Evening star., 1935-04-22
PRESS FREEDOM
UPHELD BY |CKES
Fear of Government Inter-
ference Without Substance,
A. P. Members Told.
BY the Associated Press.

oy tIlO hooUCldtCu IIeoo.
NEW YORK, April 22.-Fear of
Government interference with 4 free
press was called without substance"
today by Secretary of Interior Harold
L. Ickes. speaking at the annual lunch
con of the Associated Press.
He said freedom of the press. free
dom of speech and the right Of free
assemblage were "the greatest safe
guards Of our liberties" and asserted !:
so long as they remain to us as
political vitamins we can withstand
the shock troops Of fascism, Of COM
munism. or even Of special privilege,
parading in the verisimilitude Of
benevolence and democratic concern
for the common man."
Frank B. Noyes. publisher Of The
washington Star and president Of the
Associated Press, presided at the
luncheon and paid tribute to charter
members still living who joined in
forming the present Associated Press
in 1900. A number Of charter men,
bers were present as guests OF honor.
Newspaper Ideals.
mot all the compensation Of news
paper making is in the financial sue
cess" he said. There are ideals, an
earnest effort, toward which is also
compensation. We may only secretly
confess this. Yet without that being
true advancing years could not SO
happily record the success that comes
to us.
If each of you can read between
the lines what I cannot express you
will understand why each OF the
charter members of the organization
feels that for you Of this and future
years the institution which we call
the Associated Press is heritage to
be cherished"
Introducing Secretary Ickes, Mr..
Noyes recalled the days when he was
editor of the Chicago Record-Herald
| and Ickes was bright young man"
managing the campaign of a candi-
date supported by that newspaper. At
that time Ickes was hard pressed for
| campaign funds.
Today. Mr.. Noyes said, he is dis
posing of fabulous funds, and, in
my opinion, doing his darndest to do
his stupendous job efficiently and
honestly"
Ickes, without mentioning names.
also aSSailed the share the-wealth"
plan of Senator Huey P. Long Of
Louisiana and the proposal of DR.. F.
E. Townsend Of California to pay 5000
a month to those over so. He also
made a reference, apparently, to
Father Charles E. Coughlin, Detroit
radio priest.
Would Give Free Reins.
"Yet," he added, 'if were clothed
with despotic power ! would not crook
a finger in abridgement of the right
Of demagogue or visionary or poet to
disseminate whatever views he might
have. The right Of free speech either
| means the plain intendment Of the
language in which it is written or it
means nothing"
Personally" he said. II happen to
be a man of strong convictions. Ger
tain beliefs are obnoxious to me.
II dispise the demagogue who hurls
mis- voice through the pure air to ad-
vocate false doctrines. the acceptance
of which by a majority of the people
would destroy this America that I
love.
Il have nothing but contempt for
the man of crooked intellect who de-
liberately sets out to fool the UNDER
privileged, who, during these last few
years. have been having an especially
tragic time Of it. by holding out to
them the hope that as q result of
some fantastic share the wealth
scheme every man, woman and child
Is to have thrust into his hands the
sum of $4,000, which is to come from
God knows where.
ITO inspire hopes that can never
be realized in those who dwell in
physical misery and mental despair
is a base and loathsome thing. 1t Is
despicable beyond my powers of de-
scription.
Impractical Visionary.
"Or, take the impractical visionary
as distinguished from the ranting
demagogue. who dreams an effer-
vescent dream of an unrealizable
uIOpld, tllC uWCICtS WHCISHl, upOIl
attaining the age of so are to be paid
in spot cash, again from what source
God only knows, the sum Of 5000 a
month.
And then there is the other voice
Of the clustered individual whose rich
but undisciplined Imagination has re-
duced politics. sociology and banking
to charming poetry which he distills
melliflously into the ether for the en-
trancement of mankind"
Referring to a free press, Ickes, a
former Chicago newspaper man. ex-
pressed the opinion that "any fear
that the Government has any DISPOSE
ton to deny or even to abridge that
freedom is without substance"
For my part" he added, Il have
always believed that the press should
be absolutely free to express its opin-
ions. Distorted or false facts should
not be tolerated, but it does not mat
ter much whether opinions expressed
are justified by the facts or not.
Freedom Is not matter of logic,
but Of feeling and being. Any effort
to circumscribe it would be dangerous.
ANY attempted legal restraint, how
ever wisely applied. would be far worse
than excesses Of free expression, even
though the freedom exercised bor-
dered on license
TOO much freedom Is better than
even a little restraint imposed from
the outside. because excesses, If in
dulged in, will In the end either cure
themselves or kill themselves.
overwhelmingly the newspapers Of
the United States are ever conscious
of their obligation to seek the truth
and to tell it regardless of whether
or not they would prefer that the
opposite be the truth"
Praises Roosevelt.
Ickes vigorously championed the
record of the Roosevelt adminiStra-