Daily national Democrat., 1861-09-08
National lfmocrat.
From the New York Ledger
.a Everett on Secession Newspa-
pers in the North.

:. IA an old provero that the laws are 81
Nu,idst arms. The laws are, for the most
Ien. made for a state of peace, excepting
PA.% which refer to war, and the manner OF
tnOSS tnOSucting it. When state of war arises,
cUnr epa rcommunity necessarily undergoes great,
'n WI sometimes rapid change; the quiet pur-
1;,s Of society are, to some extent, checked,
su,i nJ in the immediate vicinity Of the seat OF
naT "ar suspended, and with them the laws,
Which regulate those pursuits, must for the
,;me give way to the stern necessities of the
asw " state of things. 1t should however be,
no S Il ;s the great effort of an enlightened
Government in civilized countries to keep
,h;s disturbance of the peaceful order OF
things within the narrow est limits; aud allow
.,a snpremacy of the law to be interfered
with BY military authority as little as posi-,
h,s It is in particular cardinal maxim OF
frse governments, that the military COM
monder should be subordinate to the civil
magistrate. There are undoubtedly cases,
when war exists, in which the public safety
absolutely requires that the operation of The
laws and the authority of the civil magistrate
hVuld yield to the paramount considerations
dhich require summary measures. The
ratriotic magistrate, of whatever rank, must
IN such cases exert that moral courage-quite
equal to the courage required for the risks of
the field-whch is needed for the discharge
Of the unpopular duty of suspendng the laws.
He must not shrink before the reproaches
which his conduct is sure to bring upon him
from the tmid, the perverse, and the diaffec
ted. Choking their disloyalty under assumed
zeal for constitutional principles. He must
take the risk even of subsequent disavowal j.;
for moor humanity is very prone to be wise
ar,or the event and brave after the danger.
nnt hs will con6ne his interference with the
,ecular march of law to the narrowest limits
and fewest occasions, and be the first to well
come the restoration of it's authority.
These are the general maxms which apply
TO the conflict of civil and military authority,
and the practical difficulty will naturally be.
not in their general soundness, but in their
application to particular cases This difficult
ty will, Of course, be much greater IN the
commencement of a state of war, than after 1t
hos lasted some time, and the community has
been obliged to conform itself to the exigen-
cies of the contest At the present time,
those citizens in some OF the Border States
who sympathize with the Confederates, think
IL hard that they cannot be at peace and at
war In the Union and out Of it, at the same
time. They claim the protection of the Con-
ettuton as in time of profound peace and
render secret and, when circumstances admit,
open aid to those arrayed in arms against
Them They assault the forces moving to the
defense of the Capital, they convey supplies
and arms to the enemy their recruit his
ranks openly and by stealth, and to effect
these objects they sometimes avail themselves
of official position and authority derived from
the Government which they assail and
when that Government in selfdefense, inter-
feres TO arrest these reasonable movements
aud Vaccinations, they clamor that the liber
ties Of the citizen are invaded.
There are presses for the most part in the
Border States, though some of them nre
found in cities more remote from the scene OF
action. which are daily pleading the cause of
the enemy, misrepresenting and riiIying the
Government of the United States, eXagger-
ating every article of untavorable intelll-
gence, aud exerting themselves TO the utmost
to disheartep the friends ard defenders Of the
Constitution and the Union. But such is the
all but superstitious devotion of the people to
the liberty of the press, that these perncous
journals have, with the exception of a single
instance in st. Louis, never been interfcred
%iih. 1t seems to have been thought better
by those in authority to tolerate the mischief
OF these uHpatriotie presses, than to elevate
them to greater Importance by prosecution or
80 encroach in the slightest degree upon THAI
freedom Of public discussion which In ordl-
nary times is justly regarded as one OF the
greatest safeguards Of liberty. But 3" as pre-
poIeronS TO sdcrifce the end to the means. W
should in this respect learn wisdom from the
enemies Of the Union While we regard as
unbeconing our Christian civilization that re-
sort TO Lynch law, by which every express
al of pt,ippu ada tp the rppnlnr
ment is suppressed in the seeding States we
ought to remember that in tolerating l.
traitorous press among ourselves we practice
a liberality which awakens no gratitude at
home, and is never reel procated by the oppos
ing. party. 1t is, in fact an absurdity in
terms, under the venerable name of the liber-
t. of the press, to permit the systematic and
lcentious abuse of n Government which is
:asked to the utmost IN defending the country
from general disintegratiOn and political
chaos The Governor Of Malta was once
eensured in Parliament for some alleged Sc
verify toward the editor of journal in that
island, and the liberty of the press was de-
clared to be in danger The Duke of Well
lngcn said he was as friendly as any body to
the liberty Of the press in London, but a free
press in the Island Of Malta was as much out
OF place as it would be on the quarter deck of
q man of-war. We suppose the most enthu-
slastic champion of the liberty of the press
would hardly think it right to publish a our
ral within the walls of Fort McH Henry. in
which the officers of that garrison should be
daily advised to desert and the men be con-
stantly exhorted to mutiny; and whose col
umns should be filled with persistent abuse of
the Government and all engaged in its de-
fense. Why should journals of that descrip-
tlon be allowed to diffuse their poison be-
meath its walls amidst the eXcitable popula-
ton of large city?
So too with reference to the freedom of
speech in debate, one of the vital conditions
'ot republican liberty. The late session in
congress has witnessed magnanimity on the
part of the majority in both Houses of truly
romantic cast. The acts and the motives Of
ahe Government. in the suppression of the
isnlsurrection admitted by one of its most
distinguished chiefs to proceed mainly from
me disappointment of leading aspirants to
ohlce,) have been assailed from day to day
with viruence and a persistence, which
would be harmless in time of peace, but
which III time Of war cen have no other eff
leet upon the popular mind than to perplex
ana dishearten those who are stalking life and
iortune IN the cause Of the country. This
generosity excites no gratitude on the part of
t H'ose towards whom it is practiced; and so
-" rom being recprocated, the member of
p: t,:e confederate Congress at Montgomery or
N'chmond who should assal the conduct or
pohcy of that body, as the Government of
the United States has been assailed by the
sympathizers with Secession at Washington,
would not reach his hotel in safety. He
would awipr f,or, tha pavt lnmp most