THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



245 



impatient at the censorship of the press 

 which the president deemed it advisable 

 to enforce. But if these impatient on^s 

 will give the matter a little consideration 

 they will find that the president's action 

 is wise and just. The president's author- 

 ity for this action is found in the 46th ar- 

 ticle of war, which became a law in 1806 

 and reads as follows.: 



"46, Whoever shall be convicted of 

 holding correspondence with or giving in- 

 telligence to the enemy, either directly or 

 indirectly, shall suffer death, or such other 

 penalties as shall be ordered by the sent- 

 ence of u court martial." 



In the late war this rule had to be en- 

 forced before much headway was made by 

 the northern forces, and in accordance 

 with this law an order was issued by which 

 it was forbidden to give any information, 

 either verbally, or by correspondence, or 

 by printing or telegraphing, in regard to 

 the movements of the army by land or wa- 

 ter, or any statistics concerning troops, 

 arsenals, or military affairs, that might 

 directly or indirectly aid the enemy, with- 

 out the authority of the general in com- 

 mand. This was very rigidly enforced 

 during the late war, General Sherman 

 even going so far as to cut the telegraph 

 wires and tear up the railway tracks be- 

 hind him as he marched away from At- 

 lanta. 



No one in this land of freedom, would 

 submit to such a tyrannical rule as press 

 censorship in time of peace, but in time of 

 war it is necessary and just and none should 

 criticise the president for enforcing a law 

 that tends to aid us in our struggle. 



NO The bill to appropriate $300,- 



Dehvery. 000 for rural free delivery of 

 mail failed to pass the senate, so the 

 country post office will not yet be abolished. 

 It was further decided to have but four 

 deliveries daily in the city. Mr. Teller 

 opposed the rural free delivery plan on the 

 ground that it meant merely the outlay of 

 a large sum upon a scheme for which there 

 was no demand. Mr. Pettigrew declared 

 that the farncers themselves were not 

 clamoring for anything of the kind. A 

 western paper says truly: "It must be 

 remembered that this demand for rural 

 postal delivery did not come up from the 

 farms of the country. * * * The de- 

 mand came from those uneasy spirits who 

 want to be 'reforming' things continually 

 and to whom any change, however expen- 

 sive, smells of reform. The farmers have 

 never asked for the rural delivery as they 

 felt themselves entirely competent to 

 mount a horse occasionally and take a lit- 

 tle recreation in going to the post office 

 after their mail.'' 



One of the pleasant incidents 

 of the month was a call from 

 Geo. H. Maxwell, who stopped in this city 

 on his way East. Mr. Maxwell, besides 

 being the editor of the National Advocate 

 and the California Advocate, is greatly in- 

 terested in the irrigation problem and has 

 the interest of the West at heart. We en- 

 joyed the opportunity of becoming person- 

 ally acquainted with him and hope we may 

 receive anotner call. 



Another Western contemporary who 

 made us a brief visit was G. S. Yauger, 

 editor of the Irrigation Era, of Denver. 

 We are always pleased to make the ac- 

 quaintance of western men and hope they 

 will call when in the city. 



Welcome 

 Visitors. 



