The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1864-06-10
The FREEDOM OF The PRESS.

The Suppression Of the IeW York World
and Journal Of G0mmaroa-The Editor
Of The Word to the President Of the
United States.
10 Ills E,ce5cacg, AJrqlam Lincoln, President
Of Tie United .Stafes:
Sir: THAT the King can do no wrong Is
the theory Of a monarchy L IS thc theory Oh
a constitutional republic that It's Chief MagI5-
trate may do wrong. In the former the minis
try is responsible for the Kings acts. In the
latter The President Is responsible for the acts OF
his ministers. Our Consultation admits ,bat
the President may err in providing for a iudS-
ment upon his doings by the people, in regular
elections In providing for his Impeachment,
it admits that ne may be guilty of crimes
In government Of laws, and not Of men,
the most obscure citizen may without indoco-
rum address himself to the Chief Magistrate,
when 20 the Constitution whence you derive
your temporary power and he the guaranty Of
his perpetual rights, he has constantly PAID hs
unquestioniug loyalty, and when to the laws,
which your duty is to care for faithful eNecu-
ton of, he has rendered entire obedience.
II the matter OF his address be that in his
person, property and rights, the Constitution
has been dsregarded and the laws disobeyea if
its appeal TO the principles of justice be no
more earnest than the solicitude Of its regard
for truth, and if the manner Of his address be
no less temperate than firm, lie does not need
courtly phrases to propitiate an attentive hear
INC from magistrate who loves his country, her
/ institutions, and her laws.
In the JToyA of last Wednesday morning was
published a proclamation, purporting to besgn-
ell by your Excelency and countersigned by the
Secretary of State, appointing day of fasting
and prayer, and calling into military service by
volunteering and draft four hundred thousand
citizens between the ages of eighteen and ior-
ty-fgc. That proclamation was a forgery, writ
ten by person who, ever since your departure
from Springfield for Washington in 1861, has
enjoyed private as wei as public opportunities
for learning to counterfeit the peculiarities of
your speech ond style, and whose service for
years as q city editor of the New I ork Times
and upon the New York Tribune acquainted
him with the entire newspaper machinery OF the
city, and enabled him to insert his clever for
gerry into the regular channels by which we re-
ceive news, at a time when competent lnspec-
ton Of its genuineness was impossible, and sus-
pieion of It's authenticity was improbable The
manifold paper resembling in all respects that
upon which we nightly receive our agents news,
and from the Government itself foPders, announce
ments ana prociamatiuns, was left with night
clerk about or o'clock in the morning, after
the departure of every responsible editor, and
was at once passed into the hands Of the prin-
ters, put in type and published.-No newspaper
in the country but would have been deceived
as we wofe
Oar misfortune was compete. Al an early
hour, however. before the business OF the city
had fairly begun, it was discovered that we had
been imposed upon, AM were being made to aP-
pear the instruments ofadeception of tie public.
There was no delay in vindicattng orr charac-
ter Our whole machinery for spreading news
was set in motion instantly to announce that
we had been deceived by 4 forgery-that you
Excelency had issued no proclamation. The
sale Of papers over our counters was stopped
Our bundles to the Scotia bound for Europe that
day were stepped The owners and par7erS