New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-02-08

V.
the Hon. Mr.. Holt, and of the Hon. Mr..
King. and Of al other Honorables, what, in
the name of conn on sense and common con-
struction, the statute of the State Of Virginia
has 10 90 with the matter at all? Does the
Legislature of Virginia control the Post Office De-
paitInent of the United States Is il for Virginia
TO say what shall be carried in the mail-bsgs, what
.ball ba delivered and what shall be committed to
II namesl II so, what may not Virginia do?
Whai il to prevent her from fixing the rates of
hostage within her bordeTsl WHAT is to prevent
he's from establishing Post-Oflce quite indePend-
ent of tie United States from receiving the
revenue Of tire service! The right to inter-
iero in any instance, no matter how insg-
nifcaht, establishes the tight Of universal IN
teIi,r,pce. If Virginia can prohibit the tran
,it of newspapers, she can prohibit the transit OF
letters II she can burn the smallest BIT of printed
paper found in the maibags she can burn their en-
tire contents. If che can steal 4 newspaper, she
can steal letter and if she can steal letter, she
osn steal the money which may be inclosed in 1t.
She may consider a newspaper to be worthless, IN
view of the limited number of her citizens who can
r. nd IL; but given subscriber who can read, the
Newspaper may be Of inestimable value TO the
owner from whom it is fched. 1t may contain in
formation, the loss of which may be the loss OF sub
stantial profit. The theft may or may not be
great injury; but of ts magnitude is William j.
McNemar to Judge? And where is your dignity,
where your authority in this matter, Mr. Pcstmas-
ter General You are great map, without ques-
tion and you should be treated with becoming rev.
erence; and yet here you are, stripped OF author
ity, and snubbed scornfuly by the free and enght-
cred citizens of Luney's Creek. You fcndly
deemed those leathern sacks and those substantial
locks to be sacred; but Luney's Greek has right
to rip open and to pick The degradation OF the
Department is complete Mr. Holt does business
by virtue of an extremely limited License from the
StoIe of Virpina. We had rather be dog and
collect the Boston customs, than such Postmaster
General.
But the Honorable the Postmaster General has
been Kind enough to direct his head man to direct
the bothered gentleman of Luney's Creek, aud to
favor Lin with " correct construction of the law
"of Virginia" We might ask, if it is part of
the business of the Postmaster to construe
the laws of Virginia But passing over this point,
we come at once TO these astonishing Instructions.
Because" says the A. Z. NJ G., 4" single copy
of any particular newspaper contains matter de-
"cided by the State authorities to be incendiary
in its character it does not therefore, follow that
any subsequent numbers of the same paper are
" % be condemned for that cause. Each and every
number of the paper must be acted upon and dis
posed of separately" That is to say, whenever
mail has been received at Luneys Creek, it is the
DUTY of The Postmaster before making delivery OF
the contents thereof to read carefully all the news
papeTs-and why not the letters l-cOntained
therein. TO burn those which he considers to be
ircendisry," and 10 deliver only those which he
regards, after due bordering, as harmless And
these are the instructions of the PostOfce Depart
mebt of the United States TO one of its subordinate
| officers, of whose intelligence, honesty, acquire
ments, almost nothing at all is known Really,
this seems to to be delegating very considerable
authority and to be creating altogethera new Office.
Does the Constitution, as Interpreted in the Post
Office Department, say anything of Censorship OF
the Pressl And above all, if such censorship is to
be exercised, is it TO be committed to an obscure,
ignorant, and prejudced country Oficer-a man
who bas not pluck enough to do his duty, and who
writes that he is not permitted" by his neghbOrs
to do iii And who is to pay the Censor Of Luney's
Creek Tor all this trouble and responsibility! The
Post-Office Department. 1t has no money The
| State of Virginia II has no money. The Luney's
Creeker must look to his own conscience for an ex
ceedng great reward, which, to be sure, he de-
serves. II he puts his finger upon newspaper to
detain it from s legal owner, to cast it into his
purgatoria fire, he is guilty. by the yet unrepealed
law of this land Of eloDy he is amenabe to courts
and juries; he is liable to fine and Imprisonment,
and if fairly arraigned and found guilty, must be
! fined and imprisoned by any court OF competent
jurisdiction In the eye OF the law, he is thief to
be tried as Thief sentenced as thief, and locked
up as thief. 1t is your business, for which you
are well paid, Mr. Postmaster-General, to see that
this eulprt is caught, convicted and Gagged. FHl-
log TO do this, you violate your oath of Office And
yet We find you wiDking at larceny, and talking
nonsense about the laws of Virginia.
We have seen an American newspaper which had
been sent from this country to friend in ST. Peters
burgh. II was full of holes. Every Russian
official had felt it TO be his duty to cut out para
graph. lie shipped at hazard but snip he must.
Still, be Ind tOlerabe sense Of honesty remaining,
for be did not coniscate the whole sheet which, in
in its iattered and torn condition, finally reached
the gentleman to whom it was directed. The Im-
perial method strikes preferable to the Repub.
lican. VIII Mr.. Postmaster General be good
10 he 10 ~