Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-01-19
a syuPTOM DANGEROUS TO Re
pTRIECAN FREEDOM.

a bill has been acfuauy mIO0do0u mev ~ SN1
tolerate Congress at Richmond, by some enemy
of free discussion, for the purpose Of establish
inc an intolerable and iniudieious surveillance
over the press. The provisions of the BILL as
stated BY a Richmond contemporary, make it an
ofense, punishable by fine or Imprisonment, for
any newspaper to publish information Of the
number. disposition OF movements of any of the
forces Of the army or navy or the cargo or AZ
mament Of any vessel in the naval service OF
the description of any battery, ratification or
military iavenfion or any signal or flag em-
ployed or adopted by the commanding officer OF
any post.
We must r~eiterate what we have before said Of
this scheme, thatit is SO palpably unnecessary
and unconstitutional, dangerous and despotic,
that we cannot believe for a moment that Con-
gress viii pass It, or the President sanction it If
passed. The ostensible object sought to be ac-
eompIshed upon the face of the bill is not only
unobieetionable, but laudable; but the remedy is
entirely out of the question, its tendency being
to set a precedent of legislative assumption un-
equaIled in the history Of the country since the
passage Of the infamous Sedition Laws Of 1893
under the administration of the elder ADAMS.
We look upon 1t as a symptom dangerous to re-
publican liberty, and as such shall strike at its
root before it commences to grow ingeneral favor
through the nourishmeut it may receive from an
unsuspectng popular appreciation.
Il is the indirect effect, if it is not the con
cssled purpose Of this measure, to restrain the
free expression Of journalistic opinion upon
the conduct Of the war, inasmuch as the idea
of criticism involves the necessity very frequent
II OF aIudingto the movements of an army, as
in the case of the campaign in Missouri and
western Virginia. In such a light we must re-
gard the movement as an attempt to abrdge
freedom Of opinion and Of the press, under the
same speeious apology Of selfpreseTvation which
dictates the vile censorship over newspapers in
France and Austria, and which was urged to
justify the suspension Of the writ of hateas cor
pas and the indiscrminate incarceration Of mere
political offenders throughout tho dOuiniOns OF
ABRAHAM LnSCoLS.
Congress, We hold, has no power to legislate
upon this subject whatever. It is certainly not
conferred by any clause in the national Cousti-
tuition, and the constructive powers so often
discussed under the old government as coming
under the ever-decepdve and dangerous phrase
Of promoting the general welfare, were hap
PLY repudiated by The jealous advocates of
rights who framed the new Magma
Chqrta of our Liberties at Montgomery last
spring. How much more strictly true now than
is the principle sought to be conveyed in
that article of the Constitution which alleges
that the powers not delegated to the Confed-
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, OF to the people The States
certainly possess power to impose penalties upon
the H%ceuti0us abuses Of free speech, but Con-
gress does not Otherwise It would follow that
instead of being restricted by any positive rule
down BY their charter, the mere discretion Of
Legislators discretion, it may be, governed by
ignorance, private ambition and the views Of
auetuatng faetions-win justify any measure
they are pleased to sanction with their votes
that, instead Of bong bound by a Constitution,
hey may claim the omnipOtence Of g British
Parliament; that all the reserved powers Of the
or Of the States viii be followed up at
their pleasure by that defiant and unrestricted
in a word, that the Constitution
Itself, 50 far as respects a limitation of powers, is
BY that doctrine completely ~annihilated, and
hose checks and baisnees . removed which {
IRE designed to restrain an inordinate appetite
0 legislate upon Legitimate subjects. I
It is another thing entirely TO decide upon the J
'roPrety Of public journals criticisiug the 3
means Of prosecuting the war, but the right to I
so is undoubted There has been times since d
be commencement Of this conflict, and they viii
epeat themselves many times more before ii is
when " the numbers, disposition and ;
movements Of our forces ought TO be made !;
to the people, by way of exposing facts, !
q most cases known to the enemy, and tending :
0 show where rests the responsibility for imbe-
ility, negligence and disaster. The -administra- c
wraptu up in the army operations on the t
may see fit to neglect the war in Mis- e
ouri, and allow a gallant people to 60 on in a {
fruitless unless aided, and yet the n
ress, as the potent voice Of the people, be for il
idden to mention the mere retreat OF General 9
RICE to Springfield, or to proclaim the necessi =
z Of his having reinforcemonts. Il
Such a censorship can never find encourage 6
tent with the intelligent body of men at Rich Y
lond, who have been sent there by the people
aid in carrying on the war. The services rem
the southern eanse by the press Of the o.
onfederate States are 100 manifest not to com r
and the gratitude and appreciation Of all true Y
IT. the potent power which spoke a,
is revolution into existence, and thus, in re- n
citing the majestic voice Of the people, expe- a,
ted the progress Of the war in a manner al il
ost ineredulous to the dsspotisms Of the Old a,
-orld, where freedom of opinion and Of the M;
ess is unknown. We're it not for a free news 81
per press, it is not going too far TO say that the
Ell Of the Washington brant would to-day be
on the neck Of the South, bleeding aud strug- er
ng amid the iron letters with which she would SO
bound. la
lar as toe members Of the press are con la
med, in this matter, none will fail to resist tn
tn potent argument the covert assault that W
being made upon their liberties in the secret tv
lneis Of the Richmond Congress, by some tv
known viper whom they have nurtured into
life. Well may our suspicious be -
'used and our apprehension heightened, in !,
w Of the symptoms we perceive, until we ~
Ich the discrimination Of WEBSTER, the de-
of the old Constitution, which induced =
n to exelaim: The more I perceive a dispo-
ion to check the freedom Of inquiry by ex-
and uncOnstitutional pretenses, he re
shall ! asset and he Greer The manner in 81
ih 7 shall eI5reise H. ts
CANADIANS PREPARiSG-The Niagara Her fl
is appraised, from trustworthy sources, that
military company has been organized at
c W, and that an application has been Sc
H. "a