The  liberty  of  private  utterance  extends  to  the  press,  al-
though the  emancipation  of  the  newspaper  was  slowly  accom-
plished. The  Zenger  case  in  New  York  in  1735  setded  the
question  in  the  colonies.  We  have  not,  as  in  France,  a  deposit
of  a  guaranty  fund  by  the  proprietors  of  the  paper;  here
responsibility  comes  only  after  publication.  We  have  never
had  a  censorship,  except  during  the  Civil  War,  when  attacks
on  the  government  were  prohibited.  The  only  federal  enact-
ment on  that  subject,  the  Sedition  Act  of  1 798,  proved  one  of
the  most  short-lived  of  statutes.  Our  theory  is  that  of  Crom-
well :  when  a  critic  was  arrested,  the  Protector  set  him  free
with  the  words,  "  Ixjt  him  take  his  notes.  If  my  government
is  made  to  stand,  it  has  nothing  to  fear  from  paper  shot."
Sjme  newspapers  take  scandalous  advantage  of  the  liberality  of
their  government  by  prying  into  the  details  of  private  lives,  by
unjustified  attacks  upon  the  motives  of  public  servants,  and
by  the  publication  of  gross  and  degrading  criminal  news ;  but
one  of  the  greatest  causes  of  discontent  is  removed  when  people
may  freely  express  their  opinions  and  their  dissents.  It  is
usually  to  the  interest  of  the  newspapers  to  expose  public
wrongdoing,  and  therefore  they  are  one  of  the  most  powerful
influences  toward  upright  public  service.     Any  man  who  slan-


S 14]   Right  to  Fair  Judicial  Proceedings.      29

ders  another,  or  by  false  am!  malicious  libel  excites  the  com-
munity, may  be  puuishctl  through  the  courts.
Freedom  of  thought  includes  the  inestimable  right  of  reli-
gious opinion,  one  of  the  most  significant  achievements  of  the
American  people.  The  light  includes  the  tight  to  express  an
absence  of  religious  belief  so  long  as  it  is  not  blasphemous.
