Evening star., 1938-02-28


with the number *E:*=#:
OF watts of power
used This is but ''" A""''"'e
another way of saying that the stations
with large circulation or listener audi
ences shall pay more than those sta
tons reaching smaller audiences by
reason of their limited range of trans
mission.
Such form of taxation. popularity
known as "the Huey Long tax" is the
same sort of thing which the State
Of Louisiana tried when it passed
law declaring that in addition to all
other forms of taxation. the news
papers with a circulation in excess of
10000 copies should pay license tax
of per cent on gross receipts for
the privilege of engaging in business.
Tax Held Limiting Freedom.
The Supreme Court of the United
States ruled in unanimous opinion
on February 10. 1886, that this tax
was a limitation on the freedom of the
press. Radio is admittedly today a
form of transmitting knowledge to the
people, in fact some public officials
contend it is more far-reaching than
other instrumentalities because of its
mechanical advantages for instan-
taneous communication. But. however
that may be, radio broadcasting is
considered by almost everybody now
- adays one of the major means of i'm
parting knowledge and hence. it will
be contended should be as immune
from interference as is the press.
Some confusion has arisen because
the radio companies get their wave
lengths assigned to them by the Fed
eral Government and from this it has
been erroneously assumed that the
Government can do as it pleases about
regulating or imposing taxes on radio
broadcasting. But the falsity of such
an assumption is apparent from legal
viewpoint, at least when it is realized
that newspapers and magazines obtain
and pay fees for second-class mail
privileges also derived from the Gov
ernment. but this does not in any
way authorize the Federal Government
to exact a larger charge or fee from
publishing companies of larger than
smaller circulation for carrying a
single copy through the mails There
has never been any such discriminatory
tax on size of circulation. and if the
principle of graduated tax. based on
:. size OF listener audience, is ever upheld
by the courts with respect to radio sta
tions, it would seem that newspapers
and magazines would thereafter be
h IL ! h. u
ing power.
Radio and Papers on Parity.
1t is only necessary to substitute
the words "broadcasting station and
Listener audience" for the terms
newspapers" and circulation" re-
spectively, in the following extract
from the unanimous Supreme Court
opinion of 1896 in order to see how
much on a parity radio stations and
newspapers really are with respect
to tax restrictions imposed on in
strumentalities that disseminate
knowledge to the public The court
said:
1T is not intended by anything we
have said to suggest that the owners
of newspapers are immune from any
of the ordinary forms Of taxation
for support of the Government. But
this is not ar ordinary form of tax,
, but one single in kind, with a long
history of hostile misuse against the
freedom of the press
THE predominant purpose of the
grant Of immunity here invoked was to
preserve an untrammeled press as al
vital source of public information. The
newspapers, magazines and other
journals of the country, it is safe to
say, have shed more light on the
public and business affairs of the
Nation than any other Instrumental
ity of publicity: and since informed
public opinion is the most potent
OF all restraints upon misgovernment,
the suppression or abridgement of
the publicity afforded by free press
cannot be regarded otherwise than
with grave concern.
The tax here involved is bad, not |
because 1t takes money from the
pockets Of the appellees. If that were
all, wholly different question would
be presented. 1t is bad because. in
the light of its history, and of its
present setting, it is seen to be a
deliberate and calculated device in
the guise Of tax to limit the cir
culation of information to which the
public is entitled in virtue of con-
stitutional guarantees. A free press
stands as one of the great Interpreters
between the Government and the
people To allow it to be fettered
is to fetter ourselves. a"
"The form in which the tax is
imposed is in itself suspicious 1t
is not measured or limited by the
volume of advertisements. 1t is mea-
sured alone by the extent of the
circulation of the publication in which
the advertisements are carried. with
the plain purpose of penalizing the
publishers and curtailing their cir
culation of selected group of news
papers"
Graduated Taxes Upheld.
Government officials sponsoring the
radio tax idea will, of course, deny
that they have any intention of lin
iting the circulation of large broad
casting stations. 1t is not especially