Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-03-07
Censorship of the Press.
+" HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE q. s.
WASHINGTON, Feb II, 1866.

" HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF TuE U. s.
WASHINGTON, Feb II, 1906.
"You will please send to these headquar-
ters as soon as practicable, and from time 10
time thereafter, such copies of newspapers
published in your department as contain scri-
iments Of disloya!ty and hostility to tie g.v-
crnment in any of its branches, and state
whether such paper is hnbitual in It's utter
ances of such sentiments. The persistent
publication of articles calculated to keep up
the hostility of feeling between the people Of
the different sections Of the country cannot
be tolerated. This information is called for
with view 10 their suppressicn, which vii!
be done from these headquarters Only.
"By command of Lieutenant General
Grant
"(Signed) IS. BowERs.
"Assistant Adutant General.
We arc sorry to record, in view of the
ebove order that Gen. Grant has assumed
the censorship of the Press in this couutry.
The order is not sufficiently specific; fer,
without qualification of some kind, we mast
assume that its authority extends Northward
as veil es Southwark. If this be the case,
I'VE .haye,some little Consolation espaidzs
erins that tie entire Rsaical pfsss mist eos
down before the Generals pronurciamentJ,
inasmuch as that press is most disloyal, rabid
and ami. Constitutional. If the 1t. General
would only commence with the agitating
sheets East and West, silencing their foul.
mouthcd abuse of the President and slander.
Gus prevarica;ion of men and matters III this
section, we undertake to assert tina: his order
would become dead letter ia cur region.
The major part Of what is styled the "disloy-
ally of the South" was nothing but On ssser-
ton Of the right to hurl back SANDER and qit-
operation upon our quill-diiving assailants
farther North. Had they met US With mode
ration, ainity ami charity, we would not
have been CALLED into retorts ard stung to
indignant sarcasm. By those journals our
hest men have been carcatured, our women
slandered, our lest cause made Infamous.
Good care has been taken that we should
drain the goblet Of woe to the utterinos: Gregs.
Worse than dogs, meaner than worms would
we be could we lick the hand that sniites us,
or never turn unon the crushing heel. Our
past annals do not speak Of US rs despcabe;
how very deapicable would future cannsls stg.
Matte us, if, like crezy Lear, we bound our
heads with crowns Of straw and let the temp
est lacerate us, in maniacal submission?
Let, then, the 1t. General stop the mouths
of Radical editors; and We of the South will
clcave to the Constitution, as we ever have
done, and to the champion OF the Constitution,
rs we intend to do, without harsh language
or feverish impacence.
II, however, this order is intended as we
fear, for the South alone, much as we grieve
/ to see it emanting from such man, we have
no other recourse but .bat Of acquiescence,
biding the time when true Restoration will
accord Us equal privilege with more favored
commonwealth.
We confess that we do not clearly compre-
hend how, in the distracted condition of:ihis
country, military man can justly determine
upon disloyauy. THIS journal, for examsle,
desires nothing so much as true restoration
ac,oriiug to the programme Of the President.
We regard him as one raised up by Provi
dcnce 10 belriend This unhappy section, and
the ouly one that can lead US, as well asthe
North and West, back to the principles of
our Fathers and the Constitutional! compact.
Thus believing, we have never ceased striving
with all our might TO uphold lis hands. But
while supporting him, we could not likewise
befrend his enemies. And yet, according
to this order, we must be disloyal since, in
denouncing the antagonistsof the President
in Congress, we become hostile to tho gorern-
meat IN some Of its branches. Is Sumner
loyal? Is Fred Douglass loyal? Is Thad.
Stevens loyal7 Is Wendell Philips loyal?
Is Garrison loyal? If so, Andrew Johnson
is of all men most disloyal; ifnot, it is our
bounden duty to naintniu the President and
the Constitution against,hsm and their nachi'
n;i ms.
lf,his censorship must Continue, a: least,
let us have the same chance that is given to
On Austrian, Russian o. French newspapcr,
VIZ admonition befare suppression. This is
not asking great deal, and from the super
abundance of the vanquishers, it is not much
to grant.-Augusta Constituionalist.