Constitutional Rights of Editors.

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the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments."-§ 12.

NORTH CAROLINA.-The Declaration of Rights of North Carolina, December 18, 1776, provides that "the freedom of the Press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and therefore ought never to be restrained."—§ 15.

GEORGIA.-The Constitution of Georgia, 1798, provides that "the freedom of the Press as heretofore used in this state shall remain inviolate."-Art. 4, § 5.

KENTUCKY.-The Constitution of Kentucky, 1799, provides that "printingpresses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, or print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of the officers or men in a public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence. And in all indictments for libel the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the Court, as in other cases."-Art. 10, § 7-8.

TENNESSEE.—The Constitution of Tennessee, 1834, provides that "the printingpresses shall be free to every one who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the Legislature, or of any branch or officer of government, and no law shall be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and any citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. But in prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men in a public capacity, the truth thereof may be given in evidence. And in all indictments for libel the jury have a right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the Court, as in other criminal cases."-Art. 1, § 19.

OHIO. The Constitution of Ohio, 1802, provides that "the printing-presses shall be open and free to every citizen who wishes to examine the proceedings of any branch of government, or the conduct of any public officer, and no law shall ever restrain the right thereof. Every citizen has an indisputable right to speak, write, or print upon any subject as he thinks proper, being liable for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for any publication respecting the official conduct of men in any public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may always be given in evidence, and in all indictments for libel the jury have a right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the Court, as in other cases."-Art. 8, § 6.

INDIANA. The Constitution of Indiana, 1816, provides that "the printingpresses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men in a public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and in all indictments for libel the jury have a right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the Court, as in other cases."-Art. 1, § 9-10.

LOUISIANA..-The Constitution of Louisiana, 1812, provides that “printingpresses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the use thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty."-Art. 6, § 21. And the amended Constitution of that state, 1845, provides: "The Press shall be free. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty."-Table 6, Art. 110.

MISSISSIPPI.-The Constitution of Mississippi provides "that every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. No law shall ever be passed to control or restrain the liberty of speech or of the Press. In all prosecutions or indictments for libel the

truth may be given in evidence, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted, and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact."-Art. 1, § 6, 7, 8.

ILLINOIS.

The Constitution of Illinois, 1818, provides that "the printingpresses shall be free to every person who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the General Assembly, or any branch of government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, or print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men acting in a political capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indictments for libel the jury may have the right of determining both the law and the fact, under the direction of the Court, as in other cases."-Art. 8, § 22, 23.

ALABAMA.-The Constitution of Alabama, 1819, provides that " every citizen may freely speak, write, or publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty."-Art. 1, § 8.

MISSOURI.-The Constitution of Missouri, 1820, provides that "the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and that every person may speak, write, or print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and that in all prosecutions for libel the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury may determine the law and the facts under the direction of the Court."-Art. 1, § 16. And the amended Constitution of the state, 1845, provides that "the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and that every person may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all prosecutions for libel the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury may determine the law and the facts under the direction of the Court."-Art. 2, § 16. MICHIGAN. The Constitution of Michigan, 1835, provides that "every person may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right, and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the Press. In all prosecutions or indictments for libel the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good intentions and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted, and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts."-Art. 1, § 7. See also Art. 6, § 25 of Constitution of 1850.

ARKANSAS.-The Constitution of Arkansas, 1836, provides that “the printingpress shall be free to every person, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the rights thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indictments for libel, the jury have the right to determine the law and the facts."-Art. 2, § 7, 8.

FLORIDA. The Constitution of Florida, 1838, provides that "every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and no law shall ever be passed to curtail, abridge, or restrain the liberty of speech or of the Press."-Art. 1, § 5.

TEXAS.-The Constitution of Texas, 1845, provides that "every citizen shall be at liberty to speak, write, or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege; and no law shall ever be passed curtailing the liberty of speech or of the Press."-Art. 1, § 5.

IOWA. The Constitution for the State of Iowa of 1846 provides that "every person may speak, write, or publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsi ble for the abuse of that right. No law shall be passed to restrain the liberty of speech or of the Press. In all prosecutions of indictments for libel the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted."-Art. 2, § 7.

A National Law of Libel.

757

CALIFORNIA. In the Constitution of California, Art. 1, § 9, it is provided that "every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the Press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libel the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, then the party shall be acquitted, and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact."

To-day the newspapers are filled with personal allusions, and all sorts of charges are made against individuals and office-holders. Some of them are of a very serious character. These charges are against presidents and politicians, lawyers and lobbyists, clergymen and choirs, counsel and clients, brokers and bankers. Notes of correction are sometimes published. No other notice is taken of many of them. Still, the Herald says, there are nearly a thousand suits pending, with $50,000,000 in damages depending on the result.

Let us have a national law of libel-a national code that will benefit alike the Press and the public. That will be a step in the right direction.

