And this Bradley T. Johnson, late chair-
man of the State democratic central com-
mittee of Maryland, if he is not now, is he
to be allowed to vote? I cite him only as a
more prominent actor in these scenes. Who
commanded the rebel ram, the Tennessee?
A Marylander, Buchanan. Who commanded
the Alabama? The Marylander, Semmes.
And who is now roaming over the ocean in
the Tallahassee? The Marylander, Wood.
Are these men to come back here and vote?
I say it is our right and our duty to protect
the ballot-box so that they shall be ex-
cluded.
I come to another point. Are these the
only ones to be excluded? I refer in no spirit
of unkindness to the gentleman behind me
from Kent county (Mr. Chambers.) or to his
grandson who has figured repeatedly in the
debates upon this floor. I refer to it pre-
cisely as the gentleman has, as an illustration
of a principle, and nothing else. That young
man stands precisely in the category of those
others. Now, the question is asked, be put
it himself, shall he be disfranchised, deprived
of the right to vote under this constitution,
because he visited him and ministered to his
wants when wounded and suffering? I beg
leave to answer that question; and to say that
that depends very much upon circumstances.
If that young man joined the rebels who
were warring upon our national govern-
ment, and who came here to plunder our
State, incited thereto by his venerable grand-
parent, and encouraged therein, and that
grandparent giving him aid to accomplish
this infernal purpose, then that grandparent
is so far accessory to the act that he should
be punished accordingly.
Mr. CHAMBERS (interposing.) The grand-
father tells you that he did no such thing.
The young man "or years had been a resi-
dent of the South, and I had neither seen
him nor had correspondence with him. The
gentleman talks about assuming a case for
the sake of illustration. The gentleman has
no right to assume a state of facts which are
offensive.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I believe on a former
occasion the gentleman from Kent did state
the facts which he now repeals; but it bad
escaped my memory. I shall refer to it in
different terms. I will suppose that he had
been residing in Kent county when the war
commenced.
Mr. CHAMBERS. You have no right to sup-
pose it.
Mr. STOCKBRIDGE. I say, suppose that to
have been the case, as it was the case with
thousands, upon that hypothesis I will repeat
every word have uttered, because that is the
case with many. But if that soldier wound-
ed, if he had ceased to bean enemy, and was
wounded and a prisoner, no one supposes for
a moment that under the provisions of this
article, be who administered to his wants |
would be any more obnoxious to any penalty
than the surgeon who dressed his wounds, or
the quartermaster who supplied his wants.—
But there have been cases—we have known
them—gentlemen here know them just as well
as they know their own existence) where broth-
ers and sons, fathers and grandfathers, have
armed the hand that has been raised to strike
the parricidal blow, have prepared the means
with deliberate purpose and intent to pull
down the pillars of our national edifice. I
say that every right-minded man will concur
with me that those who have done this act,
inciting the young and more thoughtless to
pursue this infamous course, are more guilty,
more justly obnoxious, than those who have
actually done the act and placed their lives in
peril in doing it.
As I said at the outset, this is a war against
the decision of the ballot-box which we want
to maintain. It comes with very singular
grace from gentlemen to be upholding and
protecting" the ballot-box with one hand, while
with the other they wield the sword which
shall destroy its decisions forever. I spoke
of the resolution which came flashing from
Chicago, I ask gentlemen to note its
terms:
3d. Resolved, That the direct interfer-
ence of the military authority of the United
States in the recent elections held in Kentucky,
MARYLAND, Missouri and Delaware was a
shameful violation of the constitution, and a
repetition of such acts in the approaching elections
will be held as revolutionary, AND RESISTED
WITH ALL THE MEANS AND POWER UNDER OUR
CONTROL.
What does that amount to? Gentlemen
talk about military interference. When? The
gentleman whose seat is vacant here upon this
floor to-day, (Mr, Jones, of Somerset,) is re-
ported to have been sitting there at that time,
and did not repel the slander. If there were
any such interference, which is to justify this
resistance hereafter to the decisions of the bal-
lot-box if it should put us in the majority, it
was either at the election in the fall of 1863,
or at the election which sent us here, Was
it in the election of the fall of 1863? Where
were the contested elections of that year? It
was easy enough to prove it. There was one
sent here from Somerset county for adjudica-
tion; and bow was it adjudicated? The very
gentleman now holding his seat at Chicago
(Mr. Jones, of Somerset,) was the very man
who came here, and with all his influence and
eloquence showed that it was a lawful and le-
gal election. And where are the contested
elections of this body? Gentlemen halve talk-
ed here of military interference. Is not this
convention law broad enough? Was there
military interference in the State to justify
this language? If there had been the judge
was under obligation to send a certificate to
that effect lo the governor.
Mr. STIRLING. They did in one instance. |
