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The People's Choice. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1962. 4p. (Publication no. 74) P102 §
Are the communications media giving the American public what it wants? Here is a collection of "recent odds-and-ends answers to the question."
PEP (Political and Economic Planning). Press Group. Report on the British Press, a Survey of Its Current Operations and Problems with Special Reference to National Newspapers and Their Part in Public Affairs. London, PEP, 1938. 333p. (An adaptation of chapter 9, Legal Restrictions on the Press, is published in the United States Law Review, October 1938) P103
This comprehensive discussion of the state of the British press on the eve of World War II is the result of a three-year study made by a Keynesian-oriented group. The report includes comments on freedom of the press and monopoly control. Among the recommendations are proposals for reform in libel and contempt laws and various alternatives by which press ownership might be shared by private enterprise and public groups so that freedom of editing and reporting might be preserved.
Periodical Distributors Association. "Distributors: Censorship Forum Presents Contrasting Views and Policies." Publishers' Weekly, 178:35-37, 17 October 1960. P104
"Basic differences of opinion on the subject of censorship were made apparent during a discussion of censorship held by three clergymen and the managing director of the American Book Publishers Council at the first general session of the Council for Periodical Distributors Association convention." The clergy were Msgr. Thomas J. Fitzgerald, Rev. Dan M. Potter, and Rev. William F. Rosenblum; Dan Lacy represented the American Book Publishers Council. John Butler, attorney for the Periodical Distributors Association, discusses a "model statute" on obscenity.
"Periphery of War." Living Age, 357:215-24, November 1939. P105
Four contributions on wartime censorship: (1) Triumph of Anastasie (French censorship); (2) Blackout of Humor by Lamar Middleton; (3) The Censors in Three Capitals by C.B.S. Broadcasters William L. Shirer (Berlin), Thomas B. Grandin (Paris), and Edward R. Murrow (London); (4) The Man Who Knows (a story about wartime rumors taken from the London Times).
Periscope, pseud. "Sedition and the Censor." English Review, 39:653-59, November 1924. P106
The writer praises the present government of the Irish Free State for allowing, for the most part, "seditious" and "republican" literature, press, and plays on the theory that if left alone such passion will "burn itself out."
Perkins, F. B. "Free Libraries and Unclean Books." Library Journal, 10:396-99, December 1885. P107
The librarian of the San Francisco Free Public Library states his arguments for refusing to buy or circulate what he considers "dirty books" even though there may be requests for them from adults.
Perles, Alfred. My Friend Henry Miller. An Intimate Biography. New York, John Day, 1956. 255p. P108
References throughout to action taken in England and the United States against Miller's books, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Excerpts are given from the case of Besig v. United States.
Perlman, David. "How Captain Hanrahan Made Howl a Best-Seller." Reporter, 17:37-39, 12 December 1957. P109
Account of the case in San Francisco, when Police Captain William Hanrahan brought Lawrence Ferlinghetti, proprietor of the City Lights Pocket Bookshop, and his clerk to trial for selling Howl and Other Poems, by Allen Ginsberg. Judge Horn's verdict was "not guilty." Part of his opinion is quoted.
Perlman, Nathan D., and Morris Ploscowe. "False, Defamatory Anti-Racial and Anti-Religious Propaganda and the Use of the Mails." Lawyers Guild Review, 4:13-23, January-February 1944. P110
The authors defend the Lynch Bill which bars defamatory antiracial and antireligious matter from the mails. This point of view is opposed by O. K. Fraenkel in the March-April issue.
Perlman, William J., ed. The Movies on Trial: The Views and Opinions of Outstanding Personalities anent Screen Entertainment Past and Present. New York, Macmillan, 1936. 254p. P111
Comments from a representative group of leaders--civic, religious, cultural--on the controversy over the American movies, growing out of charges made during the late 20's and 30's that the motion picture industry was exploiting indecency and that some form of controls were needed. Includes statements from William Allen White, the Reverend John J. Cantwell, Edward G. Robinson, Raymond J. Cannon (member of Congress who introduced the censorship bill in 1934), Judge Ben B. Lindsey, William Lyon Phelps, Upton Sinclair, the Reverend John Haynes Holmes, and Rabbi Sidney E. Goldstein.
Pernicone, Joseph M. "Church Prohibition of Books." Catholic Lawyer, 3:286-91, Autumn 1957. P112
Bishop Pernicone describes the law of the Catholic Church as it relates to reading, publishing, and bookselling.
Perry, Bliss. Pernicious Books . . . 2d ed. Boston, New England Watch and Ward Society, 1927. 15p. (Also published in The Light, July-August 1923) P113
Address given at the annual meeting of the Society, 22 April 1923. Perry, along with such authors and critics as Hamlin Garland, Irving Bacheller, Edwin Markham, Brander Matthews, and Paul Elmer Moore, supported the work of the vice societies and the Clean Books League and deplored pernicious contemporary literature. In this lecture Perry refers to George Moore as "a satyr in his seventieth year," and observes that "the chief mark left thus by Freudian psychology upon contemporary literature is a very dirty one." While opposing prior censorship, Perry approves of taking an offensive book to court. The Watch and Ward, he states, is merely acting as proxy for busy citizens who want to see the law enforced against pernicious literature.
