The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-07-08

From the moment that Louis Napolean first ap-
AIRED in the field % the competitor Of General ca
vagnac for the Presidential chair it impossible
not 70 remember the angry feelings with which bis
uncle over regarded the press cf this country. AS
there was seldom anything but actual war between
England and the peighboring empire, the general
expression OF those feelings, we'll as the proyoca
ton on this side the Channel, partook of the cha
racter of war, and had very little reference to \
state OF pcaee. There was. however, one short aud
iesersh interval during which not at actual
war with Napoleon, and in that interval he took the
peaceful remedy of an action at law against an
English journalist with all the he could do
sre That precedent is not forgotten this side tho
Channel and 30 far from the ympathies Of
being in favor of the libeer they rather proud
to reflect that not even the strongest national pro-
vocatiOns and antipaties disturbed the even tenor
of British court Of law For our part, We did not
need this warning, not even when Louis Napoleon
became the law and constitution Of France, be-
cause we applied to him the same simple rule that
has long guided this paper Whatever sentiments, or
opinions or constructions we thought fit to express
with regard to the French autOcrat consulted our
feelings well % our interests by giving all tho
facts Of the case whatever side they may happoa
TO tell. In proof of this we need only mention that,
with regard to French, with regard to Austrian,
and other continental Affairs, our contemporaries
have frequently made it their business 10 argucirom
the facts and admissions Of our foreign correspon-
dence against the conclusions of Our leading ar
ticles When our fercest political opponents want
to say bitter thing, they prsiso the facts Of tho
Times vt the expense Of its opinions. All our cor
respondents know very well that their mission is to
supply with facts, and that they only disappont
US when they fail to transmit tho intelligence Of sny
incident or document of genera! interest. At this
moment, if any Englishman desired to compose an
apology for Louis Napoleon, or to prove that do
tatorshp or an empire was the best remedy for the
troubles OF France, or to establish any other thesis
contrary to the usual politics Of this country and
this Journal he need not look for materials beyond
a file Of the Times There he would find the whole
case for or against Louis Napoleon. Conscious that
we never omitted any fact that might be urged
tation, have scrupled all the lees to express
opinions without the least reserve knowing that if
we were wrong, the bane and the antidote were in
adjoining columns.
This maxim Of impartial statements and unre-
served opinions, has SO ong been approved and
accepted In this country, and, we may add, in our
own practice, that we regard with very little un.
easiness the official warning recently given by the
French government to the correspondents of three
Of our morning contemporaries. Into the general
proprety Of that warning, into the matter Of the
pr0v0catOn, 1t snOt our present business to inquire
We cannot, however, but be anxious to assert for
the British press the liberty of free opinion and faith
full intelligence and if we now speak, it is because
that liberty may seem to be threatened. As far as
we arc concerned, can only be fattered with the
tribute to our justice which readers will find in
our correspondence from Paris this morning. n.
Dumoun, the functionary by whom this warning
London press, on being asked by one Of them why
this journal not included is said to have replied
that, "though The Times was not sparing in the
severity Of its structures. yet that it acted with i'm.
Bile, but also what was favorable, in the form of
news" As M. Dumoulin is reported to have ex-
pressed himself, 'Le Times met du blanc at dn
noir.' If the report of the conference, however,
is to be trusted, this gentleman has not sufficiently
distinguished in tho cases Of our contemporaries,
between the responsibility of the editor and that Of
the correspondent. He is said to have referred to
some leading articles for the Misrepresentation
might be the case. and for anything we know it was
the case in this instance. that the leading articles
contained not merely opinions and constructions
upon facts, but actual statements Of the nature Of
suspicion that they had been furnished BY the cor
respondent, though from a regard to his safety, not
published in his avowed communications. We will
not say how far suspicious appearance of this sort
might justify, according to the political principles
now adopted in France, peculiar treatment Of such
a case But as general rule, and from sufficient
" long experience, we should certainly think the
French government would consult its own interests
by distinguishing as widely as possible between the
responsibility Of the journal and that Of the
pondent II the leading articles contain libellous
statements let Louis Napoleon or his ministers seek
in our courts that justice Of which English jour
nal whatever has the power to deprive him. YER
dict for libel against London paper, would be as
great triumph, and, if just, certain triu nph
as any that his generals could obtain in the field
So long, however, az journals observe the rule we
have laid down for ourselves, the corpus deficit, if
any, will be in their foreign correspondence, and
not in their own comments upon it, la this case it
is not for to prescribe how foreign country shall
deal with an English gentleman residing in its capt
tai and openly accredited to supply London jour
nal with the news of that country Of course we
cannot insist on applying to such the laws of
our own country nor can we undertake to interpret
the code OF that foreign country on the point. We
can only appeal on such question to the univer-
sal principles Of justice and prudence: III man is
known to be located in the heart Of foreign metro
polls, to be requentiDg its places Of resort received
at its police offices, and all the time supplying to
his employers inventions and MISREPRESENTATION of
. prejudicial and dangerous character, it may or
may not be the policy and custom Of that country
to chase the dsagreeable soourner out Of its terri
tory. II is not custom policy, but we cannot
expect all the nations Of the earth to be like us
in this respect. One Of our contemporaries we
neighbors than they are likely, at present, to
concede, when it insists that foreign correspon-
dent shall be regarded as private gentleman,
with whose presumed avocatons or correspondence
the government Of tho capital where he resides can
have no concern. There is. SO to speak, an excess
Of insular feeling in such demand. At all events,
no foreign government is likely to'c0ncede il. The
correspondents Of the London papers are among the
most public characters in Paris. They have their
Offices, their clerks, and their messengers. They
have admission to various offices by no means open
to the Partisan public; and they are in frequent
communication with many employfs Of the govern
ment. 1t is useless to claim for such persons
merely private character.
But without undertaking to prescribe the parti-
cular light in which our correspondents should be
treated, we cannot hesitate to express our convc-
ton that every European government would consult
its dignity and its interest by allowing to those
gentlemen every latitude Of statement every OPP
portunity Of information in their power. Whatever
they communicate to us, SO as it be true,
We cannot help publishing. If any London jour
nal Systematically suppressed one side Of its
tor for fairness and truth. True aud full in.
telligence is indispensable to our credit and sue
cess 1t is the possession Of this that enables to
express our opinions with proper caution, but with
out the least reserve. In writing we know that side
by side with conclusions will be published to
the ends Of the earth the facts upon which those
conclusions rest, and that il We lean too much to
one sioc the simple narrative will tell with all the