Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1915-03-20
CONTRIBUTED

Thousands of Seventh-Day Advent
lists throughout the United States,
seeing in measures that have been
recently introduced in Congress the
destruction of the freedom of the
press, are engaged in a campaign of
circulating petitions protesting a.
gainst these measures. One of these
bills, in brief, grants unto the Post
master General the power to exclude
from the mails 'sany scandalous, sour
rilous, indecent or immoral books,
pamphlets, pictures, prints, engray-
ings, autographs, photographs, or
other publications which are, or are
represented to be, reflection on any
form of religious worship practiced
or held sacred by any citizens of the
United States;' while the other
would bar the use of the mails to
any person or his representative en-
gagged sin the business Of publishing
any obscene or immoral books, PAM
phlets. pictures, prints, engravings,
Autographs, photographs, or other
publications, matter, or thing of in
decent, immoral, scurrilous, or libel
Gus Character"
"Both of these bills establish CEN
hands of one man, who is himself not
elected by the people, but appointed
by an executive ofiicer, the absolute
power to exclude from the United
States mails any publication which
in his opinion has violated certain
provisions, without <Q1 oppprtunity
of trying the case before q properly
constituted court, says Elder of the
local Seventh Day Adventist church.
He continues:
by the power thus conferred. the
Postmaster General could forever ex-
clude from the mails any publication,
even a metropolitan daily, which
should contain in one issue an article
which might be classed as indecent,
immoral, Scurrilous, or libelous. or
which reflected on ANY form ofsreli
gious worship practised or held sa-
cred by any citizen of the United
States. Such control of the press is
arbitrary and tyrannical, and is most
far-reaching in its effect, and would
bring disaster upon the country.
1--WE are not defending the use of
the mails for the transmission of pub
locations of an indecent, immoral,
scurrilous, or libeIous character.
Neither do we approve of the use of
language of this description in any
way whatever, but we most decidedly
disapprove of a method of correcting
any existing abuses by the enactment
of legislation which would absolutely
destroy the freedom of the press.
A fatal objection of this proposed
legislation is that it is unconstitu-
tional. Provision was made for the
protection of freedom of the press in
the first amendment to the constit-
ution, which reads:
Congress shall make no law abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the
press.
granted would be destructive of the
fundamental principles of a free re-
public.
The fathers of this republic had
before them in the current history of
the old world examples and warn
fngs as. to. the. unfaverabie results
which attended restriction of speech
and of the press in the discussion of
religious questions, and they. there
fore, took good care in preparing a
constitution for this new nation, that
the right of free discussion of all
matters relating to religion should
be secured to the people.
These bills give to one man the
power to destroy a large and prosper
Gus business built up by years of
earnest labor, without granting to
the publisher the opportunity of ex-
ercising that right so carefully guard
ed in this countIy-the right of trial
by jury.
The bill introduced by Congress
man Gailivan is so manifestiy uncon-
stItutional, SO sweeping in its con-