Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-02-17
THE PRESS GAG-LAW.
Result OF the InysstfRatiOu of the Eaw
by the Senate Judiciary Commit.
tee-They Decide It a PrOper
Document.

WASHINGTON, February l6..-Tbe
senate judiciary committee havi no bean
directed by the senate to rep, ,rt what is
the meaning and extent of ,he so.caIIad
press gag-law Of June p 1874 suhn1it-
TED Its report TODAY EXPRESSING their
opinion that the s,econd section of tba
scI OF June z, 1874, confers upon the
oouIIs Vi the district of Columbia the
RROsei " SH st offenders found In the
on,,tuit Gt WI % are charged with crime
tIa1,t x within the District, and hold
taraH Lor trial (which was the law be-
tGo n;' o. "a 10 arrest offenders found in
ZIG frleG who have committed crimes
o!s1 st tne United States in some Judi
on o,ai District of the United States,
:, to send them to such dis
act for trial, and that is all.
10 no person can be brought into the
" strict Of Columbia to answer either for
~ ~ Oel or any other crime. The commit
ZEE are OF opinion that both sections of
the act are necessary and proper and in
perfect accordance with the principles
OF justice and the course of civilized ju-
risprudenee. Without provisions of this
character the District of Columbia would
be an asylum for offenders committing
crimes against the laws Of the United
states and escaping hither. 1t only re-
mains TO report, as directed by resOlu-
ton OF the senate, whether said act has
any application to the prosecution or
Indictment for the crime OF libel in any
case. We are of opinion that, as before
stated, no person charged with the crime
of libel can be brought into the District
OF Columbia under it, for no person can
be brought here under it for any crime
whatever. And it is equally plain that
no person charged with the crime of Ii
bel in any other district or place in the
United States can be arrested here and
sent to such district or place under it.
For, first, libel is not crime against the
laws of the United States or any State,
so that no case could arise in which q
court or judge in the District Of Colum-
bis could be called upon to arrest a per-
son here and send him to any State for
trial for libel. 1t should be here observed
that the jurisdiction of the courts OF the
United States in criminal cases is con-
fined to offenses created by the statutes
of the United States. No offense at
law is indictable or triable in the
courts Of the United States. This was
early determined by the supreme court
Of the United States, and is a settled
law OF the land. Second, if in any Ter
ritOry libel is a crime by its laws, and If
such laws could be held for such pur.
poses to be the laws of the United States,
the act under consideration provides no
aid in sending person from this Dis
trict to such Territory, for the thirty
third section OF the act Of 1889 has no
application whatever to Territories. The
result is that the act Of June %, 1874, is
not, in our opinion, obnoxious to any
criticism, and, in respect to the crime Of
libel, 1t confers no power either to bring
q person charged with it into the Dis
trict of Columbia or send MIN out Of it.
GEORGE F. EDMUNDS,
ROSCOE CONKLING,
FRED 7. FRELINGHUYSEN,
GEORGE q. %RIG hT,
ALLEN q. THURMAN,
JOHN W. STEVENSON.