Muzzling The Press

We have no cl os" re to urente ataren or t excite tlie apprehfsioiMI of the titbid with rosani to present politicul portan 1 8. And yet ït seaöw to us nu thougbti'ui taan can contémplate thu stops in otir latei national progress, their manifest ditsbtion and inevitable tendeney, without féeling tb it there is cituse at least for anfciety. 8t p now only for a moment and cousidei few plain facts, that shallnot bo rcoited in heat or pussion, but tüat demand oï evry citiz.-n calm and nieasured judgtnent. Peodiug bef ore Judge Blatoiitonl for his decisión is a qiiestioii) iu a prosocutiun for übe!, of vastly laïgei1 import than evon that momcntoas issue which so Ifctely absorbed all our CBoSg&t and deluanded al! otir saciiiioe. ïhat wa? minly a question of miion or disuijioii ; colierüiico or disruptioD ; of the existeuce of oiio sirong, freo povemment or two weak ones. Jtfdge Blatcht'ord will decido in his eourt a (juestkm which goes to the very. marrow of tho exporiiuent of popular govemment : to wit, whether the ptess símil be freí and unshackled, or shall by itiLvriioiis Bhifts mid subtletios, ;-.d by silch iilethods of indirection as shall blind the people whilo they biud the victiiu, tura it over helplcss to the will aud caprice of absolute power, Itis a simple question for Jiidge Blatchford, whetlwr Mr. Charles A. Dana, prosecuted for libel in the United States Court of tbo District of Columbia, shall be removed out of the jurisdiction of the State of New York and taken to the District of Columbia for trial. Mr. Dana's oifenseis in having Criticised - whether too freely or rw)t is not to the purpose of this discussinn - the acts of certain public otiiccrs in Washington. Affidavit having been inade by purchftsera of Mr. Dana's paper of its pnnlication in the City of Washington, criminal prooeediugs were instituted in the United States Court, and a warrant issned for his arrest Ho was arrested in thiscity and taken bcf'ore Unitud States Cominissioner Johu 1. Davenport, and a wiirrunt fot hi3 removal to Washington aslfotl. There were Boine tbingsin the proceediugs before the Comiuissioncr which wore slightly suggestive ot' the peculiar diruction of our nntional progiess. ïliu dictatorial marmers and ridicutous arrogance of rhis young iuai, indicatiug is they did hia belief in the absolute power by whioh he was 6upported, might in an oidor or disoreetei' persrn have luid süiuo serioua sigiiificance. But it would be hard to hold nny body or any fhing responsible for Mr. Davenport'a mamiers. He did have judtcment enongh tj deny himself the pleasure of imprisoning the witnesses, or of handouffiing Mr. Dina and sen ding him to Washington. For t li is degree of self-restraint practiced Ky Mr. Davenpoi t, the community should be gcattefui. The quostion of removal „ now comes before Jadee Blatchford. He ii to decide whether the Federal power. Eaying no more regard to State lines. or tate govornments, or any Stac authority than though there were none, sliall stretch forth its hand and lay it on the citizen to drag him for trial, upon whatever offense, before a jury selected from a population that lias no dependence except upon the public treasury, and whose only local industry is the publio service. The methods of Mr. Dana's treatment of public topics, nnd the spirit of his criticism. we do not here discuss. nor do we touch the constitutional questions in tho cuse or the technicalities of legai construction. We only ask now tbat it be borne in iuind that this is the first atteinpt of tho kind upon the press, and that it will be cited hereaiter as a precedüiit. Now, look this matter squarely in the face. Precisily wliat does it mean in its present effect and ita use3 as a precedent 'i What it means in its relations to Mr. Dana has been made plain by the unguarded utteranees of thoso who are Buid to be waiting for Judge Blatchford's decisión to bring similar suits against him. When it is roraerahnred that the living of a majority of the population from which a jury must be drawn for his trial depends upon the will of an administration which Mr. Dana has pursued for years with relentless and unceasing hostility ; that tho tribunal is one of Federal appointraent, and the atmosphere and surroundings are rourtly rather than popular- it will not be difficult to underetand the apprehension that the court is organized to convict. Not that only, hut to convict in a multitudo of cases which re announced