Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1862-03-31
THE CEHsORsnlP OF THE PRESS
The investigation Of the Committee

The investigation Of the commune
appointed to inquire into the Iste Gov
eminent Censorship Of the Press. re-
veaIs somo vilIainous outrsges in the
management of the affairs Of State at
Washington. That portion Of the Con-
.titution which accords almost unlimited
freedom to the Press, has been trampIed
mon and abused in the most hag't'ous
manner. We take it that no loyal
paper ever has or ever will object to
: Withholding from its columns such news
a, would. should it fall into tie hands OF
the enemy, in any way clog or weaken
our military operations. We can hardly
call the power which prohibits such
proceeding, = censorship. But at Wash
iugtou, all kinds of dispatches have been
suppressed. Both Cameron and Seward
have shown themselves most unscruPu-
lous knaves in this matter. They have
assumed such powers as the Const'tu'
ticn gives no living man, and with ao
effrontery that would vie with Jeff DAVIS
himself or any other traitor, who main
tain that they have the right to 90 80.
The people think differently, and Con-
gress has put it's seal Of condemnat'o"
on the act. For while this censorship
was in the hands Of the War Depart
ment. Newspapers generally we're re-
st,;cted in the most villainous manner,
but to gain an idea of the favorltlsm
shown TO certain parties, we give the
following:
"WAa DEPARTMENT. Oct. 5, 1861.
any DEAR SIX 1T is my wish that
yon neither suppress nor alter the te'c-
crams of MIR. Samuel Wilkeson. Please
send them as they are written and
signed by him. Respectfully
"SIMoN CAMERON.
NM. THAYER."
The reason for this favoritism 10 obvl.
Gus aud need not be stated. But Sew
ard soon found out that the Tribune
was being favored, and possessing no
such love or fear for Greeley as did
Cameron, he has the censorship trans
ferred to the State Department. The
change was not for the better. The
same reckless disregard for the inallen.
able rights of the Press were disregard
cd. Nothing was allowed to pass over
the wires that criticised the acts OF the
Administration 10 any degree. The
Gar Of Russia could not have pursued
o more dcspotic course. 1t is repug-
nant to the sense of every true Amerl-
can, and stencil 10 the nostrls of the
friends OF the Constitution. Tie Cabi-
net officers revealed their State secrets
to their friends, that money might be
fceced from the people. Favorites
made tens Of thousands Of dollars out Of
the rise in stocks incident upon the set
Element of the Trent affair. The Cabi-
net decided not to send the news over
the wires until the correspondence had
been published, bet some Of them al
lowed their friends to know what was
going on, and to have the uso Of the
wires to communicate with parties in
New York who dealt in stocks.
Such revelations as the Congressional
Committee have brought to light are
enough to curse any Cabinet. Those
who have been guilty Of these outrages
should meet the fate Of all traitors. Let
the people look to their rights. II these
scoundrels in high places can take one
unconstitutional step with impunity,
there is no telling where the mischief
will end.
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