Perry, James. "Trial for Seditious Libel, 1793." In Howell, State Trials, vol. 22, pp. 953 ff, and in Erskine, Speeches, vol. 2, pp. 372-453. P114
In the first libel trial after the passage of the Fox Libel Act, the jury found Perry and the two other defendants, John Lambert and James Gray, not guilty. The three had been charged with publishing in their Morning Chronicle an address of a society for political information. Thomas Erskine was defense attorney; James Perry spoke in his own behalf.
Perry, Stuart. The Indecent Publications Tribunal: A Social Experiment. Foreword by Sir Kenneth Gresson. Wellington, N.Z., Whitcombe and Toombs, 1965. 169p. P115
The city librarian of Wellington, N.Z., who is also a member of New Zealand's Indecent Publications Tribunal, describes how this official censorship body has operated since its creation in 1964. The appendix gives the text of New Zealand censorship legislation dating back to 1892. Eric Moon, in reviewing the book in Library Journal, 15 March 1966, notes the reasonably liberal record of the Tribunal and that the experiment "has left New Zealand's censorship problems, if not solved, at least less messy and less injurious for the moment than some of ours have been in the U.S. in recent years."
Perry, Stuart H. "Trial by Newspaper." United States Law Review, 66:374-83, July 1932. P116
A lawyer-newspaperman comments on problems created by sensational reports of criminal trials.
-------. "Twin Evils Cast Disturbing Shadows Over Press and Judiciary." Quill, 21(3):3-4, 10, March 1933. P117
The evils are the interference of the press with the administration of criminal justice and the traffic between officers of the law and the press whereby information is exchanged for publicity.
-------, and Edward J. White. Newspapers and the Courts. Columbia, Mo., University of Missouri, 1928. 24p. (University of Missouri Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 28, Journalism Series no. 51) P118 §
Address by S. H. Perry, The Press under Fire; address by E. J. White, The Press and the Judiciary.
Perversion for Profit. 16 mm. color movie, 30 min. Cincinnati, Citizens for Decent Literature. Narrated by George Putnam. P119 §
The theme of the movie is that one of the main causes of juvenile delinquency, violence, and especially sex crimes, is obscene literature. A large portion of the film shows examples of pornographic literature (with patches introduced at appropriate spots) classified as to type of perversion--homosexuality, sadism, etc. The film also calls for precensorship of films. "The film is for showing to adult groups only."
Peter, Emmett, Jr. "Do Our Contempt of Court Laws Need Modernizing?" Quill, 49(4):15-16, 19, April 1961. P120
The author suggests that "a fact-finding study could bring press-judicial conflict into focus and perhaps suggest ways of resolving some of the issues in dispute." A tightening and clarification of contempt laws, with reasonable restraints, is needed.
Peters, John. "Where the Sex Appeal Corrupts." Light, 29:27-31, May-June 1926. P121
Discusses the danger of sex literature in the hands of adolescents and the need to control its distribution.
Peters, William. "What You Can't See on TV." Redbook, 109(3):28-29, 80-83, July 1957. P122
"Is it 'good taste' or sheer cowardice that keeps valuable programs off your screen? Here are the facts on television's quiet but deadening censorship--and how you can help overcome it.
Peterson, Houston. Havelock Ellis Philosopher of Love. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1928. 432p. P123
Chapters 11 and 12 contain an account of the attack on Studies in the Psychology of Sex and the Bedborough prosecution in England.
Peterson, Theodore. "The Fight of William Hone for British Press Freedom." Journalism Quarterly, 25:132-38, June 1948. P124
A brief account of the prosecution for political libel of the pamphleteer and satirist who shocked and amused London in 1817.
-------. "The Social Functions of the Press." In National Society for the Study of Education, Mass Media and Education, 53d Yearbook. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1954. pt. 2, pp. 30-53. P125 §
To improve the social services of the press, account must be taken of the commercial basis of the press and reforms or remedies to improve the press must be based on the combined efforts of press, public, and government. The freedom of the press must be re-examined, considering it not only as the right of the individual to speak, but as the obligation of those who control the media to present a wide range of representative views.
Petrov, B. "Current Tendencies in Bourgeois Library Science." ALA Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, 13:73, 82-84, November 1964. (From Bibliotekar, 7:55-58, July 1964. Translated by Rudolf Lednicky) P126 §
"In actuality the principle of 'freedom to read' in capitalist countries serves above all as a cover for the dissemination of politically reactionary literature which in one form or another promotes the propaganda of capitalist ideology. . . . 'Freedom to read' means that in the acquisition of library material, comics, detective stories, 'horror novels,' anti-communist libels, racist fabrications, open and half-concealed pornography, all of which is thrust upon the reader by deafening advertisements with the aid of press, radio and television, must be widely represented in the libraries' book collections." Reference is made to a report on Libraries of the U.S.A. and Censorship by B. P. Kanevskii, who observes that while American librarians sometimes show genuine courage in opposing censorship from ultrareactionary organizations, they themselves to a marked degree share anti-Communist prejudices. Soviet librarians openly acknowledge the party nature of their work and subordinate all their work to advancing Communist ideas among readers.
Pettijohn, C. C. "How the Motion Picture Governs Itself'" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 128:158-62, November 1928. P127 §
The general counsel for the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America describes and defends the self-censorship of movies by the industry, against the alternative of political censorship by state and municipal bodies.
-------. Self-Regulation versus Censorship. New York, [Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America?]. 1938. 11p. P128
Favors self-regulation of the movies under the Production Code.
