The Key West Citizen Newspaper, October 5, 1950, Page 7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1950 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN The Fight For A Free Press In America Has Been A Battle Of The Common Man | By M. TYUS BUTLER Professor of Journalism The University of Georgia With war and threat of war constantly at hand, each Amer- ican becomes increasingly aware of the freedom ‘he possesses in this, one of the few remaining countries where the theory of the equality of man’still remains. — than-ever before, free- dom now, symbolically and literally, based on man’s right to and publish what he de- sitss, being limited primarily by Tesponsibility for what he Writes. The fight for freedom of tight, all citizens have given it their approval. In periods when this is in danger, they add Voices to those of the many editors, reporters, and i Over the country in a ye cry for guarantee of that come easy to the Americans ideas of independence and feéedom increased with the dis- tance between them and the seat of go nt. a fitst great impétus to free- dom of the press in this country ‘was- given in the trial of John Peter Zenger, a German immi- grant who in 1733 started the New York ‘Weekly Journal as an avowed opposition paper to the mouthpiece of the royal governor of the colony of New York. Sup- ported by the common people of that colony, Zenger’s paper afoused the anger of the govern- ing body, and after the dppear- tion of power by the governor, Zenger in November, u was seized, thrown into jail, nd charged with seditious libel. ' This was the first recorded case @ newspaper started in America the purpose of opposing a gov- erning political group, although James Franklin, Benjamin’s brother, began his New England Gourant in 1721 as a voice oppos- ing the dominating religious body in the Bay colony. The existing law pertaining to as it was brought over from d,-was that truth could } legal question involved in the All the jury could do was Hamilton, an 80-year-old Philda- ger lawyer, made the trip to New York to enter a plea to the jury which will always remain in the history books of this country. The jury, taking upon broad powers, returned the ver- dict of “guilty of publishing.” As this constituted no crime, the re- sult was Zenger’s acquittal of the charge of seditious libel. e Th ce of this verdict by the ‘al mts was not con- a % the American colonies, but was celebrated just as strong- ly in England where it helped to pave’ the way for the passage of the’ Fox Libel Law in 1792. The Fox ‘measure liberalized the En- glish law a great deal. The. Zenger decision went a long | way toward establishing pkg @ defense for seditious i * The theory involved cul- sd in the Declaration of In- in which Thomas charted a new course ; for gdvernments of the world. The first -tonstitutional guaran- tee of free speech and a free press Was perhaps contained in the iti “of George Mason who the Bill of Rights for the constitution of Virginia. This view was included in the Federal]. Bill of Rights, and today all 48 states have expressions in their constitution that differ only to a slight degree. The author of the Declaration of Independence furnished an- other great force for the common man’s fight for all freedoms when he accepted the mandate of the small farmers and backwoodsmen in his election of 1800 to broaden their participation in government. Termed the “bloodless revolution of 1800” Jefferson’s election guar- anteed that the Alien and Sed tion laws, passed under the Fed- eralist administration of John Adams would not be renewed when they were scheduled to ex-' pire in 1801. These laws had lim- ited the, activity of editors and writers and had made them vul- nerable to the political whims of thosé in power. Although few were convicted under the Alien and Sedition laws, they remained a threat held over the heads of each editor to see that he soft- pedal any criticism he might have of the administration in power. Two outstanding cases in this century concerning’ freedom of the press that have been passed on by the United States Supreme Court have been those that have gone up from the state courts of Minnesota and of Louisiana. The former case is based qn a statute passed by the Minnesota state legislature which provided that a person engaged in the business of - publishing a mali- cious, scandalous, and defamatory newspaper could. be found guilty of maintaining a nuisance and could be enjoined © perpetually from continuing the publishing of the paper. A casé was brought up under this statute and enjoin- ment was twice upheld by the Reds Blast | Berlin Landmarks BERLIN — (4). —- Communist dynamite teams are snapping East Berlin’s ties with the past. One by one, they are erasing his- torie landmarks dear to German hearts. = The Communist engineers main- tain: that the landmarks are so bomb-damaged that they are a menace and cannot be restored. The non-Comunist Germans in West Berlin are in a mild rage over-it but can do nothing except | splutter. It's just spite, they say. Anyhow, in the process, Frede- ; rick the»Great, Kaiser Wilhelm/ and Adolf Hitler are getting a pushing-around. Frederick, as-| tride a bronze horse, was uncere- ‘moniously fauled off Unter den} Linden and carted away recently.