Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-02-05
AN OFFICIAL ADMoNITIoN AND REPLY.

Our attention has been called to an article which
appeared in the Morning Chronicle of this. city on
Friday last being an elaborate complaint supposed
to proceed from official source that the National
Intelgencer does not give to the constituted au-
thorities the value of that steady, hearty, and
unchallenging support which they undoubtedly
deserve"
As our ardent young contemporary was esta7-
blished for the express purpose of giving to the
Administration "steady, hearty, and unchalleng-
ing support" and as its columns have daily show
ed that to the best Of its ability it has fulfilled
the sole end of its being we ought undoubtedly
to feel highly fattered by its willingness to share
with the honors of the function it 50 faithfully
performs.
But in fact, at no period Of our editorial life,
even when our own party was in power, have We
ever been able to reconcile it either with our prn-
cipes or our tastes to assume the responsibilities
of official journalists, pledged to maintain the
thesis that all which any Administration may do
or omit to do is "wsest, virtuousest, discreetest,
best" If the motto pro rege saepe, pro patrio
semper, was held in a monarchy to be good enough
proof Of fidelity to the constituted" sovereign,
we have supposed that, as men are, the same rule
Of duty, conscientiously followed, would lead Us
generally to give the honor due to the Chief Ms
gistrate of the Republic. Conscious Of the fall-
bility of our own judgments, we have supposed
that Presidents well as Kings are liable to error,
and have therefore left to others the privilege Of
acting on the assumption that the incumbents Of
place have !" right divine to govern wrong"
Itwould afford us great pleasure if we could all
ways give to the Administration, in its CHOICE of men
and measures for the conduct of the war, that i'm
plicit and unquestionirg approval which the Morn
ing Chronicle prescribes to itself as duty. But,
in fact, under former Administrations, we have
never sought to initiate the assduity Of those who
"Renege, affirm, and turn their hacyon beaks
With every gale and vary OF their masters"
And we respectfully submit that we cannot now res
sonaby be expected to practise with regularity and
precision virtue which the great mass of our un-
official contemporaries find to be impossible. II
we avoid, on the one hand, the naughty contemp-
tuous, and dotatorial tone which the Presidents
most accepted |" friends" deem il proper to hold
towards the CONSTITUTED authorities" and shuu,
on the other, tho systematic faut6nding which,
with without reason, some of his embittered OPP
ponents direct against every department Of the
Government we may draw presumption in favor
of the moderation which has dictated our occasional
animadversions. So far as we have observed, there
are only two papers in the whole land which never
find any thing in any department Of the Govern
mept to regret or condemn. One is the Morning
Chronicle in this city, and the other is the Phils-
delphia Press. II We cannot always share the MAJ
mere de voir Of these two singularly unanimous
journals, always unanimous with the Administers
ton, and therefore always unanimous with each :
other) we hope we shall at least never subject our
selves to the suspicion Of being so harsh aud CEN
serious in our judgments as the New York Tribune
or its namesake in Chicago, to which We elsewhere
make allusion.
AS to the particular points on which our official
contemporary POUNDS its recent complaints We have
no defence 10 make, for none is necessary We
have never sought TO "creatc the impression that
Gen. Burnside was unfit to act ~ the successor q