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"The Fight against Poisonous Literature." Current Literature, 52:468-71, April 1912. F102
A review of the campaign in England against "demoralizing" and "poisonous" literature. Quotes from Canon Rawnsley in Hibbert Journal and J. St. Loe Strachey in the Spectator, favoring censorship; from George Moore in the Irish Times, against literary censorship.
"A Fight for Freedom of the Press." Literary Digest, 90:9, 14 August 1926. F103
Press reaction in the case of George R. Dale, editor of the Muncie, Ind., Post-Democrat, who was cited for contempt of court and sentenced to jail for an editorial criticizing the court and grand jury.
"Fight to Lift the Ban on The Nation." Nation, 167:299-301, 11 September 1948. F104
Concerns the banning of The Nation from the New York City public schools.
"The Film Censorship." Justice of the Peace, 90:545-47, 2 October 1926; 96:131-32, 27 February 1932; 97:179-80, 25 March 1933; 98:551-53, 25 August 1934; 116:342-43, 31 May 1952. F105
A favorable account of the work of the British Board of Film Censors, an unofficial body but with official support through a system of licensing of public exhibitions. "As the law stands, the whole structure of censorship is built on the inflammability of films, but if a really non-inflammable film be ever invented and came into general vogue, there is no doubt the law would immediately be extended so that it too could be censored." The 1932 report notes that while the Board performs a voluntary censorship, it is likely that local licensing authorities would disapprove any film not regarded by the Board as acceptable. The 1933 report discusses the activity of the newly organized Film Consultative Committee. The 1952 report observes that, unlike the American system, the British Board has no written code, but treats each picture, incident, and dialogue on its merits.
"Film Censorship against the Background of the First and Fourteenth Amendments." New York Law Forum, 7:424-37, November 1961. F106
A review of motion picture censorship and opinions of the courts relating thereto. "Free individuals rebel against a state of affairs wherein another has the power to determine what motion picture is or is not correct for them to see; besides an unacceptable standard today may be the accepted standard of tomorrow. The scales of justice must weigh every situation to determine whether legislation is in effect imposing unconstitutional restraints upon the individual or whether there exists a harm to the public welfare of sufficient proportion to justify regulation."
"Film Censorship: an Administrative Analysis." Columbia Law Review, 39:1383-1405, December 1939. F107
A survey of the various methods used in controlling the content of films in the United States, with an evaluation of their efficacy and desirability. "Only in the case of obscenity is there any justification for censorship. If it is to be continued, the censor should be made responsive to prevalent public concepts of morality. A possible solution would be to have the censors elected by the people at periodic intervals . . . Complete absence of control might occasionally allow the presentation of a film better left unknown. Yet it is far more desirable that this should occur than that art and free expression be trampled under our present system of censorship."
"Film Censorship and the Admission of Children to Cinemas." Municipal Review, 8:116-20, April 1947. F108
Minutes of a London conference of municipal agencies convened to discuss charges as to the harmful effects of "A" category films on children who are attending such adult movies in increasing numbers.
Filmer, Edward. Defence of Plays; or, The Stage Vindicated from Several Passages in Mr. Collier's Short View, etc. . . . London, 1707. 167p. F109
The author defends the English stage against the criticism of Jermey Collier (1697). "Had those strait-laced partisans of Collier's, with Mr. Collier's charitable assistance, once gained their point against plays, we should find them nibbling at most of our other diversions, and giving our ladies as frightful an idea perhaps of Hyde Park or the Mall as Mr. Collier has already done of the play-house."
"Films and Birth and Censorship." Survey, 34:4-5, 3 April 1915. F110
Conflicting points of view on censorship arise in two New York cases: the approval of the movie, Birth of a Nation, by the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures in a divided vote, and the publication of Margaret Sanger's birth control pamphlet, Family Limitation. The latter was attacked by the New York vice society and defended by The Free Speech League.
"Findings of Fact and Order for Decree." Bay State Librarian, 52:11-13, Winter 1962. F111
An account of the decree of the Superior Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, against Tropic of Cancer. The Supreme Judicial Court's reversal of the decision is reported in the October 1962 issue.
Fine, Benjamin. "The Truth about Schoolbook Censorship." Parents' Magazine, 27:46+, December 1952. (Reprinted in Daniels, Censorship of Books, pp. 121-24 and Downs, The First Freedom, pp. 349-52) F112 §
The education editor of the New York Times recounts incidents of censorship of school and college textbooks that have taken place throughout the nation in recent years, both at the hands of public and private groups.
"A Fine Play Banned: Young Woodley." New Statesman, 30:593-94, 18 February 1928. F113
The disapproval of John van Druten's play by the Lord Chamberlain is considered the most serious blunder of the drama censor in 50 years. The play was banned, the author believes, more because of its criticism of the public schools than because of its treatment of sex.
[Finerty, Peter]. Trial of Mr. Peter Finerty, Late Printer of The Press, for a Libel against His Excellency Earl Camden, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in a Letter Signed Marcus in that Paper. Dublin, 1798. 62p. (Also in Howell, State Trials, vol. 26, pp. 901 ff., and Thomas MacNevin, Leading State Trials in Ireland, pp. 402-598) F114 §
The publisher of the Dublin Press was found guilty of a seditious libel, pilloried, and given two-years' imprisonment for criticizing the trial of William Orr, Court of King's Bench.
