Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-11-19


compel them to go under a code
against their will, and If the courts
should thereafter sustain the code In
an issue involving freedom Of the press,
that would be murder. The difference
between suicide and murder may not
be material; yet it is worth fighting
for.
1t is difficult, under normal condi-
lions, to imagine that any President
not merely Mr.. Roosevelt, but any
President-would ever attempt to sup
press a newspaper for criticism of the
N. r. A. But these are not normal
times anywhere in the world. The
same nervousness that makes news
papers sensitive about preserving free
dom-that same nervousness might
lead some N. r. A. administrator, or
some President, or other, into tempta-
ton to do what Hitler has done In
Germany. The possibility Of doing It
pretty clearly exists in the N. r. A.
law. It is important to explain to the
reader how this is.
Under the N. r. A. all industries are
called upon TO submit the codes, and
newspapers are regarded as an indus
try. In all codes of all industries
there is provision, embodied in the
N. r. A. statute, which gives to the
President-of course, any President at
any time while N. r. A. continues
the right to put any industry under q
system Of licensing Once q Presi-
dent has put an industry under license,
no unit within that industry can oper-
ate until after it has taken out the
necessary license. And after a unit
Of industry-in this case any one
newspaper-has taken out its license,
President can revoke it.
Presidents Power Broad.
The power of President, under the
N. r. A. statute, is very broad The
President can put the whole Of an in
dustry under license whenever the
President shall find that
activities contrary to the policy Of IN.
r. A. are being practiced." Similarly
the power Of President to revoke a
license is very broad. 1.-The President
may revoke any such license
for violations Of the terms or condi-
lions thereof"
This licensing provision applies to
all industries. But the provision has
a special application to the business
of publishing newspapers, periodicals
and books, and special application to
the principle of freedom of the press.
A President is empowered to first
license and then revoke the license
for activities contrary to the policy
of On. r. A.. =" That Ian
guage, contrary to the policy Of" Is
pretty elastic. Coneeivably, criticism
Of N. r. A. by newspaper Tor by
periodical or book might be inter.
preted by some President as an sac
tivity contrary to the policy of IN
r. A.. :" Not only conceiv-
ably but readily and reasonably. ANY
utterance by publication tending to
impede the universal acceptance and
practice of rules laid down by N. r.
A. would clearly be an activity con-
trary to the policy Of N. r. A." Under
the N. r. A. law any President has
the power to revoke the license OF a
publisher for any utterance which may
seem to the President, wholly in his
personal discretion, contrary TO the
policy Of N. r. A.
Fear Revocation.
It is not merely that a President
might actually revoke a newspapers
license. 1t is not merely the revoking,
ON the mind of the writer, editor or
publisher. Newspapers wish to be free
of apprehension that any President or
any N. r. A. administrator might
crack down" on them.
Gen. johnson says to the news
papers, you are seeing hobgoblins.
am as devoted as any Of
these critics to the constitutional prin-
ciple Of free press. Nothing win ever
be done in or by N r. A. to impair 1t"
To the same effect Mr.. Donald Rich
berg says, There has not been q single
action taken or contemplated by the
N. r. A. which would endanger free
dom Of the press"
To these assurances q proper answer
by the newspapers would seem to be:
Very well, since you have no such in
tention or wish, then what Is the OBJ
lection to inserting In our code the
reservation which preserves the free
dom of the press?"
An essential truth here Is that the
fundamental spirit of N. r. A. involves
the right Of the majority to compel the
minority. Within every industry, un-
der N. r. A., the majority has clear
right to compel the minority. Further
than that, the spirit of NJ r. A. as a
whole-certainly at first-was that the
majority should compel the minority
to conform. Written into the Ian
guage Of the so-called Presidents
agreements" which are fundamental
part Of N. r. A., are clauses in which
members of N. r. A., and also all con-
sumers, promise to support and pat
ronize only those business men who
are members of N. r. A. This is what
has come to be recognized as boy
colt. And when attempt is made to
subject minorities to compulsion it Is
especially important that the press
should be free to speak up for the
minority, or to give the minority space
to speak for itself
Ford's Attitude Cited.
While Gen. johnson assures all
newspapers that he would never do
anything to limit the freedom Of any
Of them, his words are more reaSsur1ng
than his actions against Henry Ford
All the conlpulsion which Gen. johnson
and the Government have put upon
Mr.. Ford, the intimidation Of Mr.. Ford
intimidation" is not too strong
word-the attempted exclusion Of Mr.
Ford from Government contracts, the
tneitement Of the public to boycott Mr..
Ford-all this has been done, not be-
cause Mr.. Ford has violated any Tegu-
lation of N r. A. but only because
MFR. Ford, by not signing an N. r. a
code, has in effect tacitly shown intel
lectual disapproval Of ~ r. A. Mr..
Ford has not violated any regulation OF
N. r. A. All that Mr.. Ford has done
has been to show by his attitude that
he does not approve of N. r. A. This
attitude on the part of Mr.. Ford is
very similar to newspaper expressing
the opinion that N. r.. A is not good
And Mr.. Ford's dissent from ". r. A.,
even when that dissent was only tacit,
caused Gen. Johnson, on repeated oc-
q.