FREEDOM OF PRESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 February 1936, Page 7

FREEDOM OF PRESS

UPHELD IN U.S.A. [BY CABLE PRESS ASSN. COPYRIGHT.] WASHINGTON, February 10. In a sweeping opinion, the United States Supreme Court to-day unanimously reversed the Lousiana State tax on the gross receipts of newspapers. The Court also enunciated the doctrine of the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of the Press. The judgment is destined to rank as one of the historic documents in American history. The tax on newspapers’ gross receipts was one of the late Senator Huey Long’s measures, and it was aimed not only to secure revenue, but had given him a measure of control over the Press of the State. The Act was declared to be unconstitutional by Mr Justice Sutherland, who wrote the opinion. He said that the tax had “a long history of hostile misuse against the freedom of the Press.” The Court made it clear that the verdict is not intended to exempt the newspapers from any ordinary form of taxation, but only to protect their recognised freedom from attacks cloaked under the guise of taxation. The Court stated: Since an informed' public opinion is the most potent of all restraints upon Government, the suppression or abridgment oil the publicity afforded by a free Press cannot be regarded otherwise than with grave concern,”