Evening star., 1933-10-21

BY decreeing the end Of free press
in Germany, the Hitler government Is
believed here to have taken the extreme
step In organized tyranny. This COM
plete suppression of individual ex-
preston Is contrasted by American edi-
tors with the history of German intel
lectural progress in the past.
"Exterminating the press as a free
agent of opinion and publicity puts
Bismarck in a soft-boiled category"
says the Springfield (MassD Republican,
while the Des Moines Register declares
that free speech and the free press
assume new importance to every lover
Of freedom in any of its phases as he
contemplates the alternatives being ex-
emplified in Germany and Italy" The
Abilene Reporter, calling a free press
as "the deadly enemy of tyranny"
predicts deadly effects from the pres
ent policy. The Santa Monica Outlook
states that individual liberty has been
destroyed In Germany and the people
are at the mercy of q Dictator whose
power to suppress the truth or pervert
| the facts to suit his own ends Is COM
plete."
mo voice can be lifted even in con-
structive criticism Of government poll
cies." it Is pointed out by the Sioux
Falls Daily Argus-Leader, as it recalls
that "the Germans are educated and
normally stable; that their intelli-
gence is the equal Of ours" and yet
liberty has vanished" The rights
thus blotted out, AYERS the Newark
Evenings News, have been "in the char
ter Of liberties Of all free people while
that paper. advising that "a free press
serves both rulers and ruled" con-
cludes: Freedom of thought and ex-
preston ha. been characteristic of Ger
/ many for a long period. Few other ma
tions have contributed more, or as
i, much, in this way to the progress OF
civilization. To reverse this current
makes a mockery of Herr Hitler's pre-
tension to preserve the purity OF Ger
man culture"
"The profession becomes a thing Of
the past" in the opinion Of the Scran-
| ton Times, which observes that under
! the new law German journalists will
be licensed and held morally and legally
| activities" The Chicago Tribune offers
the judgment: mo societ,' can progress
under such a code and no progressive
society will long tolerate it. Whenever
such measures have been undertaken
by government the people were Instant
" headed for revolt or decay. In their
present mood the German people may
be either eager for such regimentation
or feel unable to resist. But their des-
tiny, II It Is what they hope it will be,
is not found in the codes Of Nazi sup
| preston"
"The drastic laws leave little to be
desired by the German cabinet in the
way of repression" thinks the Cleve-
land News, and that paper continues:
"If the German people subscribe to the
idea of DR.. Goebbels that the state has
\ the right to supervise the formation OF
public opinion and that the press must
hereafter be 'single-minded,' they Will
have only themselves to blame for the
suppression of q right most democratic
peoples hold sacred. But the world Will
suffer likewise. For German thought
long in the front rank, If not the leader
In world culture, will be shackled to the
viii of q political dictator. Along with
the news stories, philosophy from the
land Of Nietzsche, Kant and Hegel pre-
sumably will be edited t. the assembly
rooms Of the Nazi party"
"The principle of freedom to criticize
goyernment-in fact. the obligation Of
the press to do so-is pretty firmly es.