New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-09-20
1COmmunlcatod.l
communicated
Liberty-Freedom Of Opinion Under our
Lnws-Public Opinion-What Il is-ll-
iustrations Of its Correctness Tested

lCommuMcated.l
Liberty-Freedom Of Opinion Under our
Laws-Public Opinion-What It is-ll-
Illustrations Of its Correctness Tested
by Experience.
''Congress shall make no law
abridainp the freedom of speech or OF the
press. or of the right Of the people peace'
ably to assemble" etc., Con. L. S. Ants.
..The press shall be free: every person
NAV freely speak, write and publish his
| sentiments on all Subjects etc. Con. OF
La. art. 4.
life. liberty or properly without due pro.
cess of law. nor deny to any person within
| it's jurisdiction the equal protection OF Its
laws All persOus born or naturailzed IN
| the United States. and subject to the jurls'
| diction thereof, are citizens Of the United
| States;" art. IA, sec. ]. Con. Z. S, Amt. OF
| 1868.
"The right Of citizens of the United States
| to vote shall not be denied or abridged by
| the United States or by any State on ac'
count OF race. color or previous condition
| of servitude" Con. L. S., Amt. OF 1870.
| art. XIV, sec. l..
| "All men are created free and equal. and
have certain inalienable rights; among these
ness. To secure these rights governments
are instituted among men, deriving their
| lust powers from the consent OF the gov
erned.'' Con. La, art. l. Sec also the
Declaration of Independence.
The palpable objec: Of all these constitu.
tional provisions is the security of liberty
and all the other rights appertaining to
manhood, so far as governm ent is invested
with authority to legislate concerning them.
| What then. is that liberty! Government
derives its just powers from the consent OF
the governed. and any power which may
under any circumstances. be welded to
limit tho natural liberty OF an individual.
must be found in the organic form Of that
government or it can not exist at all. 1t
was. therefore. the purpose of our fore
fathers. as we'll as Of our contemporaries. to
tx inyiolable limits to the power which
rulers might exercise over the inaiienabie
and natural rights Of the individuals OF
political communities. Tn ese limits. once
liked by the consent Of the governed. are
| the standards of our inale nable rights. and
| serve to establish what is meant by liberty.
| Aside from these limit atiOns. We are
| accustomed to recognize certain immuni.
ties and privileges which neither the gov.
erument nor selfauthorized communities.
dare infringe, without violence to the legiti.
mate functions Of governm ent and destruc
| ton to personal liberty. Ordinarily. the
! strusge between liberty and authority is
the only incentive to individual vigilance.
| but when it transcends the limitations Of
constituted authority and is developed in
the Outlawry Of detached communities.
which set up no authority but that which
might gives. confusion, anarchy and des.
potism rear their Internal heads only amid
the ruins of liberty. In England, as well
as in Greece and other ancient govern.
ments, constituencies were taught to regard
| liberty as the residuum OF their rights as
protected against the tyranny and oppres-
sons of their rulers. Such is the European
| view of the matter yet. alth ugh it is grad.
| uslly but certainly fading away in the blaze
Of the moro expanded American ideas on
the subject. Liberty with Us and according
to the genius and spirit Of all our organic
laws and the common unders tanding Of the
people, is simply exemption from all re.
straints not found in esta blished laws.
Whenever. therefore. any person is
prohibited from actin: in al matters
without restraint Except under the
limitations legally establ;shedl by govern
ment. or by the individuals thereof. there ia
a violation Of Fundamental! law which
should be reprobated and guarded against.
! This prohibition Of freedom may be accom-
plished in various ways. but they amount
| essentially to tho same thing and are
equally yiolative Of constitutional law. 1t
Is now done by public opinion to very
alarming extent. And after all. what is
public opinion! Merely the opinion Of some
persons in contrsdistjnction to that Of
others. 1t is often moro tyrannical and for.
midable to the minds of unobtrusive cit;-
zens than anything else. 1t enters more
| into the details OF political conduct and Of
| life itsel: than any other power possibly
can. leaving fewer means OF egress and
\ consequently operating a total abandon.
ment of the right Of antagonistic thought.
| 1t necessitases with almost invariabie Ger.
taintyl an abnegation Of the right to freely
! speak. write and publish ones opinions on
| the particular subject around which it con.
! centrates its force. It leaves the civil
magistrate no means of securing to the timid
| among men the constitutional right Of free.
dom Of opinion against the tyranny Of the
prevailing or public opinion.
1t enslaves the very soul and instincts Of
liberty. and simultaneously dwarfs the de.
! velopment OF its legitimate enlargement.
Government. as such. can do nothing more
than it has done to protect the citizens in.
l alienable rights: but do not the people owe
l it to them selves. as the advocates Of con.
stitutional government, and as patriots, to
fetter, by common consent. this unconsti.
tutional obstruction to individual iade.
pendence? With all it's constitutional pro.
visions. government: beco mes impotent and
useless, if the inaliensble rights Of men
may be circumvented and virtually de.
stroyed by influences which assert tkeir
power beyond the reach OF the civil arm.
All that makes government desirable at all
is its legitimate power to prevent the en-
croachment of the people upon the estab.
| lished rights of each other. 1t is fo- this
that its enactments are made. They are
intended simply to enforce what is right,
| and to prohibit what is wrong. in the deal
ings and conduct of men. Whenever
the citizens. whether By political Or
ganizations or otherwise. deny any one
person the full enjoyment of these
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