St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-05-04
The Law of Libel.

The Law of Libel.
The Springfield Republican takes its
late libel suit as Il text for showing up
the faults and Inconsistencies of the law
of libel in Massachusetts. 1t will he re-
membered that the Republican printed
us an item of news that Il well known
woman had confessed that DR.. Stark
weather had seduced her. The court
held that the paper must not only prove
that the woman had so confessed, but
that the doctor had committed the act
she charged, or the article WAS libellous.
The Republican says:
Judge Brigham, it will he observed.
holds that when the public journal says
that rumOrS are rife of certain things.
ii is bound To establish not only that
there were such rumors, but that 1.-THE
rumors were true, and the facts to which
they relate were true" And this, too.
when these rumors are the mereSt in
cidents of IL great fact that is proved to
he true. When the newspaper pub
parties to ii crime, it must prove not
only that the party made the statement,
but that the statement was true. This
is not merely compelling the publisher
to prove the truth Of his publication !;
1t compcls him to prove vastly more
than he published. The statement. "A
claims that b struck c." is not the same
as the statement, "B struck c." and
does not include it. The alleged libel
in this case was: A patient of Dir. Stark
weather's "claimsn that he has done so
and SO. But the courts compel us to
prove not merely that A claimed b
struck c, but that b did strike G. not
merely that Mrs. Bates claimed to have
been drugged, but that she was drug
ged, as an incident to the adultery,
which is proven. The courts have re-
tuted mathematics by extracting from
the libel Il part which is greater than
the whole, Il thing more difficult to
prove than the libel itself, and insist
that the newspaper shall establish facts
which it never asserted. 1t is entirely
supeltluous after this Interpretation to
require that any iOta of statement IN
covered 10y proof justifieS verdict
against the publisher. We would will
ingly stand or fall on that ground, but
when newspaper is required to es-
tablish, not only What it publishes but
what it does not publish, we have no
basis on which to print the commonest
intelligence of the day.
Suppose that statement was of a muir
der, just committed, and that the vic
tim before he expired had time to de-
clare that he had been drugged to i'm
becility before the fatal blow was struck.
The newspaper publishing the fact that
he made such a statement would Law
Itself open to il libel suit at the hands
of the convicted assassin, and to ex-
emplary damages from its Inability to
call the only witness to the transaction
beside the criminal. We could establish
beyond question our full publications.
that the dying man made such state
ment,-but how could we establish the
fact of the dragging itself? This is not
Il strained or unnatural illustration. The
fact that the man was convicted of the
murder would not release the paper.
The fact that Stark weather was proved
i'll adultery with his victim was not al
lowed by Judge Brigham to relieve the
Republican of his imposed necessity to
prove, what it never said, that he
dragged her. There is not a single issue
of newspaper in the country, whose
| publisher would he able to establish
both that there were rumors, and that
all the rumOrs and statements were true.
of the matter of its news. On Saturday
morning, the insurance commissioner of
New York gave to the Associated Press
for transmission to hundreds of news
papers over the country his report on
the American Popular Life insurance
company. Every newspaper in Massa-
chusetts, at least, that published any
portion of that statement did so at its
peril, unless it is able to prove the
damaging allegations OF Mr.. Smyth.
! The courts would close the newspapers
to all publication of commercial, finan-
cial and business intelligence, Il kind of
news most valuable to the community
yet which grows from rumOr into fact
almost imperceptibly the courts would
close the newspaper to all chronicle of
crime, subject repulsive, perhaps, but
i'll which journalism is the chief and
chiefest police. In fact, it is true that
journalism does all its best and most
valuable services to the public, not I'M
der the encouragement of law, but in
spite of it and in peril of it. If the
Massachusetts law, as interpreted bv
Judge Brigham, were enforced upon
the press, it would absolutely suppress
it.