The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-01-30
The Executive PrintIDg-Thc faithful Exc
eutiOn Of the Laws.

boast, the ornament of the present President and
his Administration, is their intense anxiety foI
the faithful execution of the laws. This has
been so often announced in messages and proc
lamatons, and in all the organs, rs to constitute
very unusual and vociferous claim to the char
acter of a law revering and law-abiding Admin
istration. Nay, not satisfied with all thes,
modes of making the thing known, the Presi
dent and his cabinet travelled last summer aHt
fall over large portions of the country North ant
South, to repeat the sentiment in person Scarce
ly could the cars stop for wood or water on the
Presidential excursion on the Erie railroad Oh
to the Virginia Springs, when the President
would step out on the platform 10 repeat his
solemn pledges of devotion to the execution OF
the laws, and the locomotive whistle of depart
ure generally cut off some supplementary secre
tary in the middle of the same phrase.
Now If these pledges had been sincere, how
completely would the Southern Press be viDdi-
Gated by events? We asserted when the fugi.
tive slave law passed, that it could not and would
not be executed in the North And now it would
appear that, with President and Cabinet and all
the power and patronage Of the federal govern
ment in its favor, the Christana rioters and trail
tors, and murderers, have all finally escaped
punishment-so have those who rescued fugi-
tive slave from the United States court in Bos.
ton, and all that is left is a squabblc to quash
the indictment of the rioters at Syracuse, who
also rescued by force a fugitive from the fed
eral authorities there.
But unuckily for all this immense quantity
of profession, we have case to present that has
fallen under our own personal observation, that
exposes so completely what is meant nova days
by official language, that we shall ask of our
readers strict attention to all the facts and
documents. We intend to present these duly
and in detail, and in all their official forms and
words. We shall, however, to-day present n
statement of the essential elements of the case,
which we will verify in the most exact, specific,
and conclusive manner~"s
Fhcre is law which was passed in lS45
which requires the notices and advertisements
of the Executive Departments to be printed in
The two papers of largest subscription in this
city. In the latter part of June last we applied
to the Secretary of the Navy, one of the only
two Secretaries then in town, for this printing,
on the ground that the Southern Press was en-.
titled to it under this law. The Secretary of
the Navy, promptly enough, in few days not-
fled us 10 produce our evidence in support of the
claim. And this we Immediately complied with
And on comparing the number of our subscri-
bers, set forth by the affidavits of the Clerk
and Printer it was found to exceed that which
was 80 attcsted on behalf of the M,elHgencer
and the Union, the two papers which had before
been awarded this printing under the law Yet,
Notwithstanding this, we received a note from
the Secretary of the Navy similar to the follow
ing, which is published in yesterdays Union:
NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 9th, 1851.
GENTLEMEN have examined the evidence
touching the permanent subscription of the Ma
fional Inteiligencer, Union, and Southern Press,
laid before this department, in conformity with
notices issued to the proprietors Of each of said
papers, and have to announce that both Of the
former exceed the Southern Press, not only in per-
manent subscribers to the editions Of those papers in
achich The advertisements Of this department, haze been
habituaiiy published, but in the aggregate of papers is
sued either TO permanent subscribers or others Der
neck. therefore decline to send the advertise
ments of this department to the Southern Press
am, respectfully, your obedient servant.
VIM. A. GRAHAM
Messrs. DoHELsoN d ARMSTRONG, Washing
ton, ID. G.
The italics are ours.
On receiving the note, we Immediately called
on the Secretary of the Navy, and objected to
this decision-6ecause The lao says nothing about
particular editions Of papers. 1t was not pre-
tended that the number Of our subscribers to the
daily, tri weekly and weekly editions of our
paper not larger than to either of the others,
according to the affidavts; and we asserted that
the Department had no right to discriminate be-
tween different editions Of the same paper, so as
to give the printing to a favorite, who might
have greater number of one edition, but less
of them all. AS for the pretence that the other
offices printed more papers per neck than ours,
that was founded on the same assumption
The Union and Intellgencer had, we know, a
larger daily subscription than ours but we had
larger weekly subscription than they and the
Secretary was compelled, in order 10 support
his statement, to count ore daily subscriber as
equal TO six weekly ones, and thus to attach "a
much consequence to daily subscriber here at
the seat of government as to six weekly sub
scribers elsewhere, in giving notice of proposals
for mail, navy, war, Indian and other con racts
The daily papers are chiefly taken here. How
many persons are here resident likely to contrac,
for the mail transportation in the various State,
of the Union, or for supplies of provisions
timber, clothing, &c., for tie army, navy, &c.
The effect of such construction, and the effec
of habitunly publishing in the least numerou'
and more local editions of paper wi,hou
authority of law, was to give monopoly O
notice and Of jobs TO mere SPECTATORS here IL
the District, and hangers on around the Depart.
ments.
But the Secretary of the Navy persisted in hi.
decision. We therefore appealed to the Presi
dent We told him the law was violated, an,