The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-01-25

through the mail and go within The circle oil sixty mics
lion of men, -and il may fairly be supposed that each
newspaper thus taken, entering family, IS read by and
dspenses It's benefits to three members oil mat family
which, sir will show aggregate OF three millions OF
people who will be benefited by thus notion II agreed to
BY Congress Now. SIR do not look upon the repeal OF
this upon the privilege OF readingfor that all II
isl do not look upon this as an unrequed favor as
boon. proposed TO be extended BY the government
In the first place. have shown you that your mail has
TO travel 10 and from those points whether you take the
newspapers along Your mail has 10 go; and as
this proposition is confined to circle Of sixty miles IRON
the central point OF publication, the larger part OF thus
upon the roads. Your mail carriers will have to
travel upoa these roads, and travel with empty
mailbags for, as have said, whether there De news
paper newspaper printed in the country. me man
must 60. You have incurred the oblganoh ny Tue con
sution OF sending the mall OF keeping up the posi- once
establishment for the accommodating OF Inc people, ana
you are bound to do it, whether there be newspapers
transmitted through the mail or not we know now
is sir those OF us acquainted with the ways OF men
and things i'm the country, know that nlnetenlhs OF all
this mail matter in the mail-bags would be found 10 De
newspapers We know that in these bags, If those
papers were taken out there wonld not be one pound
of weight; We, the horses would have to go, and the
carriage would have TO go, precisely as they are now
obliged to go under your present arrangement put sr'
have said that do not look upon tn. as any boon pro
posed be extended by the government lon will OBJ
serve sir from the very nature OF the proposition, that
applies in manner 10 affect the distant localities IN the
interior OF the county and 1t IS exactly within these
localities that the mails OF the Unltel States are trans
ported upon public roads not made by the federal gov
the local population of the ghborhool The people in
each neghborhood make their roads from year to year,
and repair them The people OF the counties bridge their
streaus and from year year they repair these bridges
and your mail goes over them free OF charge So Also your
mail pays no toll upon those roads which il passes.
to Be ben beneted by this poor s reduction Of the tax
taken upon the privilege OF reading have right TO CLAIM
itas equivalent Tor right which you have OF travel
ling the roads which they have TO make and keep IN
repair and in the making and repairing of which you
spend nota tarthng -,
Mr.. President almost all the public men of this coun-
try know something about The public press; and as we
more apt to remember wrongs than favors almost
all public men remember that the press has frequent
selves and without looking TO the other side of the
question, and contemplating the immense benefit they
have derived from the press they are very apt to say
article Observation-Disclosures would it be if there were no
newspapers in the country" But, sir am far from en-
PERTAINING this conviction and say now. SIT. upon my
responsibility to and TO TRUTH that SO lar IRON con-
siderng the public press of this country an evil, DO
not believe il would be possible maint lin public liber
tywithout it mean, to maintain public liberty as we
have it secured by written constitution, under the rep
Iesentave system, extending far and wide over an I'M
mense country In such state OF things, without tins
wide medium of communication between the people them
selveshetween the people and the governmcnbetween
the people and each fnnconary OF the government, II
would be utterly impossible for the people to exercise that
supervising control public actions and public men
which is necessary for The support OF public freedom.
Sir, has been the custom OF our youth, in our school
houses to hear much said about the Liberties of the
publics OF Greece and Rome and therefore any refer
ence 10 those matters becomes stale and common place
1t is not my habit to indulge in them but on the present
occasion, for the sake OF an illustration of the PROPOSE
ton which have Just laid down, that without public
press, and free too, popular liberty IN large coun
Try could not BY any human possibility be maintained
those old countries whose institutions have been called
popular will take that which has given its names
and lis ideas to ali posteriy will take that little republic
which illustrated the genius OF that where has
existed absolute unrestricted democracy-I mean Asia
Wehear nothing sir about free yeomanry of Greece
hnS oa1 Jhncay
words in the Greek OF which they would be the true
translation No historian has told US about the farming
population of Greece No historian has told us about the
country population of Greece coming into their cities TO
vote. And why, sir! Because, for the want OF me-
dunn of communication between the centre OF the gov
eminent and the extremes of the country it mpossi
BILE, the nature OF things for anything 10 exist like
free and independent yeomanry To enjoy the privileges
OF citizen OF Greece, you would have to move to
your lands by description OF labor which Is not
free under the control of men who not free voting
citizens. In order to be citizen well resident
IN order to enjoy the immunites and rights OF citizen
OF Athens It was necessary to become citizen, IN fact
by settlement within the cy and SO OF all the other
cities OF Greece 1t that fact, more than all others
put together, which removed the very description OF pop
ulaon upon whose integrity, whose habits, and whose
employment freedom and free institutions can best be
founded--the cultivators of the soil Hence it was,
that Grecan republic was but Grecian city; and
hence was that all the attempts at confederation among
the GrecIan States resulted III being nothing more than
confederation among many cities great and small
political power being increased In the city, exclusively OF
the country.
And SO, sir, it was in Italy; and hence it that
the utter extpation of the ancient cutvatos of the
soil took place TO be political man and citizen
man, you had to go off the farm and reside in that
Gent mistress of the world, or reside in
other of the capital cities 1t was, sir, for that
alone that both those republics the towns became the
sole of legislaon-he sole of all poli
cal powerthe country people being reduced nothing
What historian has told us about the yeomanry of Italy
OF Greece, the yeomanry of any city Greece par
tcpang in any political question any political policy?
No. sir; such the unavoidable necessity of the thing
because there sufficient medium OF communica-
ton between the government and the people abroad or
between the people abroad among themselves, by which
they could possibly be informed of what going on
They had TO refer TO the cities 10 find out what their
Legislators doing and that concenered, have
said before the sole power of those republics in the
cities alone. That, sir, led to another conclusion: was
impossible IN that state of things that the representative
system could ever be applied and the consequence was
that tie masses in cities legslaed themselves; the gov
took all the forms of an absolute democracy When
law was TO be passed, Demosthenes seen upon the
Bena, and the ten thousand voting people seen in
me encirclng wall In front OF the orator, who ex
Waned to them the nature and effect of each propo-
sluon; and each proposition then submitted to each
man IN me assembled mass, and that mass constituted
me legislature OF Athens. There was no other; the
SENATE having me privilege of submitting propositions
IN the form OF laws, We know how it was in Rome
sir-that after the Roman Senate passed an act il was
competent LOT tribune of the people to hold it up
to the assembled that they should approve or
ect 1T and their decision final, They could have
representative system under at state of things the
sole reason OF which wasbecausc they were as wise men
as we arehe sole reason of which was that there was