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-------. "This Nanny!" New Statesman, 60:48, 9 July 1960. W203
The author recommends that the British Board of Film Censors be either drastically overhauled, or abolished. "Novels and the Press get along, not too calamitously, without this Nanny; why shouldn't films?"
Whitehead, William B. Prosecutions of Infidel Blasphemers Briefly Vindicated in a Letter to David Ricardo. 2d ed. London, 1823. 25p. (Also in Pamphleteer, vol. 22, pp. 495-520) W204
Criticism of Whitehead's thesis in Westminster Review, July 1824, is thought to be by John Stuart Mill.
Whitehorn, Katharine. "Swinging the Censor." Spectator, 205:320-21, 26 August 1960. W205
Objection to the British classification of Ben Hur as an "A" film (suitable for families) because of its horror and violence. The film board seems more concerned in protecting children from sex than from sadism.
Whiting, George W. "Pareus, The Stuarts, Laud, and Milton." Studies in Philology, 50:215-29, April 1953. W206
Because David Pareus had advocated calling rulers to account for their actions, in 1622, authorities at Oxford were ordered to search private and public libraries and bookshops, and burn every copy of his work. Similar orders were carried out at Cambridge and London. Six years later (1628) when Roger Manwaring, the king's chaplain, in his Religion and Allegiance, maintained that imposing taxes by the king without consent of Parliament was justified, Parliament turned the tables as if in retaliation. They ordered Manwaring sent to prison, fined £1,000, stripped of his clerical rights, and his book burned. The king's ministers did not carry out the sentence; Manwaring was pardoned and given a pastorate.
[Whiting, James, et al.]. Trial of James Whiting, John Parsons, and William Congreve, for a Libel against the Hon. G. C. Berkeley, Rear Admiral of the Red . . ., June 27th, 1804 . . . together with the Letters and Papers Which Are Referred to in the Course of the Trial. Buckingham, Eng., J. Seeley, 1804. 132p. W207
Whitley, William T. Baptist Bibliography; Being a Register of the Chief Materials for Baptist History, Whether in Manuscript or in Print, Preserved in Great Britain and Ireland (comp. for the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland). London, Kingsgate Press, 1916. 236p. W208
The index refers to some 300 entries relating to freedom to print, speak, teach, and worship.
Whitman, Bernard. Two Letters to the Rev. Moses Stuart; on the Subject of Religious Liberty. Boston, Gray and Bowen, 1830. 165p. W209
The author supports charges made by Dr. Channing that orthodox Christians were attempting to suppress free religious inquiry, a statement which Stuart had refuted in his Letter on Religious Liberty. Whitman attempts to prove that the leaders of the orthodox denominations have attempted measures subversive of free inquiry and religious liberty.
Whitman, Walt. "A Memorandum at a Venture." North American Review, 132:546-50 June 1882. W210
There are two prevailing attitudes toward the discussion of sexual matters, Whitman wrote. One is the conventional puritan attitude of "repressing any direct statement of them." The other, and by far the most prevalent among common people everywhere, is "to talk, to excite, express and dwell on that merely sexual voluptuousness." Whitman saw the need for a third point of view in which sex would be treated with "the same freedom and faith and earnestness which, after centuries of denial, struggle, repression, and martyrdom, the present-day brings to the treatment of politics and religion." It was this attitude that the poet had attempted to present in his Leaves of Grass.
[Whitmarsh, Joseph A.]. Letter to . . . Jurors Empanelled to Try the Indictment against Joseph A. Whitmarsh, for an Alleged Crime of Libel. Boston, Beals and Greene, 1838. 12p. W211
The author, who signs himself "A Friend to the Constitutional Rights of the Citizen," denounces the decision of the jury against Whitmarsh "as a blow against the liberty of the press, not founded, nor justified by, the law of the land." He recites at length the history of libel law in England and the United States, concluding that "no criminal libel law, neither common nor statute libel law, exists in this commonwealth . . . and none can be made until our constitution is altered."
