The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1939-12-14
OdaV
AND
7 OERpOETOw
By
Frank Parker Stockridge

1o,UVt
Every thoughtful observer who
visits America from abroad is
amazed to discover how much the
people of the United States know
about what is going on, not only
in their own country but all over
the world. The American people
know more than the people OF
Germany or Russia
know about what's going on in
their own countries.
The reason for Americas wide
knowledge of events and public
affairs is that we are the greatest
nation of newspaper readers to
be found anywhere. More of us
can read, more of us are eager
for information-and we have
more newspapers.
Few even among the Americans
realize that there are more than
$4,000 newspapers published in
the United States. About 1000 OF
them are daily papers, the rest
Weeklies or semi-WeeklleS. That
doesn't count the enormous num-
Der of magazines of all kinds, OF
which we read more than do any
other people. No wonder we are
so we'll informed.
opinions
The German or the Russian or
the Italian can read in his news
paper only what his government
wants him to read. No editor in
the totalitarian nations dares to
print anything which crltlclzes
the government. Most of them
have to submit every line to some
official before it gets
into print.
Nothing of this sort is possible
in America. Government may not
like what newspaper says, but
it can't do anything to stop an
editor from printing any news or
opinion he chooses to print. So
long as he does not libel anyone,
the overthrow of the
by violence or incite
people to riot or crime, or use in
decent language, anyone who has
access to a printing press can
print whatever he wants to print.
The Supreme Court of the
United States has just ruled that
this freedom of the press, guaran-
teed by the Constitution, extends
to pamphlets, who may not be re-
strained from distributing circu-
lars, handbills or any other form
of printed matter. This is a re-
statement of what is perhaps the
most fundamental of all our IL
berries, the right to express our
ideas and to tell the truth as we
see it, without hinderance.
truth
Politicians who want to make
the rulers of the peo-
pie. rather than their servants,
don't like newspapers because
they are too likely to tell the
truth about what's going on be-
hind the political front. Every at
tempt ever made in America to
or control the press has
in political cliques or
gangs who were up to some skull
udggery that they didn't want
to know about.
Up to about $50 years ago every
newspaper was owned or con-
trolled by politicians with an axe
to grind. The first newspaper to
set itself free from such control
was the London Times. It's foun-
der, John Walter, figured that if
he could get enough small :2dver-
tisers so that it wouldn't ruin him
if a few dropped out, he could
run an honest newspaper and
print the truth about public af-
fairs.
That was the beginning of the
real freedom of the press. There
are still few newspapers tied ur
with political hackers, but nine
tenths of American papers are
free. The freest of all are the ones
that have the most advertising.
CONTROL 1egals
When Huey Long was making
himself "Kingfish'' of Louisiana
he got his hand-picked legislature
to pass laws of many kinds in
tended to cripple the newspapers
Some of those laws were upset
by the Supreme Court, but one
which still stands on louisiana
statute books is held responsible
for the orgy of financial crooked
ness in the state since Longs
death.
This law abolishes the publica-
ton of so-called legal" adver-
Using. Most states require al
proposals involving the use Of
public funds, tax lists, bond issues
and the like, to be advertised in