The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-01-27
INDICTMENT AGAINST PUBLISH
ERs or WORLD" THROWN
OUT BY hoUGn.
MEETING WILL Be HELD fAM0USPANAMA MATTER
Judge Holds That Statute Under
Which Action Was Brought by Gov
ernment for Alleged Siander Of
President and Others Is No, Suffi-
eient in Authority.

New York, Jan. 26.-The indictment
against the Press Publishing COM
pany, publishers of the New York
World. charging Joseph Pulitzer and
others with criminal libel against
Theodore Roosevelt. President Taft
and Others. was quashed today in the
United states district court. Judge
Hough ruled that the statute upon
which the indictment rested was not
sufficient in authority. or. i'm other
words. that the court had no Juris-
diction.
Delaney Nicoll. counsel for the de-
PENDANTS. interpreted the decision as
a signal victory for the freedom of
the press.
The curiously ingenious mind he
said, that brought to life for the
first time in IS years the law under
which this prosecution was begun. has
retired to private life. but hassiaft this
legacy behind il. This is not a prose-
eu'ion brough; by aggrievcd or in
jured private individuals: IL was be-
gun by the president of the United
states in an attempt to show that a
libel had been committed upon the
American people. The statute under
which this suit was brought was
drafted to punish offenses not covered
by laws OF the section in which they
were committed. III constituting fhe
statute II Is not for us to consider
what fairminded attorney general
might do under II. II Is for ts to con-
slider what can be done with H. We
had better have the sehtion Law or
even the star chamber again than
such monstrous practice as the gov
ernment advocated i'm this proceed
ing"
Roosevelt Message.
President Roosevelt. in lls message
of December Is. 1908. TO congress. thus
characterized the publications of
which he complained:
1t IL idle TO say that the known
character of Mr.. Pulitzer and his
newspaper are such that the state
ments in that paper will be believed
by nobody: unfortunately. thousands
of persons are III informed in this re-
spect and believe the statements they
see in print even though they appear
in newspaper published by Mr..
Pulitzer.
There statements are
false In every particular from begin
ming To end. The wickedness of the
ISLANDERS Is only surpassed by their
faulty. So utterly baseless are the
stories that apparently they represent
in part merely material collected for
campaign purposes and in part stories
originally concocted with view of
possible blackmaii.
II do not believe We should concern
ourselves with the particular indiyd.
uals who wrote the lying and libelons
articles. The real offender is Mr..
Joseph Pulitzer. editor and proprietor
OF the World. II should not be left 10
private citizen To sue Mr., Pulitzer
for libel. He should be prosecuted for
libel by the government authorities.
There is nothing to choose between a
public servant who bctraSs his trust.
public servant who il guilty of
b'ackmail. or theft, or financial dis
h nesty of any kind. and a man guilty
as Mr.. Pulitzer has been guilty in
this instance. Ii is. therefore. a high
national duty To bring to justice this
villifier OF the American people"
Judge Hough in rendering hls de-
cision said in par:
1t is charged here that In" crime