Whitmer, Dana P. "When Someone Complains." Scholastic Teacher, 83:27+, 17 January 1964. W212
The superintendent of schools in Pontiac, Mich., reviews the situation and action taken in that city when a group of parents objected to two books used in senior high school English, Drums Along the Mohawk and The Good Earth.
Whitmore, Harry. "Australian Censorship 1964." Sydney Law Review, 4:396-403, August 1964. W213
-------. "Obscenity in Literature: Crime or Free Speech." Sydney Law Review, 4:179-204, March 1963. W214
A survey of the development of the obscenity law in Australia, the United States, and Great Britain and an account of modern federal and state censorship in Australia.
Whitton, John B. "Efforts to Curb Dangerous Propaganda." American Journal of International Law, 41:899-903, October 1947. W215
"Rather than to embark upon an apparently fruitless attempt to reach an agreement on the broader question of freedom of the press, our government, we submit, should rather take the Russians at their word, and call a conference for the more restricted but no less important matter of curbing the use of propaganda for aggression and war."
-------. "United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information and the Movement against International Propaganda." American Journal of International Law, 43:73-87, January 1949. W216
-------, and Arthur Larson. Propaganda. New York, Oceana, 1964. 305p. (Published for the World Rule of Law Center, Duke University) W217 §
The authors are concerned largely with bad propaganda, that which is subversive and defamatory of other nations. Such propaganda that imperils the peace of the world should be suppressed as an international crime. They recommend "propaganda disarmament," with adequate monitoring machinery and an international right of reply.
Whitworth, Frank. "Law As to Obscenity." Law Journal, 80:397-98, 14 December 1935. W218 §
Criticism of the present obscenity law that, as currently interpreted, might land an innocent solicitor in trouble for the wording of a brief in a bigamy case, wording that "might corrupt some low-minded fellow."
"Who is `Tainted.'" Commonwealth, 58:480-81, 21 August 1953. W219
Criticism of the Los Angeles City Board of Education for banning a UNESCO pamphlet from the city's schools.
"Who Is to Control the BBC?" New Statesman and Nation, 26:97, 14 August 1943. W220
A call for a parliamentary investigation of the B.B.C., which, the article charges, stifles all extremes of opinion in order to avoid offending anyone and hence becomes a mouthpiece for the party in power.
"Whose Responsibility Is It?" Library Journal, 64:744-45, 1 October 1939. W221
Comments on the banning of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath from the Kansas City Public Library.
"Why Stop with Shylock?" Outlook, 98:607, 22 July 1911. W222 §
Criticizes the movement of Jewish citizens to eliminate Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice from the public schools on the ground that the portrait of Shylock tends toward ridicule of the Jewish race. The "success of such a movement, so far from doing away with prejudice against the Jews, would be apt to increase it."
Whyte, Alexander. An Account of the Trial of A. Whyte, for a False, Malicious, and Seditious Libel; of Which Charge He Was Honourably Acquitted . . . Newcastle, 1793. 19p. (Also in Howell, State Trials, vol. 22, pp. 1238 ff.) W223 §
Whyte was accused of lending a seditious paper to a man in a "pub." The trial was held after the passage of the Fox Libel Act and the jury found him not guilty.
[Wickes, Edward Z. F.]. Alpha and Omega . . . Plea for Liberty, the Divine Right of Man, Freedom of Person, Pen, Press and Mail . . . Arrest, Trial, and Complete Vindication of Dr. E. Z. Franklin [pseud.]. New York, Mutual Benefit Publishing Co., 1884. 112p. W224
Edward Zeus Franklin Wickes was brought to trial in Boston Municipal Court in 1883 at the instigation of Henry Chase, agent of the New England Society for the Suppression of Vice. He was charged with the sale of an alleged obscene work entitled, Illustrated Domestic Medical Counsellor, a marriage guide. An impressive array of witnesses testified that the book was a serious attempt at sex education. The case was referred to a grand jury for decision and that body denied the charges. In addition to a reprint of the trial, this volume contains favorable "letters to the editor" from Elizur Wright and others and several long poems, including "Alpha and Omega," and others by Wickes commemorating his triumph and "exposing" the tactics of the vice society. Two phrenology charts are included. One of Wright's letters to the Boston Herald complains of the "New England Goodocracy."
