Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1913-06-10
PUBLICITY LAW is
UPHELD BY Court
NEWSPAPERS PRE- REQUIRED TO
PUBLISH THEIR STOCK
HOLDERS LISTS

washington, June 10.-As inter
preted by it, the supreme court toda'
upheld the constitutionality Of tn
newspaper publicity law enacted as
part of the postal appropriation ac
of 1912.
i The particular section attacked wa
to bar every newspaper and periodical
from the malls unless the editors O
! owners filed with the postal authori
ties semi-annually sworn statements
giving the names Of the editors, own
ers, stockholders and bondholders, ant
the average daily circulation, anG
thereafter Immediately published the
statement It also forbade, under pen
atty of fine, the publication Of paid
for articles without marking them
advertisements"
A bitter fight was made against the
law. The Journal Of Commerce and
Commercial Bulletin Of New York
led. it sought to have the United
States district court for southern New
York enioin the postmaster general
from enforcing the act on the ground
that it was unconstitutional. The OBJ
election then raised was that the law
sa5ridgad fhe freedom of the press by
seeking to regulate the newspaper
business. The government defended
the law as a regulation of the use of
second class matter privileges.
The New York court sustained the
validity Of the law in this case, as 1t
did that brought by the Lewis Pub
fishing company of New York. i
said that the Jaw affects more than
5000 publications in the United
States.
Chief Justice White interpreted the
Objectionable regulation as being noi
restriction of the freedom Of th'
press but merely as af6xing addition
al conditions for admission Of news
papers to the special privilege Of th'
second class mails.
In the course Of his opinion he said
WAS the provision intendF sin
ply to supplement the existing legis
lation relative to second class mai
matter, or was it enacted as an exer
tion Of legislative power 10 regulat'
the press, to curtail the freedom ant
under the assumption that there wa
right to compel obedience to com
4 mand Of legislation having that Oh
i jeet in view to deprive one who re
fused to obey of all right TO use th'
mail service?
4 when the question is thus defin
ed its solution is free from difficulty
since by its terms the provision only
regulates second class mail and th'
exclusion from the mails for which
it provides is not an exclusion from
the mails generally but only from tht
fright to participate in and enjoy th'
privileges accorded by the seeon'
class classification
The court declared further that tn
requirement that newspapers should
disclose their true ownership was il
line with the great public purpos
which induced congress to continu
in favor Of the publishers Of newspa
pers, at vast public expense, the loV
postal rate as well as other privilege
accorded by the second class ma
classification
TO emphasize this, the court quote
from the report Of the committee, sta.
ing that the intent Of the leglsiatio
was to secure to the public in th
dissemination Of knowledge Of currer
events BY means Of newspapers, th
! names not only Of the apparent, bs
Of what might prove to be the rel
, and substantial owners Of the pub
I cations, and to enable the public
e know whether matter which was pm
7 lished was what it purported to be-
e vas. in substance, a paid adyertis
lment,"