The Washington bee., 1897-06-19

| ler printed news circulars and in the
wear of 1922 England printed her first
! regular newspaper, The Weekly Meas.
+, During the reign OF Marat and prior
I, TO his time the press was rather cratic
/ and vindictive. The editors were i'm
pressed with the idea that great princi-
pies pertaining TO governments, under
| different political factions, had to be
| discussed. But England, as she is to-
| day, the mother and expounder of the
law, placed a check on English editors
| who seemed to be more inclined to
discuss the personality of a man. and
libel him instead of discussing the af-
| fairs of the government, hence the
severity of the English law of libel.
!! No matter how guilty an individual
may be of committing crimes, the COM
| mon law was, "greater the truth,
greater the libel.
While it is true, the constitution of
the United States gives freedom to
| the press, in some states the old COM
mon law doctrine is still in existence
Some judges in America have no more
| conception of the rules of evidence in
| libel suits and the law of libel, than
Marat had of what was right for the
French people.
Some American judges are inhuenc-
ed by their prejudice againsI the press
and more particularly against the Afro
American press that dareS to expose
corruption and wrong doings. The
Southern Afro-Amerlcan press, plead
| ing as it does and condemning wrong
against people. who by circumstances,
and by no fault of their own, is
estopped by that Southern prejudice
| from speaking against wrongdoings.
The freedom Of the press in the South,
SO far as the colored editor is con-
Cerned, isa false letter in our constitu-
ton. The Northern Afro-American
press is playing between toadyism and
| CoWardice. There is found among the
negro but few great editors who will
express the courage of their convic-
tionS. And while those may be great
in exposing wrong and condemning
that which effect the liberties of the
people, some very petty characteris-
tics still remain In their bones.
We need daily press, press that
is not tainted with corruption press
| that is bold and fearless in advocating
strong economic principles a press
! that is liberal enough to treat all class
/ eS of citizens with consideration a
press that cannot be bought for con-
| Sineration; and above all, one that is
| consistent in all things.
+ There are more newspapers in the
| United States to-day than in any other
country in the world. Up to the year
of 1895 there were Io, $50 newspapers in
| the United States, of which the Afro
| American press numbers about 300,
and not one supported, to any extent,
| by the Colored people in the United
| States. | mean, if Colored editors de-
pended on the existence of their pa
| pers by Colored people they would die.
Some OF the peculiaritieS IN editing a
| paper, commonly called a negro paper,
is the amount of space colored man
wants for his money. You will be
| asked to run cut and give column,
write up, and with the request to send
| him ten copies at three cents per copy.
You may be requested to send Mr.. A.
| the paper for month your collector
will call, the subscriber will get angry
| because you bothered him with a bill
| for 20 cents He tells his neighbor that
the editor is hard up Your collector
| will call on Mr.. B who has been taking
your paper for three months; he is
| highly insulted because you allowed
his paper to run three months without
sending the collector. Mr. d. is a very
, affabie gentleman and he has had the
paper for six months, but declines to
pay until the year is out. The year ex-
pireS, your collector calls, but gets no
money. The subscriber writes to the
Office that the collector inSulted him,
nd inf hot he oil
the office and pay, but at the same time
please stop the paper. He never calls.
This individual visits his friends house
who does pay and borrows his paper;
he tells his friend that he would not al
is dirty sheet" He fails to tell his
friend tnat he owes subscription.
The base IngratItude, not only
against the negro press, bnt against the
press that defends the virtues of your
household and the maintenance of a
good government, must expect nothing
but condemnation and opposition
This exponent of virtue and honesty,
this advocate of those principles which
tend to improve a people, will some
day have its proper place in history.
THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
Why should the liberty of the press
be abridged? Why should editors be
cited to appear before courts because
they refuse to disclose the source of
their information Our lawmakers,
like otders, cannot stand newspaper
criticisms, nor will they tolerate fair
expose of their weaknesses or con-
SCIENCES. The liberty of the press, as
we'll as liberty in all things that are
right, will soon be manifested.
As man was destined to be his own
free agent, and exercise personal lib
erty as long as he keeps within the con-
fines of the law, so will the liberty of
the press at some near date be con-
stitutional prerogative, indeed.
There should be as much personal
liberty accorded the press as is given
to a man in all the affairs of life. He
should be free to expose all public and
private wrongs that tend to DESTROY
our domestic or public tranquility,
when it is for private or public good.
An unjust restriction of the press by
law is not only tyrannical, under re-
publican form of government, but un-
just. Men who have the control of the
judiciary branch of our government
should not be allowed, for personal
gain tO imDede the DercooaI Iibart,, NJ