[-------]. Free Speech, Press, and Mails; the Divine Right of Man; Plea for Light, Liberty, Purity, and Justice; Satan in Society, His Modern Inquisition Exposed; Persecution, Cruelty, and Crime . . . by Dr. E. Z. Franklin [pseud.]. New York, Mutual Benefit Publishing Co., 1884. 188p. W225
Another account of the "obscenity" trial of "Dr. Franklin" for his Medical Counsellor, and general observations on the right of free speech and press in the realm of sex education.
[Wickham, Littleton M.]. "Alleged Obscenity as a Cause for Suppression." Virginia Law Review, 9:216-20, January 1923. W226
Activities of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice.
Wickhem, John C. "The 'Clear and Present Danger' Test in Constitutionality of Proceedings to Punish for Contempt by Publication during Pending Cases." Wisconsin Law Review, 1948:125-32, January 1948. W227
Notes on the case Craig v. Harney (1947), and other recent cases.
Wicklein, John F. "Citations for Contempt: The Courts versus the Press." Journalism Quarterly, 26:51-56, March 1940. W228
Wickliffe, John. Remarks Upon two late Presentments of the Grand Jury of the County of Middlesex: Wherein are shewn, The Folly and Injustice of Men's persecuting one another for Difference of Opinion in Matters of Religion. And the ill Consequences where-within that Practice must affect any State in which it is encouraged. London, Printed for A. Moore, 1729. 28p. W229
The author publishes the text of the two grand jury condemnations (1723, 1728) of Bernhard Mandeville for his "blasphemous" Fable of the Bees. The second presentment also cited Thomas Woolston for five "blasphemous" pamphlets. Wickliffe criticizes the grand jury action in a series of six letters and a preface. He thinks it strange that a grand jury that should be the guardian of man's liberties should take away their liberties in matters of conscience. Theirs is an "illguarded Zeal for the Honour of God." Wickliffe is shocked to think that "there should be any men so deaf to Religion and common Sense, so regardless of the natural Rights of Mankind, as to attempt to break in upon that Liberty which every Man ought freely to enjoy, of thinking for himself, and of publishing such Thoughts to the World, in all Instances where such Publication is not prejudicial to Society." "I do not write in behalf of Infidelity; but, I am, I contend for a Liberty for other men to unite in behalf of it, if they think fit."
Wickwar, William H. The Struggle for the Freedom of the Press, 1819-1832. London, G. Allen & Unwin, 1928. 325p. W230
This work covers one of the most important periods in English history with respect to freedom of the press, the 12 years (1819-32) that followed the Napoleonic wars. This was an era that witnessed the transition from press persecution to press freedom. Wickwar reviews the conditions that prevailed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the English press still suffered from the hysteria that gripped the nation during the French Revolution. He discusses the sedition trials arising from the Peterloo massacre of 1819 and the libel charges against such pamphleteers and newspapermen as William Hone, John Hunt, Richard Carlile, Thomas Wooler, and James Watson. He treats the work of James Mill, Francis Place, Jeremy Bentham, and Major Cartwright and others who wrote and campaigned in behalf of more liberal libel laws and against the "taxes on knowledge." The work contains numerous references to the short-lived but influential radical papers such as Black Dwarf, Cap of Liberty, Champion, Patriot, Republican, and others which supported and practiced freedom of expression.
