Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1871 — Processions. [ARTICLE]

Processions.

The question of great processions, which blockade thtf" chief thoroughfares, and otten very injuriously delay honest people going about their business, has naturally excited much discussion since the 12th of July. But the sole ground upon which it can be properly argued that they should be forbidden, is that of the public convenience, and not at all upon that of the character of the event which they coni memorate. Borne days and events which people wish to celebrate are often local, foolish, sectarian, sectional, and often also very distasteful, and jbven exasperating, to a great many other people. But if this is to be a reason for forbidding them, where shall we begin, and where shall we end ’ No body of citizens has the right, bv its Celebration of any event, to obstruct'the public streets against the lawful protest,of the community, because the streets are for the general convenience. And, of course, no collection of people, more than an individual, has the right to break the peace. But when we begin to say that we will .have Sunday-school processions but not political, or political but not religious, or that we will have processions to celebrate American events but not European gyents, we are infringing upon the fundamental right of the people peaceably to assemble ana express their sentiments. Who is to ba authorized to say that certain opinions are wrong, or that nobody ought to wish to commemorate this man's birthday or that battle. There are those who wish to march in honor of Thomas Paine, perhaps; and if they do not exercise that right to the detriment of the equal rights of other people, who shall • complain ? There were those who wished to march in honor of the twenty-fifth year of the Pope’s primacy ; and very properly they did so, respecting all other rights, but very plainly expressing their delight in the Pope. There may be those who wish to march in hon< r of the restoration of Rome as the capital of Italy, and of the separation of the tempon! from the ecclesiastical power of the rope, and who shall say that such a pa-

rade may excite trouble, and that they must therefore stay al home? The vital principle of American liberty is free speech, whether on banners or in b x»ka,or by word qf mouth or in newspapers. If we don't like our neighbor's opinion, we must withstand its influence by the persuasive statement of our own. But when we strike at his freedom of speech, the very genius of America 1* wounded. It is asked if Orangemen and others who hold disagreeable political or religious opinions ought not, in the interests of public order, to keep quiet?. Certainly not. If we are not strong enough to bear the expression of the most offensive opinions in a time of profound peace, we ought to know it, that ws may become to. Let us not forbid processions on the ground that they arc really the expression of opinions that we do not like, or that they tend to foster feuds that we think ought to tgj forgotten, until we are ready to authorize the magistrate to issue licenses for such public meetings only as he may approve. '. ■ 6 It is a pity that Irish traditions of political and religious feuds should lie cherished in this country. It is very natural that praise of A the pale " should offend and exasperate the ignorant descendants of those without the pale. But we must not bum down the house to singe a mouse. We must not surrender the great guaran tees of liberty to avoid a little trouble. Our duty is not to tell Orangemen to hold their tongues, but to tell those who would molest them to hold their hands, and let their tongues wag as fast as they will. Certainly our system has just teen nobly ▼indicated. And those who would prohibit processions because of hostility to the opinion or the cause which they commemorate merely propose to justify Mayor Hall’s surrender to the threat of a mob—a surrender which instinctively drew from the whole country a cry of shame and indignation.—Harper's Weekly.