P[etty], Sir W[illiam]. The Advice of W. P. to Mr. Samuel Hartlib, For the Advancement of Some Particular Parts of Learning. London, 1648. 34p. (Also in The Harleian Miscellany, vol. 6, pp. 141-57) P129
A British physician and statistician proposes to condense all books into "one book, or great work, though consisting of many volumes." One writer has called the proposal a threat to end bookselling for all time and to regiment books "in slavish squads, each volume numbered like a bound convict, its contents rationed to a comma." Books would be marketed by the yard. Sir William suggests that all that is "nice, contentious, and merely fantastical" be in some measure suppressed, and "brought into disgrace and contempt with all men."
Pew, Marlen E. "So Long as Editorial Freedom Remains." Quill, 21(11):8-10, November 1933. P130
The editor of Editor and Publisher considers the importance of editorial criticism as a constructive influence on public affairs.
Pezet, Washington. "Common-Censorship." Forum, 73:742-46, May 1925. P131
The author, dealing largely with stage censorship, objects to the establishment of an "authoritative guardian of morals and manners."
Pfeffer, Leo. "Heresy, American Democracy and The Miracle." Jewish Frontier, 17:14-18, August 1951. P132
An account of the banning of the film, The Miracle, and implications of the action. "A case history of Catholic power in American democracy is presented by the dramatic short-lived career of the forty-minute Italian picture which opened at the Paris Theatre in New York City, on December 12, 1950, and was closed by order of the State Board of Regents on February 16, 1951." The action was taken, according to the author, at the instigation of Cardinal Spellman. "Shall American democracy continue the Jeffersonian tradition of freedom in religion, or shall we return to the Augustinian dogma of the duty of the State to extirpate heresy?"
-------. The Liberties of an American; the Supreme Court Speaks. Boston, Beacon, 1956. 309p. P133
In this general work on the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court which interpret the Bill of Rights, three chapters deal with freedom of the press: Chapter 2, Liberty of Belief and Disbelief, which includes decisions relating to religious freedom; Chapter 3, Liberty of Speech and Silence, covering sedition, and the doctrine of "clear and present danger"; and Chapter 5, Liberty of Knowledge and Learning, which surveys the development of freedom of the press in England and America from the beginning of printing.
Pfeiffer, George E., and Edward L. Knoedler. Police Court, First District [The People, etc., on the Complaint of Anthony Comstock vs. George E. Pfeiffer and Edward L. Knoedler]. New York, 1888. 17p. P134
Anthony Comstock raided the Knoedler art galleries in New York City on 17 November 1887, seizing 117 photographs of masterpieces of French art. He charged that the youth of the country was endangered by obscenity in the shape of "lewd French art--a foreign foe." The New York Evening Telegram reproduced some of the pictures in outline drawings. The court held that the pictures were not obscene.
Phelps, Edith M., ed. "British System of Radio Control." In University Debaters' Annual, 1932-33. New York, Wilson, 1933, pp. 97-133. P135
A debate between students of the University of North Carolina and George Washington University on the topic, Resolved: That the United States shall adopt the British system of radio control.
-------. "British System of Radio Control and Operation." In University Debaters' Annual, 1933-34. New York, Wilson, 1934, pp. 12-52. P136
An international debate between students of Cambridge University and University of Iowa on the topic, Resolved: That the United States should adopt the essential features of [British] radio control and operation.
-------. "Censorship." In University Debaters' Annual, 1929-30. New York, Wilson, 1930, pp. 287-326. P137
A debate between two student teams from Bates College on the topic, Resolved: That legal censorship be abolished.
-------. . . . Civil Liberty. New York, Wilson, 1927. 194p. (The Reference Shelf vol. 4, no. 9) P138
"This volume contains the essential material on the freedom of expression of opinion from the viewpoint of the arguments for and against restrictions upon it." It includes quotations relating to freedom of the press from the following: James Mill, Jeremy Bentham, John Milton, Robert Hall, and Zechariah Chafee. Quotations favoring censorship include those from James Kent and William Blackstone. Among the documents included are the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and 1799, the Sedition Law of 1798, the California Criminal Syndicalist Act (1919), and the Tennessee Anti-Evolution Law (1925).
-------. "Freedom of Speech." In University Debaters' Annual, 1928-29. New York, Wilson, 1929, pp. 231-79. P139
Resolved: That the principle of complete freedom of speech on political and economic questions is sound. The emphasis in this college debate topic is largely on oral speech rather than the printed word, but there is some material relating to post-World War I sedition. Western Reserve University and Oberlin College are the participants.
-------. "Freedom of Speech in Time of National Emergency." In University Debaters' Annual, 1941-42. New York, Wilson, 1942, pp. 405-56. P140 §
Resolved: That the Federal Government should restrict freedom of speech and press during national emergencies. A symposium participated in by students of Western Reserve University, College of Wooster, and Ohio Wesleyan University.
-------. "Power of the Press." In University Debaters' Annual, 1927-28. New York, Wilson, 1928, pp. 189-238. P141
A debate between students of the University of Idaho and Marquette University on the topic, Resolved: That the power of the press has increased, is increasing and should be diminished.