Widmer, Kingsley, and Eleanor Widmer, eds. Literary Censorship: Principles, Cases, Problems. San Francisco, Wadsworth, 1961. 182p. W231
A collection of readings representing various points of view on literary censorship, intended to serve as a basis for discussion in courses in literature and contemporary affairs. Part I, Principles of Literary Censorship, quotes from Plato, Saint Paul, John Milton, John Stuart Mill, Supreme Court Justices Brennan and Douglas, Walter Berns, Walter Lippmann, and Henry Miller. Part II, "Censorship" of Literature by a Private Organization, deals with the activity of the National Office of Decent Literature, an agency of the Catholic Church, with excerpts from works by John Fischer, John Courtney Murray, Harold C. Gardiner, Robert W. Haney, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Part III deals with Censorship of Comic Books and contains statements from Frederic Wertham, Judge Jerome Frank, Terrence J. Murphy, Leslie Fiedler, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Part IV deals with the American Censorship of Lady Chatterley's Lover, and quotes from D. H. Lawrence, Malcolm Cowley, Alfred Kazin, Harry T. Moore, Judges Frederick Van Pelt Bryan, Charles E. Clark, and Leonard P. Moore, and others. Part V, The Cultural Context of American Censorship, quotes from Margaret Mead, Eric Larrabee, and Ernest van den Haag.
Wieland, Christopher. "On the Liberty and Licentiousness of the Press." In Varieties of Literature, from Foreign Journals and Original MSS. London, J. Debrett, 1795, pp. 252-56. W232
Wiener, Frederick B. "'Freedom for the Thought that We Hate': Is It a Principle of the Constitution?" American Bar Association Journal, 37:177-80, 241-45, March 1951. W233
The author examines this constitutional argument, a phrase from Justice Holmes's dissenting opinion in United States v. Schwimmer, tracing the concept from the records of the Constitutional Convention, through the philosophy of Jefferson, the opinions of Holmes and Brandeis, to Judge Learned Hand's opinion in United States v. Dennis.
Wiener, Stanley. "Final Curtain Call for the Motion Picture Censor?" Western Reserve Law Review, 4:148-58, Winter 1953. W234
A survey of recent court decisions. "In all probability, . . . motion picture censorship is not at an end as a result of the Burstyn case, but rather the problems in this new area of civil liberties are just beginning."
[Wiffen, Jeremiah H.]. Verses Written in the Portico of the Temple of Liberty at Woburn Abbey, on Placing Before It the Statues of Locke and Erskine in the Summer of 1835. [London, James Moyes], 1836. 39p. W235
Only 50 copies printed. Introduction signed J.H.W.
Wiggins, James R. "Do Public Officials Withhold the News Because They Do Not Trust the Public?" Quill, 42(11):10-11, 24, 26 November 1954. W236
The managing editor of the Washington Post and Times Herald fears that even honest office-holders may lack faith in the people's judgment to a degree that threatens our basic freedom.
-------. "Free Press and Fair Trial." Nieman Reports, 17(1):2+, March 1964. W237
An answer to an earlier article in the Reports that suggested the public has no "right to know."
-------. Freedom or Secrecy. New York, Oxford University Press, 1956. 242p. rev. ed., Oxford, 1964. 289p. W238
The chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee of the American Society of Newspaper Editors discusses the growing secrecy in American government and the threat of such secrecy to the maintenance of democratic society. The revised edition includes references to results of the Administrative Procedures Act.
-------. An Historical Summary of Some of the Conflicts between the Press and the Legislative Branches of Government. n.p. [American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1953]. 14p. (Reprinted in Nieman Reports, October 1953) W239
The account begins with the William Duane case of 1800 and comes down to the Rumely case (U.S. v. Edward A. Rumely) of 1952. Rumely was cited for contempt by the Lobbying Committee of the House of Representatives for refusal to disclose names of persons who had purchased books from his organization, the Committee on Constitutional Government. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a reversal of conviction made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
-------. "On Making Martyrs: The Elements of Press Freedom." Vital Speeches, 21:883-88, 1 December 1954. W240
As the annual Elijah P. Lovejoy lecturer at Colby College, the speaker reviews the contribution of the Alton martyr to the cause of freedom of the press and examines some of the threats made against a free press, historically and currently. He reviews the three basic facets of freedom: the right of access to information, the right to print without prior restraint, and the right to print without menace of arbitrary reprisal either from government or lawless citizenry.
-------. "The Power and Responsibility of the Press." Journalism Quarterly, 37:29-34+, Winter 1960. W241
Criticism of the failure of the press to provide the public with adequate information, particularly in government affairs.
