The Bennington daily banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1877-1877, 1877-08-14
The Licentious Press of Our Fa-
theirs.

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theirs.
In Centennial address, delivered at Bur
hngt0n year ago, Hon. l.. Il. Chittenden
made, as It seems to us, broad and utterly
unfouuded assertion that. the press of to-
day is more licentiOus in its tone of criticism
of public men, is more incessant and out
rageous in its assaults upon private charac-
ter than In the early days of the republic,
The language of the orator is as follows:
II can say one word in this respect for
reformation, II can make one VermOnter
adopt and practice hencefOrth the ancient
and better way, my time will not be wholly
lost.
Now all thoughtful men will admit the
growth OF personal abuse, the frequency of
these assaults upon private character.
1t would. indeed, be q reformation il the
ideas Of one hundred years ago now con
tr0lled our editors. These personal attacks
IN the newspapers were almost unknown.
Newspaper communications were then of o
different character. Imagine q time when
the newspapers united and secured such
contributors as Hamilton. Madison and jay,
such communications as those known as the
Federalist, aud compare them with the aver
age newspaper communications now. In
those days an editor was recognized leader
and educator Of the public mind. If he went
astray he was denounced as readily as any
false teacher in the schools OF in morality.
No one will deny that as a nation we have
departed from the faith and practice Of the
founders of Vermont. Not VermOnters alone
perhaps they have-but all the people Of
all the States: The existing. greed for Office
that cOrrupting theory which defines office
to be the spoil of the defeated, and the pro-
property of the successful politician, the
vindictive spirit of party which discovers no
virtue in political opponent, and which
strikes by foul means as by fair which
seems to have driven out of our political life
all the characteristic traits of the statesman
and the gentleman, and to have substituted
in their places the vocabulary of the fish
market and the morals of the gambling
houseI Which fills the party press with
abusive attacks upon private character, and
causes newspapers to reek with scandals so
foul that we fear to introduce them into our
dwellings-these are practices of recent in-
yenti0n, for which we will search in vain
the history of the olden times.
The following extract that we make from
the Burlington Sentinel of the day effectu-
ally exposes the error Of the historical asser-
tions upon which Mr.. Chittenden, and too
many other public speakers, have hastily
erected the structure of a cheap, superficial,
and to our vicious social and political philos-
Ophyi
The above impeachment of the press of to-
day, the denunciation of the people Of to-day,
as fallen away from the better ways of their
fathers in this matter of personal and public
scandal and vttuperatiOn, better known as
political assassination. is without q particle
OF historical foundation. Why, our fathers
were fearfully given to this sort of vice to
degree utterly beyond the usual license of
our own time, when 1t is considered that we
were then but four millions of people and
are now forty millions and our newspapers
were small, scarce, and limited greatly to
mere local news. Why, the press and pam
phlets of the days of Washington. Adams.
Hamilton and Jefferson fairly teemed with
the vilest charges against all these great
men. So terrible was the abuse of George
Washington that IN HamiltOn's papers is
preserved an aneCdOte TO the effect that the
great President once at q Cabinet meeting
broke, into profanity in his indignation at
the charge upon him Of a treasO9able pur-
pose to make himself a king.
Did not Giles, of Virginia, in Congress, |
move nine resolutions of censure against |
Hamilton. charging him with stock -jObbing |
with the public securities while at the head |
Of the treasury Did not no less man than
James Monroe, (afterwards President) revive
the charges against Hamilton in such a form
that Hamilton published o pamphlet in
which he entirely explained the suspicious
correspondence published by his enemies, by
frankly confesslug an adulterOus intrigue
with the wife of one his accusers, into which
he had been entrappedi Was not Hamilton
branded by Washington paper as n corrup-
ZIONIST and an aristOcrat, and did not Hamil-
ton denounce in print no less man than
Thomas Jefferson as the author and iustiRa-
tor of these articlesi Is not the diary of
John Adams filled with evidence of the hor-
rid rancOr of the press, and the terrible hate
between OF different parties, to the point
that tamiiies ceased Intercourse with each
other, men cut each Other IN hestreet aud
Initiated De Witt Clinton, who despite
bis great, intellect always followed in
public and private speech and in print Mar
tin Van Buren, with the very obscenity of
personal libel and denunciatiOn; and finally
was not Hamilton driven to death by Burr
because of thel intense political enmity be-
tween them, to which Hamilton gave free
rein on all occasions, public aud private.
Inese facts are so notorious that they
Ought to be familiar to Mr.. Chittenden. Let
US further examine the following extract
from Mr.. Chittenden:
Those party leaders on both sides. who
hope to elevate themselves to power over the
murdered reputation Of Others should note
the handwriting upon the wall. The people
have had enough-they are already showing
their disapprOYal of these persistent assaults
upon the characters of public men. One of
the necessary results of this diseased public
opinion Is to drive from public life great
number OF our best men who ought to be
there. L denounce without circumlOcutiOn
OF apology the slogan of corruption. pecula-
tlOn or dishonesty which screams out of ey-
cry morning issue of many of our newspa-
Pers' IL Is wrong to the name of every
American citizen"
Now, the only excuse for such nonsense
as the above is that Mr.. Cbittenden is
counsel to the late Minister to England, Gen.
robert j. Schenck, and in his enthusiasm for
MS client his head has become full of the IA
natlcal expressions of friendship for all who
IKE his client were compelled by Congress to
explain and hOnOrably justify certain very
ugly facts. Now this plea is utterly force
less whom we recOllect that scarcely single
man arraigned by this screaming press" has
been found with clean hands, and to silence
OF deprecate such . screaming" press is
about as sensible as It would be to cut out the
tongue OF sentinel and then whisper the
watchwOrd IN his ear The country is to be
congratulated, not derided. that il has press
ready to scream" when the highest officials
OF the nation are filthy kennel of stock jub-
bers, plundereIs and public robbers. Il is
nonsense to talk about losing the services of
good men because of the freedomO of the press
The CALLED jade always winces, the wounded
birds OF course tutter, but no pure man need
fear the mud; it is true he may like Washing
ton be pelted with mud, but it soon dries and
drops; but if it strikes the right quarry the
arrow is mortal, the mud leaves mark that
is lneffaceable. The evil Of the press is not
licenses IL is far Oftener found extenuating
with ingenious moral casuistry, public wrong
and nnprincipled action than it is found
boarding the gods in politics, and asking con-
undrums that are awkward to answer. No,
Mr.. Chlttenden, the freedom Of the press has
ITS evils, but its glory and its highest service
Is Just that screaming cry that has pointed
out the presence OF so mauy smOuldering,
seethinR shtmes in public life and office Let
there be more of this screaming" more of
these Investigations" that Mr.. Chittenden
thinks are so rude and vulgar that he calls It
political assassination" The real political
assassination" is the work Of these fellows,
accused by the screaming" press, for they it
is that are stabbing the body polite to death
by debauching the public conscience by ex-
ample, by robbing the public treasury right
and left