University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1916-05-03
FREEDOM OF PRESS
TRACED BY lehman
1t Does Not Necessarily Re-
lax Responsibility, Says
St. Louis Lawyer.
"MUST BE REDRESS"
But Present Laws Do Not
Aim at Suppression,
Declares Speaker.

"The Law and tn Newspaper THE
struggle between restraint on one side
and freedom on the other, since the in
stitution of the press, was the them of
the talk of Frederick W. Lehman,
prominent St. Louis lawyer. on the
Journalism Week program in the Uni
yersity Auditorium last night.
Mr.. Lehman SIX tched the history
of the press from the period of strict
Star Chamber censorship, in the reign
of Charles |, to the present time. ln
the early part of the seventeenth CEN
tury the number of printing establish
ments in England was limited to TWEEN
ty and each was under a government
appointed censor who approved or re-
jected every piece of printed matter
and controlled the importation OF
printing THE prime purpose was TO
stife public discussion of existing evils
and to prevent the spread of popular
discontent." said Mr.. Lehman.
"Never was failure more cOmpls te.
Human nature was much the same
in the colonies as in the mother coun-
try. Sir William Berkley. who thank
ed God there was no printing press n,
Virginia, was governor of tha colony
when the pioneer newspaper Of Bos-
ton and America. the Publick Occur
ences, made its first and last appear
ance. September &c, 1890. being in
stantly suppressed.
Restraint i'm the iOlonieS.
There was more or less restraint of
the press in all of the colonies and it
was obvious to our people that au
thority was intolerant of criticism. And
deeply impressed with this, they plac-
ed guarantees for the future when they
came to frame their fundamental law.
The constitution of Missouri, for eX-
ample, speaks in the name of tn peo-
pie. That every person shall be free
to say. write or publish whatever he
will on any subject. being responsible
for all abuse of that liberty. and that
the truth thereof may be given in evil
dence and the jury shall determine
the law and facts"
This principle of law, unlike the
English law making the mere publish
ing a crime, makes only the untruth-
fulness of published statements a
crime, Mr.. Lehmann pointed out
No Aim at Suppression Now.
Revising the laws of this country
for the regulation of the press, it may
be said unhesitatingly that they are
not, any of them, designed for its sup
pressiOn," continued Mr.. Lehman.
ITO the publisher the law of libel may
seem harsh as holding him to account
for what he published without malice
and as a part of the current news of
the day Gibbon says that history is
the register of the crimes, the follies |
and the misfortunes of mankind. The !
daily newspaper is such a history for |
each day, and such a history, its |
materials gathered from every quarter |
of the globe and reported upon the in
slant. cannot be infallible.
"If careful and exhaustive investi- |
cation is attempted the incident may |
cease to be news before its truth or |
falsity may be established. But the |
good name and fame of men are not |
therefore to be left without protection. |
For injury done there must be redress. !
To maintain freedom of the press Is |
not necessarily to relax responsibility |
for the abuse of that freedom. AS the .
freedom is great the standard of re-
sponsibility should be high. In Ameri-
ca we have a daily newspaper to every |
10000 population; the outside world.
one to each million. This development |
of the press is at once the evidence of |
its liberty and the justification of the |
responsibility under which that liber-
ty is exercised"