The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1859-12-15

l'8ou4 ~" ~ L iT@one
The utter lncompatbiity of the en-.
slayement Of a part with the liberty Ct
any vas never more strikiae.y cvinced
than during the last month. In the
Slave States today, any one is at rerrect
liberty to shout and scream for Slavery
as loudly as he plcases, but there is no
liberty TO say word against it. ANY
man WHO dare, in Virginia. to day talk Of
Slavery as Patrick Henri, Washington.
jefferson, &c, have written Of it. must
run for his life, submit to a coat Of tar
and feathers and ride On the buck Of
rail Or some sill harshcr penalty. La
defiance Of the Constitutional guaranty
Of the Freedom Of Speech and Of the
Press, the reign of terror is complete
there, and there is no practical liberty
even 10 t2kc newspaper hostile 10
Slavery. Postmaster General Holt has
just Dec. j. replied to letter from the
Postmaster at Falls Church, Va. askino
whether he (the =. II ass aforcsaidl
shall obey the State law which forbid,
the delivery from any Post Office of any
book or periodical ''lneulcatiug resistance
to the right OF property in slaves :" and
MIR. Holt tells him to obey the law by all
, meas, giving it the following sweeping
application:
One Of the most solemn co1stitu-
tional obligations imposed On thu FEEDER
al Government is that Of protecting the
States against 'insG rrectiou and 'domcs
tic violencc'--of course. none of it's in
strnmenta!;ties can be lawfully employed
in melting, crea IN he rcmolesf deqrcc
to this very crime, which invoIg2 ia its
train all others, and with the snppreas ion
Of which it is specially CHARGED. Ioa
must, under the respons Utilities resting
upon you as an officer, and as a citizen.
determine wis Their the books, pamphlets.
newspapers, &c. received by you for dis
trlbntion, are If tie inecadturg charac-
ter deserted IN Tie stafute: and, If ven
believe they re,then you arc not only net
obliged to deliver them to those To whom
they are addressed, but you are enpov
cred and required, by your duty to the
State Of which you are citizen. t. dis
pose Of them in strict conformity to the
provisions Of the law referred to The
! people OF Virginia may not only forbid
the introduction aud dissemination of
such documents within their borders,
but, if brought there in the mails, they
may, by appropriate legal proceedings,
have them destroyed"
How determine" this /? OF course,
by reading; there is no other way. OF
course, each PostT aster must read every
thing that comes to his office, which in.
! wolves, first, opening it; secondly, keep.
ing IL until he shall find leisure for his
deliberate perusal; for how can he know
that some subtle paragraph, "incitine'
''tn the remotest degree to insurrection
and domestic violence, does not Turk in
chapter Of "Cobb's new story" in Bon
ner's Ledyes, or in Bayard Taylor's mar.
rative Of his adventures in Ahyss;nnia !?
Is there aught in any tyranny, anci mt or
modern, more arbitrary in its nature or
more crushing TO the spirit of free
thought and speech, than this abomina.
bic edict, which arms each petty twenty
dollar-n-year Postmaster with absolute
power to determine" what his fellow.
citizens may read and what must be for
hidden theny