The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-07-28
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Freedom of the press Is navy aOSLrac-
ton in the thinking of the average citizen
I'm addition to this large class there is
class of people in the country who grossly
misunderstood the meaning OF the term,
freedom of the press. They think freedom
of the press means that the newspapers
have special privileges, that they enjoy
government subsidies or something of that
sort or that the freedom Of the press is IL
cense to print something which someone
desires to keep out of the newspapers.
Those who are informed know that none
Of these things are true.
1t will be well, however, for the people
Of this country to get and maintain clear
understanding of the meaning of the free
dom of the press, which is guaranteed by
the Constitution of the United States, in
this age when constitutional government is
rapidly slipping away from the people. E.
H. Harris, publisher Of The Palladium
Item of Richmond, Ind, has made state
ment of the case for the principle of the
freedom of the press, which may help to a
general understanding of the matter. Mr.
Harris says:
"The guarantee of the free press was ncorpo-
rated into the Federal Constitution because Thomas
Jefferson and other champions of human rights
feared that without a definite declaration, public
officials might assume that they had the power to
censor the press, regulate its functions, place
restraints upon editorial comment.
THE substance and essence of the principle of
the freedom of the press is the inherent right of
the citizen y be the sole judge of what he prints
This freedom is a basic one and is assured by in
defeasible right The American citizen is assured
the enjoyment of his life, his liberty his property
IN all its forms, his freedom of conscience and of
speech by constitutional principles of perpetual
duration and authority. The freedom of the Ameri-
can press likewise is placed beyond the control of
any department of the government by cOnstitu-
tional guarantees ....... .,..-
THE constitutional guarantee of free press,
which puts it on a par with other national and
fundamental rights, logically preSupposes that this
right is as Indispensable to human freedom as are
the other basic rights COMMONLY referred TO as hfe
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Self-gOvern-
ment rests upon the right of the individual to an
unhampered and unrestricted opportunity for an
expression of his opinion, spoken or printed.
The press of the United States does not operate
through any special grants by the government; it
has exclusive privileges; it stands or falls upon
its service to the people of the United States as
a means of defending, preserving and champion
ing their civil and political rights. '
'This right cannot be abridged by Congress"
The world is informed as to what has
happened to the press in certain foreign
countries in late years. For example,, in
dietator-contrOlied Russia, Italy and Ger
many Freedom of the press has been alb
rogated in those countries The newspa-
pers print only what is permitted by die
tator-controlled governments. The result
is that they print nothing Objectionable to
the dictators, Criticism of the government
is not permitted; newspapers must publish
what the government desires: printed they
cannot make any suggestions or advocate
any policies Objectionable to the govern
ment. To take issue with the government
means the certain suppression of news
paper, and Imprisonment or death for the
offending editor
Now, it should not be difficult for any
intelligent person to compare conditions in
this country and the other countries named
and thereby get clear view of the mean,
ing of the freedom of the press but il
must be remembered that freedom of the
press was fact in those foreign countries