The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-05-31
LAW OF LIBEL.
Radical hauges that Should b, Mad,
Plainly Pointed Out.
Where the Responsibility Really R's!s
Remedial Suggestions.


Recent dispatches from ID las have men
tioued a cate Ia which the III shALp, az that
city. Was iir nosed upon by ialse statement
Of sllseed facts. IL becomes the iounoa
ton of "A libel cult. IL 10 safe To assert thNt
no newspaper IL utterly exempt rom the
Hrs. part OF tuch sxperi1nc'i aud only tht
impecunious papers are exntnpt from tne
libel cults The iast menton,d class OF
paperf, being the more numerous, are posi-
lively ENCOURAGED 10 car.letBntss or audac
itv. proyii,d their editors have the personal
pluck TO defy any extra legal attempts ~
redress, the better aud more vniunoie
papers are laced under law OF financial
terrorism by a singular and invidious ais
crlpoination, aud should therefore "tk
nm8ng themselves whss IL to be done TO
pIacs all on fair and equal footing. i,
will not do 10 say that ouly the papers OF q
iar,s ejaculation can do serious harm by
falss 70 ports. The majority Of the people
have ont q local reputation, ana may te
more A. jnred among those who Know mem
by a fnlte report In local paper havink
y,rj I'm ted c'cul iol lhau By tim j r
report 10 a larger paper. n the Law grants
only monetary damages the H. iaied have
practlc illy no redress Ter llhrl b. .le impc.
cunious papers. This is point number one
for the peopls, az locally situated, 10 cor.
slider. rhe people are certainly interested
In projecting the papers That by tudom
md diligence D ~ otCoihr 'uo post tohcihi
newspapers. Every raid on one OF euch
newspapers 10 q blow at the peoples inter
est I'M growing and successful journalism,
which tends TO give the most and latest
news for the least money. This 10 point
number two for tho people ut large TO con-
slider. II 10 readily possible for an editor to
reject anything c9ucnea 10 IMPROPER iah
spts. There will always, however, be some
cases In which corresponr ents VIII be I'M
posed upon by caTeltssnets, or In which
forgeries OF dispatches will bo perpetta'ed;
or IL may be that correspondence extreme
cases will wreak private vengeance at the
expense OF thsir connection with the pfeie
to which they hsve been temporarily at.
tached. This 10 q serious matter for news
papers Of standing, ns shown by the. fre'
ouet cy Of libel suite, which no practicable
degree OF foresight could avoid. growing
with the growth OF newspapers. The News
has suggested reform by change in tho
law OF libel. That Is simply to .pnt the re
spopsibility where IL belongs. Pu' II upon
the guilty person. Let the responsible ed
itor OF q paper DO held responsible for what
Ia properly his duty to the public, to pre-.
vent statements appearing II IN substance
and language and on their fare improper
and unwarrs table. His primary duty is
TO know what to kefp OUT, even more than
what to put In, and in large office he Rust
necessarily discharge this duty chiefly by
selecting OF fair acd competent assistants.
An editor claims no more con ri ov.r
facts than O telegraph company. he oweS
All decent news to his readers. What pre-
portion OF tho libel suits that are now no
often begun &c aipst newspapers would ever
supar plum in tho shape OF money dam
ages were the cole object? Blu. what com.
pensation Is money for damaged repuia-
ton. And what justice is there IN letting
the malicious persou escape and hnir the
printing and publishing company? The
evil here pdverted to will, Of curse, grow
till the proper remedy is adopted. The
remedy may he easily ionud by analysis a
the circumstances. Criminal practices ere
essentially personal. The ne~spsper 10
often the direct object and victim OF the
libeler. The soive criminal may coz.
ceiyably be one In collision with criminal
accessory, figuring as nominaily Injured
person. The publishers and the public
have q common interest in an amendment
of the law SO Ds to apply responsibility and
merited penaitiea directly to whomsoevei
NAV be the tffspdcrs. The reputable news.
papers aud the people IA soneIal ouehtto
make n common effort 10 have the lesisla.
lures deel with this subject, with reference
not to Whist newspapers were when on
editor mostly wrote and selected all that
appeared in his columns-when he gath
AIRED his local news himself, aud relied on
personal acquantances for Letters from
other town, and when an undivided re.
sponsibility was therefore more nearly pfac-
tica le-but to The presen Mt state Of the pub.
iishipg bu,iness In branch Of current lit
ersture which has become o huge news.
Gathering business. The libels are nearly
always in the alleged fact.. The news
papers have no occasion TO plead ior any cd
pecisl tenderness toward them. The tone
OF the systematic and reputable press, In
its modern enlarged sphere, will show far
more impartislity ss well. as TAR mole COM
prehensiyenem In giving the record OF 90.
currences than was shown In the desultory
efforts OF new spaper. making In past gener.
atoms. But, is'rly and reasonably, In the
intert st OF It's usefulness, the modern news
paper can Justly AK TO be guarded from
malice or cupIdiy-especislly from raids
where Il may be Inferred that the parties
psrading alleged injuries to their reputa.
ton are recretly r,joiced to have suffered
such injuries" seeing In them no real
damsge, bu. o chance TO win small for.
tune By the inscrutable iavo Of the aver.
age Jury. As the ne sspspers, though not
more really interested In the final reform
than the public that values newspapers,
are prim arily interested In pocket, what are
the reputable and responsible newspapers
going to do about this matto'?-T Galveston
News.