The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-04-10
Wednesday, April 10. 1878.
A Free Press..Mr. Hood.

A Free Press..Mr. Hood.
If there is one thing which Americans
claim as distinguishing the United States
above all civilized nations it is the free
dom of. the press. Other countries may
have lighter taxes, and purer parliaments
and less corruptible officials, but the pa
.trf6tic American is ready at any moment
ito maintain that in this country the pub
/ lic press enjoys more freedom than any
4 where else under the sun. Strong asser-
/ .tions aretoo commonly only h~alf-trutbs,
4 and if the above oft-repeated and very
strong assertion is closely scrutinized,
1T vii, !be discovered to be true only to a
certain extent. 1t certainly is true that
if freedom of the press means utmost
liberty and licensei in criticising, censur-
ing, and abusing all officials, leaders, and
newspapers of the opposite political
party, then no other country enjoys it so
much or carries it SO far into practice.
If freedom Of the press consists in a free
fight between democratic organs on the
oIio lNuiiu aHu icpuOiiSoh YIN osHS'
we are safe in saying that in no other
country has it been SO unbridled. The
opposing organs beggar the copious vo-
~capulary of abuse in their attacks upon
each othor, and woe DO to all officials,
even those in the highest places; newspa-
pers Of the party not in power pour in
~cessantly walls of wrath OF their devoted
heads. Their every action is miscon-
strued, their every word misinterpreted.
1t seems to be considered that no good
thing can come out of the opposition.
At first sight, this seems to prove the
complete freedom of the press; but let
any journal presume to point out the
faults of the public men Of its W party,
and its editor will soon discover how
limited is the range of his freedom in
that direction. He is at liberty to discuss
any measure provided always that he
approves every man and measure of his
own party and condemns the opposition.
But if he ventures to hint at the fallibili-
ty Of men of his own party, they turn
again and rend him; they heap all man
ner of hard names upon him and impute
, to him all manner of evil motives.
This popularity in our press has been
made conspicuous during the sessions
of the late legislature. Never before did
q General Assembly so much and 80 fire.
quently avail itself OF the privilege of
rising to i question of privilege. Un-
lucky was the journal that dared to lift
its voice against any mar or measure in
that historical assembly. The Ncws and
Courier, the Register, and "other small
fry were brought as culprits before the
Senate and the House for the heinous Of
fence of having discussed in a legitimate
manner the acts of certain of the MEM
''slnall fry" were silent, or if they uttered
o sound, it was one Of unqualified and
and ever acceptable praise. Yet all the
while their columns were filled with vio-
E lent denunciations of radicals and eX-
posures of radical frauds, just as if it was
of any use to throw stones at a dead dog.
Even when Northern journals were full
OF what purported to be disclosures of
questionable acts Of some of our public
men, we believe tho Press and Banner
was the only paper in the State that pub
lished the articles.
The majority Of u public men seem
to think themselves above criticism and
incapable Of making mistakes: that they
enter the political arena completely train
ed and experienced, and do not need to be
licked into shape like young bears.
They will brook no references to their
words and deeds unless they arc eulo-
CYSTIC. So sensitive are they and thin
skinned, they will not allow a man to
crook his finger or come within a yard
of their toes. All criticism they call per-
sonal attack, all censure they pronounce
' violent abuse. They seem to suffer from
aconstant apprehensiveness and morbid
sensitiveness as to their character.
We nave been forced" into this train
of thought by a letter in our columns this
morning from Mr.. VIM. Hood of Duo
West. The late General Assembly, is a
thing of the past, but It's ruling passion
seems to be strong in death. Mr.. Hood
again rises 70 explain. In our issue of
the 9th ult., we referred to a letter Of his
we published then treating:sof the bond
question. We excused ourselves from
discussing the matter as it had been re-
United to a court Of adjudication. We
gave our reasons for this course and
published the letter without comment
What reference We made to Mr.. Hood
was complimentary and yet, although
he says Every few things are more dis
tasteful to him ''than a newspaper wran-
gle," he has pleased to find himself,
forced to engage in n that is, if
we will be so kind as to engage in a
~"wrangle" with him, for it takes two to
make a newspaper w~rangle." We are
disposed to 'hefriend Mr.. Hood to q rea-
sonable extent, but really We cannot
oblige him so much as to quarrel with
him. We regret his Donnybrook Fair at
titude Of pugnacity and respectfully de-
cline his invitation to tread on the tail of
his coat, 1t would be painful to US and
not pleasant to him to reply at length to
his letter, We should be ''forced" to re-
fer to his violent. abusive language. so
unbecoming in an instructor of youth.
II we magnanimously were to pass by
his and SO far as we are con-
cerned unfounded complaintthat the bond
question was 'dealt with partially" we
should be forced" to expose his trick OF
"partially" quoting (Which is truly mis-
uuotiDg) our words and that would be
10 place the Professor in a most undigni-
lied and ridiculous position before the
ewes of the Due West students. And it
would not be fair to 'those who trusted
him with their interests to show that this
t.Representative of the county" is a sub
iect of that peculiar mental delusion
which makes man suppose that every
body is perGecutlng him. We have
heard of all old woman with a diseased
mind who charged a town council with
having put up an engine to fill her house
with the fumes of sulphur and birthstone:
said engine was really a public we'll OF
n,re water. We fear there are several
.-oId woman of both sexes in Able