Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-05-30
The Freedom OF tins Press--The CIr-
cumstances Attending the Suppress
sion OF the New York Journal of
Commerce and The World.

CosntmefCt 0NQ Ane WOrIO.
The following facts in reference to the sup
preston of the New York Journal OF Commerce
and World, We regard of sufficient Importance to
reproduce at length. The former paper thus re
counts the circumstances attending the affair
During the day on Wednesday the editors of
this paper had been diligently engaged in aiding
General Dix in tracing the authorship Of the
forged proclamation, having, in conjunction with
the World, offered a reward Of $500 for his de-
lection, and in company with Mr.. Marble, of the
World having placed in the hands of the general
such facts as have subsequently enabled the au-
thorities to arrest the guilty party. In the eve.
ming at about nine O'Clock, our office was occu.
pied by a military force, and officers we're dis
patched to various parts of the city and Brook.
lyn with brief and peremptory orders to arrest the
editors and convey them to Fort Lafayette by
steamer, which was waiting to receive them at
the battery.
These orders came from the President, and no
discretion was allowed to General DIX. We
have the best reason TO know that the general
himself was earnestly opposed to the proceeding,
and exerted himself strenuously TO induce a sus-
pension of the arbitrary act. The highest praise
is due to General Dix for the course he pursued
in the matter, and we have not the slightest
doubt that the correspondence between him and
the War Department, If il ever sees the light,
will exhibit him 10 the character of a faithful de-
fender Of the rights of the person and press in
America.
Two of the editors of the Journal were arrest
ed. One of them, Mr.. Hallock, was in the Office
at the time OF the seizure. Mr. Primo, who had
left but a few moments before and gone up town,
heard, by mere accident, of the orders, and at
once finding one OF Gen. Dix's staff. who was
charged with their execution, surrendered him
self and was by him conveyed TO headquarters.
He was there received with great courtesy by Gen.
Dix. who informed him that the order for his ar
rest had been suspended, but that the order TO
hold the newspapers remained in force, and he
could not be permitted to enter the office Mr.
Stone having heard at his residence in BROOKLYN
that the Office was occupied by the military, at
once proceeded to New York to find his asso
ciates and ascertain the nature OF the difficulty.
and learning of their arrest he spent the night in
endeayoring TO find the officers having them in
Charge search which was unsuccessful until
about three O'Clock. Meantime the officers had
visited his house, and informed Mrs. Stone that
they were seeking him to convey to Fort Lafay-
cite, and she was left through the night in the
deepest anxiety as to his fate. Mr.. Hallock was
very kindly allowed to arrange some Office mat
tiers of Importance, and to write "A note to his
family, who we're of course thrown into the
greatest distress by it's receipt. He was then con
Veyed in a carriage to the Battery, where the
conntermsnding order found him, and he was re
leased. The editorial Reunion was, after much
searching and anxiety, finally effected at the of
tee Of the Associated Press. at 3 o'clock in the
morning.
From nine o'clock on Wednesday night till
eleven O'Clock on Saturday morning our Office
was held by a detachment of soldiers, and the
people of this city had an excellent opportunity
of seeing that strange sight to American ewes,
bayonets crossed at the door of a newspaper es-
Enlistment.
During this time we made no representation or
application of any kind to the United States au-
thOrities. We contented ourselves with an oc-
casional inquiry at headquarters whether any
new orders were received. receiving a negative
reply until Saturday. when an order was given
us requiring the Captain in charge to hand over
the office OF the journal of Commerce to 'the
bearer"
We have thus briefly recited the history of the
suspension of the Journal of Commerce and the
arrest OF its editors.
We now turn for a moment to the origin of the
fraud which was perpetrated on US.
The forger has been arrested, and has made
his confession. Our article for Thursday morn-
ing pointed to the man.
Mr.. Joseph Howard, the guilty individual. was
educated to the newspaper business on the New
York Times, and is familiarly known as How
ard Of the Times" He was a thorough news
paper man, familiar with all the facts necessary
to accomplish his purpose. He was a favorite
contributor to the Independent, President of the
First Republican Association in Brooklyn, long
"A member of the Rev-Mr RecchoI's church,
member of the Republican Committee of Kings
county, and employed lately in a subordinate
position on the Eagle. He is well known in
radical circles, the intimate associate of the
most eminent OF their politicians. and it is a
singular circumstance, which we have thought it
our duty to lay before the authorities, that on
Thursday last he stated to one of our reporters
that he had been drinking champagne all the
previous night with one of the most prominent
Republican politicians, who is known to be a
heavy stock operator. We do not make this
curious catalogue. 1t is a remarkable oncatena-
ton OF facts. and we give it as it stands.
This ingenious scamp, for stock operations,
committed the forgery and entIapped the news
papers.
We entertain no feelings of a~nimosity toward
the young man. He has done US a great, in some
respects an irreparable injury. We understand
that his father and Rev. Mr.. Beecher, and other
prominent gentlemen OF the radical party, have
waited on General Dix with earnest representa-
tons in his favor, stating that he was misled by
pecuniarv misiortunes, or else that he was a weak
tool in the hands of willy men, and that his pun
ishment ought TO be light and his release speedy.
Possibly these representations will be successful,
and il the immense damage done by government
to the innocent, the family suffering inflicted. and
the pecuniary loss caused to US and our cOntem-
porary, should all be credited to the account of
the guilty young man. it might be made to APP
pear that the punishment was already nearly ade-
quate. But We have nothing to do with the
punishment of the guilty, leaving him to bis po-
litical friends who have influence at Washington.
Our present concern relates only to the treat
ment of the innocent.
We were caught. as we're others-not the New
York World alone, but other papers, who by pure
accident, and nothing else, were enabled to dis
cover the fraud in time to suppress immense
editions already printed, destroy stereotype pages
containing the forgery, and save their reputa-
tons. We suffered.
They would not have been punished as We were
had they published it. No one dreams that if the
radical newspapers had been caught. the Admin
i~stration would have pursued the course they
took. 1t was one of the accidents of the morn
ing, that while only a few hundred copies of the
Herald were sent out containing it, two conserya-
tive papers issued it in a large part of their edi-
tons. Then arose the storm of political hatred
and partisan animosity, and the men at WASH
ington went mad.
To the disgrace of American history, al order
was instantly issued for cur suspension and in
generation in Fort Lafayette. The fullest par
ticulars Of the fraud, as full as the public have
to-day, excepting only the name of the forger,
were laid before the administration bp telegraph.
To the disgrace of republican institutions, the
order was reiterated in the face of those facts.
The telegraph wires groaned with dispatches
from "loyal leaguers. friends of Howard of the
Times" members of Republican committees
and anti slavery churches. begging the President
to suppress the copperbead newspapers in New
York. For three days this disgraceiul state of
things continued, and the sun shOne all the