Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-04-01
Entered at the Postoffice at Accomac
@. H., Va, as second.class matter.

The Governor of Virginia has I'M
der consideration the following letter
addressed to him by the Governor of
Maryland. and very little delibera
ton ought to be necessary on the
part of our Executive in making re-
ply to same:
regret that you have not person.
ally seen my letter to which your
favor of the 10Th inst, is a reply. In
my first communication your atten
ton was called to the fact that ON
the night of February 90 last, for an
alleged violation of the Virginia oys-
ter law, Capt. William Parks, in
command of the Virginia police
schooner operating in Tangier sound,
pursued and captured in Maryland
waters the oyster vessels Water Lily
and Minnie Estelle and conveyed said
vessels. with their crews, to Virginia;
that the crew of the Water Lily es~
capped, but that the crew of the Min
ME Estelle is confined in the East
vile Jail, and l requested that if upon
investigation, you found the facts as
stated to be correct, you would direct
restoration Of the vessels and cargoes.
From statements of Messrs. Fletcher
and Gunter, as quoted in your letter,
it appears that the fact of the cap
lures having taken place in Mary
land waters is established. In view
of this unwarranted violation of the
sovereignty of the State of Maryland.
l hereby renew my request that the
members Of the crew of the vessel
Minnie Estelle be released from
custody and returned to Maryland,
and that the vessels Water Lily and
Minnie Estelle, with their cargoes, be
restored to their owners.
LET me assure your EXcellency
that I have no desire to condone or
defend the violation of the laws OF
Virginia by citizens of Maryland
The probable guilt or innocence OF
the accused is not under consi0era-
ton.
so long as there is an orderly
method for the interstate rendition
Of alleged fugitives from justice pro-
vided by the constitution and laws Of
the United States and uniformly re-
cognized by the several States l cam
not consent to the invasion OF Mary
land territory by the police authori-
ties of Virginia for the pursuit ano
arrest of persons charged with viola
ting the laws of the Commonwealth.
Your EAceilency will doubtless
agree with me that citizens are but
encouraged to do lawless acts when
they see State officers themselves per
mitted to transcend the bounds OF
lawful authority
A sufficient reply to the above by
Governor Tyler would be, that ne is
the Executive of the State and as
such has no right to encroach upon
or interfere with the prerogatives OF
others in another department of the
State government-that his business
is to execute the laws of the State and
that he could not presume to dictate
to the courts what they should do in
matters over which they have juris
diction-and that neither the argus
ment, SO sweetly persuasive as that
of the comfy" between the two
States, nor the solicitude of the
Executive of the Governor of Mary
land for the citizens of his State, who
invaded our territory and carried
away our property, could SO far make
him forget his duty as to interfere
with the courts in the exercise of
their rights. The Governor of Vir>
GINA ought, we respectfully submit,
go farther even in his answer to the
Governor of Maryland and say, that
the question of our right to hold men
and property used in the violation OF
our laws, pursued and captured in
another State, had already been
passed upon by the courts, and that
it was rather his duty to insist that
our courts punish offenders than to
turn them loose to rob US again.
The demand of the Governor of
Maryland, of course, was expected.
1t is in keeping With the acts of other
politicians in that State heretofore, to
curry favor with certain class of the
oysternen of Maryland and the claim
made by him as the representative of
the great State of Maryland is un>
worthy of him. That he should de-
mand the return OF the captured yes
sells and crews ought not have been
expected, but that he goes further
and demands the return also of the
cargoes, to-wit; the oysters taken
from rocks in violation of our laws,
hardly entities him to respectful
hearing, much less compliance with
his demands. 1t is not right ''to con
done or defend the violation of the
laws of Virginia by citizens of Mary
land'' says the Governor of Maryland,
a nd that being admitted and the
proof being in our possession, that the
parties in our custody are guilty of
the offence with which they are
charged, then we respectfully sub
submit, that it is the duty of
the Governor of Virginia, not
to allow the false crv ''of the
unwarranted violation of the
sovereignty of Maryland" to make
him forbid the courts of our State
from Furnishing offenders when they
fall into our hands or from confisca-
ting the property in which they have
violated our laws.
No, the men now in our custody
should not be released, nor the yes
sells returned to Maryland, captured
and now in our possession, either by
the command or with the sanction of
our Governor, until our courts have
passed upon the guilt or innocence
of the accused.
Real estate agents in Norfolk are
daily in receipt of letters from
II L.