Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1863-02-10

TINY prefer party, they will make the conspiracy
a success. Which will they do?
The Freedom of Speech and of the Press
Whatever may be the constitutional right of
citizens of The Republic in time Of war to speak
their full minds on oil subjects tho abridsing
this right by arresting those who exercise it,
without process and without any legal com
plant sgainst them, is, We believe as general
Thing, unwiae, lnjurng the cause it was inten
dcd to serve and multiplying the evil 1t was
employed to lessen. No single thing tho Gov
ernment has done since The war commenced, has
contributed more to the recent Democratic til
u mpbs in the central and Western States, than
this. The men who have been arrested, it s1i-
fered to 70 at large, or tho papers that have
been suppressed, il allowed to have continued
their publications, would have wrought lees
mischief than thesc arrested persons and their
friends have DONE by proclaiming themselves
tho victims Of tyranny and the martyrs Of ice
speech Persecution, or what seems or eau be
made to appear as persecution, is most potent
fundamentally in tuilding up the cause 1t Is
employed to overthrow, aud strengthens the
very principles it assais. This true under any
form of Government, but more especially It Is
true under d 5mocratlc institutions.
We do not mean by this to say that great
deal Of harm is not done by an unbrlcI ed press
and that if it could sometimes bo justly, and To-
galy, aud wisely restricted in ITS work Of evil,
much good would not ensue. Bat the question
IL, how to do it wisely. But this question IS SO
difficult, and so s,dom solved for the public IN
tercst, that tn, experiment Of ryiug IL has
usually proved hazardous-the gun discharged at
the evil has recjiled aud done more execution at
the breech than at the muzzle. Too people OF
this country have always been educated in the
greatest freedom Of speech, and they have proht'
ed by this education 80 far as to practice Il.
cense that is in many instances disreputAble
But the corrective Tor this evil does
not lie in force, unless that force is applied BY
popular opinion
We are aware that the Administration has I
rad most difficult and delicate task to perform |
n determining the best mothod Of treating The .
lisoyal citizens Of the loyal States; and among
amid and honest and intelligent men, the
igor it has employed, and the power 1t has as
,umei in arresting persons for alleged dlSloJai
ty, have not created any prejudice against IT,
Such persons, if not approving the course pur-
sued, have considered that it was prompted by
a desire to aid the cause in which we were all
embarked and have still remained steadiast in
the support Of the Government. But set OF
disIoyal men, cunning and interruptions poll
tclans and secretly active emmissaries aud allies
OF Jeil Davis, have dextrousy turned these ar
rests 10 good account in creating and strengthen
ing political opposition to the Administration,
which they hope now to make useful in GRIP
plag the Government and compelling a surren-
der to the Southern traitors. And We believe
if President Lincoln should tomorrow an
nounce that no more persons either North or
South, except within the lines Of our armies,
should hereafter b, arrested, except, as heroto-
Tore upon accusation Of crime, he would take
from these Northern traitors their most potent
weapon, which they now employ to aid jeff
DAVIS.
Let us not be understood as at all apologiziug
for, or iustifying any person or paper working
against the government, or intimaung that they
have in any case received q punishment greater
than their deserts We are only discussing the
question in the light Of policy and eGpedicncy
and SO Judging of them We cannot help believing
that the Administration has made very serious
mistake in this matter. 10 10 sure, we are
aware that an executive, possibly little more
firm, energetic, aud strong wiled than Presi-
dent Lincoln, might have so popularized him
scf and his Administration, and 30 consolidated
the loyal sentiment oil the people, and 50 ap-
pealed, by commanding words and acts, to the
common sense and patriotism Of men OF all par.
ties as to have made himself leader and for the
time being, by tho magnetism of an imperial
genius and will, have drawn the people almost
as ono man, to his support, leaving the few dis
contentcd sympathilers with treason, whether
in Fort Lafayette or elsewhere, with no ears to
listen to their sorrows but, unfortunately for
the success of our conil,t with treason, it not
for the safeguards OF free speech, the excel emit
man who occupies the White House Is not such
President, And not being Jove, it would
have been much wiser nos to have attempted to
hurl his thunderbolts