Evening star., 1933-11-05
MCCORMICK PLEADS
FOR PRESS RIGHT
Publisher Tells NeWSreel Au.
dience Freedom of Ma
ton Is at Stake.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associa ted Press.
CHICAGO. November 4.-Col. Rob.
ert r Mccormick, publisher of the Chi
Cago Tribune, said today 1t was the duty
of American publishers to preserve the
freedom of the press, for the freedom
of the press is the freedom CT the Amer
lean people
He addressed his message. to the peo-
| pie through a newsreel
When our Constitution was framed
at the instigation CT Alexander Hamll-
| ton. then a monarchist." said Col. Nc
! Cormick, no reference was made to the
rights of the people and their protection
against that government, but the peo-
ple of America. remembering their suf-
| ferings under the rule of the King. re-
fused to accept that Constitution until
the bill of rights was incorporated
therein
The first article of the bill of rights
and the keystone of our liberties read
Congress shall make no law regarding
the establishment Of religion or pro-
llibiting the free exercise thereof or
abridging the freedom Cf speech or OF
the press or of the right of the people
peaceably to assemble and to petition
the Government for redress of griev-
ances
! speak freely and to petition the Gov
ernment is obvious to everybody. To
some the right to free press is not
equally clear. and yet. upon a moment S
reflection, you will realize that religion
could not be exercised freely if religious
doctrines could not be printed, nor
would the right to speak freely avail
| you much if the speech could not be
printed. What would have been the
value Of Patrick Henrys great grafton
If it had not been published? What
would the permanent effect have been
/ of our Declaration of Independence if it
mad been written in words upon the
wind? Nor is the right to petition the
Government of value unless that petit
tion may be printed
Therefore. the right to a free press
is indispensable to freedom of speech
freedom of petition and freedom of re-
| l1glon. No sooner had the Constitution
and its amendments been adopted than
! Congress infringed upon it, and in
fr1nged upon it in a way which had
been used in previous time. for during
the 800 years that the printing press
mad been established before our Revo-
| lutlonary War. every method that the
| ingenious mind of man could devise
had been used to suppress the press.
First licenses were required in order
| to conduct printing presses. After that
censorship was invoked. Then it was
made crime to criticize any function
Of government. After that power was
put in the hands of the royal judges to
declare any utterance by newspaper
a crime and to punish the editor with
torture and with death And. when all
these efforts had proven abortive, eX-
cessiVe taxation was imposed upon the
newspapers, which in England sup
pressed them for over 100 years.
The trainers of the bill of rights
had in mind every invasion that had
already been made upon the freedom
OF the press. but realizing that the in
/ genuity of government is infinite, they
did not conf1ne their prohibitions tC
the evils that had gone before. but put
them in broad language broad enough
to include any effort that could eve,
be made to limit the freedom of utter
ance. All through our history in every
/ generation efforts have been made tc
limit this freedom, and always they
nave been resisted and resisted sue
cessfully.
! In our own generation we've re-
sisted them In Chicago, we've resisted
them in the Supreme Court of the
United States, and we will continue tc
resist them
Freedom of the American people. and
upon the publishers of America remains
| the important duty of preserving that
freedom and handing it down to ouI
posterity.'