue resentment and defiance Of every true
l son Of Maryland. What then is to be
!; done, is thc question which every son Of
our beloved State should put to himself
For one I answer the question by dcc'ar-
Ing that the lasting interest Of the s ate.
her honor and her freedom demand any
course rather than aequic.cence on her
part m The ubiquitous proceeding. In
the drst place I would suggest such an
amendment Of our Registry laws as to re-
saire that every register OF voters shall
take M oath that he will not obey :',e re-
quiremen's Of the Fifteenth Amendment;
in other words. that no viii place upon
the registry 3 40 voters none bat white
men. This done By our Legislature.
brings the matter to an. issue At oaee, and
for one l have no, doubt what will be the
decision Of any honest tribunal in the
land. Iiknow under the second section
Of the Fifteenth Amendment, Congress
may claim the power to do acts that may
savoy Us and may cx.c. penalties to
:, -htcI us and eur registers. But Let
stani firm regardless Of the threats 81
hnayes and tyrants and Ito victory will
sass'sSn Is ssas 7 tjalpp pf. firm conviction
lietion in any case likely to arise under
his amendment. and ] have no doubt
what their decision will be. In the case
| Of Ln,her & Borden, 7th Howard, Judge
fancy says. "The i.ish power has been
! conferred on this Court Of passing judg-
mcnt upon .l,c acts ef the State saver-
eighties, and Of the Legislative aud exc.
catise branches ofGti,e Federal Govern
meat and Of Determining whether they
are beyond tie limits of power marked
out fer them respectively by the Cuns.i-
tuition Of the United States" These re-
construction arts by waioh Congress has
forced tie Fifteenth Amendment; upon the
Southern Ssssns and tarough them upon
Ma, and. Keu:ncky and Delaware. u.s )
therefore lie made subject Of il quiry be-
.orc he tribunals of the land. WAC can
doabt the result I? ....
viii not now discus the question
how far the p wer TO amend the Cons;i-
tuition ,si3er he ffh article extends, but
: viii here assert tia. itdoes not-ex end to
the sil is,t-n. tier ei ;ilo three a.ns ndments
ic7eta "prn :he country b. the Radicals;
II : to s:y. The 18th. l4h and 18th
I ao' hesitate to say tha. in
taking tic oath to sapp,r, the Cons.i.u
lion / s!ould nos consider II Use { as bound
70 consider the above sc-called amend
mems as parts thereof. do no. believe
the United States can through amend.
:nent Of lie Constitution make The king
Of Dahomsy or sny other king a ruler
! over this country, yet they can do that -
prspariy as they can enancipats slave.
make him citizen Of State II force the
States to give him the right Of suffrage.
In order to carry cut tho above sus-
gesticEe thoroughly. 10 shall Of course
have to continue the old ederal basis Of
repre- senfatien Ia Csn9rsss and fully be-
lieve that il the Radicals shalt have q ma
irri.y 10 the next Congress, our members
elect viii not be admitted. What do We
loose by this in . bod = r va:ch all impor-
tant l. 'vs ara Determined 4 pom By q radical
caucus : AS able rs they may he, they
would be utterly incapable of dong any
thing that coa'd resist radical power
Rnt. sir. deu,ccrssic House Of Repre-
sentatives, which I hope will 6ll that Han,
! would receive them With opca arms as a
neuclus around which the friends Of the
fecrptry can rally for che ovcsshrew of
| the tyrannical rule o. thc Radicals. Row.
SIR, to carry out the VIC rs I have taken
on his subject, wc may reqr;re fer the
Ciiee Of Register Il he various election
districts Of the Stat. men who arc vii
ling TO dc their duty TO the people Of the
State without fear. I apprcAend the
knaves and tyrants Who are inausura.inr
his system Of outrage upon Us viii,
through threats and, penalties. cndeaycr
&c -, Is from suljec:;as ,seir villaiay