PROTEST AND OPINION ON THE CASE OF THE MESSRS. SMITH BROTHERS, MARCH
17, 1865.
Benjamin G. Smith and Franklin W. Smith, merchants and
co-partners in Boston, with the firm name of Smith Brothers &
Co., were suddenly arrested in June, 1864, by order of the Navy
Department, under the charge of fraud in the performance of
contracts with the Department. They were at once consigned to
Fort Warren, in the harbor of Boston, with strict injunctions
to prevent any communication by them with the outer world. Bail
to the amount of half a million dollars was required, which was
subsequently reduced to forty thousand. Their counting-room was
broken open, their safe forced, and their books seized. Their
houses were searched, and private papers taken away. Their
business was, for the time, destroyed. This work was crowned by
ordering a court-martial for the trial of these civilians at
Philadelphia.
These proceedings excited a general interest at Boston. The
Massachusetts delegation in Congress united in the following
appeal to the President, which was drawn by Mr. Sumner.