-------. "The Press and Conflicts of Interest." Federal Bar Journal, 24:358-68, Summer 1964. W242
"It is doubtful that anyone can devise a set of rules or a code of ethics that would free the press from this burden of life. The best for which we can hope is a press with a sense of values that will inspire them to resolve conflicts of interest in favor of their larger public responsibility as opposed to their narrow individual interests."
-------. "The Printed Word." Library Journal, 78:1359-65, 1 September 1953. W243
"Men must have the right to discover the truth. They must have the right to print it without the prior restraint or pre-censorship of government . . . They must have the right to put printed material into the hands of readers without obstruction by government, under cover of law, or obstruction by citizens acting in defiance of the law."
-------. A Right to Hold, Not Give Away. Columbia, Mo., Freedom of Information Center, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 1958. 4p. (Publication no. 6) W244 §
At a recognition dinner in honor of Professor Ralph D. Casey, Editor Wiggins asks the question: Whose freedom is it? Freedom of the press does not belong to newspapermen as private property to give or withhold. The right to know belongs to the people. He criticizes the "cozy arrangements" between the press and government to regulate news.
-------. "The Right to Know." Nieman Reports, 6(3):27-33, July 1952. W245
"There is evidence enough that there is abroad in government at every level a spirit of secrecy that is inciting public men to attitudes toward the disclosure of public business not unlike those exhibited in government generations ago." An address to the National Conference of Farm Bureau Editors.
-------. "The Right to News; Only Constant Struggle Protects and Extends It." Nieman Reports, 4(3):7-10, October 1950 W246
Discussion of the practical aspects of the exercise of press freedom from an address by the managing editor of the Washington Post at the University of Minnesota.
-------. "The Role of the Press in Safeguarding the People's Right to Know Government Business." Marquette Law Review, 40:74-82, Summer 1956. W247
-------. Secrecy, Security and Freedom. Tucson, Ariz., University of Arizona Press, 1958. 16p. (The John Peter Zenger Award for Freedom of the Press, 1957; excerpted in Nieman Reports, July 1958) W248 §
The 1957 recipient of the award was the executive editor of the Washington (D.C.) Post and Times Herald, a national leader in the battle against secrecy in government and onetime chairman of the Committee on Freedom of Information of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
-------. "Wise Censorship Must Be a Compromise." Quill, 38(10):26-27, October 1950. W249
Since hostilities began in Korea, the country has been working toward a practical compromise between the achievement of military security and the citizens' right to know. If there is to be any considerable domestic censorship, it should follow the rules laid down by Byron Price when he terminated World War II censorship.
Wilcock, John. "The Publisher of Eros Answers Some Questions." Village Voice, 9(15):2, 20, 30 January 1940. W250
In his column, The Village Square, the author interviews Ralph Ginzburg, recently sentenced to a five-year jail term by a Philadelphia judge on obscenity charges for his magazine Eros. To the question regarding what subjects are most in need of exposure Ginzburg answers: big business, the cigarette industry, our military complex, the antidemocratic measures of the Catholic Church, and "our spook establishment" (CIA, FBI, etc.). Ginzburg blames the hierarchy of the Catholic Church for action against Eros. He reveals his intention of publishing a new magazine of controversy--Fact.
-------. "The Small Knife: Studies in Censorship." Sight and Sound, 25:206-11, 220, Spring 1956. W251
Censorship of motion pictures in Great Britain and France. "What one jibs at is the number of cuts now being made by the British Board (one film cut in three is a disturbingly high proportion); the inability of the filmgoer to know, except by internal evidence, whether the film he is watching has been cut and, if so, to what extent; the power of the Board virtually to ban a film without the public knowing anything about it."
Wild, Nelson H. "Presumption of Constitutionality--Application to Regulation of Obscene Motion Pictures." Wisconsin Law Review, 1961(4):659-64, 1961. W252
"This note will analyze the presumption of constitutionality in the area of regulation of obscene motion pictures, as illustrated by Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago, 365 U.S. 43 (1961).
