The Registry Law
Summary
Editorial expressing hope that legislators in Annapolis will dismiss all petitions to repeal or modify the Registry Law. Petitions being handed around to repeal the law are being signed by men who hate the Union, who wanted Maryland to secede or who hoped Gen. Lee would "liberate" the state. These men want restoration of the voting rights they "deliberately and voluntarily forfeited." The paper says there is constant evidence that rebels and disloyal people in Maryland cannot forgive Union supporters and that if they once again are able to vote that "there is no guarantee for the future." These people should not receive the "rights and privileges of citizenship until assurance is given, that they will not be exercised to the detriment of public interest." Citizens must be sure that millions of dollars are not used to remunerate slaveholders or indemnify rebels for losses during the war. A reprint of part of an article from the Baltimore American refers to Rebel shopkeepers who have pictures of Lee, Davis and others in their windows and to Rebel soldiers who walk the streets in grey uniforms and are adored by "light-headed females." Some of these people are as defiant as ever and keeping them on "probation" is necessary. Repeal of the Registry Law can await a decision of the people "as the general question of suffrage."
Article Source
Newspaper: The Frederick Examiner
Publication Date: January 24th, 1866
Page/Column: 2A
Town: Frederick, MD
County: Frederick
Subjects
- Aftermath of War / Reconstruction