Finlason, W. F. "Catch v. Shaen; the Right of Free Discussion." Law Journal, 6:8-11, 2 January 1871. (Also in Law Times, 17 December 1870) F115
The author of a letter to the editor appeals for protection in the right of free discussion in the case of Mr. Shaen, who was brought to trial for libel in issuing three pamphlets critical of an investigation of conditions in a public workhouse.
Finlay, Thomas. Defence, prepared for delivery, by Thomas Finlay, charged before the High Court of Justiciary, City of Edinburgh, 24th July, 1843, with Vending Blasphemy, and Printed by Order of "The Scottish Anti-Persecution Union." Edinburgh, W. & H. Robinson, 1843. 32p. F116
This is the address that the elderly Edinburgh bookseller intended to use at his trial for sale of "blasphemous" and "infidel" works. His son-in-law, Henry Robinson, and Charles Southwell, arrested with Finlay, were given 12-and 15-month sentences respectively, but, because of an incorrectly drawn indictment, Finlay was not brought to trial in July. In November 1843 he was re-arrested for sale of a book "containing a denial of the truth and authority of the Holy Scriptures" and was tried the following month. He delivered his own defense somewhat along the lines of this intended speech, which was published in advance to raise funds for his defense. Finlay was found guilty and sentenced to 60 days in prison. The intended defense is a spirited attack against the laws of blasphemy. The Anti-Persecution Union, with Holyoake as secretary, was organized to defend those indicted under the blasphemy laws. It issued a weekly Gazette. An account of the various Scottish blasphemy trials also appears in issues of Holyoake's Oracle of Reason.
Finletter, Thomas K. "Intellectual Freedom and the National Defense; Address Delivered at the California Library Association Meeting in San Jose, October 26, 1955." California Librarian, 17:83-89, April 1956. F117
The speaker was formerly Secretary of the Air Force.
Finley, John H. "Free Press from Plato to Peter Zenger." Vital Speeches, 4:122-23, 1 December 1937. F118
A brief account of Zenger's contribution to a free press and its significance today.
[Finnegan, Richard J.]. The Copy of a Free Press Is Not in Commerce . . . Chicago, 1943. 105p. F119
The editor of the Chicago Times prepared this "memorandum of events in the story of American freedom of expression and conscience, showing that newspaper 'copy' before publication is immune from any authority of government, including the power of Congress to regulate commerce." Brief filed 6 July 1943 on behalf of the Chicago Times in the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York in the case of U.S. v. The Associated Press, et al.
First, Joseph M. "Freedom of the Press." Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, 30:200-207, March 1959. F120
Address by the editor of the Quarterly before the Ventnor Foundation, 1 February 1959 at Atlantic City, as part of a program for German-Austrian medical interns. The speech presents the American concept of a free press, with special references to Philadelphia and the medical profession.
-------. "Freedom of the Press in Wartime." Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, 14:225-31, April 1943. F121
The author calls upon the legal profession to watch each censorship move made by the government and to allow no controls not immediately connected with winning the war.
"First Amendment Requires Qualified Privilege to Publish Defamatory Misstatements about Public Officials." University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 113:284-90, December 1964. F122
Concerning the case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).
Fischer, Henry G., ed. Pike & Fischer Radio Regulation. Washington, D.C., Pike & Fischer, 1948. Loose-leaf volume. F123
A compilation of significant statutes, Congressional reports, FCC rules, and court decisions.
Fischer, John. "The Harm Good People Do." Harper's Magazine, 213:15-20, October 1956. (Reprinted in Downs, The First Freedom, pp. 138-41, in Gardiner, Catholic Viewpoint on Censorship, pp. 157-63, and in Black and Kerr, American Issues, pp. 184-90) F124 §
The editor of Harper's in his Easy Chair column, directs his attack largely against the work of the NODL, which he says is "not aimed at Catholics alone, and . . . is not attempting to persuade readers to follow its views. It is compelling readers, of all faiths, to bow to its dislikes, by denying them a free choice in what they buy."
Fisher, Boyd. "The Regulation of Motion Picture Theaters." American City, 7:520-22, December 1912. F125
"Provisions for the Physical, Moral and Intellectual Control of a Form of Popular Entertainment Possessing Great Educational Values." Deals with the provisions of an ordinance then pending in New York City, which was later (1913) passed and put into effect.
Fisher, Harry M. Freedom of the Press; Opinion of Hon. Harry M. Fisher . . . in the Ten Million Dollar Libel Suit brought by Corporation Counsel Samuel A. Ellelson in the name of the City of Chicago against The Chicago Tribune. With an Introduction and Summary of the History of the Struggle for Free Press during Three Centuries since the Invention of Printing. Chicago, The Chicago Tribune, 1921. 37p. F126
Judge Fisher of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., sustained the demurrer of the Tribune that the libel charge against that newspaper was a violation of the free press provisions in the Constitutions of the United States and of Illinois.
Fisher, Joseph R. "Chapter in the Law of Libel." Law Quarterly Review, 10:158-63, April 1894. F127
The practice of making a clean distinction between written and spoken scandal, with the former (libel) being the greater offense, is recognized only in English law. The distinction is a comparatively recent development.