-------. "Regulation of the American Press." In University Debaters' Annual, 1940-41 New York, Wilson, 1941, pp. 281-344. P142
"Is the American press meeting its social responsibilities?" This is the topic of discussions in the form of a committee hearing between debaters from Colgate and Princeton Universities, held at Colgate University, 9 May 1941. A verbatim report of the hearing is presented here. The discussions take into consideration the charges of unfairness leveled against the press by the government (Ickes), labor leaders, editors who oppose the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, and public opinion polls. One of the proposals for reform is the creation of a Federal Press Commissioner. An 11-page bibliography covers the literature on freedom of the press that appeared during the years 1938-40.
-------. "Suppression of Propaganda for the Overthrow of the United States Government." In University Debaters' Annual, . . . 1919-20. New York, Wilson, 1920, pp. 293-372. P143
Chapter 7 deals with the topic, Resolved: That Congress shall take all measures necessary to suppress propaganda having for its purpose the overthrow of the United States Government. Included are speeches delivered by the teams representing Yale University in debate with Harvard and Princeton. Chapter 8 deals with the topic, Resolved: That Congress should suppress all propaganda advocating the overthrow of the government of the United States by force and violence. It is a report of debate between University of Washington and Harvard.
Phelps, Edward B. "Neurotic Books and Newspapers as Factors in the Mortality of Suicide and Crime." Bulletin, American Academy of Medicine, 12:264-306, October 1911. P144
Phelps, William Lyon. "Are We Going to Have a Censorship of Printed Books?" Scribner's, 72:631, November 1922. (Excerpts in Beman, Selected Articles on Censorship, 391-92) P145
The blame for literary censorship lies with "those who destroy freedom by their selfish excesses."
Philathes, Tho., pseud. New-England Pesecutors [sic] Mauld With Their Own Weapons Giving some Account of the bloody Laws Made at Boston against the Kings Subjects from their way of Worship. Together With a brief Account of the Imprisonment and Tryal of Thomas Maule of Salem, for Publishing a Book entituled, Truth held forth and Maintained. By Tho. Philathes. [New York, W. Bradford, 1697]. 60p. P146
In 1695 Thomas Maule, a Salem Quaker, was brought to trial for distribution of his religious tract, Truth Held Forth & Maintained, which he had arranged to have printed in New York. Because of the current reaction against the witchcraft prosecutions, Maule was acquitted. This was the first criminal trial in Massachusetts for a printed libel. This pamphlet, giving the account of the trial, was probably published for Maule.
Philbrick, Herbert A. "Should Communist Books Be Freely Available in Public Libraries?" Massachusetts Library Association Bulletin, 43:1-3, January 1953. P147
The FBI counterspy in the Communist Party and author of I Led Three Lives, defends the right of the American people to read Communist works and the right of libraries to stock controversial materials without labeling, in a speech presented during the attack on the Boston Public Library.
Phileleutherus Anglicanus, pseud. A Summary of the Law of Libel: In Four Letters, Signed Phileleutherus Anglicanus, Addressed to, and printed in, The Public Advertiser, by H. S. Woodfall. London, Printed for S. Bladon, 1771. 34p. (Also in A Collection of Scarce and Interesting Tracts, vol. 4, pp. 197-221) P148
The four letters, possibly written by Woodfall, relate to the libel trials of Almon and Woodfall. Letter 1, An Englishman cannot be found guilty of any crime except by a jury. Letter 2, The usual order in criminal trials is to (1) establish that crime was committed, (2) establish the nature of the crime, and (3) establish who perpetrated it. Under Lord Mansfield the order was reversed. Letter 3, Criticism of the Court's judgment in the Woodfall case as legally unsound. Letter 4, The oppressive sentence in the Almon case was uncalled for.
Philip, A. J. "Blacking Out." Library World, 7:261-63, April 1905. P149
The public librarian at Gravesend, while defending the practice of "blacking out" betting news, not for moral reasons but to prevent the nuisance use of public library reading-rooms, treats as "an ingenious burlesque" the proposals before Watford Public Library to similary obliterate references to divorce court and stock exchange news.
Phillips, Martha A. The Legal Restrictions of the Press in Texas. Austin, Tex., University of Texas, 1930. 119p. (Unpublished Master's thesis) P150
Phillips, Wendell. The Freedom Speech of Wendell Phillips. Faneuil Hall, December 8, 1837, with Descriptive Letters from Eye Witnesses. Boston, Wendell Phillips Hall Association, 1870. 10p. (Also in Bernard Smith, The Democratic Spirit. New York, Knopf, 1941, pp. 382-90, and in A. Craig Baird, American Public Addresses. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1956, pp. 138-44) P151
When the word of Elijah Lovejoy's murder was received in Boston late in 1837 a protest meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, chaired by the Rev. William E. Channing and attended by many distinguished citizens. Following resolutions in behalf of the martyrdom of Lovejoy, the Attorney General of Massachusetts, James T. Austin, spoke from the floor: Lovejoy "died as the fool dieth"; he deserved to be killed because he wrote and spoke against property rights. Young Wendell Phillips asked to be heard and from the platform made a memorable improptu speech in answer and in defense of free speech. This pamphlet reprints the speech, with statements of eye-witnesses, for the benefit of the Phillips Memorial Fund. Baird notes that the oration was taken in shorthand by B. F. Hallett and printed in the Liberator. An edited version appeared in Phillips', Speeches, Lectures, and Letters. Boston, J. Redpath, 1863.
