Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-06-03

The action of the postmaster Of E Paso
in refusing to allow the Ell Paso Times to
| be transmitted through the mail simply be-
cause it contai1ed as news so Associated
| Press dispatch giving synopsis Of the
opinion of the Supreme Court of Louisiana
compelling the Secretary of State to submit
at the next election {. constitutional amend
ment passed by the last general assembly
extending the charter of the Louisiana
State Lottery twenty five years, is deserv
ing of the severest condemnation and GEN.
sure, not only because of the injustice of
such an arbitrary proceeding, out upon
grounds of public policy. The business
mausger of the Times very properly had
this postmaster, who bears the historic
name of Smith, arrested for unlawfully de-
| tanning mail matter, and he was bound over
| to appear before ommissioner for trial,
| but the punishment whatever it will be,
even if ever meted ouS after many months
of delay, will not fit the crime. Nothing
short CT absolute and immediate official de-
capitation, with whatever other punishment
the law provides, would be proper for such
officious intermeddling with the mails. If
| the United States mail is to be subjected to
such scrutiny and exclusion by the post
| master at e. Paso, the postmasters at the
variOus ctter cities, towns, villages, ham
let's ard crossroads in the State and
throughout the United S ates have the
same rieht, power and authority, and are of
course a. berty to do just as the postr.s
ter 2. = $50 has done. If the postmaster
| .an stop TIC Transmission of newspaper
| because it has in it the decision of court
| in regard to the Louisiana lottery, he can
also stop it because it mentions the name
of the lottery in 1t, and if be can do this he
can stop the Post, because it incidentally
mentions The name of the Louisiana Lot.
terry Company in criticising his official con-
duet. II he can do this however, he can
override tho strongest bulwark of the liber-
ties of the people snd violate one of the
plainest provisions in the constitution of the
United States, thereby completely throt-
Ting the press.
Upon grounds Of public policy the United
State9 government should not tolerate such
tampering with the mail. 1t throws open
the doc to fraud, and, if permitted, will
tend to make the service inefficient and un-
reliable Why not detain letter suspect
ed Of containing lottery advertisement,
and why not open it to ascertain if the de-
tention is legal? II its contents are legal
why then of course it might be permit ted
to continue on it's jour.ey.
The great wrong done newspaper pub
fishers, however, is to allow postmaster
to aushoIitatively detain mail matter which
in his Cpl ion is illegal. He ought not to
be permitted to do this. II the publisher
has committed any wrong he can bo held
responsible and be made to suffer The pen
atty; but a postmaster may detain an entire
edition of 8 ne ~spaper, entailing a heavy
loss upon the publisher, aud yet when the
matter comes to a final trial the court may
decide that the papers are mailable. The
d smal hi then tean done the publisher,
and there seems to be no adequate remedy
for him. Suppose the politics of a news,
paper are Objectionable to the postmasters
generally, and throughout the State they
choose to hold paper because in the opin
ion it is not mailable, it would thus put it
within the power of the postal department
to stop the circulation of newspaper and
bankrupt it, leaving the publisher with a
lot of suits against rostmasters as assets.
Such a state of fairs leaves newspaper
publishers without adequate remedy, and
to allow such arbitrary conduct on the part
of oficious postmaste1s is contrary to the
institutions Of this government, and vio
lation of the legal maxim that each wrong
has it's adequate remedy.-Houston Tex
Post, May 16.
A swarm of insects on railroad track
near Syracuse, N. Y, stopped train and