OREGON
FREE
PRESS
.VOL. I.)
FOR Til K
WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1848.
(NO. 33.
"Here shall the Press Hie people's rights maintain, Unawed by influence, and unbribed by gain."
TERMS 01' THE "I'HEE PUESS." dred dollars the regular stamp tax of one penny
One copy, per annum, (in advance,) three dollars por sheet amounts to two hundred and forty-five
and fifty cents, cash for six months, two dollars. thousand dollars, and the lax on the advertisements
AnvnimsiNG. Each square, (12 lines or less.) fitt amounts to one hundred and fifty-six thousand dol
inserlion, two dollars each subsequent insertion, one lars the whole reaching to nearly half a million of
dollar. A reasonable deduction made on yearly doI,arSf wnicb lhc 0V(,rnmenl of lhat cotlnlry rc
advertisements. CL,ivt,s f u t alQaQ Th m:ilerial it-
lurrencyjind produce taken at their cash value. sef Ufl p .J taxedlbe privile,(, of prinl.
r""""" ' v - , ; ing it is Hu n laxed at the rate of a pi-nny per sheet,
b (IHRDOM 01" TUB PlIKSS IN LUROCG.-I he friends of .nd ;u, verllSL,mcnls arc taX(.d ;ll lbe rale of
humanity, and r the progress of civilization and lbnjtt snilHns sUrlin each, equal lo seventy-five
(duration all over the world, cannot but be extreme- cenls of onr currencv. How can il be said, in the
ly gratified at the railroad speed with which the free- facc of tJ(,s h ii,",s of taxation, thai the press
dom of the press is progressing in Europe, tor cen- of Greal rilain is fm;? U may ba free f.ora cen
turies past it has been muffled and tied up-but it sorsblpt bulitisnot free in circulalion-for with all
has at length hurst its bounds, and now stands forth tbese burdens resUng upon it none but tbe corapara.
free and unshackled, in almost every country in the tivey wealUiy porlion of lbL, people can eft:ord to
old wourld-and it is remarkably that England is rcad lbe nciuspapers and the remainder must, con
now almost the only civilized country where Hie press scquentlv, be in ignorance of what is transpiring in
is not actually free. Ule worfd around them. It is, therefore, a direct tax
There is, to he sure, no direct censorship over it on t,,c dissemination of knowledge and intelligence
Ihere-no officers appointed by government loinspect among the people and yet, hi spile of this, the people
(lie editor's writings before they are printed, and.,of Ellgiana v, decry the liberty which we enjov
strike out such parts as are objeclionable-but freedom in lbe United states, and throw up their caps in ex
of Hm press-perfect freedom, sue as now exists uitaiion whenever British freedom, and what not, arc
in the United Stales and France, does not exist in anudLd to. (N. Y. Herald.
England. So far from it being free, it is so heavily
burdened with taxes and impositions that the great Selfisuxess. Within his house in a great arm
uonder is, ils circulation is so great as it is and chair before the fire sat an old gray headed man
lucre these taxes and burdens removed, its circulation ripe for the grave. Twas winter, and the cold wind
would be probably ten times greater. In the Uniled whistled among the leafless branches of the trees,
States, it is, compared uilh England, an easy task and the snow and sleet rattled against the windows,
to publish a paper for there is nothing beyond the The old man chuckled, for tic was warm and corn
cost of the material and the printing lo be taken into fortable, and the biting blast touched him npt. He
consideration. Hnt lbe case is far different in Eng- said, 'I have enough 1 am rich so blow ye winds
1 md. In that country, a government tax of one and drift ye snows, I am safe.' A servant entered
penny sterling equal to two cents of our currency is and said, 'Sir a woman is at Hie door trembling in
clnrged on each sheet by lhc government, and this the cold 'ia no where to sleep no hnne lo go to.
sum must bj paid before the paper is printed. This She bi'gs for a corner of jour kilelh n to pass the
Mini cover the whole price of the best newspaper night in.' 'Away, I've no room for thuiving beggars
in the United Stales, and leaves, in many cases, a th r j is a tav. r.i close; by tell her lo o inert.' She
handsome profit lo the publishers, after expending says she lus no m nicy, and begs yoa to give here
vast sums in availing themselves of the improve- nough lo buy a meal and lodging.' Uegoni. ! diivo
mcnls lhat have recently baen made in machinery and her otr. What I'yj gol's my own, and I'll keep it
in lbe electric telegraph, by which news from all too. I've got none lo squander on worthless men
parts of our widely extended country is presented lo dicanls.
the public, up lo lhc latest hour. The next morning the old man stepped out inlo lhc
As an example of the direct aud indirect taxation porch, and there upon one of the benches sal the poor
which is levied by the British government on the beggar woman. His rage was kindled.
press of lhat country, wc may show an estimate of Did I not tell yon I had nothing for you, impudence!
what the government levies on the London Times Come, come, tramp! Leave my house I say, d'ye
alone. hoar?' She heard him not! She was dead! A he old
That journal consumes two million two bundled man smote his breast and entered his house. He
ami sixty-lwo thousand pounds of paper annually, never left it again for he also died miserable, though
(he lax on which is sixty-rig lit thousand five bun- rich.
r