[Philodemos], pseud. An Enquiry whether the Act of Congress . . . Generally Called the Sedition Bill Is Unconstitutional or Not. Richmond, Printed by S. Pleasants, 1798. 15p. (Duane Pamphlets, vol. 53, no. 13) P152
Phocion, pseud. Phocion in Reply to Cato, in Defence of the People of England, and in Vindication of the Public Press, with a few words in conclusion to the Earl of Liverpool. By a Barrister. 2d ed. London, 1821. 17p. (The Pamphleteer, 18(35):259-76) P153
Written in reply to two letters under the signature, "Cato," appearing in the New Times, 14 December 1820 and 12 January 1821. Cato had charged that the revolutionary press was the prime cause of the rebellious spirit of the day and that "it must be scathed by the lightnings of the law, it must be destroyed by the strong arm of power; if the existing laws be not sufficient, subsidiary laws must be created." Phocion denies both the charge and the remedy. The press did not cause, but only reflects the revolutionary spirit, as is its proper function.
Pichel, Irving. "Areas of Silence." Hollywood Quarterly, 3:51-55, Fall 1947. P154
"Drama deals with the strains to which human relationship are subject and the conflicts that result from them." Today we limit the use of a medium, the screen, in depicting "those sources of strain and conflict which have the greatest contemporary interest for us."
Pickerell, Albert G. "Secrecy and the Access to Administrative Records." California Law Review, 44:305-12, May 1956. P155
Pickering, Timothy. To P. Johnston, of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Trenton, Sept. 29, 1798. A Letter Written in His Capacity of Secretary of State, in Regard to Insulting Addresses sent to the President of the United States Relating Principally to the Alien and Sedition Laws, and the Conduct of France toward the United States. Trenton, 1798. Broadside. P156
Piel, Gerard. Science, Censorship and the Public Interest; a Talk at Conference on Scientific Editorial Problems. American Association for the Advancement of Science. [New York, Scientific American, 1956]. 11p. (Reprinted in Public Relations Journal, July 1957) P157
"We have always opposed the tendency in our Executive Departments to make government a private affair. We know from experience how secrecy can shelter corruption and incompetence and promote incest and sterility in the making of policy. Now we have a new reason for opposing secrecy in the operation of government: it obstructs the progress of science." A summary of the testimony of the publisher of Scientific American before the Moss Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Pierce, Bessie L. Public Opinion and the Teaching of History in the United States. New York, Knopf, 1926. 380p. P158
Chapter 6, Attempts to Control Textbooks, deals with antebellum action by Southerners against textbooks that criticized the institution of slavery; efforts by Confederate and Union veterans' groups to secure favorable treatment for their repsective causes; and pressures brought by Catholic groups to revise and expurgate textbooks having passages they considered objectionable. Chapter 7, dealing with the period following World War I, reports on the attacks by the Hearst newspapers against allegedly pro-British history texts; reports on the agitation by Catholics and Irish, by patriotic and fraternal groups, and the two investigations of history textbooks conducted in New York City in the 1920's. The latter, conducted by David Hirshfield, Commissioner of Accounts, with the assistance of inexpert investigators, became an attack on history books for their failure to instill patriotism. The chapter closes with comments on the attitudes of the press toward censorship efforts.
Pierce, William. An Historical Introduction to the Marprelate Tracts; a Chapter in the Evolution of Religious and Civil Liberty in England. London, Constable, 1908. 350p. (Reprinted by Burt Franklin, New York, 1963) P159
The Marprelate tracts, issued 1588-89 from a secret press, stirred a major religious controversy in sixteenth-century England. These Puritan tracts, published under the assumed name of Martin Marprelate, attacked in witty and satirical language the episcopacy and defended the Presbyterian system of church government. The tracts were written and published in defiance of an edict of the Star Chamber, requiring prior licensing of religious publications. The press was moved from place to place, but eventually was discovered and destroyed by government agents. John Penry and John Udall, suspected of authorship, were brought to trial. Penry was executed and Udall died in prison of brutal treatment. Job Throckmorton, also suspected of being the author, denied this at the trial of Penry and escaped punishment. All three, Penry, Udall, and Throckmorton, wrote pamphlets declaring their innocence. Pierce exonerates Udall; believes that Penry and Throckmorton's complicity cannot be dismissed, but that the real author may be a "Great Unknown." The Dictionary of National Biography calls Penry the chief author of the tracts.
-------. John Penry, His Life, Times and Writings. London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1923. 507p. P160
Penry, a Welsh Puritan, spent 12 days in prison in 1587 for his work, A Treatise on . . . the Aequity of an Humble Supplication, which called the attention of Parliament to the ignorance and religious destitution of his fellow Welshmen. For his contribution to the writing and printing of the anticlerical Marprelate tracts, Penry was brought before the Court of High Commission, charged with intent to excite rebellion and insurrection. A major portion of this book deals with his association with the publishing of the tracts, his trial, and execution which took place 29 May 1593.
Pierson, Frank R. "The Censorship of Television." New Republic, 140:23-24, 23 March 1959; 140:21-23, 30 March 1959. P161
The confusion over censorship of television grows out of public indecision as to whether television is a news medium, an amusement, or an art. Television has yet to prove by some standard of freedom of its own that it deserves protection under the First Amendment. The author believes that Dr. Winick in his Taste and the Censor in Television fails to recognize the extent of control by the sponsor and the pressures from the government. In the second article the author attacks the television industry code. "There is no freedom of expression under such a code no matter who administers it." The more subtle censorship is the discouragement of writers and producers. Nothing is gained by censorship "but a convenience of not having to make up one's own mind to switch off programs one doesn't like, the convenience of not having to discipline and watch over one's own children."
