Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-17
Deplores Unrelia bility.


Senator Works deplored the unreliability
of newspapers in reporting events. par
ticularly the acts of public bodies like
Congress.
Nothing connected with newspaper
work has done more than this to lose the
newspapers the confidence of the public
and to destroy their influence" said Sen
ator Works. Such Journalism is a vio-
lation of the duty which a newspaper
owes its readers An aggravated case OF
this kind of unreliable and false journal.
ism may be found in what the neWspa-
pers printed about the pretended make-uI
of the cabinet of the newly elected Presi.
dent of the United States. Men were
named with prfect assurance as being de.
cided upon as members of the cabinet
and conversations between the President
elect and his alleged advisers were print.
ed as If the newspaper writer's had beer
present to hear what was said But tn,
fact that such publications are false i.
not tha worst of it. Sometimes they arc
willfully and maliciousy false. In other
cases they are intended to emba rrass pub.
lie men written about, and often have
that effect and do great Injustice
Refers to State Laws.
Senator Works referred to the fact
that in Indiana Kansas and Missouri
laws have been passed aimed at the sup
preston of stories about crimes and pic
lures of crimes
What is the remedy for this evil that
is poisoning the minds of the readers
OF newspapers? asked Senator Works
The one effective and sure remedy lies
with the journalists and newspaper pub
fishers themselves. They can, if they
will. stand out against such hurtful jour
nalism. Another remedy lies with the
public. II the men and women who read
the newspapers had only the moral cour-
age to refuse to read papers which pub
| lished this kind OF stun. or to advertise
| in them, the effect would be the same
Still another remedy is by the enact.
| ment of laws forbidding such publications
| under penalty. Any such effort meets a,
/ once the cry that it is in violation of tn.
| Constitution of the United States Th.
| Constitution provides:
Congress shall make no law
| abridging the freedom of speech or OF
| the press
Question at Issue.
This provision OF the Constitution
should be so construed as to give full eff.
| feet to it's terms. The freedom to spea
| and write ones views on any and ever,
| subject, especially subjects affecting the
| public welfare, should he carefully an6
| effectually preserved and protected This
| Is privilege that should be held sacrec
in country like ours. But there are
Otner rights ana privileges on the part o
| the public that should be just as sacredly
observed and as carefully protected Sc
| the real question is, How far can an in
dividual newspaper trespass upon tn,
| rights and liberties of the public ane
| claim immunity under this proaision O.
! the Constitution?
THE government has gone so far as tc
prohit the sending Of such matter
| through the malls, and this law has been
enforced in many cases. OF course this
1 io fn ha loot
| most cases it has that effect. Besides, tt
prohibit the sending Of a newspaper con
| tanning such news through the mails is to
| abridge the freedom of, publications"
| Work of Cartoonistts.
! Senator Works paid his respects to the
| cartoonist. He said:
.'The abuses on the part OF the cartoon
lists, are many. To my mind, one OF theil