MARYLAND. 



471 



Ilio Stat? Central Committee of tho Uncon- 

 ditional I'nion parly, in favor of tho nrou- 

 strurlioii policy of t/oii-rri-ss, and oppo.-ed to 

 ..;' President Johnson, also called a 

 itiori, which met in Baltimore on tho 

 "f . \iigust. All the counties in the State 

 luit li -.presented. Alter organization, 



:i..ij d. ruled to send ten delegates 

 from I IK- State at lar^o, and ten from each ron- 

 nal district, to the Convention of South- 

 le held at Philadelphia on the 

 lhe following resolutions 

 he most important, reported by Mr. C. 0. 

 Fulton, chairman of the committee, aud adopted 

 by the convention. 



WJureas, The Unconditional Union party of Mary- 

 land having safely passed through the perils of disor- 

 ganization caused by the abandonment of its princi- 

 ples by Governor Swann and other state and national 

 officials, who are now in full affiliation with " copper- 

 heads " and the leaders of the lute rebellion, we are 

 prepared to enter the new conflict for the safety of 

 the Union, with renewed energy and devotion. 

 Therefore, be it 



Resolved, That we heartily indorse the Constitu- 

 tional amendment as passed by Congress, regarding 

 it as both fair and impartial to all tho States; that we 

 see nothing new in the refusal of Congress to exclude 

 non-voting negroes from the basis of representation, 

 as we in Maryland have made the white population 

 alone the basis of representation in our House of 



Resolved, That whilst we are not in favor of ex- 

 tending the elective franchise to any class of persons 

 now excluded from the same by the Constitution of 

 Maryland utid by the registry law, we are equally 

 opposed to tho representation of the freedmen of the 

 South in the halls of Congress by those who have 

 spilt the blood of loyal men on the soil of Maryland 

 and elsewhere in the recent war. 



Resolved, That we approve of the test oath enacted 

 by Congress as a preliminary qualification to the ad- 

 mission of members from the rebellious States to 

 their seats, holding that no man who has taken part 

 in the late rebellion should ever be admitted to a 

 prominent participation in the Government of the 

 Union, which they labored so earnestly to destroy. 



Resolved, That we will uphold the Constitution of 



Mankind, and maintain the registry law in all its 



: -ns, until such time as the safety of the State 



and nation will warrant modification or amendment. 



Resolved, That we hail with gratification, the evi- 

 dence given throughout the loyal States of a deter- 

 mination to uphold the Congress of the United States 

 in its efforts to reconstruct the Union upon the basis 

 of earnest loyalty and unfaltering support of the 

 Constitution and the laws. 



Resolved, That we regard the reconstruction policy 

 of President Johnson as identically the same policy 

 as that of Jeff. Davis aud General Lee ; and that 

 those professed Union men of Maryland who have 

 given in their adhesion to that policy are, necessa- 

 rily, in affiliation with the leaders of the rebellion, 

 and in antagonism to tho loyal men of the nation. 



Resolved, That we view with feelings of horror the 

 details of the recent massacre of loyal men at New 

 Orleans, which is the direct and inevitable conse- 

 quence of President Johnson's policy; and wo hold 

 Governor Swann and all other indorsers of his pol- 

 icy as indirectly implicated in its terrible results, and 

 responsible for a policy calculated to produce a simi- 

 lar condition of affairs in Maryland. 



Resohed, That the thanks of all truly loval men, 

 arc due to the soldiers and sailors of the Union for 

 their bravery, their sacrifices, and their unfaltering 

 devotion ; aud we heartily approve of the measures 



pasted by Congress at its recent IMMOQ for thc-ir 

 rdi.-f. 



Resohed, That it will bo the duty of every loyal 

 voter of Maryland to take an active part in the ap- 

 proaching campaign, thus to teach those who bare 

 been unfaithful to their trusts that they can only in- 

 fluence and seduce those who are ollice seekers and 

 hunters. 



Resolved, That tho Union party of the State, In 

 view of the many instances of unfaithfulness and 

 political treason on the part of many of those they 

 tiave hitherto delighted to honor, should take warn- 

 ing from the past, and inquire closely into th<; prin- 

 ciples and antecedents or those who are aspirants 

 for their suffrages ; especially in making nominations 

 for Congress and the Legislature. 



Retolvvl, That we are now, and ever will be, op- 

 posed to treason aud in favor of human liberty and 

 free government the world over and hence we de- 

 nounce the policy of President Johnson, which places 

 the military power of the United States in the hands 

 of the rebel Mayor of New Orleans, to crush out the 

 Union sentiment of Louisiana, and on the other 

 hand wields the same military power to strangle the 

 efforts of the Irish people to establish a republican 

 government for their native land. 



Resolved, That we earnestly recommend a thor- 

 ough reorganization of the Union Leagues of the 

 State, as there is every reason to believe that the 

 time has not yet passed for these active and efficient 

 organizations to render good service to the State and 

 nation. 



The convention also nominated Robert Bruce 

 as candidate for the office of comptroller. 



At the election, in November for the choice of 

 comptroller, the total vote cast was 69,843, of 

 which the Democratic candidate received 40,- 

 264 and the Republican 27,351. There were 

 1,568 votes given for an independent demo- 

 cratic candidate. Four Democrats and one Re- 

 publican were elected to- Congress. 



Considerable excitement was caused on the 

 1st of November on account of the removal of 

 the police commissioners of Baltimore by Gov- 

 ernor Swann, and the appointment of others in 

 their places. 



The difficulty at one time assumed a serious 

 and threatening aspect, and a riot appeared 

 imminent. General Grant and some companies 

 of United States troops were sent to the city to 

 preserve order, but milder counsels prevailed, 

 and tho action of the governor, being sustained 

 by the opinion of the best jurists of the State, 

 was quietly acquiesced in, and the new com- 

 missioners began their duties witliout interrup- 

 tion. 



The main facts relating to the difficulty arose 

 out of tho disqualifying features of the fran- 

 chise law do-scribed in former volumes. The 

 execution of this law was given to certain offi- 

 cers created by it. There was a board of regis- 

 tration, and for the city of Baltimore, a board 

 of police commissioners. These last had the 

 appointment of the policemen of the city and 

 of the judges and clerks of elections. During 

 the year 1865 a registration of voters was made, 

 from which all were rigidly excluded who had 

 not been known during tho war as faithful 

 Union men. Slight complaint was made, al- 

 though, doubtless, much hardship was felt by 

 those especially who had taken no active pa 



