PRESS IN AFRICA
DANGER TO FREEDOM NEW GOVERNMENT BILL [FROM ovn OWN correspondent] JOHANNESBURG, March 1 A greab deal of speculation and criticism has been aroused by the news that the Union Prime Minister, General J B. M. Hertz, og, will shortly introduce a Government, bill aiming at the control of the press. The terms of the bill have not yet been revealed, but strong; protests have already been made against this suspected move to interfere with the liberty of the press. A clue to the Government's intentions was given in a speech bv Colonel Denevs Beitz, Minister of Mines, in the course' of which he said: "J am not going to give awav any Cabinet secrets, but as an ex-journalist 1 shall give you mv opinion of the Government's bill for the control of the press. The slogan, 'freedom of the press,' has come to be regarded as something sacrosanct, but there can be no question that the press has become a great menace in the world to-dav. "If a citizen.buys a firearm, poison or liquor, he realises that it is dangerous and must be subject to State control Whv should a dangerous weapon like the press be free from control?"
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19390322.2.158
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23302, 22 March 1939, Page 17
Word Count
202PRESS IN AFRICA New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23302, 22 March 1939, Page 17
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