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the city and State, and destroying the prosperity of our commer-
cial, mechanical and manufacturing interests. Not doubting that
you concur with me in these sentiments, and will appreciate the
sense of official duty from which I invite your co-operation, I
have addressed you this letter, and ask, most respectfully, an
immediate reply.                   

Very respectfully,

Your ob't. Ser'vt.,

T. WATKINS LIGON.

Mayor's Office, City Hall,

Baltimore, Oct. 28, 1857;
To His Excellency,

T. Watkins Ligon,                                       

Governor of Maryland.
Sir: I have had the honor to receive your letter, of the 27th
inst., in which you say that, "representations from a large num-
ber of most respectable citizens, of the condition of things in
this city added to my own convictions of my constitutional duty
impose upon me the obligation respectfully to consult you, as
Mayor of the city of Baltimore, as to what provision should be
made by you to guarantee personal security, and the free exer-
cise of suffrage by the legal voters at the approaching election."

Your letter goes on to indicate duties which are incumbent upon
us both. The constitutional sphere assigned to you as Governor
of the State of Maryland, and to me as Mayor of the city of
Baltimore, is believed to be sufficiently defined. While I should
claim, by virtue of my commission, the privilege of the initiative
in any demand which I might consider necessary to be made upon
your Excellency for your aid and co-operation in preserving the
peace of the city and the rights of its citizens. I do not object,
at any time, to impart to you, or any other citizen, the fullest in-
formation in regard to matters connected with the government of
the city, in which the public might feel an interest. It could not
fail to excite my surprise, that in a letter inviting a consultation
with me, your Excellency, after pronouncing summary judg-
ment upon the inefficiency of the city government, should have
thought proper to refer to the events of the municipal and Presi-
dential elections of 1856, with which, as Mayor of the city, I had
no official connection; and to impress upon me that you were "res-
olute in the determination to use your constitutional power to ful-
fil the guarantee that the citizen is entitled to good government."

In your reference to the representations you have received from
a large number of most respectable citizens, your Excellency
would seem to have lost sight of the facts, that by the authority