POSTSCRIPT
SATITRDAT.
The intelligence from Hesse-Cassel increases in interest. The Perms- nanent Committee of the Chamber is proceeding with great energy, and with a concurrence so general as to indicate a very salutary feeling in the German population. A telegraphic despatch received at Berlin states that three public departments, to which the Permanent Committee ad- dressed an edict forbidding them to obey the orders of the Government relative to the collection of taxes, &c. have sided with the Committee : these departments—" the Superior College of Finance," "Superior Tax Direction," and "Customs Direction," as well as the Board of Exchequer —have declared to the Ministry that their acts are illegal and cannot be obeyed ; and the Boards have addressed remonstrances on the subject to the Elector.
The Chief Procurator of the State has accepted the office of prosecuting the Ministers at the suit of the Permanent Committee : the Ministers in- dicted are Haasenpflug, Baumbach, and Haynau, said to be a brother of the General.
Letters from Cassel, of the 10th instant, state that, through some want in the customary formalities, M. Hassenpflug was not yet in custody. He had summoned the four Commissioners of Police to place themselves at his disposal ; but it was thought that they would decline to obey him. The publisher of the New Hessian Gazette, which was seized on the 8th, announced on the 9th that he had obtained the protection of the highest civil tribunal, the Supreme Civil Court of Electoral Hesse. The judg- ment is published, and it is interesting from its explicitness in laying down principles and sturdiness in issuing the consequent order-
-"-Judgment in the case of Frederick Oetker, of Cassel, plaintiff, and the Staats-Anwalt of Hesse-Cassel, charged with arbitrary and unlawful aggres- sion. • "Having heard the complaint of the prosecutor and the affidavits on which it is. based, together with the defence; and considering that the complaint is supported on the facts-1. That the complainant is publisher of a newspaper called the New Ilessische Zeitung, a political publication ; and, 2. That in pursuance of an ordinance issued September 7, for the seizure of presses and printed copies of the newspaper, a written order, signed by General Bauer, was executed at the office of the above named journal, whereby 50 printed newspapers and 104 half-printed sheets of No. 422 of the paper were seized and taken away with violence ; and that, further, soldiers were left in the office with orders to prevent the further printing of newspapers ;—considering that the first sentence of Section 37 of the Constitutional Act of January 1831 is dependent on the subsequent sentence, which promises a special law for offences by the press, and is to be construed together with the law on the subject issued August 26, 1848 ;—considering that the latter law agrees with Section 37 of the Constitutional Act, in providing that the press shall be free from all restraints, from censure, cautions, concessions, or any other kind of restriction, except as provided by this law ;—considering that accord- ing to those laws no proceedings can be taken against political journals except in the courts of law, and that without a judicial verdict no journal can legally be suspended or suppressed ;—considering that the law has been broken by the violent removal of the printed and half-printed newspapers, and the forced suspension of all printing operations, contrary to the right of the complain- ant; that the order on which these unlawful proceedings were taken was signed by Gelieral Bailer, and refers to an ordinance issued September 7 of this year ;—considering that this order' even if we accept it as lalvfully pro- mulgated on the same evening when it is dated, not having been published in any Government Gazetts, yet such cannot be considered a publicity suffi- cient to justify- the immediate application of force in its execution ;—con- sidering that the order dated September 7, although signed by Ministers, appeared without the concurrence of the Permanent Committee of the States, a concurrence whieh is constitutionally required, and which can he replaced by no declaration such as is contained in the ordinance referred to ;—con- sidering that the courts have to decide simply, and without the operation of any extrinsic itfluence whatever, on the validity of the ordinance of Sep- tember 7, comparing it with the laws of the realm ;—considering that the proceedings set out by complainant have taken place in opposition to the fun- damental laws of the land, and are of a character in nowise to be justified ;— considering that no party had the right to intrude upon the premises of the complainant under an unconditional order, and there to commit the acts complained of;
"The Court declares the Staats-Anwalt guilty ; and directs that the 50 printed copies of the New Hessische Zeitung and the 104 partially printed sheets taken away by order of General Bauer on the 7th of September be carried back to the place from whence they were taken ; that the military guard placed in the office to hinder the printing, be withdrawn.
"The Court further directs that the Staats-Anwalt no longer presume to in- terfere to prevent the printing, publiaation, or sale of the said journal ; and be required to pay the sum of six dollars, the estimated amount of damage sustained by the complainant ; and to report to this Court on the 13th instant that all these directions have been fulfilled.
"Cassel, Sept. 9." The edict ordaining martial law throughout the electorate is unusually subversive of municipal law ; as will be seen from an outline of its articles : it is signed by the Elector and countersigned by his Ministers- " 1. The whole territory of Cassel is placed in a state of siege until fur- ther orders ; without, however, impeding ordinary intercourse of citizens. The execution of the following regulations are during this period intrusted to a military commander-in-chief, under whose command the standing array, the burgher guard of individual parishes, and all civil authorities excepting the tribunals, will be placed. "2. The whole administration of police is intrusted to this commander and those under his orders.
"3. Public meetings are forbidden, and all other meetings, unless with assent of the military commander. "4. Political journals cannot appear without leave of the Ministry. A copy of each journal must be submitted to the commandant an hour before publication, under penalty of total suppression. The commandant and those appointed by him are empowered to seize forthwith all journals which con- tain libels or insults on our person, the Government or their organs, or which preach rebellion and disobedience, &c. This measure is applicable to all political flying sheets, placards, and pictorial designs. "5. As regards the having recourse to the employment of force and usages of war, that must depend on the judgment and decision of the military cora- mander, who is alone responsible to us. "6. The military commander-in-chief, or (under pressing circumstances) the military commandant of any separate district, is empowered to suspend existing authorities and state employes, and to dissolve burgher guards, should it be deemed requisite for the maintenance of public peace. "7. Armed opposition against the authorities or their agents, rebellion and treason, are to be judged and punished by military law.,
"8. The above regulations will remain in vigour until the Chamber be as- sembled for the purpose of giving assent thereto ; which will be done as soon as possible."
Berlin letters of the 9th instant, in the Milner Zeitung, confirm the statement that the Prussian Cabinet Council has formally resolved not to allow any Austrian or Bavarian troops to interfere in Electoral Hesse.
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