Pierson, Robert M. "'Objectionable' Literature: Some False Synonymies." Library Journal, 89:3920-23, 15 October 1964. P162 §
"Some of our troubles in the censorship area, our author argues, arise from failures in logic and communication." Among the false synonymies are: identifying immoral with sexually immoral, equating high moral tone with poetic justice, immoral with dangerous, and dangerous to some with dangerous to all. He also questions the assumption that books can do good but that they can do no evil. "They fail to realize that if we question the dangers of reading we must also question its benefits; one cannot rule out bad effects and admit good . . ., the 'books that changed men's minds' could have led to sin quite as much as to virtue."
Pierson, W. Theodore. "The Active Eyebrow--A Changing Style for Censorship." Television Quarterly, 1:14-21, February 1962. P163 §
Criticism of the FCC's efforts to change content of TV broadcasts. The writer argues for free competition as the best assurance of a balanced program. Substitution of government censorship for private censorship isn't the answer. He believes that TV, as it matures, will solve many of the problems of diversified programming without government intervention.
-------. Broadcast Responsibility and the FCC. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1962. 4p. (Publication no. 75) P164 §
Criticism of the FCC efforts to use "every device at hand to effect changes in the content of broadcast communications," which will ultimately lead to "centralized dictation and control by government." The author discusses the problem of scarcity of facilities and selection of program. Free and open societies have resulted from the choice of free selectors.
-------. "The Electronic Press: How Free?" Quill, 49(11):12, 14, November 1961. P165
The author is alarmed at the proposals, in the interest of improved programming, to turn over control of selection to a government agency. "A free and open society cannot exist if its mass communicators are centrally controlled."
[Pigott, Richard]. Report of the Proceedings upon the Committal of Richard Pigott for Contempt of Court, by Certain Writings in the "Irishman" Newspaper Respecting the Trial of Robert Kelly . . . at Dublin Commission Court, November, 1871 . . . Dublin, Printed by Alexander Thom, 1874. 106p. P166
The editor of the Irishman was brought to trial, convicted, and given a four-month sentence, for an editorial that appeared during the trial of Robert Kelly, charged with the murder of a constable during the Fenian conspiracy. Pigott had accused the chief justice of "shameless bias," a witness of perjury, and had questioned "whether it is a moral crime at all to rid the earth of an informer."
Pilley, Charles. Law for Journalists. 2d ed. London, Isaac Pitman, 1932. 174p. P167
A practical handbook for newspapermen that includes sections on libel, contempt, and copyright.
Pillsbury, Parker. "Cupid's Yokes" and the Holy Scriptures Contrasted in a Letter from Parker Pillsbury to Ezra H. Heywood. Boston, Albert Kendrick, 1878. 14p. P168
Parker Pillsbury, a prominent freethinker, writes to Heywood who was in prison on an obscenity charge for sending his pamphlet, Cupid's Yokes, through the mails. Pillsbury examines the copy marked by the prosecuting attorney with the offending passages. He compares, passage by passage, what he considers the innocuous language of Heywood with comparable passages in the Bible, which he considers obscene.
The Pilot. Boston, 1835-date. Weekly. Official paper of the Boston diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. P169
The paper made frequent attacks on modern literature during the 20's and 30's. In November 1929 it launched a "Catholic Literature Campaign" under the direction of the Rev. Francis Phelan. The Pilot indirectly stimulated Catholic support of the censorship action of the Boston police, including the ban of the book Elmer Gantry and the play Strange Interlude. An earlier editor of The Pilot, John Boyle O'Reilly, came to the defense of Walt Whitman in 1882-83, when Whitman's Leaves of Grass was under attack by the vice societies.
Pilpel, Harriet F. "But Can You Do That?" Publishers' Weekly, various issues since March 1955. P170
Mrs. Pilpel, a member of the New York Bar, writes regularly for Publishers' Weekly under this heading, usually in the last issue of the month. Topics have included copyright, defamation and libel, censorship, and freedom of the press.
-------. "'The Desperate Hours' and the Right of Privacy." Publishers' Weekly, 188(18):32-33, 1 November 1965. (But Can You Do That? series) P171 §
Regarding Hill v. Hayes and Time, Inc. in which the New York Supreme Court ruled that an article in Life magazine violated the privacy of the Hill family. Also comments on Walker v. Courier-Journal in which a federal judge in Kentucky dismissed a libel complaint against former General Edwin A. Walker, ruling that the First Amendment was not limited to "public officials" but extended to other figures involved in matters of public concern.
-------. "The Esquire Case: What It Did and Did Not Decide." Twice a Year, 14-15:486-94, Fall-Winter 1946-47. P172 §
A member of the law firm that represented Esquire in the Post Office censorship case, points out that the court opinion in that case did not decide the basic question of constitutional law, whether "clothing a man [the Postmaster General] with a power by fiat to prevent distribution of the press is compatible with our democracy."
-------. "Evolution of a Sensible Doctrine of Censorship." Publishers' Weekly, 180(13):29-30, 25 September 1961. (But Can You Do That? series) P173 §
The author cites hearings and legal decisions which show a trend toward a more rational approach to the problem of obscenity. Particular reference is made to the decision of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in a recent case involving indictments against a wholesaler of books, magazines, and newspapers.
