The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-05-28
The law Of Newspaper Supplements.

teeIHeu lfleHu, MI. tOlI0A, 0i Illc -uuTg-
land Republican. misconstruing our remarks
On circulating the Laws by supplements,
in such papers as were favored by their
publication, by giving them personal ap-
plication. There is no publisher in the
State for whom we have higher regard
than the editor of the Republican,, and we
rather admire the enterprise which got up
the Laws in SO creditable manner, as the
supplement furnished to the papers which
took the hazard of a prosecution by the
Post-Office Department, and that gave
them to their readers at the early day, and
in the neat form they were published. We
have no werd of censure for the editor of
the Republican, but merely stated the fact
that such supplements are forbidden by the
Post Office Laws of the United States. a
supplement to newspaper, to pass through
the mails as part and parcel of the paper
to which it belongs, must be composed of
such advertisements and neuS items as legit-
imately form part of the paper This is
the construction placed upon the law for
the circulation of newspapers by the De-
partment. Even newspaper which has
one side printed outside of the county
where it is presumed to be published, be-
comes illegal under the law authorizing
newspapers to circulate free to subscribers
in the county where they are published
Under the above construction of the law
in regard to the circulation of newspapers
those law supplements were clearly illegal.
This is the point we made, and do not con-
ceive that stating plain matter Of law
and fact can be construed to detract from
eithera "fair-minded, kind-hearted or hon
est" purpose. That "having them (the
laws published in the papers, particularly
in the form Of a supplement, the farmer
and others who take the county papers can
put them away as he would an almanac,
and read and consult them at leisure" is
very convenient, doubtless, but then the
proceeding is illegal, and that should out
weigh every other consideration.
We made some structures on the system
of publishing certain laws passed by the
Legislature, and condemned it because it
had not for its object the public interest,
but the mere Substituting of party newspa-
pers. To this charge the Republican re-
plies as follows:
"There are but 1000 copies of the laws
provided for by the legislature, and they
are for the use of certain State and county
officials SO that the citizens generally (if
they are not published in the papers, would
be kept in entire ignorance unless they
could afford to pay from five to ten dollars
for copy"
This does not meet our charge at all; for
the fact is, that not one law in ten-and
those not the most important ones either
is published in the newspapers by authority
of law. No law is thus published unless
it takes effect from the date Of its passage
All laws which take effect at the time pre-
scribed by the Constitution, are omitted in
this order directing their publication by
the party papers of the State, $50 that the
citizens generally are, notwithstanding
the liberal donation to party editors, still
except in entire ignorance unless they can
afford to pay from five to ten dollars for a
copy" We stated in cur former article,
that the evident intention of the law re-
quiring the publication of General Laws,
which take effect from the date of their
passage, in the newspapers, was that they
might be brought to public notice before
they could be issued in book form. But
that this object is not attained, is well
known to every one, and the thousands, aye
tens Of thousands Of dollars, which come
out of the pockets Of the tax payers of the
State for this purpose, are nothing but a
subsidy for party newspapers, and had it
not been for this subsidy, numbers of little
Copperhead sheets, which have been indus
triously sowing dissension against Congress
and the reconstruction of the South, would
have been snuffed out of existence, to the
moral, pecuniary and political advantage of
Maryland.
Did space allow we might pursue this
theme much further and show, that to be a
public benefit, all laws passed by the legis-
lature would have to be published in the
newspapers but having stated the point
we formerly made against this partisan
plumber Of the Treasury, so clearly that we
think none can misconstrue our meaning.
we will conclude with a remark on the fol-
lowing closing paragraph of the Repubza-
| cans article. The editor says: " Brother
Ewing, your article of last week was de-
cidedly unkind-at least we think 500 To
be "unkind' necessarily implies personal
wrong of some sort. We are not aware
that any remark which we have made in
either of these articles, can be construed
to have a personal application to the editor
Of the Republican. We have endeavored
to treat the subject in public manner,
and state the facts as they really exist
That we have succeeded, as far as we have
pursued the subject, we think any candid
reader will admit; and we trust that Bro.
Gotten will not continue to think that either
this or the former article is in any way
intended to be unkind to him.
Celebration at ChestertOwn.
CHEsTE RTowN, KENT COUNTY, Nd,
May Goth, 1870.
Messrs Editors Of the Baltimore american:
Genttemen:-Our newly enfranchised cit
liens of Kent county, Nd, celebrated yes
terday the ratification of the Fifteenth