} Hitler's Meichschancellory was} finally buckled completely and} can‘no lofiger be identified. Most} of the marble: an@ “masonry is U. S. PLANES ARRIVE IN ITALY — american and Malian officials see first American planes delivered at Brindisi by the carrier Mindoro under the Atlantic Pact. gone. Now the Kajser’s tov house, kngwn as the Berlin Sch-/ WMALAYA PLANS loss, (castle) is being destroyed. | PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR | SCHOOLS | SIAMESE PENALIZE | ALMOST-PERFECT TIRES i j | j | | j CARLYLE, 11 —>)— |high school freshman appa: | thought he left nm jone’s mind | his registration form | of school dress. Then for his | wrote: WHAT ELSE? INDIA CHANGES dou when he states He wrote his n: parents “Mother and Overseas Transportation . Company, Ine. | Fast. Dependable Freight and Exoress Service ——perween—_ MIAMI and KEY WEST Aliso Serving ALL POINTS ON FLORIDA EEYS Between Miami and Key West Minnesota State Supreme Court. But when the case was. carried to the United States _ Supreme Court, the state court decision : : 3 | | AKRON, O—(@)—How round | SINGAPORE — (® — Malaya| \GKOK—(#)—The Siamese} ri Today's Heresgope) : OF ) — Malaya) BANGKOK —(#)—The Siamese] on a rubber tire get? Today isvlikely to give a friv- will shortly begin waging psy Minstry of Education ha ios i 1 Thi d ii chological warfare on the Com |. Accordi 6 BF. Gondsich olous nature. mind is cnOLOsiCa: are } six Chinese schools in sou n| tire engi 5, was reversed and that © statute raunist terrorists who have been} Siam for f gineers, }2 solid rubber was held. to be an infringment| ‘lined to be light and careless > eer Eppa to keep a daily | tires used at Langley Aeronautical of freedom of the press, Seca bs en ea a agri sever Peel corre °YFF record of school activity, failure | Laboratory, Langley Field, Vir- it impoged a previous restraint} ¢ ootful of past ex Pane ‘and| A top-ranking British prop-jto hire competent teachers and | 2") A© within 2/1,000. of an upon publication: equivalent to} -reless _ of "ihe ature Early }aganda expert is due from Lon-} other violation The special tires,are used on a censorship. ‘The decision ‘taken | training is largely Sesponsible for|don shortly. The propaganda of-| These requirements are part of | carriage for both water tests with by the U.S. Supreme . Court! results later on |fensive is part of the so-called] Fetqairements are: part of | Carnage eens finally established by precedent . = “Briggs Plan” to end terrorism the new laws governing Chinese igang _ and impact tests the rule that freedom of the} pisxseed production in the U.| in the country. schools. The schools were or- pe aa tine press and of speech are definite-}< soared during the war because Sue nesees ee | dered to close after an education = ly included im the liberty pro-limports from Argentina were| Select the service that selects! mission had toured the tected by the Fourteenth Amend- cut off. é its men—U.S. Marines. inspection. ment from state. encroachment. The Louisiafia case grew. out of Huey Long's fight with the mewspapers of the state and his attempt to force them: into line. The state legislature. of -Louisi- ana passed an act. in 1934 which placed a two per cent levy against the gross receipts of all news- papers having a weekly circula- tion of more then . The legislative act was upheld by the state courts,“but.was: re- versed by the United States Su- preme Court, which found the ground that the tex was an if direct method of limiting ‘the circulation of information to which the public was entitled by virtue of their constitution+ al guarantees. The Supreme Court + decision emphasized the need for a fred press in these words, “A free press stands as one of the great ‘interpreters between the govern- ment and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter our- selves.” ~ Thus, through almost 300 years the American people, as citizen#: of Great Britain and of " thd United States; have through their leaders ang through their own power of public opinion” in- | sisted that the right to speak and’ to write be left free*of govern- mental restrictions. Newspaper editors as _a group have taken upon themselves the ethical re- sponsibility, of voluntary self- restriction Ao protect the general welfare Gf the public and to meet the demands of good taste and decency. The strength of a people is in : its right to talk and‘to be heard, and to formulate a public opinion { ch inch of being perfectly round. 1 area on} Beans have high protein con- .' tent. which will include the democrat- ic views which Jefferson and most of our leaders have claimed for each American. Because they would keep for a long time, beans were .a welcome addition to ships’ menus in the days when salted meat was their staple. terful you feel, with Fireball power purring away the miles, at a polite touch of your toe on thé gas treadle. Find out how the jolts and jars seem to disappear, when you have big soft coil springs on all four wheels, and fat low-pressure tires on wide Safety-Ride rims. Then there’s Dynaflow Drive,* which Buick owners vote the big- gest automotive hit that has come wheel—and prices that start down with the sixes. : Seems like almost everyone wants to own one of these Buicks — and most people can. How about you? ERHAPS you've noticed that there seein to be a lot of these brawny beauties running around on America’s highways—and it isn’t just that boldly gleaming fore- front that spreads this impression. Subscribe Ts The Citizen. | | It isn't just the fact that folks whé | own a Buick get such a bang out of it that they do a lot of driving. Back of all this is another fact. It’s a fact that contains a broad hint to anyone who'd like to know what's x For are breaking all past popularity rec- With all this, there’s room, and ords, as registered in sales. comfort, and road-hugging heft combined with a light and willing response to your hand on the *Standard on Roapuastsx. optional at extra EJ cost om Sures and Srstiat model. @ Ss. we suggest that you do some \ what in motorcar buys. 1950 Buicks personal investigating. Find out, for example, how mas- yourcty Tocreateevaue © Tone is HENRY J. TAYLOR, ABC Network siery Monday evening