St. Mary's beacon., 1863-04-02
Ncftirg q Newspapers.

This habit. which Of l..e seems 10 hve
grown fixed che with the r'orulaee I'D
soldiery Ct the North. dssrrsrs the setef-
est rerro'ation # the American r~orle
TIL right TO frced~m Of spe.ch and - The
press is among the guarsnt.es aroani
which the Constitution ,Lress safeguard.
and the 'rospasscr upon this right iav.des
.ise very threshold ef An, ';can liberty.
inatei. popular rights al r'rL,sr snc-
fraec are SO intimately Unidentified with free
speech 4nd free press. that an inncya-
item upon the ono il blow s,suck directly
OF the hear Of the other. II England.
the candidate fur Parliamentary bonors
is neither limited nor restrict ID in the
scope OF his debate, nor are newspapers
sharded over tes the tcndnr racrcies Of a
mob. for the EXPRESSION Of an llenest differ
erenee rf opinion viii ID. policy IF the
Ministry. Daring Tie Grst American
revolution. it was common for English
ststesner and for the English press to
.snaihen,aiize The fellies Of Lord North,
and to ridicule, even, the stupidity of tie
King. Yet. who in England dared 10
arrest the one or suppress The other +? Our
GeSernn,ent, re have been told. is based
upon a more enlarged and liberal theory
than ereu that Of England, and our people
have been characterized as ,ae most intel
ligent md enlightened race known t. civil
lzation.. Whar, then. has reduced US 10
this shameful and degraded position? it
cannot be war. tnr Just and holy war
such. We are assured. is the character Of
this neither degenerate. nor d.moraliacs
a rtoTie The "rehcls," wi.n on the cou-
trary. we are told. are engaged in thu most
wicked Of srfcs. hav" not even m"bbcd a
sir gle news pspcr. What. shHn. has en-
gerdcrcd this dctestahle habit nj the
North? Can i he that Government nffi
ciais. or those high in Government favor.
comfy, ST or Sanction II Or IS Il tha.
Seward an1 GrC"'r hav" cr.Iawed the
North tv he incu!ca.iou or their l.isEnr-
'sw hcresics : Cd
But, it matters ~. from what source
s2rang tho evil. there is q sovereign RENE
dy for it. The Constitution provides
means for the protection Of the citizen.
in his right Of property ard speech, and
Mr. Lincoln is invested with the means TO
afford this protection. It ia his solemn
arl swsrn duty TO respect and obey every
syllable ard letter NJ that Constitution
aud it becomes deubly his duty 10 enforce
it's provisions. when the plainly guarsn-
teed rights Of the citizen are assailei In
many instances. bis own soIiiery. com
lnandtd by bis "wn appointees. are the in
strurnents BY which private rights arc in
vaded; and, until be shall MAKE an effort.
at least, 10 bring these ofF"ndrrs to n
reckoning. he fails 10 conform 70 the SOL
eun saiL he has taken, ana is officially
responsible for the wrongs that are ce,n
nIitted. MIR. Lincoln cannrt say. that h..
has not the power to remedy these wrongs.
for neither the people nor history will
believe him. He has ever at hand atuu-
dant means for the arrest Of such as NAV
question his political orthodoxy. and the
same means would suffice 10 bring these
violators Of the law under the pur,icw Ct
The courts. Until he shall exhaust these
means. or give some evidence, at least, of
lis disspproba,ion Of these acts Of bis
pariizans. be no. only fails to do his
duty. but becomes an ahe,tor and an ae-
complete in these anar, HAL proceedings
His duty in the premises is simple aud
plain one. and. SO long as be fails to per.
form it, the mantle of responsibility must
still rest upon his shoulders.