-------. "Firm Restrictions Placed on Pre-`Publication' Censorship." Publishers' Weekly, 180(13):30-31, 25 September 1961. (But Can You Do That? series) P174 §
Comment on the case of Zenith International Film Corp. v. City of Chicago, involving the movie, The Lovers. The U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the ruling of a lower federal court which had supported the censorship action of the Chicago Film Review Board. The Appeals Court stated that the administrative procedures of the Film Review Board offered "the antithesis of a fair determination of the obscenity of the film in question." The case helps establish procedural protection, if censorship in advance of release is possible, as permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago.
-------. "The Libel Pendulum Continues to Swing." Publishers' Weekly, 189(13):40-42, 28 March 1966. (But Can You Do That? series) P175 §
Discussion of four recent freedom of the press cases: Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America (libel relating to labor dispute), Henry v. Barrymore Theatre Corp. (right of privacy involving portrayal in a play), Bookcase, Inc. v. Broderick (obscenity and the rights of children), and Estate of Ernest Hemingway v. Random House, Inc. (request for injunction against A. E. Hotchner's book, Papa Hemingway).
-------. "Relief for Booksellers from Censorship Pressures." Publishers' Weekly, 183:36-37, 25 February 1963. (But Can You Do That? series) P176
Discussion of various legal devices by which a bookseller can be relieved from threats of prosecution: the in rem laws, requiring that a book be judged obscene before a criminal prosecution can be pressed; and the use of a declaratory judgment procedure to determine in advance of sale whether or not a book is actionable.
-------, and Nancy F. Wechsler. "The Law and Lady Chatterley." In New World Writing, 16. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1960, pp. 231-40. P177
A review of the state of obscenity law in the United States in light of the 1959 decision of Judge Frederick van Pelt Bryan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, freeing D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover.
-------, and Theodora S. Zavin. Rights and Writers; a Handbook of Literary and Entertainment Law. New York, Dutton, 1960. 384p. P178
Based on Mrs. Pilpel's column, But Can You Do That? appearing in Publishers' Weekly, March 1955-August 1959.
Pinchot, Ann. "How One Community Cleaned House." Christian Herald, 83:13-14, 72-74, July 1960. P179
An account of a crusade against obscene literature in West Springfield, Mass. The crusade was started in 1958 by a minister of the First Congregational Church to drive obscene books and magazines from the newsstands and to encourage good reading.
"Pinero v. Goodlake." Solicitors' Journal, 11:325-26, 9 February 1867. P180
The case "marks the progress which has been made by newspapers during the last forty years in acquiring a resonable privilege for the publication of matter of general importance."
Pinon Tiana, Antonio. The Freedom of the Press; A Critical Evaluation of the Totalitarian and Liberal Theories. Manila, University of Santo Tomas Press, 1960. 572p. (Also in Unitas, vol. 27-28, 1954-55) P181
Following an extensive review of the concepts of freedom of the press, the writer argues that the liberal theory confuses thought, which is spiritual, and expression, which is the outward manifestation. The press can only be free when it speaks the truth. Because it is a social expression, the press "must enter within the framework and jurisdiction of the public authority," which looks after the public good. The freedom of the press excludes, among other things, sedition, lies, and propaganda that "cause tension and sow distrust among nations," scandalmongering, libel, prejudices, and suspicions, "telling the truth in inauspicious circumstances" and "spreading harmful errors even though held sincerely and in good faith."
Pinsky, Abraham. "Freedom of Speech under Our Constitution." West Virginia Law Quarterly, 31:273-92, June 1925. P182
An historical study of freedom of speech and of the press during times of crisis in war and peace. The writer favors a conservative approach. Freedom of speech and the press, as with "every other right enjoyed in human society, is subject to restraints which separate right from wrong."
Pitman, Robert. A Question of Obscenity. London, Scorpion Press, 1960. 21p. (Bound with A Question of Obscenity by Kenneth Allsop) P183
"The purpose of this essay is to argue against any repeal of the Jenkins Act [Obscene Publications Act, 1959]; to argue for more self-restraint by publishers; to demand a tougher moral attitude from the weightier critics and the literary weeklies. Under those conditions it may be that we shall find the road back from Sleazy Street at last." Pitman criticizes the "Lilac Establishment," a term he uses for the present-day intelligentsia who support obscenity in literature.
Pitt, William P. The Law of Libel of West Virginia. New York, Columbia University, 1930. 60p. (Unpublished Master's thesis) P184
Pius XI, Pope. On Motion Pictures. Encyclical Letter of His Holiness, Pope Pius XI ("Vigilanti Cura"). Washington, D.C., National Catholic Welfare Conference, 1936. 18p. P185
The Legion of Decency is praised for its "holy crusade against the abuses of motion pictures."
Pius XII, Pope. Miranda Prorsus On Motion Pictures, Radio & Television. Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Pius XII, September 8, 1957. Washington, D.C., National Catholic Welfare Conference, [1957]. 40p. P186
A letter "concerning the grave dangers which can beset Christian faith and morals if the powerful inventions of motion pictures, radio and television are perverted by men to evil uses."
[Place, Francis]. A Letter to a Minister of State, Respecting Taxes on Knowledge. 2d ed.--with a Postscript! and Appendices. Not for Sale. London, J. Innes, printer, [1831]. 13p. P187
An outspoken attack on the newspaper stamp tax, used as a basis for presentations in Parliament.
