The Washington herald., 1911-01-04
CANAL LIBEL SUIT
QUASHED IN COURT
Abrupt Ending of the Case
Against New York World.
MDICTMENTS ARE DISMISSED
Proceedings Instituted by e1-Presi-
dent Roosevelt Against New York
Paper for Publications During
Campaign Dropped When Supreme
Court Upholds Lower Tribunal.

The criminal libel -sui:s instituted
against the Press Publishing Company,
publishers of the New York World, be-
cause of the publication, in the last
Presidential campaign, Of the alleged
Panama scandal, was brought to an
abrupt end in the Supreme Court of the
United States yesterday. Chief Justice
White read an opinion, in which all OF
the associate justices concurred, affirming
the judgment of the United States Dis
trict Court for the Southern District of
New York, quashing the indictment re-
turned against the Press Publishing Com
pany.
The decision rendered yesterday effec-
fually disposes of the case against the
World publishers. While the status OF
the case against the Indianapolis News
and its editor, Charles r. Williams, and
its publisher, Delevan r. Smith, is un-
changed, it is the opinion that the cases
against the Indianapolis publishers will
shortly be dismissed, on the motion of
the government
As the case against them stands to-
day, either Mr.. Smith or Mr. Williams,
or both, would be liable to arrest on the
indictments now standing against them in
Ife O1 were tHey "
appear here at this time.
Roosevelt Begins Suit.
Both the case against the Press Pub
fishing Company and that against the
Indianapolis News publishers were insti-
gated by President Roosevelt. The al
legged libel consisted in the publication
of a story, during the last Presidential
campaign, which connected the names OF
President Roosevelt, his brother-In-Iaw.
Douglas Robinson. and Charles P. Taft,
of Cincinnati, with a speculative venture
in connection with the purchase by the
United States government of the fran
chise and property Of the French COM
yany in Panama.
In the opinion. delivered by the Chief
Justice yesterday, the freedom of the
press is reasserted and the immunity of
newspapers published in the States from
wholesale Federal prosecution is reaffirm-
ed. The court holds that there is no Fed
eral law TO punish libel, and that the act
of 1898, upon which the indictment of the
Press Publishing Company was based,
cannot be construed to apply to alleged
libels. The court holds that there can be
no Federal jurisdiction coordinate with
the State jurisdiction to prosecute alleged
libels published primarily in the States,
but which happen to find their way in
Ine OF newspapers
into Federal reservation.
The court upholds the decision of the
district judge for the Southern district of
New York at every point. The lower
court quaShed the Indictment on the
ground that it was not authorized by the
second section of the act of 1885, under
which the indictment was returned. The
Supreme Court holds that the purpose of
the second section of the statute Of 1888
was to provide punishment for a crime
committed on a government reservation,
where, otherwise, the offender would have
been free from prosecution because of
the absence of United States law cover
ing the particular offense.
The history of the act of 1898 is review
ed by the Chief Justice. who adverted to
the fact that the identical language was
drawn by Justice Story, who during his
life gave an exposition of the purposes of
the act, which showed that he had in
mind simply to provide for the punish
ment of crime on a Federal reservation
by the application of the State law, be-
cause Congress had not specially pro-
vided for the punishment by a Federal
enactment
Laws Not Compatible.
The court considers the Federal prose
cutions from the viewpoint Of their COM
subject of criminal libel, and concludes
that, in view of the provisions of the
New York law contemplating the pri-
mary act of publication, and the unity
which it creates between that act and
all other publications in the State. ii
would be impossible to sustain the cases
instituted by the government against the
Press Publishing Company without over
throwing the New York law under which
a prosecution for criminal libel can be
alone maintained.
The court concludes that the impeling
motive for the adoption of the act of
1898 was the sedulous purpose of Con-
States and not cause every reservation
situation in a State, if Congress had not
legislated to the contrary, to become a
distinct and separate foci for all pur-
poses of criminal legislation, conflicting
with and antagonistic to the laws Of the
States. and destructive of fundamental
conceptions of the distribution Of pow
ers between the Federal government and
the States. The court holds that the
. State law should be applied to punish
the crime of libel. and that for that pur-
pose Federal reservation in the in
terror boundaries of the State is to be
considered within the State. But for
the purpose of executing the law the
reservation may be considered wholly
foreign, and the prosecution conducted
side the confines Of the State.