-------, and James A. Strahan. The Law of the Press: a Digest of the Law Affecting Newspapers in England, India, and the Colonies. With a Chapter on Foreign Press Codes. London, W. Clowes, 1891. 297p. F128
Fisher, Paul. FOI in the U.S., 1960. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1961. 4p. (Publication no. 46) F129 §
A brief résumé of the climate for freedom of information in the United States during 1960.
-------. Making Communications Be Good. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1963. 4p. (Publication no. 107) F130 §
The executive secretary of the Freedom of Information Center, in an address before the Mississippi Press Association, discusses the present tendency for the government, in the interest of the public welfare, to force the communications media to conform to certain norms of social responsibility. Such a trend is not only a direct threat to a free press but, indirectly, encourages timidity and caution. "You cannot be hurt, the communicator reasons, if you say nothing." Fisher calls for newspapers to serve as a prime mover in calling attention to this drift toward government control and to restate the First Amendment in its boldest scope.
Fisher, Vardis. "Parable for Librarians on Why Ignorance Is Bliss." Pacific Northwest Library Association Quarterly, 4:7-9, October 1939. F131
A humorous and satirical talk dealing with the practices of librarians in restricting controversial books. "The only dangerous thing in this world is the thing we can understand." When a book is quaint and old-fashioned and no longer understood, it is safe to put on open shelves.
Fisk, Theophilus. The Nation's Bulwark. An Oration, on the Freedom of the Press, delivered at the Court House in Danbury, Con. Wednesday Dec. 5, 1832. On the liberation of P. T. Barnum, Esq. Editor of the Herald of Freedom, from Imprisonment, for an alledged libel. To which is appended an account of the proceedings on that occasion, together with a Letter addressed to him [by Fisk] while in prison. New Haven, Examiner and Watch Tower of Freedom, [1832]. 16 p. F132
Fisk, a former Universalist clergyman of Charleston, S.C., and then editor of the New Haven Examiner, delivered the address on the liberation of P. T. Barnum, editor of the Herald of Freedom, from imprisonment. Barnum had spent 60 days in jail on a libel conviction. There follows a newspaper account of the celebration in Danbury.
-------. An Oration on the Freedom of the Press; to Which is appended the doings of a Public Meeting held in Charleston, July 28th 1837. Charleston, S.C., Office of The Examiner, 1837. 48p. (Bound with Fisk's Oration on Banking, Education, &c) F133
In addition to publication of Fisk's address on freedom of the press at the Barnum celebration, Danbury, Conn., 1832, there is the text of his speech on banking and education, delivered at the Queen-Street Theatre in Charleston, July 4th 1837, which ended in riot, and an account of a public meeting held in that city on 28 July by "friends of freedom of Speech and of the Press," in protest of the physical and journalistic attacks on the Rev. Mr. Fisk for his talk on banking reform. The speakers at the meeting and editorials in the Charleston Examiner charged the leaders of the anti-Republican banking institutions of the city with organizing mob violence at the meeting.
Fiske, Marjorie. Book Selection and Censorship. Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1959. 158p. F134
Fear of controversy among school and public librarians in California, as a result of censorship pressures, is revealed in this study conducted by a social psychologist and financed by the Fund for the Republic. Miss Fiske investigated the extent to which restrictions in book selection were imposed on librarians from without and the extent imposed by librarians themselves. Some of the findings are also presented in The Climate of Book Selection, pp. 66-76, California University, School of Librarianship. The work is reviewed by Marie Jahoda in Public Opinion Quarterly, Spring 1961.
Fitch, Robert E. "Four-Letter Words to the Wise." Commonweal, 76:78-80, 20 April 1962. F135
The dean of the Pacific School of Religion discusses the issues in the jury trial of a California bookseller, arrested for selling Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Freedom of the press is not an issue here, he states, but rather "the fetishes and clichés of two social classes," the uplifters who insist that the book is degrading to public morals and the eggheads and liberals who proclaim that the book is "an assertion of the sanctity of the individual, a legitimate protest against the mechanized uniformity of our society, and a genuine work of literary art." Both positions are false, he maintains, but the article is concerned with the falsity of the latter.
[Fitzgerald, Thomas J.]. "Interview with Msgr. Fitzgerald of the National Office for Decent Literature." Publishers' Weekly, 171:12-15, 20 May 1957. F136
-------. "The Menance of Indecent Literature." Ave Maria, 84(12):8-9, 28-30, 22 September 1956. F137
The executive secretary of the National Office for Decent Literature discusses the Church's campaign against the placement of indecent literature in the hands of children.
-------. "NODL States Its Case." America, 97:280-82, 1 June 1957. (Reprinted in Gardiner, Catholic Viewpoint on Censorship, pp. 179-84) F138
Monsignor Fitzgerald has written this article to clarify the position of the National Office for Decent Literature and to state its policies. He presents the code by which objectionable literature is evaluated.
Fitz-Gerald, W. G. "Dramatic Censorship in England." Harper's Weekly, 51:947, 5 January 1907. F139
"Never since the evil days when Walpole established the Dramatic Censorship in England . . . has the British Lord Chamberlain and his Examiner of Plays been placed in so embarrassing a position as that which recently resulted from the sudden ban on 'The Mikado.'"
