The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-02-21
Press High Among De-
fnocracy's Defenders
Gov. O'Conor Declares News.
papers and Courts Are Bull.
warks Against Dictators

warks Against Dictators
| The Courts and the Press of the
land were cited by Governor Her
bert r. O'Conor as the sturdy
bulwarks of defense Of Democracy"
in an address to the luncheon meet
ing of the Maryland Press Associa-
ton on Saturday, at the Hotel Elmer
son, in Baltimore.
"In all the wars and turmoil that
rage throughout the world today,
Governor O'Conor declared, there
is one fundamental consideration i'm
volved. That is the preservation Of
Democracy, which, in its highest
form as developed In this country,
means liberties and rights and priv
ileges that have become part OF
the very fiber Of our American life.
1t seems inconceivable that we
should ever lose these rights and
liberties, and yet France and Po-
land and Belgium, and other Demo-
cratic peoples have lost them.
"In the preservation Of Democ-.
raey there stand In this country two
sturdy bulwarks Of defense, one
official, the other unoficiAl but of
possibly even greater importance
than that set up In the law of the
land. AS the official preserver Of our
American System, we have the
courts of the land, which interpret
the law without fear. free from pres
sure of majority groups, entirely
unbiased.
ION the unofficial side, the free
press Of our country always has
been, as / have mentioned above,
possibly Of even greater importance
for the preservation Of our liberties
than the courts themselves. Tha
people Of America, or of any other
country, in the final analysis will
get pretty much the kind Of govern
ment that they are willing to ac-
cept.
with Democracy throughout
the world making its final. desperate
stand against dictator-led onslughts.
this unoffcial safeguard of our lib
critics. the press of our country, In
GLIDING the ONE hundred or more
|snlendid publications In Gus. eva
stats Of Maryland, are on trial afong
width Democracy. Only as long as
the press Of our country, and OF any
other Democratic nation, remains
entirely free, free to publish and to
criticize, free from Official repres-
sion or coercion. only so long, We
may be sure, will Democracy sur
vive.
1.-THE first step towards .autoc-
racy, whether it be Communist,
Nazi, Fascist or under any other
guise, is to shackle the press, to
control its utterances and opinions.
to use it as a medium for propa-
ganda rather than for the free dis
semination of information. With
the tradition of 100 years Of guard
ing liberty behind you, / know the
press Of our State and of our Coun-
try will continue to be the buIwark
against which the attacks Of die
tators will dash in VAIN"
Senator Tydings, who also spoke,
told members of the association
that "the hope is growing fainter
every day Of keeping this nation out
of war"
He warned that I'VE must look to
the Orient, where Japan is moving
farther and farther south, and that
should the British feet fall into
the hands Of Germany" It's use In q
combination with German, Italian,
and Japanese fleets would make an
armada stronger than our own.
I'VE would become an isolated
nation, trying to protect our shores
against invasion. Our commerce
would be gone; perhaps even our
coastwise commerce.
$50, then, we must take steps to
protect the British feet. And, as
Stunning we can help them, can the
democracies win?"
Other speakers included Thomas
e. Conlon, Speaker Of the House:
Senator Radcliffe and Murray Met
ten. president of the Del-Mar-va
Press Association.
At business session, members OF
the association, which was formed
in 1910, elected G. A. Mcdaniel Of
the fredericksburg Times, president;
Wilmer Cronin. OF Aberdeen, was
named vice-president, and 8. d.
Shannahan. OF Easton, was reelect-
ed secretary-treasurer.
The board of governors Includes:
Leo Moore. Of Havre de Grace, retir-
ing president; P. G. Strombery. Ell
licott City: John Warrington, Bel
Air: Frank T. Wallace, Baltimore,
and Clarence Lee Vincent, Snow.
Hin.
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