Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1913-01-06

self:
which It rises to correct. Only
through force Of public sentiment
crystallized and given point by frank
and fearless discussion OF the evil
and unreserved exposure OF the stu
alton, can the courts be checked in
their lawless use of tyrannicai pow
er, and rescued from the danger that
even their Just authority may be
lost to them
That necessary public sentiment
which is, and should be, the real
ruler in republic such as ours,
must be led by a free and enlight-
ened press. Such leadership does
not necessarily mean that the people
shall accept an editors opinion as
just, true and correct: it does not
include that they shall be guided by
his judgment or shall follow his adj
vice; 1t merely means that the news
papers shall dissect. honestly and
fearlessly, the official acts of public
officials and shall expose to the pub
lie the underlying reasons for those
acts
Tie dishonest public servant fears
nothing SO much as that the people
shall know what he is doing; it is
not the newspaper OF which he is
afraid, but rather the people whose
only source of knowledge is their
newspaper. 1t is as imperative that
they may gauge, in this manner. the
value Of their public servants in the
judicial department as in the legis-
lative and executive
While the Idaho supreme court
conceded that criticism of judicial
decisions must be permitted. it ar
rogates itself the exclusive right to
determine how far that criticism
shall go, whether 1t is of the grade
that is permissible or that which is
regarded as contempt and punish
able as such. If wounded self-es-
TEEN and common, everyday rancor
seize these celestial beings. they
promptly decide that criticism is
contempt and, in direct disobedience
to the national constitution, they
proceed to punish by confiscating the
property Of their victims and depriv-
ing them of their liberty.
Was any impertinence ever more
gratuitous than than of these Idaho
jurists who prated Of the constitu-
ton at the moment that they were
suspending its guarantee in order to
wreak vengeance upon those who
had given offense? Can any conser-
vative citizen. to whom the revolu-
tionary principles of Theodore
Roosevelt are abhorrent, estimate
accurately the thousands OF Idaho
men and women who have been
driven into the Roosevelt ranks by
the arbitrary action of this purblind
court2 Whom the gods would de-
stroy they first make mad.
Blow Not at Press but at People.
The Herald Republican holds no
brief for the Boise Capital News or
its owners and editors who have
been sent to jail. deprived of every
constitutional right guaranteed to
American citizens We have here
tofore expressed our disapproval of
aspersiens upon the motives of a
court in Il specific case and we have
expressed cur regret that Mr.. Roose-
Welt one CT the authors of the al
legged contemptuous publication, was
not within the courts Jurisdiction
But this almost unprecedented ex-
ereise of the tyrannical power OF
Nero or a Bourbon Louis Is sharp
notice to the American people that
condition has arisen more preg-
nant with danger than the slave
question that eliminated in a great
war. We would be false to our trust
and delinquent in the duties of a
newspaper II we did not solemnly
warn the people OF the anarchy fos-
tered by such instances OF judicial
lawlessness.
1t is not the liberties Of the news
papers that are threatened by such
tyrannies as that of the Idaho court:
1t Is the freedom of the people The
newspaper can exist without discus
sion of the actions Of the courts; the
newspaper may enjoy public conf
dence and support while ignoring
the constant encroachment Of the
judicial branch OF the government
upon the other departments and
upon their masters. the people. The
public. however, cannot afford that
the press shall be thus limited or
oppressed. AS the only means of
keeping informed OF the acts OF their
public servants, the people invite
tyranny when they consent that the
newspapers shall be terrorized into
cowardly silence.