The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-08-12

The foregoing Is the best evil
dence we have seen of the crying
need of a censorship in the edi-
torial department of the Post. "
We can only account for it on the
superstition that the writer was
nNuddled by the heat or dazzled
by the CLINT of coin from movie"
advertising.
The statement that censorship
and stupidity are practically syn
onymous and interchangeable
terms, is the veriest rot. 1t
might pass muster in circles
where a smattering Of learning is
taken for profound wisdom and
where people accept assumption
for fact but every intelligent per-
son knows that every law
national, state or municipal-im-
poses a censorship on certain in
dividual and social actions. It
restricts the liberty of the individ-
ual for the good of the commun-
ity, of the community for the
good of the state, and Of the state
for the good Of the nation. These
laws are not the product of "the
dull, dim mind that itches to i'm
pose it's personal tastes /.
upon it's neighbors," but the ex-
preston of the corporate wisdom
Of the body polite acting for the
general good. For instance, the
laws governing sanitation forbid
everything that would initiate
against public health; laws
against disorderly conduct tend
to preserve the peace Of the com
munity by censoring unrestricted
freedom Of Individual action, and
so on for all other laws. Are
these restrictions stupid? In that
case, the combined wisdom Of the
ages is stupidity and it remained
for an editorial writer on the
"Post" to- set the standard for
highest wisdom by abrogating
everything that would interfere
with personal liberty.
Of course, there is Gas much
reason for establishing a censor
ship on the spoken drama as on
moving pictures; as much reason
for censoring newspapers, maya
zines, books, music, painting,
sculpture y and conversation. "
Whenever the spoken drama and
the printed page offend against
public decency by word or sug-
gestion and set at naught the or
binary properties that govern
civilized life, then they should be
censored and made to realize
that they cannot, with impun-
ity, run counter to the princi-
Piles of morality and right action.
They must not be allowed to con-
taminate the moral atmosphere of
the community. They should
have no more rights in this regard
than the moving picture or any
other exhibition which fills the
imagination with obscene pictures
and pollutes the heart with i'm
pure suggestions. There may. be
difference of opinion in a par
ticular case as to what is evil and
what is not evil; but it is safe to
follow the consensus of opinion of
sane persons in regard to such
matters and this will not neces-
sarily lead to the prevalence of
the stupidest opinion" as cri-
terion Of good and bad.
Free speech, likewise, can go
beyond legitimate bounds and
when it does, as in the case of
malicious and criminal libel, the
law steps in to censor it and make
the individual who uttered it pay
the penalty for his disregard of
the ordinary conventions of polite
life. The utterances of the
anarchists and the blatant social
lists who are going through the
country fomenting illegitimate
discomfort and social strife should
certainly be censored even though
sympathizer with such an abuse
Of "free speech" would maintain
that the censorship was unjust.
Anyone, who is at all familiar
with the character Of many of the
films produced nowadays for pub
lie exhibition in moving picture
theatres, knows what crying
need exists for an official inspec-
ton and regulation of them in
order that public morals may not
be debased by their degrading
character. Many of them depict
vice under alluring garb and in
cite to crime, and their exhibition
should be prohibited. To call
this necessary and reasonable cen
sorship stupid" is to show an
utter disregard for the public
| welfare.
The gratuitous fling which the
editorial from the post" takes
at the Spanish Inquisition tends
to confirm the view which every
intelligent, reader of the article
will form, namely, that the writer
is victim of that ''little learn