ance at night sessions, for this one reason. I
have a very severe affliction in my family.
My wife attends in the day time, and I have
to attend a portion of the night at least to
relieve her. I would like, therefore, to be ex-
cused for some time at least, from attendance
at the night sessions of this convention.
Leave of absence was accordingly granted.
THE DRAFT IN MARYLAND.
The convention then took up for considera-
tion the following preamble and resolution,
submitted by Mr. MARBURY on the 16th in-
stant.
" Whereas, The citizens of the State of
Maryland have been drafted until the draft
has reached the home of nearly every able-
bodied man in the State; and whereas the
slave counties of the State have almost been
depopulated of their whole laboring force;
and whereas the slaves who have been en-
ticed or voluntarily gone off from this State,
and entered the service of the United States,
have nearly all of them been accredited to
other States, contrary to the laws of the land,
and in violation of every principle of justice
and right; and whereas, the upper counties
of this State have been so entirely laid waste
and so depleted of their population that they
have scarcely men enough left to protect and
support the helpless women and children who
are entitled to their care; therefore,
"Resolved, That the members of this con-
vention deem it a duty they owe their con-
stituents, to appoint and do hereby authorize
the president of this convention to appoint a
committee of five, of whom he (the president)
shall be one, to wait on the proper authorities
at Washington, explain the condition of our
people, request and urge that they be re-
lieved of all further draft during the war."
Mr. MARBURY, I think that the proposi-
tions contained in this resolution are so emi-
nently just and proper that it is hardly neces-
sary to say anything in advocacy of them,
If I am correctly informed, the State of
Maryland has furnished far more troops in
proportion to her population than any other
State in the Union. It is a well-known fact
that in the lower counties of the State, in
all the slave holding counties, there have been
recruiting officers for months at a time. In-
dependent of that there have been a great
many slaves forced off. A great many have
been put into the service without any au-
thority from the federal government. A
great many have gone off voluntarily and
joined the regiments of other States. We
want to find out if possible how many have
been taken from the State of Maryland, and
by what authority they were taken. I think
if we can ascertain these facts, and have the
proper credits for the slaves which have vol-
untarily gone off, the government will gee
the justice and propriety of our being re-
lieved in the future. In my own county, in |
Upper Marlboro', there was an officer there
for months at a time recruiting. We sup-
posed he was acting under authority from the
government. But afterwards a gentleman
from the county who was formerly in the
military service himself, went to Washington
and made investigations, and found that the
recruiting officer had been acting without
any authority whatever, and that all the
slaves he had taken from the county had been
taken without any knowledge of it on the
part of the government.
There was General Birney down on the
Patuxent river; he certainly acted under au-
thority of the government. He carried off a
great many slaves who were mustered into
the service, hut they were credited to other
States. I think we should have some justice
done us in this matter. It is necessary that
our people should have this thing investi-
gated. If I am correctly informed, our
county, that has furnished hundreds, I may
say thousands of able-bodied slaves for sol-
diers, has only been credited for three slaves.
Where is the justice of that?
And I think the other branch of the propo-
sition equally demands investigation and
remedy, if possible. Certain portions of the
State, if I have been correctly informed, have
been laid waste, devastated, and the people
have been crippled in their means in every
possible way. It is impossible for them to
support their families, unless they can retain
among them the laboring force they now
have. Unless the laboring men, the men
who have families to take care of can be left
at home, the greater portion of the popula-
tion must be great sufferers. I think that in
consideration of all these facts, the proposi-
tion that I have made is eminently just and
necessary, and one which our constituents
demand of us. I confess that it is not ex-
actly within the scope and objects for which
this convention was assembled. But cer-
tainly it is equally as much within the sphere
of our duties as many other propositions
which have been presented for oar considera-
tion.
Believing as I do that this is a matter in
which the people of the whole State from one
end to the other take a deep and abiding in-
terest, I feel no hesitation in bringing it be-
fore the body as I have done.
Mr. JONES, of Cecil. I offer the following
amendment; add to the resolution the words:
"And we will in all other respects sustain
the administration to our utmost ability in
suppressing this most unholy and wicked re-
bellion."
The PRESIDENT. The chair must rule that
amendment out of order, as not germain to
the proposition under consideration.
Mr. BERRY, of Prince George's. There is
more in the resolution offered by my col-
league (Mr, Marbury) for the consideration
of the convention than upon a cursory view |
