FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS

LIBERTY in disseminating information, in advancing ideas, or in conducting propaganda, is what is meant by freedom of speech and of the press.

Almost a century and a quarter ago, Alexander Addison wrote:

"True liberty of speech and of the press consists in being free to speak, write, and print, but being, as in the exercise of other liberties, responsible for the abuse of this liberty; and whether we have abused this liberty or not, must, like all other questions of right, be left to the decision of a court and jury. This is the universal test by which the exercise of all our rights must be tried."-" Liberty of Speech and of the Press," p. 14.

Freedom for Voice and Pen

Of all the boons of a free people, the one most highly cherished, because the most vital of all, is liberty not only to form, to have, and to hold opinions, but freedom to publish those opinions and the reasons for them by either voice or pen, as inclination may suggest or occasion seem to demand.

"We must be free or die, who speak the tongue

That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held."

-Wordsworth.

“Iron sharpenth iron," wrote the wise man; "so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend;" and Solomon might well have added, "and his wits as well," for to stop the free interchange of ideas would be not only to block the wheels of progress, but to turn the world back to the Dark Ages.

The same underlying thought is expressed by Wordsworth in the lines:

"How does the meadow flower its bloom unfold?
Because the lovely little flower is free

Down to its roots, and in that freedom, bold."

It must be apparent to all that freedom to unfold facts and thought is all-important, since all other liberty depends upon it. Of what value would be the right to vote, for instance, if all means of gaining or of disseminating information were prohibited? What would the average citizen know about public affairs were the newspapers of the country permitted to print only such articles and to communicate only such information as might be approved by the postmaster-general or some

Give me liberty to know, to think, to believe, and to utter freely according to conscience, above all other liberties.- John Milton.

In this struggle of democracy, in this crusade for free institutions, let us hold fast among ourselves to those great underlying principles of freedom and liberty without which we may be a republic in name, but could never be one in fact. Without an unfettered press, without liberty of speech, all the outward forms and structures of free institutions are a sham, a pretense-the sheerest mockery. If the press is not free; if speech is not independent and untrammeled; if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you live, you are a subject and not a citizen. Republics are not in and of themselves better than other forms of government, except in so far as they carry with them and guarantee to the citizen that liberty of thought and action for which they were established.- Senator William E. Borah, in a speech against a Repressive Press Bill, reported in the Congressional Record, April 19, 1917, pp. 833-839.

Each decade in the history of this nation reveals more distinctly the wisdom of the men who framed our Constitution. So remarkable were some of their acts, and so prophetic, that we are sometimes forced to think that they builded better than they knew. In no subject is this more noteworthy than in the principle which they laid down in regard to the independence of church and state. For thereby the citizen and official were freed from religious tests, and the forces of religion were set free to do their work without the bondage and, what may be more dangerous, the patronage of the state. The story of the struggles of the nations of Europe, Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, and England toward this freedom during the past generation, fills us with gratitude for our happy heritage.- -William Lawrence, D. D., in Boston Evening Transcript, Feb. 15, 1911.

other agent of the Government? The fact is, a free press is the guardian of our liberties, the palladium of our rights, both civil and religious.

Press-Muzzling Laws Strictly Forbidden

The First Amendment to our national Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of reiigion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This Article was proposed by Congress in 1789 and was ratified as promptly as possible by the legislatures of the several States, and until 1798 nobody thought of calling in question any part of it. Then, under strong provocation, the Sedition Law was enacted by Congress and signed by President John Adams. This statute made it a high misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $5,000, imprisonment from six months to five years, and binding to good behavior at the discretion of the court, for any persons unlawfully to combine in opposing measures of the Government properly directed by authority, or attempting to prevent Government officers from executing their trusts, or inciting to riot and insurrection. It also provided for the fining and imprisoning of any person guilty of printing or publishing "any false, scandalous, and malicious writings against the Government of the United States, or either house of Congress, or the President, with intent to defame them, or to bring them into contempt or disrepute."

This act was assailed with great vigor by the opposition, and was deplored by some of the best friends of the administration. Hamilton deprecated the measure. He wrote a hurried note of warning against the Sedition Act (June 29, 1798) to Walcott, while the bill was pending, saying: "Let us not establish a tyranny. Energy is a very different thing from violence. If we take no false step, we shall be essentially united; but if we push things to the extreme, we shall then give to parties body and solidity." - Harper's "Encyclopedia of United States History," art. "Alien and Sedition Laws."

The passage of this act, and especially its enforcement, created much bitter feeling. Matthew Lyon, a member of Congress from Vermont, and publisher of a newspaper, the Freeman's Library, was prosecuted under this law for a libel on President Adams. He was imprisoned for four months and fined $1,000. But while in jail Mr. Lyon was triumphantly re-elected to Congress.

92

Freedom, Civil and Religious

Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky demanded of Congress the repeal of the Sedition Law, and resolutions were passed to this end. In these resolutions the law was described as an act which does abridge the freedom of the press," which "is not law, but is altogether void and of no effect."

This mischievous act did not become a law without encountering strong opposition, but it was made a party measure and was passed by a strictly party vote. Both the law and the party that passed it were repudiated by the people, however, at the general election of 1800.

A Free Press and a Free Conscience

When the Sedition Act was before Congress, Mr. Edward Livingston was one of the members who spoke against it, placing freedom of expression on the same plane with liberty of conscience, as does the Constitution itself. Said Mr. Livingston:

"This privilege is connected with another dear and valuable privilege — the liberty of conscience. What is liberty of conscience? Gentlemen may tomorrow establish a national religion agreeably to the opinion of a majority of this house, on the ground of a uniformity of worship being more consistent with public happiness than diversity of worship. The doing of this is not less forbidden than the act which the house are about to do.”—“ Annals of Congress," July 10, 1798.

Mr. Nicholas, of Virginia, declared that the measure was in direct opposition to the clause of the Constitution which says that Congress shall pass no law abridging the freedom of the press. He said:

"6 Congress is about to pass such a law. For it is vain to talk about the 'licentiousness of the press,' the prohibition is express, 'shall pass no law to abridge,' etc. And as to what gentlemen called 'the licentiousness of the press,' it was so definite a thing, that what was deemed 'licentiousness' today by one set of men, might, by another set, tomorrow, be enlarged, and thus the propriety of the information to be given to the public would be arbitrarily controlled.” — Ibid.

The Sedition Law became a great party issue in the Presidential election of 1800, when the Whigs went down in defeat and Thomas Jefferson became President.

Freedom of the Press Again Threatened

It was thirty-five years before freedom of the press was again attacked in this country. In 1835 President Jackson recommended the passage of a law that would keep certain literature out of the mails. It was attempted to make the proposed measure a party question, but without success. Senator Morris, of Ohio, said: