Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1848-12-30

the two influential journals the Of Government
into their service and when it is considered that the present
organ Of the Government has not :. II is doing
the Propretors of public journals whoever they may be- no
injustice to say that the opinions of the purest and the mes
Of them would be seriously tried by temptation like that Of
the in operation in the Senate and lately pro-
posed to be adopted in the House Of Representatives"
Leaving " the organ of the Government to speak
for itself, we have word or two to say in behalf
of the other journal referred to- in whose reputation
nobody can well feel deeper interest than we
We should like to know what there is in the his
tory of the National Inteiigeacer, Of its politics
or associations, to Justify the suppositon that its
opinions upon public affairs could be bought or
snborned by pecuniary temptations of any amount,
much less by sum so small lin comparison with
the cost of carrying on its business) as any ina
gnable amount of profit which could accrue from
any engagement to report and publish the De-
bates of one or both Houses of Congress This
journal has been often accused by the Democratic
press Of having with unyielding perseverance OPP
posed measures Of the Administration deemed popu-
lar at the moment-the attempt to get us into war
with France, for example; the claim Of !" the whole
or none of Oregon the War with Mexico, &c.
Was this the way to acquire wealth, or to promote
our personal interest! Could it contribute even to
our personal ease or comfort Is it so pleasant
thing to become the target at which the Chief Ma
gistrate himself, from his high elevation, hurls
charges of moral treason, and at which all the
gans of the ruling party cast their malignant darts
Has the National Intelligencer ever quailed before
the threats of political adversares, or truckled
to attempted dctation by its political friends
Has it not ever-we proudly challenge denial
preferred the right to the expedien kept on in the
tenor of its course steadily aiming 10 be right,
and infexibly refusing to be instrumental in wrong
doing? Can it be said Of that paper that, after
protesting against " Annexation" as likely to lead
to War; il turned about and sustained War, which,
besides being unconsttutionay made, sprang from
that source alone Or can it be said of the Ineli-
gencer that it was old Federalist of the deepest
dye trafcking itself away, or tamely submitting to
the arbitrary rule of the Jackson dynasty For six
teen years of difficulty, denunciation, and defec-
ton, il might have gone into that most open market
at its prce-at many times the price that bought
some others. twas not for want of temptation that
the National Inteligencer did not then sell ITSELF as
prints were found that would, for either the
honors or the emoluments of public employ. They
were all disdained, when an honest independence
was the sacrifice to be made for it.
- Very sensible are we how far we pre-
sumo upon the indulgence of our readers in
bringing before them any thing which chiefly
concerns the relations of this paper 10 the Press
and to the Public. 1t is seldom that we thus
intrude. But the provocation on this occasion
has been greater than flesh and blood could
bear. II in the preceding remarks we have treated
as they deserve the gross injustice and misrepre-
sentation of the I" Evening POST alone, it is not
because we have been unobservant or insensible 10
similar aspersions from sources where we might
have expected more candid as well as more honest
constructions. We have our reasons for not in
Guiding them by name in our reply. But it must
be sufficiently obvious to all who read what we
have written that it applies alike to all journals that
have placed themselves in the same unenyiable pre-
dicament as the ." Post"
In reading over the proof-sheets of the foregoing
| columns, we perceive that we have omitted TO no.
tice the argument that the publication of Debates
in Congress is of sort Of value, being to repeat
the language Of the Post, windy nonsense
| That debates might, at times, be wiser and
more to the purpose than they are in Congress,
every body knows: but many will doubt whether
conforming them to what these journals love-the
| Isnls of all sorts-woud render them either more
RATIONAL useful, or elegant. Since the time when
the Gauls Of Brennus put the Roman Senate to the
sword, representative assemblies have ceased to be
composed of only sages and heroes. IL they were
invariably wise, they would cease TO reflect their
constituents. As to the value of their discourses,
who is il TO be measured by the country until the
country can see them in PRINT Or is every thing
TO be settled by the standard Of the ideas and prin-
ciples of the "Post" and its coadutors! At all
events, the speeches in Congress are those of the
men who stand for the collective wisdom Of the
people, and necessarily jus. wise and useful
as the people choose TO have. Wise or foolish, the
laws and policy Of the land can be but imperfectly
understood without their publication. III the speeches
are, many Of them, bad, then they need improving
but what so likely TO deter men from making bad
speeches the faithfully and Immediately pntting
those speeches before the country
POSTSCRIPT.
Since the preceding article set in type ION Friday as
have received the Evening Post Of tie 2l instant in
which find yet another assault upon ne proposed plan Of
reporting the Debates Of Congress- coued in the following