The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-06-01

thorities, that the only way of safety
I for the State, for the great govern
ment that we love SO we'll, for the
United States-and there is not one of
us but who would not lay down our
lives for 1.-THE only safety for the
government and the people lies in
keeping everybody and every function
of government free, without terror
and without being afraid. Dismiss
this proceeding, may it please Your
Honor, for lack of jurisdiction, dis
miss it because Josephus Daniels
comes in here and says to Your Honor
that there is no contempt of Your
Honors court intended and never has
] been. | verify believe that the great
est agency in behalf of civil liberty
is the press. l call Your Honor's at
tention to the fact that there never
| was a great movement inaugurated in
behalf of human liberty that the
press was not behind it. l call your
| attenuo nto the war in France when
| the first thing that the people did
was to rise up against the mobiles, the
first thing was to establish a free
press, and, may it please Your Honor,
when the French Revolution came
along it was the press that moved
| the people to action. 1t was the
press that enabled Your Honor to
| hold your property safe and secure,
and the wife that is as dear to your
heart as the red drops that well up
| in Your Honors heart. Shall we
strike it down; shhall we hit at the
man who sits upon the tripod. No
I ST. we will never do it, Your Honor
will never do it.
There is no disrespect for Your
Honor's Court There is no intention
to reflect upon Your Honor. When
Mr.. Dickens came over hhere. he
wrote about how we rushed in when
| the dinner was on, etc.
will hurry on and cite you to a few
| other authorities upon that line |
take the 26th Federal, at page sos
/ read from Kirk VS.. The Milwaukee
! Dust Collecting Manufacturing Co.
L will call Your Honor's attention
in passing to Your Honor's opinion in
! 100 Fed, page $50, 1876 u. S., CO.,
This case i'm 1876 U. s., page 607, de-
| cides that the inherent power to
punish as for contempt of courts is
! taken away from the United States
/ courts by the act of March, 1881, and
that you cannot punish except under
| that act.
/ have cited Your Honor to most
of the authorities which l have. OF
couse, it is not necessary for me to tell
| Your Honor, Your Honor does not
| agree with Mr.. Daniels; | do not, in a
great many things; but, as | said, diff
ferences of opinion must be tolerated
in the United States. No two men
| agree o many proposition. Sometimes
his way of expressing may not be
pleasing to other people. Under the
| laws of the country he has the right
so to do, as we take it. May it please
/ Your Honor, if / had Your HonoorS
permission to review the boldness of
my client in the past, he has never
lodged. When you come down to the
/ of hA
! man has ever more fearleSSly per-
formed his duty than the respondent
! now in Your Honor's court And for
these reasons, for lack of jurisdiction
in Your HonorS court, because Your
| Honor cannot go beyond the act OF
1881, we ask Your Honor that this
rule be discharged. Mr.. Daniels has
come into court and has said to Your
! Honor that there was no intention TO
reflect upon Your Honor's court. Chief
i Justice Pearson said that no good
Il could come following up the mat
Il ter He said that the rule would
have be discharged becaus he had
purged himself fcontempt by the
fling of the answer. And so on III
the cases which we now have. We
Il appeal to Your Honor as true ana
loval son of the United States, not
i only of the United States, but of
! North Carolina. We appeal to Your
\ Honor by the recollection of that con-
geniality of feeling which exists
/ among all our people; we appeal TO
Your Honor because of the fact that
YOU are a native of our State, that
YOU know all about them; that this
writ may be discharged and that Your
/ Honor will decide that you have not
jurisdiction here to proceed further IN
this matter and that Your Honor Will
hold that the rule has been fully met,
SO that for all time to come it may be
of our great State that we have not
only a free press, sbut we nave ike
wise a free judiciary.
This closed Judge Winston's argu-
ment and Judge Purnell asked: is
that all that is desired to say in be-
half of the respondent? Any other
counsel desire to address the ourt?''
i No other argument being made,
Judge Purnell proceeded to pass judg-
ment and sentence as follows:
The question of jurisdiction is over
ruled. 1t is held that this court has
Jurisdiction to punish the offense un-
der Section 1925. Under Article
/. of the Constitution of the United
States this Court could not, is not IN
clined to, and has no intention, ana
! would not if that Article were not in
the Constitution, attempt to muzzle a
free press The Court believes that
the doctrine of the free press is the
agent of Thirty. The prss has right
10 discuss matters even Judicral, 1ut
that the press must do it in respect
full manner. A free press does 1ot
mean a licensed press. The history
of this case is known to the people
of North Carolina and is known to the
Court The answer is not sufilclenl
and does not purge the respondent OF
the contempt. For thirty days OF
, more this Court has permitted Tree
discussion of the proceedings In Guy
Ter VS.. The Atlantic & North Carolina
Railroad Company, and the Court not
only permits that under the first ar
ticle of the Constitution of the United
States. but the Court hopes that II
: will continue. The Court does not, as
; said before, desire or intend t9 at
r tempt to muzZle the press. 1t wants
: free discussion of all its acts, ana D!
2 saying "permittted' l don't mean by
RI that the Court passes by Inc flsn'
S oof the Court to stop it. 1t has some
( times been hard for the Court person
!. ally to stand these attacks. TheS
+ came up to the verge of contempt, ou
! did not cross the line. That is ina
| is the way that the Court looks at II
g The attempt to purge the responder
of cOntemut that is the intention II