[-------]. On the Law of Libel, with strictures on the self-styled Constitutional Association. London, John Hunt, 1823. 76p. P188
Place attacks the concept of seditious libel held by the Constitutional Association, namely, that anything that made an official of the government look ridiculous was subject to criminal prosecution. The Constitutional Association was formed in London in 1820 for "opposing the Progress of Disloyal and Seditious Principles," and for strict enforcement of the law of libel. The New Times of 5 January 1821, in supporting the Constitutional Association, argued that present-day libels were more serious than those of earlier generations because now they were being read by the lower classes who are barely able "to distinguish between a cabbage and a potato." Place charges the Association, which he said never met or issued a proceedings, with being a money-making venture. The pamphlet contains a passionate account of the persecution of an innocent bookvendor, David Ridgeway, for selling Richard Carlile's New Year's Address . . . to an agent provocateur of the Association. This volume is a collection of anonymously published articles.
[-------]. Repeal of the Stamp Duty on Newspapers. Edited by J. A. Roebuck. London, Charles Ely [1835?]. 16p. P189
One of Place's many articles attacking the newspaper tax, this appears as part of Roebuck's series of unnumbered pamphlets, issued without payment of the tax. Place wrote articles against the "taxes on knowledge" for any paper that would take them.
[-------]. St. Paul and William Campion: a parallel between the cases of St. Paul the Apostle and William Campion. London, Richard Carlile, 1824. 16p. P190
Campion was one of Richard Carlile's volunteer shopmen arrested for selling works of Thomas Paine. He defended himself in a lengthy and impassioned criticism of Christianity and a defense of morality. For thus "glorying in his crime" he was given a three-year sentence. Place compares Campion's martyrdom with that of the Apostle Paul. Each was brave and stood firm for his beliefs and each attacked the superstitions of the day. The difference was that Paul was violating Jewish law; Campion was violating no law, only the opinion of the judges. Wickwar attributes this pamphlet to Francis Place; a copy is to be found in the Place Collection in the British Museum.
-------. The Taxes on Knowledge, by Francis Place. The "Morning Advertiser" and Mr. Wakley, by J. A. Roebuck. Victims of the Unstamped Press, by H. S. Chapman. Edited by J. A. Roebuck. London, John Longley, [1835?]. 16p. P191
Place, whose tailor shop was a meeting place for fellow radicals, took an active role in most of the reform movements of the day including the crusade against the English newspaper tax. He served as treasurer of the Association for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge. These pamphlets in opposition to the tax were probably part of the series of unnumbered news pamphlets issued by J. A. Roebuck as a device to avoid the payment of the objectionable tax.
The Place of Radio. Winnipeg, Winnipeg Free Press, 1951. 8p. (Winnipeg Free Press Pamphlet no. 39) P192
Editorial considering the Canadian radio as a form of "the press" as that term is used in defining freedom of the press. A general discussion of freedom of radio broadcasting in Canada.
"The Plague of Pornography." Christian Herald, 88:6-11, August 1965. P193
Plain Facts in Five Letters to a Friend on the Present State of Politics; in Which Are Included Thoughts and Observations on the Liberty of Speech . . . London, J. S. Jordan, 1798. 105p. P194
Plante, William L., Jr. "Open Meeting Law in Massachusetts." Quill, 47(3):10, 15, March 1959. P195
Prompted by the press, the Massachusetts legislature passed an open meeting bill in 1958.
[Platform Slanderers and Newspaper Libellers; Discussion Based on the issues of the Law Journal and the Jurist for 1858]. Dublin Review, 45:413-28, December 1858. P196
The author attacks the English law of libel as "irrational, inconsistent, and fraught with injustice and iniquity," particularly the concept of "the greater the truth the greater the libel." He would transfer the risk of libel by public speeches from the reporting press to the offending speaker, making public speaking legally equivalent to printing and publishing.
Platt, William. "The Chronicle and the Unthinking." Adult, 2:325-27, December 1898. P197 §
Criticizes sex-censorship and the suppression of Havelock Ellis' Studies in the Psychology of Sex in the case of George Bedborough.
-------. "Free Speech." Adult, 2:172-75, July 1898. P198 §
Sexual tyranny leading to the suppression of sex education, is greater than religious and political tyranny because there are more practitioners. The author condemns man's inhumanity to woman by the attempts to keep her sexually pure and sexually ignorant.
-------. "In Defence of Free Discussion." Adult, 2:292-93, November 1898. P199 §
Criticizes the prosecution of George Bedborough for selling Havelock Ellis' Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
-------. "Worship of Ignorance." Adult, 2:197-200, August 1898. P200 §
An attack on the suppression of sex education.
"Play Safe but Be Suggestive; Hollywood's Movie Code." New Republic, 115:907-9, 30 December 1946. P201 §
The author charges the administrators of the Hollywood movie code with hypocrisy, with approving "suggestive sexiness" and brutality while showing a prurient display of moral righteousness over frank expression of sexuality.
Playfair, W. E. ["Watch and Ward"]. Boston Herald, 3 September 1944, 4 September 1944, and 5 September 1944. P202
A series of three articles on the past, present, and future of the New England Watch and Ward Society. The final article presents a proposal of Louis J. Croteau, executive secretary of the Society, for the creation of a board of review to examine books and other publications and to share the responsibility for censorship.
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