The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1918-12-07
BY RICHARD BARRY
Copyright, 1918, North American
Revie1U.

s E0pyT1ght, 1913, North American
RevielV.
frT7l HERE exists in the United
f4l States today a control of the
ks press and suppression of
Us.I vital news and public dis
cussion which it is difficult
to parallel in English-speaking coun-
tries unless one goes back to the
time Of King James. AS yet the
eclipse Is only partial, but unless ef-
fective attention is called to the fact,
II Is not inconceivable that it may
become total. This condition has de-
veloped by such gradual stages that
unless the picture Of it Is fully
painted, most people would be In
clined to doubt its existence. How
ever, If one will take into considera-
tion everything pertaining to this
condition, including the operation of
the Espionage Act, the supervision
Of the military censor, the orders of
the war industries board, the apathy
Of many editors, and will realize
that these are supplemented by the
special efforts of countless govern
ment agents, assisted by the depart
ment Of justice, the secret service
and others, all Of which have def.
mite relation one to the other, he
viii realize that the total effect Ia
the practical abolition of the consti-
( tutional guarantees respecting free
speech.
Fundamentally, the laws regarding
free speech and free press are the
same today as they were before our
declaration of war. It is the general
conviction, therefore, that free speech
and free press still exist. Every.
one agrees that on the subject of dis
loyalty there can be no equivocation
and the ordinary mental attitude Of
the average American toward this
problem is that it is better to suf.
Ter free speech and q free press tc
be in some measure curtailed if that
is the price necessary to pay for the
suppression of all disloyalty. How.
ever, the question remains:% Are the
powers now exerted by various de-
partmental heads at Washington
used solely for the generally sane.
toned purpose of suppressing dis
loyalty.
It must not be assumed. in con
sidering these facts, that the presi
dent in his own person is aware Of
the full extent of their indirect
bearing, or even. in many instances
Of their direct bearing. They arr
largely the result of an assumed
authority only partially committed
TO his appointees. The president, il
the minds of many. symbolizes thC
sovereignty of the United States. M
one will impute to that wrong in
tent; but, under it's cloak, many
wrongs, some unwittingly. some witt
intent, may be committed.
= consider impartially this mat
4, is necessary to examine th'
4 ,ortly after the beginning o.
ar. the Associated Press, tn,
I'd Press, and the other newl
encies voluntarily announced tina
they would send to their clients onl!
sIach material as should conform tt
the governmental requirements
While the attempt was made to hav'
This appear a restriction for tn,
rturpose of preventing the circulation
oN any information of value to tn
enemy, it became in effect a politica
dbntrol denying circulation, through
]hese accepted channels, of all fact
Ehich it is proper that the Amer
Ican public should know, but whicl
certain agents of the administratio,
might not desire to have circulated.
A ease in point was the metho'
used by these agencies in recording
so momentous a matter as the repor
Of the senate subcommittee on mill
tary affairs on aircraft conditions
This report was undoubtedly of stu
pendous detailed interest to tn
country. Yet only one newspaper
4 The NeW York Times, carried it Il
full, to the extent Of an entire page
The Associated Press sent out littl
more than a column, largely gener
alizations, and very evidently. dis
patch previously submitted to officia
hguidance." AS Senator Lodge sal
on the floor of the senate: "Our en-
emies know the contents of the re
port, our Allies know the contents o
it, and the only people who do no
know about it are the people of tn
United States" 1t can hardly be de
MED that the people of the Unite
States were the ones who had tn
most right to know what a commit
tee of senator's had to say after ful
Investigation Of the aircraft stu
alton.
Those who think that the activi
ties Of the government in suppress
ing newspapers have been directe
only against socialistic or pro-Ger
man publications should conside
what happened to those who pre-
Rnned to 60 beyond the reports 0
the Associated Press and other rec
tfnized news bureaus and published
I5m their own sources, more CON
@te details about this aircraft ir
stigation. The Christian Scienc
tt,itor, for instance, a newspape
,ainly not radical in its editoris
s t''ty and unusually conservative i
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