[Fitz-Harris, Edward]. The Arraignment and Plea of Edw. Fitz-Harris, Esq.; with all the Arguments in Law, and Proceedings of the Court of Kings-Bench, Thereupon, in Easter Term, 1681. London, Printed for Fr. Tyton, and Tho. Basset, 1681. 66p. F140
Fitz-Harris was tried for high treason and executed for publishing a pamphlet, The True Englishman speaking plain English in a Letter from a Friend to a Friend. In the pamphlet he accused King Charles II of conspiring with the Pope and the French to introduce Popery and arbitrary government. It is believed he might have intended to plant the pamphlet in the house of a Whig member of Parliament, then pretend to discover it and earn for himself the reward of an informer, but was betrayed by an accomplice.
[-------]. The Tryal and Condemnation of Edw. Fitz-Harris, esq.: for High-Treason, at the Barr of the Court of King's Bench, at Westminster . . . the 9th of June . . . 1681 . . . London, 1681. 103p. F141
Fixx, James F. "Library Goes to Market." Saturday Review, 45(14):14-15, 7 April 1962. F142
A discussion of the way in which public libraries go about selecting their books. "Although all libraries, from the very best to the very worst, have their share of failings and misjudgments, each of them tries, sometimes clumsily, sometimes with a skill approximating art, to provide its public with a reliable and useful collection of books. In this task they are ordinarily guided by formal statements of policy that have been thoughtfully worked out to explain to themselves, to their readers, and to the potential book-banners why they choose the books they do."
-------. "When Extremists Attack the Press." Saturday Review, 48(7):72-73, 13 February 1965. F143
An account of the attempt by right wing extremist groups to silence by personal harassment Bill Sanders, liberal cartoonist of the Kansas City Star. Sanders' editor, Richard B. Fowler, also subject to pressures, backed his cartoonist.
Fladeland, Betty. James Gillespie Birney: Slaveholder and Abolitionist. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1955. 323p. F144
The biography of the Southern abolitionist editor and crusader whose fight for civil liberty "helped to maintain freedom of speech and press in a time when censorship and gag laws were threatening the North as well as the South." Various references to the suppression of "incendiary" publications of the abolitionists.
Flaherty, Francis. "Censorship in Canada." Quill, 28(3):10-11, March 1940. F145
A member of the Press Gallery in the Canadian House of Commons, describes how Canada's newspapers have been affected by wartime censorship.
-------. Freedom of the Press in Canada. Ottawa, Buchanan's Bulletin Reg'd, 1957. 16p. F146
A series of articles appearing in the Canadian press during 1955, for which the author received the Bowater Award for distinguished journalism.
-------. "Press Censorship." Canadian Spokesman, 1:13-16, January 1941. F147
A discussion of censorship as practiced in Canada.
Flechuck, Anna J. The Index of Forbidden Books of the Roman Catholic Church, Described and Explained. Cleveland, School of Library Science, Western Reserve University, 1951. 47p. (Unpublished Master's thesis) F148
The author discusses the history and religious significance of the Index from the Catholic viewpoint, the method of proscribing a book, and the influence of the Index on a Catholic librarian in a public library.
Fleishman, Stanley. "Legal Control of Sex Literature." California Librarian, 21:107-12, April 1960. F149
A review of recent court decisions concerning definition and control of sex expression.
-------. "Obscenity and Post Office Censorship." Law in Transition, 22:222-30, Winter 1963. F150 §
Review of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Manual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962), in which the Court voided the Post-Office order that declared the magazines of this publisher obscene and unmailable.
-------."Sex, Censorship, Literature and Freedom." Rogue, 7:16-18+, November 1962. F151
-------. "Times Film Corporation v. City of Chicago: Obscenity and Prior Restraint." Law in Transition, 21:235-43, Winter 1962. F152 §
-------. "Witchcraft and Obscenity: Twin Superstitions." Wilson Library Bulletin, 39:640-44, April 1965. F153
Borrowing the title from Theodore A. Schroeder, pioneer critic of the obscenity laws, a Los Angeles attorney explores the similarities of witch-hunting and obscenity-hunting, both outgrowths of misguided religious fervor. He reviews recent American court decisions which indicate a movement toward a more libertarian view of sex expression. He gives special attention to the Roth and Alberts cases, the Tropic of Cancer case, and the decision on the film The Lovers (Jacobellis v. Ohio). He quotes from a decision of New York Justice Shapiro, defending the right of so-called "trashy" books, which, while they do not appeal to educated people, have a social importance of their own, and an equal right to protection under the First Amendment: "What I have tried to suggest is that obscenity is not a crime. At most, it is sex speech which some find in poor taste, and others may find sinful. But neither sin nor taste are matters with which the law has any proper concern. Those are personal matters best left to the individual to resolve for himself."
Fleming, Peter. "Blood Out of Stone." Spectator, 200:619, 16 May 1958. F154
Criticism of the unwarranted restrictions placed by Whitehall on the use of documents of World War II.
Fleming, W. S. "The Menace of the Movie." Light, 145:20-25, May-June 1922. F155
Address of the manager of the National Reform Association, given before the National Purity Congress, Chicago.
