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RESOLUTIONS

OF

THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW JERSEY,

EXPRESSIVE OF

Confidence in the government of that State in the present crisis in our national affairs; approving of the patriotic efforts of the President to maintain the Union, the Constitution, and the laws; and declaring their belief that the most speedy mode of restoring peace is by the vigorous prosecution of the war.

AUGUST 2, 1861.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

STATE OF NEW JERSEY.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS adopted by the legislature at its extra session.

Resolved, That his excellency Charles S. Olden, governor of this State, deserves, and we hereby tender him, our most cordial and hearty thanks for the promptness, energy, fidelity, and ability with which he has acted in carrying out the measures recommended by the President of the United States, for the purpose of defending our national capital and preserving the integrity of the national Union; that he is eminently worthy of the confidence of this legislature, and of all the citizens of this State, and we may all congratulate ourselves that we have an Executive so admirably fitted, in every respect, for the present alarming crisis in our national affairs.

Resolved, That the preservation of the national Union and Constitution in their full integrity and power is the only effectual protection of the small States against the encroachments and ambition of their more powerful neighbors; and that especially it is a matter of vital importance to New Jersey, with her large line of coast, and situate between two States--empires themselves-which would render us comparatively powerless in any encroachment upon our rights of soil and jurisdiction; and that therefore the President of the United States is entitled to the thanks of every Jerseyman, especially, for the energetic and patriotic efforts he has thus far made to maintain the Union, the Constitution, and the laws.

Resolved, That while we disclaim all desire or willingness to make war upon the people of the south, except necessary for the single purpose of maintaining the Union, the Constitution, and the laws,

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RESOLUTIONS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW JERSEY.

and while we pledge ourselves to defend the Constitution, rights, and interests at all times, and under all circumstances, with the same zeal and energy with which we will uphold the national power, and in the prompt punishment of all traitors, yet firmly believing that the preservation of our national unity is the only security for the rights, liberties, and power of our own people, and the great hope of oppressed humanity throughout the world, we call upon the national government to put forth, at once, every energy of which it is capable to preserve the national unity and enforce obedience to the laws of the land in every part of the Union, being inflexibly resolved that Bunker Hill, Mount Vernon, New York, and New Orleans shall never be dissevered, and believing from the teaching of all history that the most certain and speedy mode of restoring peace is by the most vigorous prosecution of the present war.

Resolved, That the governor be requested to forward to the President of the United States, to each senator and representative in Congress from this State, and to the governor of each State, a copy of the foregoing resolutions.

I certify that the foregoing resolutions originated in the senate, and the same were concurred in by the house of assembly.

JOSEPH J. SLEEPER,
Secretary of the Senate.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

RESOLUTIONS

OF THE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND,

IN RELATION TO

The arrest and imprisonment of Ross Winans, esq., &c.

AUGUST 3, 1861.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

BALTIMORE, July 29, 1861. GENTLEMEN: When I sent you the printed copies of the resolutions herewith enclosed I had not received the official copy which I now send to you with the concurrence of the president of the senate of Maryland.

Very respectfully,

Hon. JAMES A. PEARCE and
Hon. ANTHONY KENNEDY.

E. G. KILBURN, Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Whereas Ross Winans, a member of the house of delegates of Maryland from the city of Baltimore, on the way to his home from the discharge of his official duties, on the 14th of May last, was arbitrarily and illegally arrested on a public highway, in the presence of the governor of this State, by an armed force, under the orders of the federal government, and was forcibly imprisoned and held in custody thereafter at Annapolis and Fort McHenry, without color of lawful process or rights, by the command and at the arbitrary will and pleasure of the President of the United States; and

Whereas sundry other citizens of Maryland have been unlawfully dealt with in the same despotic and oppressive manner by the same usurped authority, and some of them have, in fact, been removed by force beyond the limits of the State of Maryland and the jurisdiction of her tribunals, in utter violation of their rights as citizens and of the rights of the State as a member of the federal Union; and

Whereas the unconstitutional and arbitrary proceedings of the federal Executive have not been confined to the violation of the personal rights and liberties of the citizens of Maryland, but have been extended into every department of oppressive illegality, so that the property of no man is safe, the sanctity of no dwelling is respected, and the sacredness of private correspondence no longer exists; and

Whereas the senate and house of delegates of Maryland, recognizing the obligations of the State, as far as in her lies, to protect and defend her people against usurped and arbitrary power, however difficult the fulfilment of that high obligation may be rendered by disastrous circumstances, feel it due to her dignity and independence that history should not record the overthrow of public freedom for an instant within her borders without recording likewise the indignant expression of her resentment and remonstrance: Now therefore be it

Resolved, That the senate and house of delegates of Maryland, in the name and on behalf of the good people of the State, do accordingly register this their earnest and unqualified protest against the oppressive and tyrannical assertion and exercise of military jurisdiction within the limits of Maryland, and over the persons and property of her citizens, by the government of the United States, and do solemnly declare the same to be subversive of the most sacred guarantees of the Constitution, and in flagrant violation of the fundamental and most cherished principles of American free government.

Resolved, further, That the resolutions be communicated by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house to the Hon. James Alfred Pearce and the Hon. Anthony Kennedy, senators of Maryland in the Senate of the United States, with the request that they present the same to the Senate, to be recorded among its proceedings, in vindication of the right, and in perpetual memory of the solemn remonstrance of this State against the manifold usurpations and oppressions of the federal government.

By the house of delegates, June 20, 1861. Adopted by yeas and nays. By order:

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By the senate, June 22, 1861. Adopted by yeas and nays.

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By order:

WM. KILGOUR,
Secretary of the Senate.

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