The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-01-25

apsst discrimination between right ane
wrong. the mos, forceful form Of srpres
sion, and the hixhss. order Of moral co1r
age Tha, ope Of the mosi potent sxencie'
10 the evolution Of this American nation
shosld be thus dsbase d,even 10 appearspos
10 surely anything su, ersditabie TO tbcss
responsible for u, and who themselves
sheuld guard 10 more iesiou,ly their c~n
good name than the honor Of their craft.
II the facts constituted a reason for this
sItrAordlnsrv self-teprcstion, the ocndi'
tion would be comprehoniible. Blu, the
,tver,s is the manifest truth. There - no
preu 10 the world comparable TO that oi
America iu freedom nom influence, polili-
cal or social from venality, from contami-
oatIsn Of any kind Whatsoever, Ia France
. newspapers opinions are = matter OF
francs; In England, too often, OF Nlss; 10
Germsny, Austris, and Spain, Of imperial
iayori 10 Russia, OF absolute censorship.
Ia America, thanks to the maintenance Of
he sturdy traditions established by the
ileelsys, Rsymonds. iBennetts, Aedills and
Bo~leses Of the past, the Fundamentally 10.
tegriiy OF the press cannot be impug ned.
Il 10 iaithful, but 1t Ia free. We have our
sadly exaggerated head line on weekdays
,nd our monstrosities on Sundays; we have
our truly delightful Buster Brown, but
also his hundreds OF puerile imltators; we
asve amazing productions Of no less smsz-
ng "srt"; we have columns aud. columns
u crime, and pages and pages Of waste.
fiuslly, not least, at any rate, 10 numbers,
se have our red and white papers some
lines referred TO as yellow journals.
SHOULD HAVE FREE EXPRESSION.
Personally, should be Of the last to de.
fend or make APOLOGY for. the fastest man.
lfests,ion Of commeroislism, misdirected
ambition, and fslse doctrines in the Amer
can press But, however seriously we
may regret and resent the sbullition, we
cannot ignore the irresistible conclusion
hat this particular channel and this alone
affords vent for unexpressed beliefs and
.uspicions which can be dlssipated only by
he clear rays Of reason following what
ever form Of expression. As contrasted
with our own country, Russia to-day stands
forth 4 Wild example Of the effect Of sup
pressed opinion. Discomfort would better
ha, ha htas-
Ing Of offensive gases escsp Ing 10 not pleas.
.ut, but It is infinitely preferable to the
,therwise inevitable explosion. Yet more
Important, more vital to the permanence Of
government Of a whole people by them
selves, is absolute freedom Of expression |
Upon that all depends. Restrict 1t or
,r,ate the impression In suspicious minds
hat 1t is being restricted and you SOW the
,ind.
With this general dictum few, II any,
would have the hsrdihood to disagree. But
it is often and, regret to say, truly urged
hat liberty Is subverted to license. Free
loom Of speech, freedom Of publicity, yes
al admit the wisdom and necessity Of pre-.
.ervlng both. But how frequently 10 add
d. especially BY men In public Office,
vigorous defamation against "unfair criti
cism," and how almost daily 10 uttered,
.ometimes violent and unwsrranted.
sometimes dignified and iustifable, pro.
test against "invasion Of privacy" "er-
croschments upon personal rights and
ike offences. Only those behind 1.-THE cur
ain Of the editorial sapctum can fully ap.
preciate the proportion Of insincsrity con
aimed 10 the virtuous avowels Of shy and
retiring, though weak and human, being'
II both sexes In nine cases out Of teu,
he most vocifsrous protest may be attrt
buted safely. to self-sufflciency, snobbish.
ness, or guilty conscience. There 10 %
title Of malice In American newspapers ss
to be unworthy Of notice, but 1t IL unques-
iionably true that too little heed 10 paid to
he fact that IN willful Misrepresentation 10
,ften quite - serious in effect.
Worst Of oil ls the refusal to rectify .
snown error. Curied be the man who
Inflated the policy Of never making a re-
-raction In the columns Of his journal. Th'
mere fact that an individual, whether rigb,
n wrong, 10 virtually voiceless and voice.
sss and helpless In controversy with
newspaper should and does morally vest
him with the right to exceptional consider.
stion. lie once started can never be
.opped but the one responsible for itt
directly or Indirectly. who
falls to exert every possible endesvor Il
that end is unworthy Of association win
decent men. An American pewspspeI
should be an American gentleman.
To see the right 10 genius--to do 1t Is
courage. Unite the two under the banner
Of sane idsalism, and the American newt.
paper will become second only to Chris.
isnity among Gods agencies for the up.
ifting Of humanity.