Fletcher, Alan. "Obscene Books and the Law." Author, 64:37-38, Winter 1953. F156
Analysis of current British obscenity law.
Fletcher, W. I. "The 'Infernos' in Public Libraries." Critic, 12:275, 30 November 1889. F157
A letter to the editor refers to an article in the North American Review charging that books in libraries kept in the "inferno" are used for evil purposes. The writer assures the author that in his experience as an assistant in the Boston Athenaeum, he had only once given out an "inferno" book, and then to a reputable gentleman to be used in the library. But when the chief, Dr. Poole (now of the Newberry Library), came in, he took the book from the man and locked it up again.
Flexner, Stuart. "The Man Who Corrupted California." Esquire, 61(3):82-83, 151-55, March 1964. F158 §
The co-editor of the Dictionary of American Slang reports on the furor his book created in California, beginning with its withdrawal from the library by a high school student in Sacramento. "Censorship disputes grew so hot that the book was banned in some places, marked for burning in others . . . There were demonstrations in the California capital, and Democrats and Republicans, liberals and ultraconservatives went forth to battle. The uproar could even affect the outcome of California's next gubernatorial election." The action against the reference book was stimulated, in part, by the denunciation of the work by Maxwell Rafferty, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, who urged the book be removed from school library shelves. Thousands of copies of mimeographed lists of the extracted "dirty" words were circulated by such groups as the Christian Citizens for Moral Action.
Flick, Hugh M. "Control and Regulation of Motion Pictures." In Lectures in Communication Media, Legal and Policy Problems Delivered at University of Michigan Law school, June 16-June 18, 1954. Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan Law School, 1954, pp. 109-26. F159
The author is director of the Motion Picture Division, New York State Education Department.
Flicker, Theodore J. "Censored." Plays and Players, 9:23, September 1962. F160
The director of the London production, The Premise, presents a selection of the sketches that were banned from the play by the Lord Chamberlain because they poked fun at President Kennedy and his family. The scenes were retained in the New York and Washington production and President Kennedy is said to have approved.
Flower, Benjamin. The Proceedings of the House of Lords in the Case of Benjamin Flower, Printer of the Cambridge Intelligencer, for a Supposed Libel on the Bishop of Llandaff; With Prefatory Remarks, and Animadversions on the Writings of the Bishop of Llandaff, the Rev. R. Ramsden . . ., and the Rev. Robert Hall . . . To which are Added, the Argument in the Court of King's Bench on a Motion for an Habeas Corpus, and . . . Remarks on the Judgment of that Court, by Henry Clifford . . . Cambridge, The Author, 1800. (Also in Howell, State Trials, vol. 27, pp. 986 ff.) F161
Proceedings on Flower's commitment by the House of Lords for libel and breach of privilege for an article in his paper, Cambridge Intelligencer. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison, despite a spirited defense by his lawyer, Henry Clifford.
Flower, Benjamin O. "Conservatism and Sensualism an Unhallowed Alliance." Arena, 3:126-28, December 1890. F162
A melodramatic editorial defending Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata and regarding the attempt to suppress the work as "another striking illustration of conservatism protecting vice by assailing all who seek to purify life in the only way in which society can ever be purged of immorality."
-------. "Free Press Lives--Menace Acquitted." Menace, 248:1, 4, 22 January 1916. F163
Discussion of the Federal Court trial in Joplin, Mo., of the publishers of The Menace, for alleged "obscene" criticism of the Catholic Church. A synopsis of the four-day trial, in which the defendants won, is given on page 4. Speeches of the defense attorneys, John L. McNatt and J. I. Sheppard, are given in the 12 February issue of The Menace. Articles throughout the pages of The Menace charge the Catholic hierarchy with efforts to silence criticism by use of the postal laws against obscenity and the wartime Espionage Act. Thomas E. Watson, in the 6 January 1916 issue of his weekly Jeffersonian (Atlanta) took up the defense of The Menace, with a lengthy criticism of the censorship practices of the Church of Rome.
[-------] "The Freedom of the Press as Viewed by Mr. Roosevelt and by Jefferson and Tocqueville." Arena, 41:218-19, February 1909. F164
By way of contrast to the antagonistic attitude of President Theodore Roosevelt to the press, the editor cites various statements of Thomas Jefferson in behalf of a free press (letters to Lafayette, Judge Tyler, Edward Carrington, and Charles Lancey), and a quotation from Tocqueville's Democracy in America.
-------. "The Postmaster-General and the Censorship of Morals." Arena, 2:540-52, October 1890. F165
Condemnation of action by the Postmaster General in refusing to transmit Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata through the mails because of alleged obscenity. He sees this action as a dangerous precedent "toward the establishment of a despotic censorship of the press" and explores the results of such censorship. He refers to the efforts of Anthony Comstock to convict four persons for selling Kreutzer Sonata.
-------. Sound Morality versus Morbid Pruriency. New York, Free Speech League, 1906. 7p. F166 §
Published with Theodore A. Schroeder's Our Vanishing Liberty of the Press.
