The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1864-06-01
STATE AND INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS
Gov. Seymour and the Seized Newspaper
Offices.
IF NEWSPAPERS HAVE BEEN SUP
PRESSED WITHOUT THE SANG.
TON OF LAW, THE OFFEND
Frs MUST BE PUN
ISHED.
Inquiries to be Instituted.
PROSECUTIONS TO BE URGED.
The Sheriff and Police to Aid, &c.

STATE OF NEW YoRK, EXECUTIVE
DEPARTMENT, ALBANY, May 20, 1854
To A. Oakley Hall, Esq, District Attorney of the
county of New York
SIR !: | al. advised that on the 9th inst,
the Office of The Juurnat of Commerce and
that of The ". Y. World were entered by
armed uen, the property of the owners seized,
and the premises held by force for several
days. 1t is charged that these acts of vic
lence were done without due legal process,
and without sanction of State or National
laws.
If this be true the offenders must be pun
ished.
In the month Of July last, when New York
was q scene of VIOLENCE, l gave warning that
s'the laws of the State must be enforced, its
peace and order maintained, and the property
of It's citizens protected at every hazard" The
laws were enforced at a fearful cost of blood
and life.
The declaration ! then made was not in
tended merely for that occasion or against any
class of men. 1t is one of an enduring char
acter, tn be asserted at all times and against
all condition of citizens, without faver or dis
~tinction. Unless all are made to bow to the
law, it will be respected by none.
Unless all are made secure in their rights
of person and property, none can be protected.
If the owners of the above named journals
have violated State or National laws. they
must be proceeded against and punished by
those laws. Any action against them outside
of legal procedures is criminal. A. this time
of civil war and disorder, the majesty of the
law must be upheld or society will sink into
anarchy. Our soldiers in the field will battle
in vain for constitutional liberty, if persons
or property. or opinions, are %trampled upon at
home. We must not give up home freedom.
and thus disgrace the American character
xphilo I'M oif,1onc in fho ormv T. pOurin,r ont
their blood TO maintain the National honor
They must not find when they come back that
their personal and Preside rights have been
despoiled.
In addition to the general obligation to en-
force the laws of the land, there are local rea-
sons why they must be upheld in the city Of
New York. If they are not, its and
greatness will be broken down. If this great
center of wealth, business and enterprise is
thrown into disorder and bankruptcy, the Ma
tional. Government will be paralyzed. What
makes New York the heart CT our country 7
Why are its pu sations felt at the cxtreniities
of our land Not through its position alone,
but because Of the world wide belief that
properly is safe within its liz its from waste
by MODS and from spoIiation by Government
Ihe laburers in the workshop, the mine, and
in the field, on this continent and in every
other part of the globe, send to :ts merchants,
iOr sue VI eACIduSeJ tue prOduCLS u tuelF
toll. These merchants are made the trustees
of the wealth OF millions living in every land
because it is believed that in their hands
property is safe under the shield of laws adj
miuistered upoH principles anu according to
known usage. This great confidence has
grown up In the course oil many years by viz
tue Of a pain-taklng, honest performance Of
duty by the business men of your city. In this
they have been aided by the enforcement of
laws based upon the solemnly recorded pledg-
es that "the right of the people to be secure
against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated. and that no one shall be
deprived of liberty o. property without due
pocess of law"
For more than 80 years have we as a people
been building up this universal faith in the
sanctity of our jurisprudence. 1t is this
which carries our commerce upon every ocean
and brings back TO our merchants the wealth
of every eli ne. 1t is now charged that in
utter disregard of the sensitivcness of that
faith, at a moment when the National credit
is undergoing a fearful trial, the organs of
commerce are seized and held in violation Of
constitutional pledges, that this act was done
in a public mart of your great city, and was
thus forced upon the notice Of the commercial
agents of the world, and they were shown in
an offensive way that property is seized by
military force and arbitrary orders.
These things are more hurtful to the nation
al honor and strength than the loss of battles.
The world will confound such acts with the
principles of our Governments, and the folly
and crimes of officials will be looked upon as
the natural result of the spirit of our institu-
tons. Our State and local authorities must
repel this ruinous inference. If the merchants
of New York are not willing to have their
harbor sealed up and their m par
alysed, they must unite in this demand for
the security of persons and property. IF this
is not done, the world will wi hdraw from their
keeping its treasures and its commerce.
History has taught all that official violation
of law in times of civil war and disorder goes
before acts of spoilation and other measures
which destroy the safeguards of IN
1 call upon you to look into the facts con
nected with the seizure of The Journal off
Commerce and of The Ne,o Pork World. If
these acts were illegal, the offenders must be
In making your inquiries and in
prosecuting the parties implicated, you will
call upon the Sheriff of the county and the
heads of the Police Department. fer any need
ed force or assistance; The failure to give
this attention by any official under my control
will be deemed n sufficient cause for his re-
ipoVal. Very respectfully yours, &C.,
HORATIO SEYMOUR. |