Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-03

cry Postoffice. over in Missouri the case
was reversed, and it Is wonderful to see
| how alert the postoffice department was.
A free silver paper, in ignorance of the
| law, sent out a free silver supplement,
| but the editor was quickly reminded the
| postofice department Is run in the inter-
est of Sound money" only. AS will be
noticed by the following dispatch, the
goldbug postmaster went to the postoffice
In the dead of night and stopped the free
silver paper from going to its subscrib-
ers. That postmaster might have taken
the same position as did the Montgomery
postmaster namely: the loss to the gov
eminent would be too "infinitessimaP'
to notice. But he didn't do it. There
was principle" involved and the
amount cut no figure. as the Advertiser
said about Kolb and his posse, so the
goldbug postmaster stopped the free sill
yer supplement. Had it been sound
money supplement the principle" would
not have applied.
The following dispatch to the Post-Ds-
patch tells the whole story:
Lebanon, Mo-, March 2S-The efforts
of the goldbugs, backed by the admins
tration, through it's postmasters and Of
ficials of the department, to prevent the
circulation of free silver literature, were
brought forcibly to the attention of the
public in this city today. This weeks
edition of the Lebanon Rustic contained
a supplement- reproducing a map and
article from the Atlanta (Ga) Constitu-
ton, showing the condition of the Unit
ed States after one year on a gold basis
an object lesson on the financial question
worth studying. 1t was a free silver
supplement to the Rustic, pure and SIM
pie.
THE regular edition of the Rustic
with the silver supplement folded inside
of the papers, was taken to the Lebanon
postoffice as usual Thursday evening and
mailed as second-claSs mail matter, the
free silver editor of the Rustic being ig
norant of the latest ruling of Cleveland's
postoffice department that free silver pa
pers are not admissible to the mails at
regular newspaper rates.
"CleVeland's postmaster here discover
ed at a late hour, after he had retired to
his home and was reading the Rustic,
that the paper contained a supplement,
giving an object lesson on the gold ba-
sis While the matter 1t contained was
quite germane to the Rustic as an out
spoken democratic free silver paper,
CleVeland's postmaster decided that it
was not admissible to the malls as sec
ond-cass matter, regular newspaper
rates He rushed to his office, took the
papers out of the mails, which had been
made up for the night trains on early
country routes. The city list, which had
also been distributed, was taken from
the boxes of subscribers and shared a like
fate-held at the pleasure of the postmas-
ter. The Rustic, therefore, did not go out
in the mails last night or reach town and
country subscribers this morning. 1t
was held in the Lebanon postoffice be-
cause it contained this supplement.
when Mr.. Bradshaw, editor of the Of
| Tending paper, went to the postoffice at
o'clock this morning after his mail, he
was informed that the Rustic was held
up and was to be robbed of its free sill
yer supplement. The postal law, as con-
strued by Cleveland'S postmaster here,
was cited in justification of the outrage.
| The edition of the Rustic had been de-
| layed and held in the postotfice during
| the night. the mails opened, and every
| package taken out. Mr.. Bradshaw pro-
tested, but the ruling of CleVelandS
| third-class postmaster is supreme, and
an appeal to the department by a free
| silver paper would only add insult to in
| jury.
1.-The editor of the Rustic paid the ex-
| ira rate of postage demanded for the free
silver supplement, and the edition of the
| paper was released from the control of
the Lebanon postmaster. but the papers
may be intercepted and held by Cleve-
lands goldbug postmasters at other
| points.
| Free silver papers, and the business
| interests of publishers of all such publi-
cations, seem to be completely al the
| mercy of these official emissaries of
Cleveland's goldbug administration
1.-THE Lebanon postmaster attended the
recent sound money meeting In st.
Louis, and may have received the latest
| instructions of the administration In re-
| gard to democratic free silver papers at
| that conference. Sound money litera-
ture, issued and sent out by the sound
money leagues in New York, st. Louis
and other cities, circulate freely as sup
| plements to all papers that will use them,
| mostly republican papers in this state.
| The republican paper of this city has
| been using them as supplements the past
year, but Cleveand's postmaster in this
| city seems not to have discovered this
violation of the postal law, or If he has
| 1t has not been stopped"