-------, comp. Story of the Menace Trial. A Brief Sketch of this Historic Case, with Reports of the Masterly Addresses by Hon. J. L. McNatt and Hon. J. I. Sheppard. Aurora, Mo., United States Publishing Co., 1916. 61p. F167
Flower was a Boston social reformer and liberal editor (American Spectator, The Arena, The Menace) who, in later life, was obsessed with the idea that the Roman Catholic hierarchy was a menace to American democracy. His journal, The Menace, published in Aurora, Mo., was devoted to an anti-Catholic crusade. Flower was president of the Free Press Defense League and the National League for Medical Freedom. He was a descendent of the English liberal, Benjamin Flower, 1755-1829. The editors of The Menace were charged with sending obscene matter through the mails (Federal Court, Joplin, Mo., 1916). Part of the indictment was for quotations from Jeremiah J. Crowley's book. Crowley, a former Catholic priest, appeared for the defense. The editors were acquitted.
Flower, Benjamin O., et al. In Defense of Free Speech. Five Essays from The Arena (Trenton, N.J.) and Written by B. O. Flower, Rev. Eliot White, Louis F. Post, and Theodore Schroeder. New York, Free Speech League, 1908. 24p. F168
Contents: The Sinister Assault on the Breastworks of Free Government (Flower); The Lawless Suppression of Free Speech in New York (Schroeder); Denial of Free Speech in Massachusetts (White); Free Speech and Good Order (Post); and the Growing Despotism of Our Judiciary (Schroeder). The essays deal largely with the suppression of anarchist propaganda and partly with contempt of court as a means of censorship.
Flues, A. Gilmore. "Public Library Censorship?--No!" Wilson Library Bulletin, 23:56-57, September 1948. F169
The president of the Friends of the Toledo Public Library made this anticensorship talk at a Toledo Town Meeting. "We still gamble on the average American--that given access to all sides of a question, and being allowed to pursue without hindrance the answer to that question, he will come reasonably close to the conception that our forefathers had of him." Printed with Mr. Flues' talk is a newspaper editorial which appeared two days later criticizing the other speaker, George D. Hawkins, executive secretary of the Toledo Small Business Association, for his stand favoring censorship. The editorial gives strong support of freedom for the Toledo Public Library.
Fly, James L. "Freedom of Speech and Press." In Edward L. Bernays, Safeguarding Civil Liberties Today. Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1945, pp. 61-75. F170
The former chairman of the FCC argues that freedom of the press is dangerously controlled by monopolies of newspaper and broadcasting chains, press associations, syndicates, and the major Hollywood studios. The interest of a free press is best served by diversity.
-------. "Freedom to Hear: Radio." Survey Graphic, 35:474-76, 514, December 1946. F171
The author considers the barriers against easy access to radio, both on the domestic scene and internationally.
-------. "Regulation of Broadcasting in the Public Interest." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 213:102-8, January 1941. F172 §
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission discusses problems in safeguarding the public interest by regulation of radio broadcasting. "My own view is that a free market in ideas over the air can be attained without special interest stations and without the creation of a multitude of 'propaganda' stations . . . a licensee must serve the public at large, not any special interests; and the public interest can be served only if the licensee permits the presentation of all the facts and all points of view."
Flynn, James R. The United States Government's Theory of Free Speech on the Air. Chicago, University of Chicago, 1955. 143p. (Unpublished Master's thesis) F173
Fode, Bennet. "Canadian Film Censorship." Tamarack Review, 21:71-77, Autumn 1961. F174 §
Censorship of Canadian entertainment "is now applied only to the cinema, whereas the other mass media of visual entertainment--the theatre, television, Telefusion--have never been subjected to this form of official narrow mindedness. All ten provinces have statutes requiring motion pictures to be censored prior to their exhibition to the public."
Fogarty, Frank P. Canon 35 and the Broadcast Media. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1961. 6p. (Publication no. 61) F175 §
The vice-president of Meredith Broadcasting Company believes that lawyers should take a fresh look at Canon 35 in the light of today's conditions. "If you will admit cameras and microphones to the courtrooms you will not jeopardize the rights of your clients; on the contrary you will actually insure them."
-------. A Time for Fundamentals. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1960. 4p. (Publication no. 28) F176 §
The author examines two fundamentals: (1) the concept of "public interest, convenience, and necessity" as applied by the FCC to broadcasting, and (2) the concept that self-regulation can and does succeed in American society.
FOI Digest. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1959-date. Bimonthly. F177 §
A publication devoted to news of freedom of information, or the lack of it, in all media of communications throughout the United States. Each issue includes brief notes on current articles and books.
Foil, Frank F. "Constitutional Law--Censorship of Motion Picture Films." Louisiana Law Review, 21:807-12, June 1961. F178
Concerning the case of Times Film Corp. v. Chicago, 365 U.S. 43 (1961).
Foley, Francis C. "Constitutional Law--Freedom of Speech and the Press." Boston University Law Review, 12:261-63, April 1932. F179
Relates to the case, Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697. Liberty of speech and the press, the court holds, is within the liberty safeguarded by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by state action.
Folkard, Henry C. "Injunction to Restrain Libels." Law Magazine and Review, 22 (4th ser.):63-73, November 1896. F180
A review of the English law of libel in view of recent discussions on the use of the injunction to prevent publication of alleged libel, which has "the effect of striking a serious blow at the liberty of the press."
