Evening star., 1937-04-12


does the present application of it
satisfy the requirement that the free
dom of the press shall not be abridged?
Freedom is not mere intellectual
abstraction: and it is not merely a
word to adorn an Grafton upon occa-
sions of patriotic rejoicing 1t is an
intensely practical reality. capable of
concrete enjoyment in multitude of
ways day by day. When applied to
the press the term freedom is not to
be narrowly confined; and it OBJ
viously means more than publication
and circulation
IF freedom of the press does not
include the right to adopt and pursue
a policy without governmental restric-
ton, 1t is misnomer to call it free
dom. And We may as well deny at
once the right of the press freely to
adopt policy and pursue it. as to
concede that right and deny the lib
erty to exercise an unscored Judgment
in respect of the employment and dis
charge Of the agents through whom
the policy is TO be effectuated
Fairness, Accuracy Stressed.
In matter of such concern, the
judgment of Congress-or, still less,
the judgment of an administrative
under the Constitu-
ton, be substituted for that of the
press management in respect of the
or discharge of employees
engaged in editorial work The good
which might come to interstate COM
merce or the benefit which might re-
suit TO a special group however large.
must give way TO that higher good of
all the people so plainly contemplated
by the imperative requirement that
Congress shall make no law
abrldging the freedom Of the
press
Emphasizing the bulk Of labor-ln-
dustry news, the minority stressed
next the importance of fairness and
accuracy in such coverage.
Strong sympathy for or strong
prejudice against given cause of
the efforts made to advance it has
too often led to suppression or colors-
ton of unWelcome facts. 1t would
seem TO De an exercise of only rea-
sonable prejudice for an association
engaged in part in supplying the pub
lie with fair and accurate factual in
formation with respect TO the contests
between labor and capital. to see that
those whose activities include that
service are free from either extreme
sympathy or extreme prejudice one
way or the other"
Reviewing the newspaper service of
Watson, whose discharge by the AS
sociated Press led to the case, Justice
Sutherland cited the findings of the
National Labor Relations Board that
Watson was active in the growth of
the American Newspaper Guild and
his sympathies were strongly en-
listed in support of the guild policies.
whether they clashed with the poll.
cies of petitioner or not"
we do not question his right TO
assume and maintain that attitude.
But. if petitioner concluded, as it well
could, that its policy to preserve its
news service free from color, bias or
distortion was likely to be subverted
by Watson's retention, what power has
Congress to interfere in the face of
the first amendment?
And that question may not be de-
termined by considering Watson only;
for the power to compel his continu-
ar in tho ir,r L1
to compel the continuance of all guild
members engaged in editorial work,
with the result that the application
of the statute here made, if carried to
the logical extreme, would give oppor-
tunity for the guild to exercise a high
Of the news service.
Due regard for the constitutional
guaranty requires that the publisher
or agency of the publisher of news
OF employment in the editorial force"
ITO hold that the press association
must await concrete instance of
misinterpretation of the news before
~ IdIl dIU ID W AZ W
with doubt when it regards certainty
as essential" Justice Sutherland con-
tinued.
Rights Not Jeopardized.
Affirming then that the rights of
employees to organize, bargain collec-
lively and otherwise protect them
selves is not jeopardized by their in
depreciation of the first amendment,
the minority concluded:
The conclusion that the first
amendment is here infringed does not
challenge the right of employees tt Or
ganize, to bargain collectively with
thier employers about wages and other
matters respecting employment, or to
refuse to work except upon conditions
they are willing to accept. Nor, the
first amendment aside, does it chal-
lenge the act in so far as it is an allow
able regulation of interstate commerce.
All afhrmations in respect to these
matters may be fully conceded with
out prejudice to our very definite view
that the application Of the act here
has resulted in an unconstitutional
abridgement of the freedom of the
press.
DO the people of this land-in the
providence of God, favored, as they
sometimes boast, above all others in
the plentitude OF their liberties-desire
to preserve those so carefully protected
by the first amendment: Liberty OF
religious worship, freedom Of speech
and of the press, and the right as
freemen peaceably to assemble and
petition their government for redress
of grievances? If so, let them with
stand all beginnings Of encroachment.
For the saddest epitaph which can be
carved in memory of vanished lib
erty Is that it was lost because its
failed to stretch forth
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