CHAPTER LIV.

THE CASH VALUE OF NEWSPAPERS.

VALUES IN THE UNITED STATES. SALE OF THE BULLETIN IN PHILADELPHIA AT PUBLIC AUCTION. - OFFERS FOR THE NEW YORK HERALD AND TIMES.-MILLIONAIRES IN NEWSPAPERS AND DRY GOODS.

VALUES in the United States are now somewhat fabulous. Stores in New York rent for $50,000 to $100,000 per annum — hotels for the same. One enterprising merchant lives in a palace on the Fifth Avenue costing a million of dollars. Half a million is offered for the country residence of the leading New York editor. One of the brokers who failed in the famous corner on gold in Wall Street, in the fall of 1869, owned a country seat valued at $800,000, and on the improvement of which he was contemplating an expenditure of a million. Another Wall Street financier visits Europe in a steam yacht. Another editor owns pleasure-horses to the value of $150,000, and offers $100,000 for a single animal that can beat the fastest time of the famous Dexter. It is no uncommon occurrence to see $100,000 worth of oil paintings enriching the walls of private residences in the metropolis. Sir Morton Peto, who failed in 1867 for $35,000,000, and James M'Henry, said that operators could not now afford time to talk of thousands-millions were the figures. Newspaper offices are now in buildings costing, including the land, from $100,000 to $1,000,000, and owned, too, by the newspaper proprietors themselves. Thirty years ago one or two of these papers were started on a borrowed capital of $500, and transacted their business in cellars. This array of rich facts was suggested by the sale of a second or third class newspaper-of its rights and its property, the press, the engine and boiler, the type, and the materials, in Philadelphia, on the 1st of February, 1865. The journal was the Evening Bulletin. The terms were cash. The sale is thus described in the Age:

At the appointed hour for the sale, a large attendance of spectators assembled at the office of the establishment, among them being representatives from nearly every publication in Philadelphia. The terms of the sale were announced, and the bidding commenced. The first bid was made by George W. Childs, Esq., proprietor of the Public Ledger, for $50,000. This was followed by a bid of $51,000 from Gibson Peacock, editor, and one of the stockholders of the paper. Mr. John T. Money bid $52,000, followed by Mr. Peacock again with $1000 betThe contest here narrowed down to Messrs. Peacock and Money, who, bidding one thousand each on each successive bid, ran the sum up to $65,000. Here

ter.

Offers for New York Journals.

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Mr. Peacock dropped off, and Messrs. Cummings and Chambers, also stockholders in the concern, commenced bidding. The amount was run up to $88,000, when Mr. Money made the last bid by adding an additional thousand, footing up $89,000. Here all competition ceased, and the paper was accordingly “knocked down" at $89,000.

"Who's the purchaser?" inquired Mr. Freeman, the auctioneer.

"Gibson Peacock, sir," responded Mr. Money.

This took every one by surprise, as Messrs. Money and Peacock had, from the first, bid against each other, and the latter had dropped off at $65,000, leading to the belief that this was the extent of his pile.

Newspaper property is peculiar in its value. If the material alone of the Evening Bulletin were sold, it would not have brought over $20,000. But the character of the paper, its circulation, its advertising patronage, its reputation, sometimes dependent upon the life and health of one man, were what run the price up to the point indicated; and, as the establishment was bought by its editor, with a full knowledge of its value, it is fair to suppose that the price paid was not too high. Thus a newspaper in Philadelphia, and by no means a leading one in that city, brings almost as much at auction as was paid in the fall of 1869 for the Journal des Debâts, one of the oldest and most influential journals in Paris, where newspapers are as necessary as the opera or a glass of absinthe. But we do not give this instance as a complete illustration of the value of newspapers in the United States; it is only a public instance, a forced instance under the hammer. The Morning Call, in San Francisco, at private sale, brought over $100,000, and the Cincinnati Times $135,000. Two years after the New York Tribune was turned into a stock concern at $1000 per share, sales were made at $3500, and $10,000 is now the quotation. One million of dollars have been several times offered for the New York Herald, and in the spring of 1869 ten gentlemen subscribed $200,000 each, and two others $100,000 each for the purchase of the Herald, and that large sum, $2,200,000, was refused. We have seen it stated that $800,000 had been refused for the New York Times. Thirty-four shares were recently sold for $375,000, making the total value of the concern $1,100,000.

None of the valuable newspapers are more than thirty-five years old. Very few journals reach a century in age. More newspapers die than live ; yet journalism is becoming permanent as a profession in the United States, although, to the present time, property in newspapers has been uncertain and precarious. Where is the Globe, the thunderer of Jackson's administration? Where is the National Intelligencer, that controlled the destinies of the great Whig Party? Where is the Boston Atlas? the Courier and Enquirer? Where are hundreds of journals that made their mark on the public mind within a short space of time? All gone. Where