-------. The Law of Slander and Libel, Founded upon the Treatise of the Late Thomas Starkie . . . including the Procedure, Pleading, and Evidence, Civil and Criminal, with Forms and Precedents: Also Contempts of Court, Criminal Informations, &c. &c., and an Appendix of Statutes. 7th ed. London, W. Clowes, 1908. 711p. F181
Includes numerous citations to English cases of seditious and blasphemous libel. Folkard was editor of the last (1869) edition of Starkie's treatise on the law of libel, but subsequently Folkard's own work replaced that of Starkie's.
[Folkard, Henry T.]. "Obliteration of Racing News." Library Association Record, 9:24-29, 1907. F182
A survey of practices among 138 English libraries indicates that 27 obliterate betting news, 49 have decided against it, and 62 have not considered the question.
Folsom, Robert, et al. "How Free Is College Journalism?" New Republic, 134:11-14, 2 April 1956. F183
"The story told here of suppression of opinion at Florida State University prompted the New Republic to query student editors of publications in seven other state universities in the South [Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia, Oklahoma A & M, North Carolina, and Mississippi] who were asked how much independence and freedom of editorial comment they are allowed." Texas, Maryland, and Georgia indicate censorship; the others reported having free rein.
Fondren, Lee. Advertising--1980. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1961. 6p. (Publication no. 62) F184 §
A fantasy on the total destruction of advertising in America and its effect on society--an attack on government control of advertising.
"Fooling the Americans Again." Nation, 115:680, 20 December 1922. F185
Because of censorship abroad, particularly in the Balkans, the American people are getting biased accounts of foreign affairs.
Foot, Dingle, et al. "The Freedom of Our Press." Listener, 20:1337-38, 1370-71, 22 December 1938. (Also in Vital Speeches, 1 February 1939) F186
Discussion by Dingle Foot, M.P., Nicholas Macaskie, K.C., and Sir Stanley Reed, M.P., with Lord Meston as chairman. Lord Meston concludes: "It isn't boasting to say that, all in all, our British Press is the best in the world; the more reason, Mr. Macaskie would say, for preserving its virtue. The more reason, Mr. Foot would say, for refusing to curb its freedom and its discretion; certainly the more reason, we should all admit, for as little as possible of the dictation which is making a mockery of the Press in some great countries today."
Foote, Edward Bliss. Confidential Pamphlet for the Married; Words in Pearl for Married People Only. New York, The Author, 1875. 32p. F187
The pamphlet contains the text of a suppressed work bearing the same title. In place of the offending section on "reliable preventives," the text and criticism of the statutes prohibiting birth control information is given.
-------. A Fable of the Spider and the Bees . . . [New York, National Defense Association, 1881]. 61p. F188
In this fable, which appeared originally in Foote's Health Monthly, the spider is permitted by the bees who rule the insect community to spin a web to keep undesirable insects out of the garden. The web serves this purpose but it also traps butterflies, useful in pollination. The bees pay no heed to the complaints of the insect community because they are powerful enough to fly through the web. An analogy is drawn to the suppression of literature on sex education, free thought, and radical social ideas by the web of the Comstock society. Three cases are cited: The suppression of Dr. Foote's pamphlet, Words in Pearl for Married People Only, and his fine of $3,500 for sending the work through the mail; the blasphemy trial of D. M. Bennett of the Truth Seeker; and the trial of Ezra Heywood for his Cupid's Yokes. The book quotes press criticism of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice.
-------. In the Matter of the Repeal or Modification of a Certain Postal Law. [Address by Dr. E. B. Foote to the Committees on Revision of Laws in Senate and House of Representatives]. New York, E. B. Foote. 7p. F189
An attack on postal censorship and its use to exclude legitimate works on health and sex education.
-------. "Plea for Liberty to Apply Sexology v. Sexual Chaos." Dr. Foote's Health Monthly, 19:2-11, February 1894. F190
An appeal for freedom of information on sex and sex hygiene.
-------. Step Backward; in Reviewing Inconsiderate Legislation, Concerning Articles and Things for the Prevention of Conception. New York, Issued by the Author [Murray Hill Publishing Co.], 1875. 16p. F191
Opposition to legislation that prevents distribution of birth control information.
Foote, Edward Bond. Comstock Versus Craddock. [New York? 1902?]. 4p. F192 §
An attack on Anthony Comstock for his persecution of Ida Craddock for "obscenity." This self-styled "purity lecturer" was convicted and served a three-month jail sentence for her pamphlet, The Wedding Night. Following a second conviction she committed suicide. "I am taking my life," she wrote, "because a judge, at the instigation of Anthony Comstock, has declared me guilty of a crime which I did not commit--the circulation of obscene literature."
-------. In the Matter of the Repeal or Modification of a Certain Postal Law. New York, The Author, n.d., 7p. F193
Address of Dr. Foote to the Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives on revision of the Comstock law.
-------. "Plea for Necessity of a Free Medical Press." Eclectic Review, 8:171-74, July 1905. F194
An appeal for freedom of expression in matters of sex hygiene in the nation's medical journals. Dr. Edward Bond Foote is the son of Dr. Edward Bliss Foote. Both were New York physicians.
