The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-05-16
Muzzling the Press.

Says the New YORK Express: Ii
governments" are wise, they will new
er 60 out of their way to prosecute
newspapers or newspaper editors, for
publishing the truth abont them. As q
general principle, iithe publications are
false they will recol upon themselves ;
if they are true, the party, or persons,
or institutions criticised had better, for
their own sakes, endcavor to endure it,
as the proper penalty due to their of
! ionces.
There is nothing new in this propo-
stion, we know, but in view Of some
things yhatare transpiring both at home
and broad, it will do no harm to re
state aud re- enforce it.
The editor of Savannah paper was
thrown into Jail, few weeks since, for
some petty offence against the "pow-
ers that be-" down there. He contin-
ues, nevertheless, tc' write for his paper,
dating his lucubrations "In prison, etc"
He has hundred readers now, for ev-
cry one on his subscription list before,
His paper is making money. Etery-
body buys it, to see what he has to say
When he was running at large, nobody
cared what he had to say and therefore
nobody put money in his purse. He is
amartyr now, and everybody likes to
read what q martyr has to write.
1t is scarcely to the credit ofthc usu-
ally astutc commander of the military
dependency Of Virginia, to be falling
into the same trap with the caliphs who
are running the military dependency Of
South Carolina. A "warning" has
been given to u Richmond paper which
has been rather too free and easy in its
REGENTS comments on men and things
to suit the tastes Of the commander
The editor is given to understand that
he must alter his tOne,' or he may be
made to comprehend the full meaning
of the military reconstruction bill in
his own proper person. Now we are
not surprised to learn that the "warn
ing" is operating as capital advertise
mcnt for the obnoxious publication,
and that the demand for it has suddenly
increased. The public sympathies are
not onl y with it, as prosecuted party,
but popular support is also accorded
to it to an extent il could never have
calculated upon before. The editor
ought to be much obliged 10 the mill
tary commander for the "warning
The French Government is an adept
at this branch Of business 1t has had
II large and varied experience in the
matter Of prosecuting and punishing
editors, but somehow or other, free
speech will assert itself in spite of
warnings, and fines, and imprisonmcnts,
and other ingenious devices Of that de-
scription. 1t was but the other day
that Emile de Girardin was fined six
thousand francs for criticism upon
certain fallacies favorable to imperial
ism, to which NJ. Rouhcr gave utter
ance in his recent speech, in the Corps
Legislatir, Did this heavy mulct 81
lence the editor? No. On the very
next day he wrote another article, un-
der the title "What it costs to tell the
TRUTH The aim of this second cdi-
torial was to demonstrate the truth Of
the first! Therefore, "the Govern
mcnt," to punish his contumacy, issued
an order prohibiting the sale Of the
Offenders paper at the news stalls, as
about onc-haif of the entire edition was
sold at these places. 1t was thought
that the order would kill Off the pub
lication altogether, but the effect was
JUS. the reverse, inasmuch as the issue
Of the paper on Monday, before the
ntcrdict, was $4,000 copies on Tues
day, despite the interdict, II, 1870 copies;
on Wednesday, 3O,35O, In short, the
sale has been merely transferred from
the stalls to the shops, and the book
sellers. Girardin, like the Richmond
editor, could afford to give the censor
bonus for his warning, and his fine.
1t pays.
We but recite these facts to estab-
lish the proposition that in all such
encounters between governments
and "publishcrs," the former inyaria-
bly, come off second best; and to put it
to sensible men on this, ifnot the other
side of the whether it is not
about time rs matter Of common
sense simply, to recognize, and act up
on that truth F?