Year: 1859

It is well known to, and will long be re- membered by, the people of Arkansas, that a short time before the close of the session of the General Assembly, resolution pass ed requiring the Speaker to sign certificates for the pay of the members during the tune that body was not in session. Ihls he avoided by re,igning and more accom- modating Speaker was elected. A ma jority of the members of the lower House drew the money. It required no prophet to foretell what would be the sentiment oi the people in regard to this action. when this mortifying fact became known, we were twitted with this action of democratic le gislature and tauntingly told that they would do 1t over and again, as long as dollar remained in the State treasury. we could not deny the fact that some of them had taken pay for services not rendered. but we did not believe that they intended to dissolve informally, come back agaln and draw more money. And when the two Houses agreed upon day for the hnal ad- iournment it enabled us to refute the charge.

 We. felt it to be due to them, to their con-

 stituents and to ourselves, to point out thls fact to prove they did not intend to reas-

 semble after a time. and again draw con-

 structive per diem pay. And in their de- fence we used these words

 "The General Assembly will adjourn

 sine de, as the phrase is, on Monday next.

 This negatives the rumor that the house

 did not ihtentl to adjourn, but take recesses

 from time to time, until November, 1860,

 as they have speaker willing to certify

 that the member. are entitled to their per

 diem pav whether at the capital or not

 The President of the Senate refused to

 certify accounts for pay during the recess,

 and the Senate sustained him. A number

 of the representatives have refused to draw

 pay from December 23d, to January 17th, for the reasons ably set forth in the card from Mr. Oates, to be found in another col umn."

 At this time some bitter and unscrupu- lous enemies of ours were here busily plot ting and maneuvering. Having succeeded in inducing a majority of the members of the House to draw the money, they next pretended that our language contained re- factions on their honesty, integrity and Heaven knows what all At night ses- sion, three days after the publication of our article, Mir. Gray, of Polk county, pre- sented certain resolutions, which were in the hand writing of Mr. Hemingway Here they are:

 Whereas, An editorial article appear ed in the True Democrat of the 18th inst, referring to the members of the House, and which, by insinuation, reRects upon the honor and integrity of this body, and par ticularly their speaker Therefore be it

 Resolpea, By the House of Representa- tives of the State of Arkansas-That the article of the True Democrat which was in tended to reRect upon the motives of ma iority of this House. for receiving their per diem pay during the recess, according to law, and according to the decision of the Senate, is willful and unauthorized insin- uation, unbecoming one of the organs of the democratic party, and false in every particular, so far as it intends to reject upon this body.

 Resol0ed further That we fully indorse and approve the course of our Speaker of the House, B. T. Duval, and we repel, as unjust, any attempt to reject upon the course which he has pursued since he has been elected speaker of this body"

 The constitution of the State of Arkan- sas guarantees the freedom of the press, of thought and of speech, and provides that the official acts of officers and men in pub lie capacity may be enquired into. Know ing this, these fellows dare not frame law, but they drew up resolutions. No doubt the author had the odious alien and sedi- tion laws of the elder Adams before him when he drew them up. They breathe the same foul sentiments, are pervaded by the same spirit and are federalistic from the first word to the last. It was an infamous attempt to stihe investigation and to gag free press. At the proper time it is to be hoped their author will reap the infamy he labored to earn. No quorum could be ob- tained to vote on them, though majority of those who voted sustained them; some being told that if we did not mean to re- fleet on them, then the resolutions did not apply to us.

 We candidly ask our readers what there was in the article of ours that required the sedition law of Adams to be revived and put in force against us? Were they not kicking before they were spurred? Will it be believed that one who had made speech against federalism was present at the discussion of this federal measure urg- ing its passage and encouraging those that spoke in its favor? Some of the speakers actually took the position that as we had been elected public printers we had no right to animadvert upon their actions, or find fault with their conduct.

 Having gone thus far, some of them con cluded to go to the lowest depth at once and agreed that upon their return to their homes they would endeavor to persuade every subscriber to the True Democrat to discontinue taking it and to subscribe for the State Rights Democrat; the latter pa- per, it being understood, would defend the taking of the per diem. It is an establish sd rule among proprietors of newspapers that the subscription list of either Is sa- ,red thing, as much so as any private ac- counts or correspondence. These men had a right to canvass for any paper they chose, as they had to help neighbor build his house. But they descended to a very low depth when they attempted to influence our subscribers, as would he who steals at night to neighbor's house and sets 1t on fre- It is piece of meanness that we are glad