Page:Political Censorship in the Oregon Spectator.djvu/2

236 T'Vault, a lawyer who had worked on newspapers in Arkansas, recognized in his first editorial the restriction of the association. He said, in part:

But instead of ending his salutatory in a neutral tone, T'Vault added wryly: "Notwithstanding we are now, as we have always been, and ever shall be, a democrat of the Jefferson school. Believing the principles taught by that great apostle of liberty, are the true principles of a republican government." Thus, his final self-assertive, half-defiant declaration violated the spirit and letter of the association's constitution. One reader asked: "Will you please inform a subscriber in what way he can obtain the privilege you have taken, as I am not certain that you intend to exclude the discussion of politics altogether?"

In subsequent issues, T'Vault followed the dictate of the association, albeit reluctantly. Occasionally he would note a communication was not printed because of political overtones.

Six weeks after he became editor, T'Vault published a short editorial supporting an A. L. Lovejoy in a local election. He was promptly fired. In his valedictory in the next issue, T'Vault explained that the excuse given for his discharge was faulty syntax and orthography. But the real reason, he said, was that his political sentiments "were at variance" with the persons who controlled the newspaper. He claimed that two distinct parties existed in Oregon, and he told of difficulties in editing a non-partisan newspaper under such conditions.