Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-03-26
THE OYSTERMEN'S UNION.
TO Meet Tonight In Assembly Rooms They
Oppose Vandalism.


Oppose Vandalism.
In another column Of the Capital
viii bc seen an advertisement above
the signature or James II. Murdock.
president Of tho Annapolis and East
port Oystermen' Union. calling a
meeting tonight AZ the city Assembly
Rooms at 8o'clOck 10 which the pub
lie and all newspaper correspondents
are especially invited. SIR. Murdoch
declares his opposition 10 vandalism
and dcplores the act of the offenders
who removed the signals and destroy
ed the property Of the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
The object Of the meeting tonight is
to put the members OF the union in
their proper attitude before the public.
MIR. Mnrdock believes that the meet
ing will unanimously condemn any
but legal methods in opposing the
present law. lie said that he was
not in a position TO make any state
mcnt as TO the perpetrators Of the act,
bat whoever they were. he said, they
should be punished. lie did not hes
itate TO state that he would be in fa-
vor of the heaviest penalty of the
law upon any person found guilty of
such practices.
The idea that there would be any
diflicuity inconyicting person shown
to have participated in the destruction
of any marks or buoys OF the She'll
fish Commission or survey is nouted
by MIR. Murdoch and the citizens of
this community generally.
There is provision in the Maryland
Code against the destruction Of marks
or any structures erected by the Coast
Survey. The statute was passed by
the legislature i'm 1912. The clause of
thesact OF 1912 i'm question is as fol-
lows:
''If any person or persons shall will
fully iniure or deface or remove any
signal, monument or building or any
appendage thereto erected, used or con
structed under and by virtue of the
act of Congress, such person or persons
SO offending shall severally forfeit
and pay the sum of $50. with cost OF
suit, to be used for and recovered by
any person who shall first prosecute
the same before any justice of the
peace of the county where the person
so offending may reside, aud shall
also be made TO pay the amount of
damages thereby sustained, TO be re-
covered with costs of the action on
the case, In the name and for the use
OF the United States OF America in
any court OF competent jurisdiction.
President James II. Murdock, Of
the Annapolis and Eastport Branch of
the Oysterme's Union, said tins morn
ing that the meeting of that organiza-
tion which had been called for to-
night, would be an Indignation meet
ing'' TO denOunce any acts of lawless-
ness against the property of the She'll
fish Commission and the Coast Sur
vey, whether these deprecations be by
oystermen or others. "As / have
said before" said MIR. Murdoch,
.'the members of the Union cannot
express how indignant they are over
such acts, nor how we deplore them.
We realize fully the harm that will
bo done our organization by such an
act, and personally think that It
was prompted with just that object in
view
1t has been suggested and the Union
will possibly act upon the suggestion,
that the better class of oystermen
pledge themselves TO do all in their
power TO aid i'm bringing the guilty
ones TO Justice. The destruction of
signals still remains purely local, and
is confined To the immediate vicinity
of the two signals first cut down. The
additional attack on the Coast Survey
property was within few yards of
the signal first cut down. 1t consisted
of digging up the reference monu-
ment" planted nearby for later use in
re-establishing the center station in
case il were washed away. The theory
that the law lessness is being perpe-
trated by only one or two persons is
borne out by the limited area to
which the destruction is confined. No
signal the property of the Com
mission or the Coast Survey has been
molested in any other part Of the
county, nor in fact at any great dis
tance from the site of the first signal
destroyed.
Captain Yates, of the Coast Survey,
this morning reiterated his statement
that he thought the work was that of
one or two mal-contcnts and again
said that he felt that the mass of the
oystermen of the county should not be
made to bear the condemnation OF the
public for the wrong-doing of few
hot heads. Chief photographer Swep-
son Earle will go to Waggaman' s
Wharf on South River tomorrow and
there establish the headquarters OF
the buoy planting force. The supply
Of buoys and anchors for marking Oh
the natural bars of the whole rive
will be carried down and planted
from these headquarters.