Evening star., 1935-08-04

ernment in 1928 to investigate the
Courant felt 1t had outwitted the
disturber Of the peace by decreeing
that James Franklin be forbidden to
print and publish a paper except It
be supervised by the Secretary Of the
Province" But the clever printer
adroitly evaded this order by sus-
stituting as publisher the name of
his brother, Benjamin-then a lad Of
II, who was working as an apprentice
in his office. The Courants printers
continued to be a source of vexation
to the Government until the Revolu-
ton freed the colony from English
Jurisdiction.
From the appearance Of the first
pamphlet published in PENNSYLVANIA
by William Bradford in 1885, that
colony found itself engulfed in press
troubles with England. The elder
Bradford's son Andrew Jared no better
than his father when in 1719 he
founded the American Weekly Mer-
curry, the first newspaper to be pub
lished in the Middle States. His lib
eral policies involved him in more than
one tilt with the government.
In 1929 the irascible Governor of
Pennsylvania took exception to a series
Of articles. entitled The Busy Body"
submitted anonymously by Benjamin
Franklin. A royalist delegation was
commissioned to search the publishers
house and Office to ascertain the au-
thor of this libel" But their pains
gained them nothing, and they Sc
cured no satisfaction from Bradford.
so the matter was finally dropped.
With this independent background. the
press in Pennsylvania continued its
bold and unyielding stand against at
tacks.
A LTHOUGH the free-press victory
was won 200 years ago. its prac-
tice has been made possible only by
unwavering allegiance to its cause and
by continuous fighting for its funda-
mental principles.
When the original trainers of the
ence Hall, Philadelphia, to draw up the
law of the land. they failed to in
/ corporate into their first draft of the
Constitution any mention of the free
dom OF the press, not because of for
getfulness. but on account of the oppo-
sition of the Federalist faction of the
assembly. However, before the States
6nollU Y1orcrIadad 70
Constitution, it had added 10 amend
rents, the very first of which speci-
fed that Congress shall make no
law abridging the freedom
of the press"
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of
the Treasury under George Washing
ton and a strong Federalist, took a
firm stand at the time of the framing
of the Constitution against incorpora-
ton in 1t Of so democratic a principle
as freedom of the press. Later he
changed his views, and after he retired
from public life he defended a friend
in a criminal libel suit with eloquent
arguments in favor of the very prin-
ciple which he had previously scorned
Down through the years since the
establishment of our government, men
and movements, like menacing mon
sters, have arisen now and again and
have tried to tear from an unfettered
people that glimmering star Of free
dom of speech and the press. In 1898
sed1tlon act was passed under John
Adams, specifying punishment for
false, Scandalous and malicious writ
| ing against the Government, either
I House Of Congress or the President. 4"
Fines and prison sentences were i'm
posed on many free thinkers. But this
very act, together with the alien act.
passed at the same time, proved a
death blow to the Federal party.
In 1887 Elijah Parish Lovejoy sac
/ rificed his life on the altar of a free
press. Four times his presses were de-
stroyed because he dared to defend
| the cause of abolition, which was in
the days before the Civil War a very
unpopular cause. He was attacked in
his home at Alton, Ill. He was
mobbed in the streets of the town and
! finally was shot down while defending
his property.
In recent years political rings have
endeavored to gag the countrys news
service. Emergency codes have
stretched cut restraining fingers peril
/ ously near the liberty of the printed
page. But the press has presented a
united front against every attack.
using as its battle cry the immortal
words Of Thomas jefferson: Our lib
erty depends on the freedom of the
press, and that cannot be limited
without being lost"