The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-13
MUZZLE is PUT
ON The PRESS
Libel Bill Signed by the Governor
of Pennsylvania.
HELD IT FOR OVER A MONTH
Is AIMED AT THE
CLEVER CARTooNIsTS.
II ARRTsBUBG. Pa. Nay Gov

ileilt giving the reasons IOE his aCIlOn-
The bill, which was in the governors
hands for more than a month. goes into
erect Immediately ana repeats ali laws
. or parts of laws Inconsistent with the
new act.
The governor says IL his statement
. that the questions raised by the bill
are OF very grave Importance and af-
Iect large business interests for the
freedom of speech and the press the
fiShI OF the citizen 70 be informed con-
. cernlnS current affairs and the cOnducs
/ OF COY eminent. as we'll as his right 10
protect his reputation and home from
the injuries that arise from careless
or negligent, Is well as malicious. false
report
The governor says there is nothing
III the terms Of the measure which pre-
vents any new spaper from making such
comments upon legislative measures or
upon the official acts Of state mu-
hlclpal, co0nty or public officers as are
proper Information for the public o.
are IN the line Of legitimate public dis
cussion- Continuing. he says:
Application Of the Bill.
The bill in its application is not con-
fined to officials bur affects as wen the
citizen or business man whose conduct
constitutes no part OF the right of the
public TO infOrma tion. The corpora
ton officer who has been falsely
charged with crime; the manufacturer
who has been falsely accused of being
a drunken braWIer. the woman whose
domestic griefs have been uufeelingly
paraded, or whose chastity is improp-
erly suspected; the student who has
oeen falsely accused of murder. the
clergyman who has been f~ueliy ma
hened, the Iuiet citizen whose peace Of
mind has been destroyed by The pub
LEGATION Of evil gossip: be merchant
whose credit has been affected BY
SrOundieSS rumOUS. the sufferers from
reckless but not necessarily malicious
publca tions are given the right. not to
prohibit publication. nut 70 recover the
damages which they have sustained,
provided they prove negligence OF lack
or care on the part of the publishing
newspapers. All these are instances of
what has in fact recently occurred
Alleged Case in Point.
within a few days, in a leading ar
ucle on the first pa &c of a daily jour
nal. under large headlines. upon TU-
NOR of unknown source as to the name
OF the suggested aSpOinUee to the pO-
SluOn of parliamentary Of the supreme
court, when no appointment had been
made, and no utteTance. official or 9th
erWlse- Hud emapated from any mem
Der Of that court. the tribunal was
subjected to covert assault under
the words. Machine after control of
chief city has been called a traitor. a
senator of the United States has been
denounced as 'yokel with sodden
brain. and within the last quarter of d
century two presidents of the United
States have been murdered. and in
each instance the cause was easily
traceaole to infiammatory and careless
newspaper utteTanCeS. A cartoon in a
daily Journal Of May defines the
question with entire precision. An ugly
little dwarf. representing the governor
of the commonwealth. stands on
crude stool. The stool is subordinate
to and placed alongside huge print
ing press with wheels a. large as those
Of an OK team. and all are SO arranged
as 10 give the idea that when the press
starts. the stool and its occupant VIII
be thrown to the ground. Put into
words, the cartoon asserts to the world
that the press is above the law and
greater in strength than the govern
ment- No such self-respecting people
win permit such an attitude to be leng
maintained.
0Id-time Punishment
IN England a century ago the Of
fender would have been drawn and
qUartered and his head stuck upon the
pole without the gates. In America
today this is the kind of arrogance
which gOeth before a fall
The governor adds: If such abuse
of privileges allowed to the press is to
go unpublished I'll such tales are per
mitted to be poured into the ears OF
men and to be profitable. it IS idle to
contend that reputable newspapers can
maintain their purity"
e also says that many years eS-
perience on the bench has led him 20
the conclusion that crimes are widely
prOpa gated. not by the malice but by
the reckiessuess Of the press. and that
murder, the accused were at times
convicted or acquitted before they
reached the court room. He claims
that the damages provided for By the
bill follow the ordinary rule of dam
ages for want of reasonable care, and
that no harm can come from the pro
vision in he bill requesting that the
names OF ne owners, proprietor, pub
Usher and managing editor should be
printed with each issue of a newspaper
published in Pennsylvania.
weeklies Omitted.
He argues that the omission Of the
word weekly" from the provisions Of
the bill was unwise- bat in no sense IA
tai and that if hereafter a newspaper
should be issued every other day or
twice a dry. and thus not be included
in the descriptive words used, it tould,
as well as the journals published weeks
~, be covered by the general enacting
words and be subject TO the provisions
of the act.
The governor continues; Since the
laws Of God and nature are immutable
and ineXorab BILE, unless means are found
TO uDrOOt some of the tendencies Of
modern Journalism, the influence OF the
press, which has been so potent an
agent in the development Of civiliZa-
ton and securing liberty, viii be gone
forever.
With serious sense that the evil
IS of more than ordinary moment, with
full knowledge Of the Importance Of
the press and OF its value 10 mankind
through all past struggles, and with
the hope and belief that the greater
care and larger meA sures of respons:-
bility brought about by this law, tend
ing to elevate the meritoFious and re-
press the unworthy. viii promote IFS
welfare while benefiting the eon1mu-
nifty, I approve the bill"
MESSENGERS ON STRIKE.