MARYLAND. 



621 



military thus required to prevent violence or dis- 

 turbance about the polls must necessarily be em- 

 powered to arrest the parties they may charge with 

 such disorder, and they are still left in effect "the 

 exclusive judges as to who shall be arrested" a 

 power they may as readily abuse as any other. 



I regret, therefore, that I can perceive no such 

 change in the general principles of the order, as to 

 induce me to change the foregoing proclamation. 

 A. W. BRADFORD. 



This proclamation appeared in the daily 

 " American " on Wednesday, Nov. 4th, the 

 day after election, as the editor states : 



The Governor's Proclamation was issued on Mon- 

 day evening, instructing the judges of Election to 

 obey the election laws of the State, and promising 

 them the protection of the State in so doing. This 

 Proclamation was sent to us by the Governor for 

 publication in yesterday (Tuesday) morning' s Amer- 

 ican. On Monday evening, after the Proclamation 

 was in type, a written order reached us from General 

 Schenck peremptorily forbidding its publication 

 until further orders from him. We accordingly took 

 the Governor's Proclamation out of our columns, 

 regretting that such an order should have been issued. 



The Proclamation of the Governor, however, ap- 

 pears in our columns this morning, with the sanction 

 of Major-Gen. Schenck, and also a military order in 

 reply to it from the Commanding General. This 

 reply first appeared in our afternoon edition yester- 

 day, before the order prohibiting the publication of 

 the Governor's Proclamation was rescinded. This, 

 we are informed, was not intended by Gen. Schenck, 

 he having sent a verbal order to publish the Gov- 

 ernor's Proclamation, with his reply, which was, 

 through some misunderstanding, not communicated 

 to us. 



The military order of Gen. Schenck, above 

 mentioned, in reply to Governor Bradford's 

 Proclamation, was as follows : 



HEADQUARTERS MIDDLE DEPARTMENT, ) 



EIGHTH ARMY CORPS, V 



BALTIMORE, MD., November 8d, 1863. j 



A very extraordinary Proclamation was issued last 

 evening by his Excellency, A. W. Bradford, Gov- 

 ernor of Maryland, in relation to General Order No. 

 53, from these Headquarters. I will not presume, 

 with my knowledge of Governor Bradford, that that 

 Proclamation was designed to produce collision be- 

 tween the military power and citizens who are as- 

 sembled at the polls to vote at the election to- 

 morrow; but I cannot doubt that its obvious ten- 

 dency is to invite and suggest such disturbance. 

 When that Proclamation came to my knowledge, 

 late last night, I felt it to be my duty to take meas- 

 ures for restricting, as far as possible, its circula- 

 tion in those parts of the S&te to be most affected 

 by it, until there could go out with it the letter of 

 the President of the United States on the subject, 

 written yesterday to Governor Bradford, a copy of 

 which I have now obtained. 



I will make for myself but one or two comments 

 On the Proclamation. 



The intimation of the Governor that my Order 

 might have been prompted by some other considera- 

 tion than patriotic purpose or official duty, is un- 

 worthy of reply, and unworthy of him. He knows, 

 and the people of Maryland and of this Military 

 Department know, how single and earnest and con- 

 stant has been my aim to avoid all side influences, 

 and to keep in view and act steadily upon the idea 

 of maintaining the just authority of the National 

 Government against disloyalty in all its forms, and 

 for the general good only. 



It was in this spirit that I issued the General Order 

 in question. Its simple purpose is to prevent traitor- 

 ous persons from controlling in any degree by their 

 votes, or taking part in the coming election. The 



Order is not aimed at candidates, either individually 

 or as a class, as the Governor would presume. 

 Neither is it aimed at, nor can it by any interpreta- 

 tion, in any way interfere with the rights of loval 

 voters. It is only framed and intended to exclude 

 from a voice in the election of those who are to ad- 

 minister the affairs, either of the National Govern- 

 ment or of this loyal State, such individuals as are 

 hostile to that Government of which Maryland is a 

 part. Will any good citizen pretend that the exclu- 

 sion of such persons is not a wise and wholesome 

 protection due to those who adhere to and sustain 

 the Constitution and lawful authority? And it is 

 clearly not a hardship to be complained of by the 

 individual challenged for such disqualifiation, when 

 he is permitted to purge himself by his own oath of 

 allegiance to the Government in the management of 

 which he claims a share. Governor Bradford him- 

 self cannot appreciate more highly than I do the 

 sterling loyalty of the great majority of the people 

 of Maryland ; but he must know, as I do, that there 

 still remain at large, from forbearance of the Govern- 

 ment authority, a very considerable number who are 

 more or less actively engaged in aiding and en- 

 couraging Rebels in arms. Even in his Proclama- 

 tion he admits the existence of such prevailing dis- 

 loyalty in the counties of at least one of the Con- 

 gressional districts. But my General Order was 

 only put forth after the receipt, through all the last 

 month, of a great number of letters, petitions, and 

 appeals in person, from respectable and loyal citi- 

 zens, particularly throughout the Southern part of 

 the State, on both sides of the Bay, imploring the 

 issuing of such an order. I have only failed in com- 

 plying with their requests, by making its provisions 

 less stringent than justness and fairness to loyal 

 citizens seemed to them to demand. 



I would add only, to show with what anxiety I 

 have sought on this occasion to secure peace and 

 good order at the poHs, that officers intrusted with 

 this duty have, in every instance, been furnished 

 with written or printed instructions of which the 

 following is one clause : "The officers and men are 

 to be cautioned not to commit or permit any unlaw- 

 ful violence. They must not enter into political dis- 

 cussions, and are to remember that while protecting 

 the polls from Rebel sympathizers, they are conser- 

 vators of the peace, and are there to support the 

 Judges of Election." Even Governor Bradford 

 could scarcely object to this. I now repeat to the 

 Provost Guards that instruction, and enjoin upon 

 them, that while they enforce the observance of the 

 General Order firmly and faithfully, as directed, they 

 do it in every respect discreetly and temperately. I 

 append copies of the President's letter and of the 

 General Order as modified. 



ROB'T C. SCHENCK, 

 Major General Commanding. 



The official correspondence was closed with 

 the following letter of Governor Bradford in 

 reply to President Lincoln : 



STATE OF MARYLAND, EXECUTIVE DEP'T, ) 

 ANNAPOLIS, November Sd, 1868. j 



His Excellency Abraham, Lincoln, 



President of the United States : 



SIR: Your letter of the 2d instant, in reply to 

 mine of 31st ultimo, reached me to-day after I had 

 already read it in the Baltimore papers of this morn- 

 ing. Your Excellency has in this respect the advan- 

 tage of me, though, following your example, I shall 

 send a duplicate of this to the press, the probabilities 

 are, looking to recent events, that the military au- 

 thorities wnl not allow its publication. 



When I wrote to you on Saturday last, I had not 

 been able to procure a copy of the military order in 

 reference to the election, and acted merely on the 

 rumors of its character. When I saw it, as I did for 

 the first time on Sunday, I found it even more ob- 

 jectionable than rumor had represented it; and 





