The Daily Missoulian., 1912-12-01
NEWSPAPER BRIEF
IS FILED
ATTORNEY FOR PAPER SAYS LAW
VIOLATES SEVERAL OF
THE AMENDMENTS.


merce and the Commercial Bulletin
| Robert c. Norris and Guthrie b.
Plante, filed with the supreme court
of the. United States an opinion of
Attorney General Wickersham as the
answer to Solicitor General I,ullitts
argument in favor of the law. James
Nj. Beck, attorney for the Lewis Pub
fishing company of New York, also
attacked the law in a brief filed to-
day. The case is set for oral argu-
ment Monday.
The solicitor generals defense of
the law was built on the theory that
the law established new conditions
relating to the admission of newspa-
pers to second-class mail Attorneys
Morris and Plante in reply to the ar
gument presented to the court the
opinion which Attorney General Wick.
ersham sent to Postmaster General
Hitchcock September 25, in which the
attorney said 1.-The provisions of the
statute under cOnSidera tion would not
be confused with those of the stat
utes relating to second-class mail
matter"
The attorneys added that the con-
struction given the act by the attor-
ney general has been assumed by the
postmaster general in the enforcement
Of the law and authority was quoted
that this construction should not be
disturbed, unless clearly wrong.
The brief filed by Beck discusses
fully the power of the federal gov
ernment indirectly to censor the press
through the regulation of the mails
England and America to free the
press from restraint and the mean
ing of the first amendment forbid
ding any abridgment of the freedom
of the press.
Mr.. Beck argues that as the con-
stitution did not expressly give any
power to regulate journalism, any at
tempted regulation can only be JUS
titled as necessary and proper
means to carry out some federal func-
tions.
He denies that the regulation of
newspaper ownership and the enforced
publicity of it's business can be APP
propriate means of carrying out the
federal power over mails.
The brief reviews all of the de-
cisions of the supreme court, number
ing over 20, inavhich congressional acts
have been invaidated by the supreme
| court for want of constitutional power
and it claims that the present law is
within the doctrine of those decisions.
Mr.. Beck strongly denounces the
idea that congress can so use it's pow
er as to accomplish unconstitutional
ends. This, the brief calls ''nullifi-
cation by indirection" and it cites the
commodities clause of the Hepburn
bill, Senator Beveridges child labor
bill and the present newspaper law
as striking examples of an attempted
perverson of federal power to acr
complish ulterior and unconstitutional
ends
After reviewing the struggle which
led, both in England and America, to
the freedom of the press, he asserts
that such liberty consists not only in
freedom from absolute prohibition.
but also of exemption from any bur-
idensome or unreasonable restraint.
Any undue burden upon writing or
publication or other restriction of the
| full right to print and circulate, is
+ an abrdgment of the press and con
trary to the first amendment.
Would Hurt Weaker Papers.
The brief argues that the enforced
publication of newspaper companies
circulation and the publishers credi-
tors unduly would burden the power
Iof the weak newspapers to compete
with the stronger and in many cases
drive the weak newspapers to the
wall.
He further urges that at the time
the first amendment was adopted the
|impersonal dissemination of ideas was
generally recognized in discussion
The letters of "Junius" are cited, also
the fact that the constitution itself
would never have been adopted had
1t not been for the federalist paper
published anonymously by Hamilton,
/ Madison and JOY.
AN attempt to compel a newspaper
to disclose either its owners or its
creditors or to compel it to mark rs
an advertisement matter which it has
published for a consideration restricts
the freedom of discussion and is con-
trary to the custom of mpersonal
| writing, which prevailed generally in
/ England and America when the con-
stitution was framed.
The brief further argues that the
| appropriation of the newspaper coll
umns to enforce the policy OF pu-
blicity without compensation, violates
the fifth amendment, in taking prop
/ erty without due process of law.
Mr.. Beck argues that the law has
the merit of sincerity in that is makes
no hypocritical pretense to being a
means to carry out any constitutional
power. He quotes the debates of con-
gress as showing that the authors of
the bill, Senators Bourns and Reed
and Representatives Henry, Barnhard
and others. all admitted that the pur-
pose of the act was to compel pub
lie disclosure of the ownership of
newspapers and of the influence which
ldictated their policies.
The supreme court has specially set
next Monday for the argument OF
this test case. 1t Is expected that