Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-11-15
From the Hickory Taverr. Eagle.
LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

again an attempt has been made to
prostitute the courts to SubServe personal
and partisan malice. The late attempt of
Solicitor Cantwell and Judge Russell, Of
the Wilmington District, to indict the editor
of the Wilmington JOURNAL for libel, in
calling Judge Bond a :'ScOondrel," is not
only contemplate and cowardly, but
gross usurpation OF power The action Of
the Grand Jury in returning ''not 4 true
bill' in the face Of the irate Judge, is
manly vindicatiou Of their hOnOr and pre-.
rOcative, as we'll as a mcritcd rebuke to a
vindictive and partisan Judge.
The Liberty of the Press, the right Of
public discussion, and the responsibility of
public tunctiOnaries, would be but vain
decisions empty sounds if partisan
Judges are thus permitted to prostitute the
courts aud the grand Juries OF the country.
Hon. Thomas \. WicklilIe, one of the
managers OF The "Peck impeachment trial."
in his bold anl mastery argument, before
the High Court of Impeachment, on the
18th day of January, 1927, III speaking OF
the liberty of the press, said:
Gle tells you that st has been from time
inmemo1ial, and ever will be the perpetual
decantatum on the lips of all libellers.' lie
tells yOu that it must be restrained. Courts
of ia ,tic2 have their ideas of the true lib
erty of the press. Liberty of the press, of
speech, ana tI!e IIlrl ny JIy' <AC 'uC LiIe
hobbies of political demagoguss. That its
licentiousness must be restrained, &c.
What power, let me ask, shall attempt this
daring Geed? The executive cannot do it;
Congress has no power; both combined
dare not do it. They once tried it, but WO
unto the politician who shall again at
tempt to muZZle the press, or regulate
its exercise. The attempt to 90 it has
recently cost one monarch his throne,
and lighted al Europe i'll a blaze
and we are now gravely debating in
! the'AmeIican Senate, the pOWerOf a district
iu tge over the freedom of the press. If
| the press is to be regulated and its licen-
tiousness restrained, and its abuses pun
| ished, in the name of high Heaven. cOntide
The power anywhere sooner than in the
unbridlcd discl elton Of weak or wicked
ipdge The liberty of the press, whatever
| it is, is protected by the constitution, IS
| connected with the liberty of man, and
| must not be and cannot be separated from
| it,
| Its tendency to licentiousness is better
borne than any attempts to restrain it by
any department of this government. l
have been taught to believe that the free
dom of the pless consists i'll the right to
publish truth with impunity, with good
motives. and for iusti6able ends, whether
| it respects government, maelStracy or lndl-
viduals." 1t is better TO bear with licen-
| tiousness than to endaneer its useful
ness by legislative or judicial restraints.
1t is the sensitive plant i'll the garden OF
freedom touch it by the rude hand ol
power. and it withers. How much has ii
done for human liberty in this hemisphere:
What is it not doing for the cause of free
dom in the other? What country can be
enslaved with a free press Tyrants Of
every grade fall and cover beneath its
powers; and shall we permit distric
Judge, the least of Cur Judicial corpse, tt
fetter and bind this mighty engine of free
dom in his judicial meshes? With pres
free and unshacklcd, my country viii re
tain her freedom With it she has moth
ing to dread from the rude assaults o
power, or the more slow approaches 0
corruption. Usurpation by force Oh frau'
will meet exposure, so long as we protec
the freedom of the press.'''