The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-06-03
YOmr Freedom

The man in the street should be as much interested
in the supreme court decision upholding freedom Of
the press rs the man behind the editorial desk. For
freedom of the press is essential to all civil liberties
and all free government.
Without freedom of the press our country probably
would have remained foreign colony. Madison, the
great authority on the bill of rights said:
Had the sedition act forbdding every publication
that might bring the constituted agents into contempt
disrepue, that might excite the hatred Of the
people against the authors of unjust or pernicious
measures been enforced uniformly against the press,
might not the United States have been languishing
at this day under the infrmites of a sickly con-
federation? Might they not, possibly be miserable
colonies, grooming under foreign yoke?"
And yet the state of Minnesota in this enlightened
age put upon its statute books press gag law akin
to that old curse of censorship.
If the supreme court had permitted this gag law
TO stand in Minnesota and later in other states, the
press might have become the slave and tool of venal
government officials as under similar laws in other
countries in centuries past Storys classic description
of the long fight against gag laws is worth recalling
now:
THE art of printing soon after its introduction,
we are told looked upon, well in England as
in other countries, merely matter of state, and
subject to the coercion Of the crown It. therefore
charters of privileges and licenses and finally by the
DEGREES of the court of star chamber, which limited
the number of printers and presses which each should
employ and prohibited new publications. unless pre-
viousy approved by proper ncensers.
"On the demolition of this odous jurisdiction in
i641 the Long Parliament of Charles the First after
its rupture with that prince assumed the pow
ers which the star chamber exercised, with respect
to licensing books and during the commonwealth
such is human frailty and the love of power in
republics they issued their ordinances for that pur-
pose, founded principally upon a star chamber decree
of 1887.
After restoration of Charles the Second, a statute
on the subject passed, copied with some few
alterations from the parliamentary ordinances The
act expired in 1875 and was revived and continued
for few years after the revolution of 1858.
Many attempts were made by the government to
keep it in force; but it resisted so strongly by
parliament that it expired in 1894 and never since
has been revived"
But Massachusetts, and other of our original thir-
teen states in their Constitutions found 1t necessary
to give the press unresaned liberty so tat-to quote
early chief ustce-ofhcias could not "stifle the
efforts of patriots toward enlightening their fellow
subjects upon their rights and the duties of rulers"
Freedom of the press, therefore, was decreed by
state and federal Constitutions not as special
favor to privileged caste of editors and publishers
but the only final check by free citizens upon their
government officials.
This does not mean of course, that editors may
print what they please about whom they please with
out paying the penalty for abuses of that freedom
Hence the strict laws of libel to protect individuals
against defamatory matter. But the laws of libel
operate after publication while the Minnesota gag
law made possible previous restraint" or the per-
manent closing Of a newspaper
Any layrnan can understand that this kind Of
press censorship Is destructive Of democracy without
reading Blackstone, who said:
The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the
stwe of free state but this consists in laying no