The New York herald., 1865-05-07

SUNDAY. MAI Z, 1855.
Tn WAona WAY 10 .NAu HurozY-Gens-
ral Newton, who h in command Of the military
department. Of Key West b undoubtedly very
brave and competent soldier, - indeed he has
proved himself In his long connection with tho
Army Of the Potomac but hs appears to have
. curious idea concerning ths publication Of
war news. which makes . part Of the history
Of these stirring times, II W can judge
| from certain recent orders Of his, and
among them ono Affecting our naval CORES
pondsnt ct Key West, reliable gentleman, who
has never, under any circumstances, trans
csnded the rules s3 down by the department,
nor forwarded any news which could be deemed
oontraband. but simply followed the example
Of Mr.. Stanton himself who issues dispatches
for publication, reoounting defeats - well e.
victories; telling the plain truth, whether
agreeable to the public ear or not Some
time ago General Newton undertook an ex-
pediton, In conjunction with the naval
forces, to St. Marks, which proved fasoo.
At that time two officers Of General New
toms staR waited upon our correspondent
and informed him that he must send In for
publication an account Of tho afbhir such a.
they furnished him making victory out Of
what was actually defeat-or hs would
be- ordered out Of tho department Our
correspondent replied that his duty was to fur
nish the NEW YoRx HERAID with the facts
Of the news, such a. they were, and that II
he was to be ordered out Of the department by
the general commanding for telling the truth,
he would likewise be ordered out Of It. and
very promptly too, by the HzRALD, II he mis-
stated the facts.
General Newton evidently knows very little
about making history, for he desires to estab-
lish censorship over the communications Of
newspaper correspondents to the extent that
whatever he may have accomplished, or wishes
to be regarded as having accomplished a. .
victory, may be recorded; but that his failures
must be suppressed. In this spirit he issued an
order to the effect that no person in bis district
will be permitted to send for publication any
article upon military operations without per
mission from himself This order would be
very good If it related 10 contraband news, or
II any such news had been sent but 1t is well
known that the War Department publishes
news relative to battles whether they are sue
cesses or defeats.
Our correspondent who, be It remembered,
is not attached to the military service, but to
the naval had on this occasion only TO decide
whether he was to obey the orders from the
general commanding the Department Of Florida
or the general commanding the department of
the HERALD, and he chose accordingly. Thus
much we have to say on our own part concern
ing General Newton. For the rest we leave
him to the care of Lieutenant General Grant
and the War Department.
RAISING MONEY FROM PoIIcEAEN.-We see
that occasionally subscription lists are sent
to the police station houses. The police.
man has hard life OF it at best They
are nearly all poor men-many with large
families to support They are compelled to
dress well, wear an expensive uniform, and
there are but few Of them who do not find it
difficult to make the two ends Of the month
meet. It is not the dollar asked for in this
or that particular case, but the fact that in
nearly every public contribution solicited
during the last few years similar call has
been made on the police force. As the foroe Is
numerically large tho temptation to raise
money in this way is great. There Is, however,
still more serious objection. These applica-
tons interfere with the discipline of the force.
No matter how delcately the appeal may be
made, the men imagine 1t sort Of moral COM
pulsion. The Commissioners are compelled to
keep up the discipline of the force by strict
system Of watchfulness over the men and con-
slant infiction Of fines and punishments, and,
as matter of course, the men are fearful Of
falling into disfavor with their superiors. With
this feeling many of them would subscribe to
any object, no matter what-no matter how
i'll they could afford tiff told that the sub
scription list was presented with the sanction
of the Commissioners, while the others who de-
clined to subscribe-in the next case Of just
discipline-would imagine and report that
they were punished for not subscribing. The
sums obtained from the police In this way do
not compensate for the decentralization they
infict on the force; and we hope all good citi-
zens will discourage such appeals hereafter.
The Commissioners should adopt q general
rule forbidding it In all cases. No subscrip-
tons should be allowed to be taken up in the
station houses If Ifpolicemen wish 70 subscribe
to any cause let them do so as citizens and not
aspolicemen.
The SUCCESSOR OF Mr.. CoBDEN.-Mr. Potter
has been elected member of Parliament from
Rochdale, after spirited contest for the seat
with Mr.. Brett, the tory candidate. Rochdale
is town In the county of Lancaster, with
about twenty-five thousand inhabitants, is