Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-21
Part of Beck Text.

! Mr.. Beck said. in part:
The home of Jefferson is more elo-
quent than any spoken word. Here
lived and died one of the great liberal
leaders Of mankind. From this hilltop
he profoundly influenced TIE men of
his own generation. and from his grave
he still inspires men everywhere with
the great ideals of liberty. He gave to
mankind new title deeds to liberty,
written in terms so comprehensive that
time cannot wither nor custom stale
their infinite verify
There were brave men before Aga :
memnon and there were great demo-
Gratis before Jefferson, but. above all
men. Jefferson. like Chanticleer in
Rostand's noble allegory. did proclaim
the reddening morn of the democratic
era.
This foundation does well to dedi-
cate one room in this historic mansion
to JefIerson's passionate devotion to
his great ideal. When we speak of the
liberty of the press we mean the lib
erty of thought, the inalienable right of
every man not merely to think but
within reasonable limits to express his
thought in any medium he chooses. To
attain this freedom has been the su-
preme struggle of mankind from the
| dawn of history, and the significance
| Of this occasion lies in the fact that
| the battle is an amending one and must
| be fought by every generation.
The invention of the printing press,
nearly 500 years ago. was the greatest
| discovery of modern times. 1t emanci-
/ pated the human mind from ignorance
| 1t was the fruitful mother of democ-
racy. for without the free transmission
of thought popular government would
| be impossible. 1t was soon perceived
| that Gutenberg's type had revolution
| lied human society. Its power for evil
was not less than its power for good
! and the despotic governments OF that
| day at once perceived the necessity of
! controlling the press.
Claimed Exclusive Right.
I'm England the crown claimed the
exclusive privilege of printing but later
| delegated it to the two universities and
to the Stationers' Co. Later the Gen.
sorship was vested in that effective
engine of tyranny. the Star Chamber.
The English people speedily per-
ceiyed that a prercgative of this nature
was fatal to liberty and that it involved
destruction not merely of property
rights but of personal rights. There
fore this tyrannouS power over the
human mind was challenged The crisis
was reached in 1885, when the House
of Commons ended this slavery of the
mind.
Within the life of all of us here
assembled two new media of express
sion have come into existence. The
one is the radio and the other the
Cinema. Through the magic of the
radio, that invisible courier of the air.
it is possible for the spoken word to be
carried inStantaneouSly to millions of
people. and the cinema has at least an
equal audience. We must not defend
the liberty of the press and ignore
these new media of thought.
No objective was greater in Jeffer-
sons mind than liberty of thought
irrespective of the medium.
Indeed. his unceasing battle for the
freedom of thought played great part
in his political career. He refused to
approve our present Constitution until
there was aided a Bill of Rights which
should provide. as the first amendment
does, that Congress shall make no law
or of the press - and it was
the revolt of the people against the
alien and sedition laws of the Adams
administration that elected Thomas
Jefferson as the third President of the
United States.
Unceasing Battle.
1.-THE great battle in England had
been won when our Constitution was
adopted, and it was then believed that
the liberty of the press consisted not
merely in freedom from punishment
except by verdict of jury but of ex-
emption from any burdensome or I'M
reasonable restraint. Hence the sig
nificance of the word 'abridging BY
this expression our infant Nation de-
sired to preserve for America the full
fruits of the long constitutional struggle
of our English forbears.
1T was then thought that the battle
had been finally won for all time. but
such, unhappily, is not the fact; for
the struggle to preserve the freedom of
the press. which has marked at differ
ent times the political history of Amer
lea. is happy illustration of the old
maxim Eternal vigilance is the price
of liberty Hardly had the amendment
been adopted when Congress passed
the notorious Sedition law, which sought
to punish any libel against the officers
Of the Government or any printed ex-
preston which tended to bring Off
Gals of the Government into public
contempt. Jefferson. Madison and
others bitterly contested the constitu-
tionality of the law but it was Sus-
tanned by the lower Federal courts.
In 1886 tic question arose whether
the Government. through its power over
the united SCICeS mails, could suppress
freedom of thought by excluding anti
slavery literat-~e from the mails AS
the Union W.. N grave peril. there was
great pragmatic justification for the
proposed legislation whose purpose was
to preserve the Union and avert a civil
war. Nevertheless, Clay, Webster, John
Quincy Adams and Calhoun protested
against the regulation of the mails to
suppress discussion. This attempt by
congressional enactment to restrain the
liberty of the press by perversion of
the postal power was fortunately de-
feated.
ITO show how amending the struggle
is, let me recall more recent act of
Congress which. under the pretense of
classifying mail matter. attempted to
censor the press by requiring the public
cation by newspaper of the owners
and creditors of the paper the amount
of its circulation, and, further, that all
lished in any such newspaper, maya
zine or periodical for the publication of
which money or other valuable consid-,
Grafton is paid. accepted or promised
shall be plainly marked advertise
ment."'
Sought to Impugn Motives.
"The debates in Congress which pre-
coded the passage of this law clearly
indicated the intention of Congress to
ascertain by inquisitorial methods the
responsible ownership of newspapers
and to destroy the force Of editorial
utterances by impugning the motives OF