Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1961-11-04
For Freedom Of Press

- 49,
Mr.. Scull says that it is pa
thetically naive" to suggest
that our courts act as censors
not as censors, Mr.. Scull, but
as protectors against censors.
Outside the motion picture
field, to my knowledge, we
have no official censors. The
courts convict those who sell
obscene material, but they
have even a higher duty to pro-
tect our freedom of expression
from self-appointed censors. In
nations like Russia and Spain
the approach is, should this
book be allowed to circulate,
but in the u. S. the approach
is, is there any compelling rea-
son why this book should not
circulate. No doubt our courts
will always be eager to con-
slider such cases in order to
protect our freedoms.
Our County libraries are I'M
der the direction of a profes.
sional librarian with a fine edu.
cation who made sure that
''Tropic of Cancer was avail
able only to adults. Books for
our libraries are selected on
the basis of reports by reput-
able literary journals like the
Saturday Review of Literature
and the New York Times Book
Review. Differing with such
authorities on the matter of OBJ
scenity is akin to questioning
the widely held opinions of the
medical profession on some
particular disease or treat.
ment. Probably only in the
area of sex do so many lay
men feel themselves qualified
to question the judgment of
literary authorities, doctors,
psycfiatrists, and psycholo-
gists, and surprisingly, some
of those who are most dogma
tic about these matters actual
ly have no practical experience
on which to base their judy
ments.
In place of Mr.. Scull's state
ment, Libraries and vendors
of printed material must be
kept under constant surveil-
lance" l would substitute,
'Censors and would.be censors
must be kept under constant
surveillance" We will never
lack for would-be censors, so
let us keep a careful eye on
them, for censors have as
saulted freedom of the press
throughout history and still do
throughout much of the world.
Mr.. SOULS alarming sugges.
ton that local communities be
permitted to censor material
in accordance with the local at
titudes is a strange statement
for an American citizen to
make in view of the fact that
he mentions ''the Mormon
church dominated city of Salt
Lake, Utah." Apparently MIR.
Soul is willing to turn over
censorship of books to the
Baptists in some states in the
South, to the Mormons in
Utah, and to the Catholics in
certain northeastern states
where they have a majority.
No doubt because of their firm
belief in our heritage, citizens
in some areas would refuse
such authority We may have
respect and admiration for a
President or a Congressman,
but we still reserve the right
to throw him out on election
day. The Catholic Church GEN.
sors reading material and sub.
jects by providing a forbidden
list for its members, but
would hate to see the Church
given authority to censor any
reading material just because
I lived in Boston or Rhode
Island.
Mr.. Scull's approval of sup
pressing a book by decree of
an official is frightening. AS
sumo that 20 years from now
a powerful and corrupt group
have control of Montgomery
County. A month before cleo
ton a magazine comes out
with an effective expose Of
this corrupt group, which, IL
read, would cost them the cleo
ton. An official declares the
book obscene and it is remov-
ed from our Libraries and
newsstands. After the election