Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-08-07
TUE LAWS AND DEBATES OF CONGRESS.

The following Joint Resolution has recently
passed both Houses Of Congress
. With view to the cheap circulation of the laws of
CONGRESS and the debates contributing to the true inter
pretation thereof and to make free the communication
between the representative and constituent bodies,
Resolved de- That from and after the present session
Of Congress the Congressional Globe and Appendix which
contain the laws and the debates thereon shall pass free
through the mails long the shall be published
By order Of Congress- Provided That nothing herein shall
be construed authorize the circulation of the Daily
Globe free Of postage"
OF this novel proceeding, though open to serious
objections, we do not know that we should have
been tempted to take any special notice. had it not
elected in the Senate the debate which is inserted
at length in the preceding columns, in the course of
which reflections were thrown out concerning, to
some extent, the readers well the Proprietors
Of the National Intellgencer.
To the object Of the resolution we should raise
no objection, were it not departure from princ-
pie an exception, in favor of particular pubica-
ton, from the rule which applies universally to all
other pariodicals aarialA-.-- --.y f-r-
The Constitution has forbidden the passage, by
Congress, of any law adridging the freedom Of the
Press. But the general freedom Of the press as
abridged when facility of circulation is By lap
given to one press which is denied to the public
press generally. AS precedent, BESIDES. which
may lead to the gradual demolition Of the order and
selfsustaining vitality of our admirable Post Office
Establishment, we regard the innovation as an
unwise one.
Of the Preamble to this Joint Resolution we
may say, in addition to the general objection pre-
ambles superhuous that it is, like some other pre-
ambles to be found on the statute book made up OF
false conclusions believed, doubtless, by their au-
thors to be true, or at least wel-founded
In the first place, the La~s published in the Con,
gressional Globe could not reach !" the constituent
bodies" until after they would be in the hands Of
the good people all over the United States and
Territories in the form in which alone the People
ever read them; that is, in the newspapers of this
District, and the papers in each State which are
appointed by the proper authority to publish them
For this service the propretors of those newspapers
receive a compensation which barely pays the cost
of setting up the types. Yet it has never been pro-
posed, that we know of, by the most enthusiastic
friend of the laws, of the constituent bodies that
those papers, which do really circulate the laws
should be transmitted through the mails free Of
postage, II Congress were to enlarge very con.
siderably the number of papers which already pub
lish the laws by authority, such measure would
cost very little, in comparison with other expendi-
lures Of the Government of much less utility, and
would in reality promote the cheap circulation =
of the laws
With regard to the Debates u. Congress- it is
mere illusion to suppose that this measure of ia
yoritism to particular press is to make any more
free than it is "the communication between the
representative and constituent bodies" Freeing the
Congressional Globe from postage will not do it
Nor can mere Repository Of Congressional De
bates, such the Congressional Globe is, support
itself by its circulation however free or favored
Such publication can never command subscription
sufficient to defray the heavy expenses of reporting
the debates, much less of both reporting and
printing them Such undertaking may be encou.
ragged for WHILE by show of support by individual
subscriptions. But such support will, in every
case, be found to be transient and evanescent. The
heavy amount now paid by Congress for reporting
and publishing its debates, could never be reim-
bursed to any publisher by the proceeds of any
supposable amount of individual subscription, could
any one be found rash and rich enough to under
take such work. The publishers of this paper
tried the experiment FIVE and twenty years ago,
when Congress was comparatively young and its
annual debates had not spread out to onefourth of
their present amplitude; and it was entire failure.
They changed the plan Of publication into that Of
permanent Register of Debates and continued it
until they completed twenty-nine volumes; when,
Congress contributing to its support only by casual
purchases for new members, they were compelled to
abandon it. Whilst recurring to these old times,
we may here state that for forty-fye years has the
National Intelligencer reported and published the
Proceedings of Congress, at an expense of some
thousands Of dollars annually, without receiving
from Congress single cent of compensation for
this labor and outlay, except the insufficient pay
ment for reporting and publishing the Debates of
the Senate, under contract with that body, during
the last three years.
No publication, in fine, of the Debates of Con-
gress in full, can ever be made but at the public
expense, betrayed as it now is in the case of the
"Giobe, out of the funds at the disposal Of Con-
gress Nor can any regular circulation ever be
gwen to those Debates through any other channel
than the newspapers