The jaw droppers at the Independent Institute debate must have also been aware of Lincoln’s demolition of the First Amendment during his administration to have reacted with such looks of disbelief. There were hundreds of opposition newspapers in the North, and many of them were shut down and their editors and owners thrown into military prisons without any due process. For example, on May 18, 1864 Lincoln issued an order to General John Dix that read as follows: "You will take possession by military force, of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce . . . and prohibit any further publication thereof . . . you are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison . . . the editors, proprietors and publishers of aforesaid newspapers." Dix complied, and hundreds of newspapers were censored (see Dean Sprague’s Freedom Under Lincoln).
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From a fine Libertarian at FR who attended the debate.
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[DiLorenzo and others say]Lincoln has a blemished record of following the ideal of free government in his political life, as when he issued this order, on May 18, 1864:
"You will take possession by military force, of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce . . . and prohibit any further publication thereof. . . . You are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison . . . the editors, proprietors and publishers of the aforementioned newspapers."
What was it in these newspapers, inquiring minds may ask, that prompted Lincoln to issue this order?
"At 4 a.m. [on May 18 1864, Joseph] Howard distributed anonymously to all the New York papers a bogus proclamation, complete with the forged signature of the President, fixing May 26 `as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer,' and calling for an additional draft of 400,000 men required by `the situation in Virginia, the disaster at Red River, the delay at Charleston, and the general state of the country.' ...Only two papers, the New York World and the Journal of Congress, were on the street with the story before the forgery was detected." Foote, The Civil War III, p. 376.
This was the so called "Gold Hoax" -- a criminal effort to drive up the value of gold at a very critical point in the war. Once it was established that the editors were only guilty of atrocious journalistic standards for source checking, they were released from custody and allowed to reopen their papers -- after only being held for three days. Foote, p. 376.
Nevertheless, the Lincoln bashers would no doubt argue that this instance had a chilling effect on the journalistic profession, so that no paper would dare to criticize Lincoln thereafter. But consider what was written by a Northern paper just a few short weeks later on the occasion of Lincoln's renomination (along with Andrew Johnson) during the 1864 Republican (aka National Union Party) Convention:
"The age of statesmen is gone...the age of rail-splitters and tailors, of buffoons, boors, and fanatics, has succeeded...In a crisis of the most appaling magnitude, requiring statesmanship of the highest order, the country is asked to consider the claims of two ignorant, boorish, third-rate backwoods lawyers, for the highest situations in the government. Such nominations, in such a conjecture, are an insult to the common-sense of the people. God save the Republic!" Foote, p. 379.
What brave journalist dared to so brutally insult the character of the President and his running mate? None other than the editor of the New York World.
18 posted on 5/10/02 8:03 PM Pacific by ravinson
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Moral?
Never trust a hack.
Cheers,
Richard F.
"If you want to make sense of the Clintons, the best way is to understand them as the revenge of the Confederacy. Nothing else makes them plausible."
I just want to assure you all that I would in no way have any part in that.