The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-11-26
SPIRIT OF THE REBEL PRESS.

sSs~sS
Affairs in Dixie. Comment Is entirely un-
necessary.
A LECTURE FOR JEFF. DAVIS.
The Constitution Of the Confederate
State extends to the Press the Ggis Of its
projection, and, selecting it out from all
other professions, gives it an honorable
security against even the Congress Of the
Confe0eracy. Coupling it with the free
worship of Almighty God, the Constitution
connects it also with the rights Of the peo-
pie peacably TO assemble and to petition
ces. Its place in the Constitution ID be-
tween the Nox Del and the Vor Pop1h-
subordinate to the one, superior to the 9TH
er. This could not have been mere acci-
dent there must have existed some reason
for this protection and for the immediate
conjunction with religion and popular Pc
tition.
We find this same importance given to
the press in the sixteenth article Of the
Bill Of Rights, reported by Mr.. Wythe, of
the Virginia Convention, to the Federal
Constitution, rs follows: THAT the free
dom of the Press is one Of the greatest bull
warks of liberty. and ought not to be vio-
lated, What sort OF bulwark of liberty
would the press be with detailed editors
the underlings Of an underling? It is to
this degraded position that the President
has deliberately recommended the Con-
gress to reduce the Press. He does not
not say that the army needs their services,
be repealed, and that "a discretion be ves-
ted in the military authorities to detail
the editors whensoever and wheresoever
those authorities may regard them as ''es-
sential TO the public service
Editors, as individuals, deserve no more
consideration from the Congress than
''shoemakers, tanners, blacksiniths, prin-
A. $rnA~ SmsA ovnA HA1r>
graph-operators;" but as the Press, with.
out editors, would be playing Hamlet with
the part of Hamlet omitted, there is some-
thing due the intelligence of the people,
which demands ut the hands of tho Con-
gress that the Press of the country be not
wholly prostratred at the foot Of the Exc
cutive power, and forced to petition for
ditions as the Executive, or his detailing
subordinates, may choose to impose.
Exemption by the law gave an honOra-
BILE position to the Press, secured its inde-
pendence, and left no rod suspended over
its head, but such as the people raised by
emerging from that cesspool Of corruption,
the detail system, would be ansobject of
ofense to The virtuous people of these
States, and the paper he conducted cease
TO be an organ or public opinion, and be-
come the miserable conduct to those to
whose favor he owed his exemption from
the ranks.
No! for Gods sake put US in the army,
the trenches, anywhere; but save us from
the degraded position of detailed ed
itOr.
Did the President, when he recommend
ed this degr edation to the Press of his coun.
try, know that neither telegraph-operators,
makers, tanners, black smiths nor millers,
were exempt by law, and that his recon-
mendation pointed only at professors,
teachers: physicians, and the Press ofthe
The exemptions by the law Of February
II, 1864, are: Ministers of religion at the
time OF the passage Of the act ; superinten-
dents and physicians Of asylums; one ed
itor for each newspaper, and employees
certified on oath to be indispensably neces-
sary public printers of Confederate and
Stale Governments, and such journeymen
printers certified on oath to be indispensa-
BILE; skilled apothecaries, OF date October
10, 1852; physicians over thirty years Of
age and Of seven years practice; presi-
dents and teachers of colleges, engaged as
such two years before the passage Of the
law overseers or agricultnr;sts Of fifteen
negroes; presidents, &C., Of railroads. and
mail contractors.
These are all the ssclasses'' exempt by
law. There il no exemption in the law for
UAA0
mines, engineers, shoemakers, tanners
blacksmiths and mi.lers,' and II any OF
these classes have been exempted, it 10 the
fault not OF the law, but Of its administra-
tion. The law also gives discretionary
power to the President, under the "public
necessity" clause, to make additional ex-
empti0ns, but is 1t necessary to destroy the
Press Of the country to repair the evil con-
sequences that may have arisen from NAL
madinistration, rather than defective legis.
lation.
There can be no frauds where exemption
II granted by law, but when the detail sys-
tom or the "public necessity" clause issub-
species Of corruption. The widest latitude
Of exemption by law does less injury than
the closest system of detail. The one is
open TO the inspection of every official and
OF every citizen; the other is known only
to the detailed man and to the officer. -
There can be no fraud in the former; there
has been much in the latter. Had the Pres
don all details and substitute q wider ex.
emption, he would have suggested meas
ure for the suppression Of fraud and COR
ruption.
For sixty years the Richmond Enquirer
has existed as newspaper, free, unbought,
unpurchasable, and never shall exist 9TH
erwise with our consent. The support we
have heretofore given the President and
the cause has been conscientious and free /;
no other can we ever give. If the Congress
considers that the bone and muscle of the
press are worth moro than its brains to the
country, send MS all to the ranks, there we
may do some service to the country. but as
detailed editors we may become the tools,
the minions OF power, but we should cease
TO be the agencies of expression for free
people.
The press is notla s'class," it is an insti-
tuition, as such recognized by enlightened
opinion all ever the world, and guarded, as
We have shown. by the power Of the Con-
stitution. Neither shoemaking, nor tan
ming, nor blacksmithing, nor milling, nor
any Of the Glasses" with which the Fxesi-