Foote, George W. Blasphemy No Crime . . . London, H. A. Kemp, 1882. 24p. F195
Published during the author's prosecution for blasphemous libel for publishing the Freethinker. Foote reviews the history of the prosecution during which a law that had lain dormant for a quarter of a century was revived. He gives a brief history of the blasphemy law in England and earlier prosecutions under it; he defends blasphemy as "simply skepticism expressed in plain language and sold at the people's price."
-------. Defence of Free Speech. Being a Three Hours' Address to the Jury in the Court of Queen's Bench before Lord Coleridge on April 24, 1883 . . . New edition with introduction and footnotes. London, Progressive Publishing Co., 1889. 45p. (Reprinted in 1932 by Pioneer Press, London, with introduction by H. Cutner) F196
George W. Foote, editor of the Freethinker, who was brought to trial for blasphemy, reviews the history of freethinking and comments on his earlier trial before Judge North, which he felt was unfairly conducted. In his address to the jury Foote discusses in eloquent language the legal concept of religious freedom in England and pleads to the jury to "check that spirit of bigotry and fanaticism which is fully aroused . . . proclaim that henceforth the press shall be absolutely free, unless it libel men's characters or contain incitements to crime, and that all offences against belief and taste shall be left to the great jury of public opinion." The jury was in disagreement, but the case was heard again four days later and Foote was found guilty and given a year's sentence. Foote praised the fairness of Judge Coleridge.
-------. Hall of Science Libel Case, with a Full and True Account of "The Leeds Orgies," Edited, with Introduction, by G. W. Foote. London, R. Forder, [1895?]. 58p. F197 §
A Christian Evidence lecturer, Walton Powell, charged in a speech (later published in the Anti-lnfidel and as a pamphlet) that the Hall of Science where the National Secular Society held its meetings was used for a class in which boys were taught unnatural vices. The Society took civil action against the publisher of the pamphlet and won the verdict. The trial was unique in that the council for the plaintiff made an appeal for freedom of the press, showing that false and malicious charges represented a threat to freedom.
-------. Mr. Bradlaugh's Trial and the Freethought Party. London, Charles Watts, [1899]. 16p. F198
"The prosecution of Mr. Bradlaugh and Mrs. Besant for publishing [Charles] Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy was, as the Lord Chief Justice told the Solicitor-General, a mischievous mistake. It gave wide circulation to an obscure pamphlet which many think indecent and which even its defenders admit to be comparatively unimportant . . . At the normal rate of sale it would have taken two centuries to circulate as many copies as the prosecution has spread amongst the people during the last two months . . . The prosecution was, too, a mischievous mistake in another respect; it was an unnecessary interference with the liberty of the Press. Nobody was compelled to purchase the Fruits of Philosophy, it was not liable to fall into juvenile hands, nor was it extensively advertised." Foote criticizes Mr. Bradlaugh and Mrs. Besant who started the affair, but allowed others (Mr. Truelove, the bookseller) to take the brunt of the persecution. Bradlaugh and Besant were more interested, he charges, in notoriety than in furthering the cause of the Freethought Party. The Knowlton pamphlet, in the estimation of Foote, was an obsolete work of quackery.
-------. Prisoner for Blasphemy. London, Progressive Publishing Co., 1886. 180p. F199
After two trials, the editor of the British agnostic journal, Freethinker, was convicted of blasphemy for the Christmas issue (1882) and served a year in prison. Two months after sentencing by Lord North, Foote was tried for another blasphemous libel. This is reported in his Defence of Free Speech. In the present book Foote gives an account of his three trials and life in prison. He discusses the history of blasphemy laws and cases in England, noting that the last case preceding his was in 1857. "It is more than possible that I shall be the last prisoner for blasphemy in England." On his release, Foote acquired his own printing plant so that the production of the Freethinker and other "blasphemous" literature might be done under his own roof.
[-------, W. J. Ramsey, and H. A. Kemp]. Verbatim Report of the Two Trials of G. W. Foote, W. J. Ramsey, and H. A. Kemp, for Blasphemous Libel in the Christmas Number of the "Freethinker." Held at the Old Bailey on Thursday March 1st, and on Monday, March 5th, 1883, Before Mr. Justice North and Two Common Juries. London, Progressive Publishing Co., 1883. 112p. (Another edition was published by Edward B. Aveling) F200
Foote, the editor of Freethinker, was sentenced to 12 months; Ramsey, the proprietor, to 9 months; and Kemp, the printer, to 3 months. In the sentencing the judge recognized the relative responsibility of the three men for the libel. The spectators in the court reacted so violently to the verdict that the judge cleared the court before passing sentence. Notes on the trials appear in Central Law Journal, 13 July 1883.
Foote's Health Monthly. New York, 1876-96? F201
Under the editorship of Dr. Edward Bliss Foote and his son, Dr. Edward Bond Foote, New York physicians, this journal became the organ for medical freedom, sex hygiene, sexual emancipation of women, and birth control. The Footes were both active in free-thought circles and in the fight against censorship and their journal reflects these interests. The senior Foote opposed the Comstock law in New York in 1872; two years later Anthony Comstock retaliated by having Dr. Foote arrested for distributing birth control pamphlets. Both father and son were active in the National Defense Association, organized to oppose the Comstock laws.
"For a Sensible Censorship." Nation, 104:518-19, 3 May 1917. F202
Wartime censorship should not include the suppression of criticism of acts of public officials.
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