LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

Evening Star, Issue 3498, 9 May 1874, Page 1 (Supplement)

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

To the, Editor. ® IE i To all whom such a liberty tnay coucern, I wish to address a few remarks on thig ; subject,— not necessarily. in connection with the pending law-suit or any past convictions/ but to view impartially the position- of aliberty which all intelligent men regard as the great expositor of public opinion,, and bul*. wark of genuine freedom and progression— ;. when free from the influence of capital andclass prejudice. Are human beings' in igen»: eral becoming so purely honorable in their' dealings with each other as to bo, entirely beyond suspicion in their actions ? or has the’ law been improved to sueh*a point that the i motive for evil intention'can bo construed: frotn every ill-defined word ? or, is the liberty i of the Press—a national one—to be curtailed'c through the spleen, or envy. of individuals;; who by their unfitness for social life, would; keep society in a constant state of formenta-, S on • To '. the firßt question I will abswer,M that if society were, as honorable as it pro- i fosses to be, monetary compensation for libel would, not be considered equal to a manly apology on the part of the aggressor; and if' injury was sustained by defamation pf charac-' ter or otherwise, an honorable; .community! would, after the admission, of, wron» by the detractor, repay, the injury ten-fold ; but,in. the majority of cases law is resorted to. for; the purpose of obtaining awards more; than.: from a love of justice or through wounded in- i noceuce. Such being the case proves that: society, in, its present rotten state inflicts every injury upon itself, Seeondly.the-laved have been framed to keep pace with.human ; selfishness, and lawyers have’ been created «o . > mucn m excess, of, an. intelligent demand, owing to lucrativeness, that they must needs • interpret the law to embrace every human act i to keep society in a state of legal commotion. ;; and set the money rolling in order to get a chance of grasping it. Even these remarks may be libellous, but they are.noyerthelfessio ttue, and place us in the awkward position of being forced to suppress the truth for fear, of not being able to prove it,—which would i givd a rogue an opportunity of doing wrong, ; - and an honorable award as well There is f only one way suggests itself to my mind, and: that is for every person to carry a dictionary■ 'and seek the definition of every word before.., expressipg it either verbally, or in writing. , how are we to maintain.the-liberty';. ui r PieS8 ’ at eame fcime hold it amen- ?,- able for unwarrantable license with the acts and reputations of individuals? . First 'by . trying to .excuse the faults of others rather ■’ than by exposing them secondly,, by not ■ T envying , others of their success, but by a noble , emulation trying to excel them ;' t|iirdly,if • society were strictly, honorable no precaution ‘i of any kind would bo necessary, each .person, , of good reputation would be the honorable . cusiodia-n Tnis, however,..is,w thoroughly. Utopian; society is like, every* ’• thing else in nature, good and evil'; mixed, and we have to provide for things as they are, and not as we would wish them ito.. ; . wa 7 we are content to leave the .vindication of the law in the hands of a j —whether competent or not is not for meto decide; it is the will of the people that the decision of the law should not rest, with.the caprice or prejudice of im individual, but with a select party of the people appointed v for that purpose. :1 ' ■ " ■’ “ •. In the prosecution of an editor for libel, according to my opinion, positive,proof of animus or motive should be proved, ahdif a' public question—more particularly—and'eohimentod upon with good intent, an' acknowledge ! ment of error or mis-statement shbuld bb 1 * considered satisfactory. * ' ' ■ ' ' i All opinions, whether of things or Wen, if' i uttered in a spirit of fairness, bud the'result * of observation, shouldbq Tree 1 froni prbsectt-' tion, or all true liberty 6ekses, Bttd all kinds . ” of deception and hjpocrisywill bo practiced under the,' protection, of the law. A‘&a*k ;. !i apology for an error by an innocent detractor ; 1 1 would dispense with’the interposition of the law, and tend to create human happiness., 1 ! - j do not include in this the wilful ?' traducer of''character/, the mabguer of ih- ' 1 nocence, and the perjurer s these are Wretches ’ who act from motives, and as such should Be ! ‘ T dealt with in the aeVeroai ; mßhher’''’tiltiß*s^t ,| ‘ j and if in doubtful ckßek I persoUW’WhW' daii !, ‘ i > heavy damages could BO ihade ! ® 51

to confess whether tbeir honor or their love of gain prompted them to take such a course it would be. a noble thing, and would save lawyers and judges a lot of trouble. the liberty of the Press is, as I have Wore, a national liberty, and both . editors of, journals and the people for whom they write must learn the sacredness of the imposed on them. The people must uprhold the liberties of the Press; and the Press -must represent impartially all the various in- . terestß: and conditions of society ; and as its liberties are controlled by the people, must .be.taught to know when such liberties have -been exceeded by license or used for the publiogood. This subject. Requires an abler pen thammiuey and’ I should like to see some of r our talented citizens deliver a series of lectures uon so important a matter to all qualified jurymen, for be it understood that in all cases of mh'government and mal-administration of the law, I blame not the law, but the ignorant and apathatic people who permit it.—l am, ic. Your.obedient servant, , . Blunderbuss.