The Donaldsonville chief., 1917-09-22
WHAT FREE SPEECH MEANS.
Liberty Versus License-Discussio
Ends When War Begins.

Ends When War Begins.
William J. Bryan, very apostl,
of peace, who resigned from the pres
/ ident's cabinet because of his opposi
tion to a course of action on the pari
of the administration that he thought
ight possibly lead to war, now clear,
ly defines the duty of every resident
of the country after war has been de.
clared, and draws the proper distinc.
ton between free speech and trea,
sonable utteranees. Mr. Bryan says:
Before our nation enters wa1
it is perfectly proper to discuss the
wisdom of going to war, but the dis
cussion is closed when congress acts
After that, no one should be per-
nitted to cloak attacks upon his
government or aid to the enemy under
| the claim that8he is exercising free
dom of speech. No sympathy, there
fore, will be wasted upon those who
have been arrested for unpatriotic
utterances. They abuse free speech.
And this applies to attacks on the
allies as well as to attacks upon the
United States. We can no more al
low our allies to be crushed than we
can afford to be crushed ourselves.
The defeat of our allies would throw
the whole burden of the war upon us.
We must stand together and fight it
through There are only two sides to
war-eyery American must be on
the side of the United States"
Of like tenor and effect is the fol
lowing editorial expression from the
New Orleans Daily States, and that
papers quotation from the Chicago
Record-Herald:
''In proceeding against against the
Philadelphia German newspaper
which has been abusing the president,
assailing the allies of the United
States and attempting to ineite re-
bellion, the government is not seeking
to abridge the right Of free speech;
ano it will have behind it the over
wnelming support of the American
people if it pnrsues and throttles
every other newspaper, whether print
ed in enemy language or English.
which in like manner renders and and
comfort to the enemy.
III pi u1SSss4hS a q II . li1S
sent into every city, in the country
where, as in New York and Chicago,
men and women are speaking in halls
or from soap-boxes in similar or
more aggravated strain. If the Peo-
pies Council had been permitted to
hold it's meeting anywhere and had
INDUCED in the language which there
was every reason to assume it would
use, the duty of the government would
have been to slap it's orators and Of
fcers in jail as enemies of the govern
ment in a time of war.
There is ne disposition in this
country to eeny the right of free
speech. 3 sstt nee speech does not.
mean, and from the beginning Of the
republic it did not mean, that man or
woman or newspaper may fout the
law, resist the will Of the majority,
help the enemy or endanger life and
property in time of war, It has al
ways carried responsibility with it.
1t has always been subject to regula-
ton by the government and the
courts, even without the suspension OF
the constitutional guarantees. AS the
Chicago Record Herald pointedly re-
marks:
g Free speech has never implied
license to SANDER.
. Free speech has never guaran-
teed the privilege of uttering false
and malicious words.
q Free speech has never included
the right to indulge in obscenity and
g Free speech has never rendered
unpunishable incitations to riot or
disorder.
g Free speech has never assured to
the individual the right to interfere
with the conduct of the international
affairs of the nation.
g Free speech, like every other
right or liberty which men have en-
joyed, has been controlled and con-
ditioned by law and by practical con
There is not now and
there never has been philosophically
absolute freedom to say and to print
whatever the mind Of any man
imagined regardless Of the Well-being
and the safety of his neighbors.
iiG 4ISH wiz GiiC SVIiobib9-
ton, one of the basic stones of which
was the English custom of liberty of
speech, countenanced even stronger
than have yet been proposed
in these times to deal with the dis
loyalists of their day. They made it
infinitely harder for the American
Tories than we of our times have yet
made it for traitors who directly or
are serving the cause of the
Prussian war-lords. History shows
these Tories were beaten by mobs,
their property destroyed, their names
sent down to infanny, their arms
taken from them and even more rigid
test oaths provided for them than that
the National Security League pro-
posed to the editors of the German
language press some time ago. More
over they were fined and heavily tax
ed, sometimes imprisoned or driven
beyond the theatre Of war. in many
cases deported and their property
taken.
"We>-have not yet reached such a
point of repression and suppression
of the traitorous elements Of these
times. We still tolerate liberty Of
speech which does not degenerate in
to 1icenses But a spirit is arising in
this country which will insist that half
way measures shall no longer be used
against those who either directly o.
Indirectly are pursuing course whose
inevitable sequel must be the sacrifice
unnecessarily Of the lives Of thou
sands of gallant American youths
sent across the seas to fight the battles
Of this nation