Evening star., 1947-09-08
u. S. Drafts Treaty to Insure
International Press Freedom )

'ess sFreedon
has been under way the discussion
regarding the responsibilities ant
obligations of the press has beer
called to our attention.
"It has been suggested that unles
the United States accepts certain
ideas regarding responsibilities ant
obligations in order to WOO the re-
sponses from totalitarian states
there is no chance of this formuls
being accepted by governments with
which we would like to negotiate.
"All who are aware of the fault
Of the American press deplore then
and have worked for their correc
ton. But a completely free pres
will cancel out it's own evils long
before any government would.
'If the servants of the people II
government are permitted to con-
troll the voice of those who select
the servants, the only recourse the
people have left is forceful rebellion
And Jefferson's idea still holds-tha1
freedom of the press is the substi.
tute for rebellion.
Those who talk about responsi.
bilities and obligations use language
that almost parallels that employed
in England in 1880 when the king
and the judiciary decided to put
down lies or vain reports which are
many times raised on purpose te
scandalize the government etc
That effort of government against
lies was so disastrous to truth
public welfare and individual free.
dom that it became one of thu
precedents for the American con.
cept that the press must be free
not fettered by any magistrates ol
government.
I'VE wish to impress upon yol
that there is unanimity among the
communication media of the United
States that we should enter into nc
treaty with any country on any
terms that shrink American prac-
tice one jot We cannot abridge
freedom of the press under oul
Constitution: we should not do il
under treaty. We who have
worked on this draft think it woulc
be far better to have an agreement
with half-dozen nations consistent
with the American belief that the
free press is the defender of the
peoples rights than to agree with
all the nations of the world on any
pact or treaty that would change
our traditional conception of the
independence of the press
Text of Treaty Draft.
The tert of the draft OF the
treaty tolloWs:
individuals and peoples improve
their understanding of each other
through communication of facts anc
ideas. In order to promote freedom
of expression by every means Of
communication, including speech
writing, press, radio, motion picture
and art, and to assure to their re-
spective peoples the benefits of free
access to information and opinion
the high contracting parties agree
to the following articles:
Article l. For the purposes OF
simplification and understanding
certain terms used hereinafter are
hereby defined.
"(a) Information agencies shall
mean: Newspaper, magazine and
book publishing organizations; press
associations and news or feature
services; radio and television sta
tions and networks; motion picture
producing companies.
"(b) Correspondents shall mean
Properly accredited journalists, press
reporters, photographers, columnists
editors and publishers, radio and
television reporters, commentators
and technicians; news artists and
illustra tors; newsreel and other doc
'lmentary picture production per-
sonnel. A correspondent shall be
deemed to be properly accredited
when he is the holder of a passport
duly issued to him by his own ma
ton certifying that he is CORE
spondent, and provided he is ad-
missable to the nation of destina-
tion under its general laws govern
ing the entry of visitors or immi-
grants. >.
"(c) Copy shall mean all reports
.of information or opinion. whether
visual or auditory. intended by cor
respondents or informa ton agencies
for publication.
Shall Have Free Ingress, Egress.
Article 2. Correspondents from
each signatory together with their
equipmenD shall have free ingress
to and egress from the territories
of the other for the purpose of car
rying on the activities of their
calling
Article 8. Correspondents from
each signatory shall be permitted
freely to travel within the territories
of the other and to have access to
all places and all news sources avail
able to the correspondents of the
most-favored nation.
Article 4. All copy of correspon-
dents or information agencies OF
each signatory shall be permitted
free egress from the territories o!
the other without censorship, de-
letion or editing. Provided that:
each of the signatories may make
and enforce regulations applicable
to foreign correspondents relating
directly to the maintenance of nat
ional military security, if such regu-
lations, apply equally to all such
correspondents. In the envent that
the copy of any correspondent is
detained or delayed the correspon-
dent shall be notified immediately