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sub-committee to proceed to Baltimore and make the in-
vestigation.
Mr. Gill said:
The order proposes that an investigation shall be made,
not as has been by some supposed, into the mode and
manner by which the present mayor and members of the
city council were elected. These matters are understood
by all our people. A small minority of persons in Balti-
more, taking advantage of the condition of things which
existed at the time of the election, in defiance of the
wishes of the people and in fraud of their rights, elected
the present mayor and members of the city council.
The order presented demands an investigation into the
conduct of the mayor and members of the city council
since their election. An appropriation of a large amount
of money was made to secure the places of the present
mayor and members of the city council to the individuals
now holding these offices against an anticipated attempt
on the part of the Legislature to remove them. The
money thus appropriated was withdrawn from the city
treasury by the mayor, a part of which was subsequently
returned, but what was done with the money not returned
is unknown, and will be one of the subjects of investiga-
tion. The money of the people of Baltimore has thus
been used for individual purposes and to secure to indi-
viduals the continued enjoyment of their offices. This is
a great wrong to the people of Baltimore.
The Governor of this State decreed, after a full and
patient hearing, that the police commissioners of Balti-
more had failed to perform their duties in compliance
with law, and adjudged that they should be removed. It
was determined that the authority of the Governor should
be resisted, and a large number of special police were un-
lawfully enrolled for the purpose of resisting the mandate
of the Governor. The mayor and members of the city
council of Baltimore appropriated a considerable sum of
money to pay this special police. This has been done in
violation of law, and is a great wrong to the people of
Baltimore. This demands an investigation.
These matters, grave and important as they are, sink
into insignificance when we consider the conduct pursued
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