as in preparation, and if possiblo to suppress the paper and silunce the editor. Mr. Dana can afford this perfcaps better than they who conspiring Rgainst hira have net considered the poss:bility of beiug hoist with their own petard. It is more a question wbether the State of New York eau afford to have its digiity and authority so dtspised and its sovereignty hi invnded, and whether the people can afford to have such precedents established. For the central power at Washington thus becomea impregnably intrenched. Is this a stretch of fancyV Consider the gr.nglion of power at Washington and all its radiato nueuces. lísview the politicia] year just past and note the stealthy steps of what, we eall onr progresa. To wbat does it tend ? We shall not say it ia to absolutism ; for all the brainless persons who ee 110 danger but grt-at fun in pointing pistola that they think are empty at their nervoua frionds wonld break at once into ft loud guffaw. We put into your hands the tb.read-ends of few suggestiye facts. Follow tbem to your own conclusiona. Last year tho President dosirtd a reelection. Notonéof 00,000 office holdprs needed to be told of it. He did not need to utter it. From the ganglia of the departraents it thrilled to the remotest hamlet ; ar?d from these smaller centers of influcnce it radiated still ; it infused tho caucus, inspirtd the convention and pacbed the assembly tht renotninfited ■tal. Ho had done many questionalile thiugs ; not Tery njany wise ones. He Tvaa unaniu'onsly nominn.ted and overwbelmingiy re-th eter!, and in the con▼ ■ntion or the party no man dared oppose &i n. Let us see what we committed zo mm airearty and wh.it awaits him. It m de no special sensation among hissupp rters when his conception of his high o ice was disclosed in his rfquest Dtxn e itering office that a statute law be repealed to gratify bil personal feeling in the choice of a Cabinet, nordid auy of his subsequent proceedrngs in the apportlonment of offices to his family excitf Bny surprise. Wbev hp transcended hi powers in the negotiation of a treaty.hi party, so fur from rebukin-j him, ostra oized and exeonimunioattd those who oriticised him. There has bepn no sense of shame in the nnpirccdented pnrtirtlitj shown bis aon in connection with th aTiny, no seiiüo of responsibili! y ordecency in his appointment of his reiatives Casey, Hiidson, nnd: Cranier; irv tih ftice cf indignant public opinión, nor an'y rogard.for truth in his unfulfilkd promises to reform tho Civil Service; nnd jet bw party males no sign of disapproval. He turns and ovorturns the Civil Service rules almost as fast hs a CoramisFion can tummm uiera an resign ; he sets up a government in Louisiana nnd ovorturns anotber in Alabama ; he dmands that his nlary be doubled, and a truciling Congress votes him the increase and snoulcs nway with a oommission on tlie plunder ■ he ñames to Massachusotts her Governor and to Alabama her Senator ; ho opens prison dóors to men who have dofrauded nd robbed the Gtovernment, and he pardons unpunished tho men who were convicted of fraud upon che ballot in his interest. Is (his eaonjrfit? Ho holds ttirough hie Minister of Finanoe absolute control of all the industrial and business intefests of this country, and can, by a word to the Treasurer, mnke any man rich or poor asit pienses him. Give him npw a precedent for haling before a jury or offie-holder8andornce-h0ldirff dppenftents iu the Dibtrict of Cólnmbia whorev criticiseg the Administration or tlie creatsres who do its biddinfr. Does he need anything more i Yon 6ay he does notdothier' Of course not, but Boniobody doe. It inakeg no differpnce who íioWb all this power, onwhether hs rafn. r tu Rra6p the trciaiMdöntpsMib(]ttiei tbftt me so recklessly committed to hlM. Tt is the principie that is dangerous, am o that we culi atrention. It is a shndowy line indeed that srparatos liherty trom lioense of thw proas, bu' the ultímate fiod KOM and discretion o' tho peopjo c;tn bo trntted to defina it Thore is tio noed of atiy such interferonor is is threatoned in t his c:ise. W'ith ar army of offico-holditig depi'ndcuts aV over the country, a greftt and poVerfu' party ready to yield unqnestioniOg alleïiance to the personal fortUnra of 4lnExecutive, and all the signs poiUttllg U oon tin lied centralization und a third term, is it safo to add to this powet snch censorship and control of the press -as thif precedent would afford? Coull the pret be more effectively rauzilfld.