New-York tribune., 1874-01-15
have not been act before them. And so let
them to work.

4 LITTLE STORY WITH A LARGE hORdL.
In the last days of the Administration OF
Franklin Pierce, there was an Attorney-Gen-
eral in Washington named Caleb Cushing IN
whom the slavohclding party Ind full con-
fidence. IL was not sure that his successor
would be so ready to obey orders from that
ouarter and IT was therefore desirable 10 get
from Mr.. Gushing good strong opinoh
authorizing Southern p0stmasters to exercise
an esDlonage over the mails and to throw Ort
all poitica, matter which did not suit tho
dominant party of That section; such matter
being invariably called "inGendiary and tend
ling to incite insurrcCtOn." Mr.. Cushing
justified the confidence rcpOscd in him ana
wrote an elaborate opinion. of which the gis.
is this at seems clear to me that deputy
" postmaster or other officer OF the United
Estates il not required by law to become know
"ingIy the enforced agent or instrument or
"enemies of the public peace to disseminate IN
"thoir behalf, within the limits of any ono
"of The States of the Union, printed matter
"tho design and tendency of which are to pro-
mote insurrectiOn in such State This oi
course left the Postmaster free to judge wh"'
was the design ard the intention OF every
journal ia The country, and to steal OF destroy
at his own sweet will any papers he liked, Or
disliked
They went on in that course for year or
30 One of them was not satisfied with silently
carrying out Dir. Cushing's suggestions. The
Postmaster of Lynchburg, Va, III iSj9, wrote
a letter to Mr.. Greeley, the Editor OF lie
NEw-YoRK TRIBUNE informing him that ne
would not thereafter deliver that paper to It's
subscribers in Lynchburg, holding 1t danger
Gus 70 the safety of society and subyersive of
the laws of tho land, and directing Mr.. Gree
ley to discontinue sending 1T. 10 that ietter
MIR Greeley replied a. follows:
NEw-YoRK. December =. 1859.
gr Postmaster If ItnchbUTG Va.
SIR; beg leave 10 assure you that shall DO nothing
of the sort The subscribers TIE TRIBUNE IN Lynch
burg have paid forttheir papers, we avc taken ther
money aud shall fairly and fully earn II, according 10
contract Ii ey direct send their papers to some
other uOst-Oce shall obey the request; otherwise
we shall send them a originally ordered n you ana
your masters steal and destroy them, that II
your a,r-at all events. not ours; and II there s no
law m virginia 10 punish the larceny, much the worse
for her ana punderei 5ubscribers II the Federal
Administration whereof are the 1901, aitef mo
nopozng tho business Of maicarryinC, sees Mt 70 be
come the acCOmpco and patron OF mail-iODbeiJ sup
the outrage must 10 DOfnO until moro honc'' anu
less srrvs rulers be put into high places at Wash
ingtnn or tn the people their natural right
TO carry each letters printed matter asking 10
odds of the Government Go ahead IN your own hhSo
way shall stand steadfast FOR human liberty and the
protection OF AL natural rights.
Yours stnly. HoGActs'EEfLtY.
A gooG many thousand Republicans thought,
in 1872, that if the man who wrote that letter,
and VITO never, in his long and active life,
uttered a word or conceived Il thought incon-
sistcnt with it, should be elected President,
the Union would be betrayed and the princl-
pies of freedom fatally endangered. They
therefore voted for Gen. Grant, and he has
shown them how sagaciOus they were by
nominating as shc supreme eNDOunder OF the
law Of the land the superservceable Attorney
General who gave the Lynchburg Postmaster
and his kind license to rifle the mails in the
interest of Slavery All of which, if it proves
nothing else, proves that human Judgment is
fallibe. even when it receives tae sanction Of
a caucus of Office holders.