Wiley, William F. Riding a Wave of Fanaticism in a Sea of Paternalism, the Creatures of Our Own Making Seek Our Destruction. The Vaunted Power of the Press is No More, an Address, January 30, 1917, Columbus, Ohio. Cleveland, United Press Association, 1917. 8p. W253
The managing editor of the Cincinnati Inquirer attacks the various elements in government that are "sweeping down on the press of America" in a "relentless, cold, merciless un-American avalanche of government censorship."
Wilkerson, Marcus M. "The Press and the Spanish-American War." Journalism Quarterly, 9:129-48, June 1932. W254
Wilkes, George. The Mysteries of the Tombs; a Journal of Thirty Days Imprisonment in the New York City Prison, for Libel. New York, The Author, 1844. 64p. W255
Wilkes, imprisoned on a conviction of obscene libel under circumstances that may have been unjust writes his observations on the case and on life in prison in a series of letters. In a general observation on obscene libel he anticipates a point of view expressed by Gershon Legman a century later: "Is it criminal to incite to an act (fornication), the actual commission of which is innocent by law?" At most, he thinks, obscenity should be considered an offense against good taste. He concludes with an amusing list of the books in the prison library,
[Wilkes, John]. An Authentick Account of the Proceedings against John Wilkes, Esq. . . . Containing All the Papers Relative to this interesting Affair . . . with an Abstract of That Precious Jewel of an Englishman, the Habeas Corpus Act. Addressed to All Lovers of Liberty. London, Printed for J. Williams, [1763]. 39p. W256
[-------]. The Battle of the Quills; or Wilkes Attacked and Defended. An impartial Selection of all the most Interesting Pieces Argumentative, Declamatory, and Humorous, in Prose and Verse relative to John Wilkes, Esq; Written by his Adversaries, his Partisans, and Himself . . . to which is prefixed an Account of the Nature of Outlawry. London, J. Williams, 1768. 74p. W257
[-------]. Comparative View of the Conduct of John Wilkes, Esq.; as contrasted with the Opposite Measures during the Last Six Years. By----.London, J. Williams, 1768. 27p. W258
A sympathetic account of Wilkes trials and tribulations.
[-------]. Conduct of the Administration in the Prosecution of Mr. Wilkes. London, J. Wilkie, 1764. 31p. W259
The Correspondence of the Late John Wilkes, Printed from the Original Manuscripts, in which are introduced Memoirs of His Life, by John Almon. London, Printed for Richard Phillips, 1805. 5 vols. W260
The biography of Wilkes by John Almon, his publisher, contains a history of North Briton, and an account of the various legal actions taken against him for his criticism of the government.
[-------]. English Liberty; or The British Lion Roused; Containing the Sufferings of John Wilkes, Esq., from the First of His Persecutions down to the Present Time. London, T. Marsh, [1770?]. 367p. W261
A collection of letters, speeches, newspaper accounts, and other documents relating to the Wilkes trial. A poem on Wilkes and Liberty, ascribed to Wilkes, appears on pages 59-69 of vol. 2.
[-------]. An Epistle from Col. John Lilburn, In the Shades, to John Wilkes, Esq.; Late a Colonel in the Buckinghamshire Militia. London, F. Freeman, [179-?]. 45p. W262
A letter supporting John Wilkes, purporting to come from the Leveller, John Lilburne, deceased. In a light vein the writer compares Wilkes' struggle for freedom of the press with that of his own, more than a century earlier. He closes with this statement: "I am desired to inform you, that all the friends of liberty in the shades are willing to encourage the work, and that you may make the price to subscribers in the nether world, as high as you think proper."
-------. An Essay on Woman, and Other Pieces, printed at the private press in Great George-street, Westminster, in 1763, and now reproduced in fac-simile from a copy believed to be unique. To which are added, Epigrams and Miscellaneous Poems now first collected, by the Right Hon. John Wilkes . . . Preceded by an introductory narrative of the extraordinary circumstances connected with the prosecution of the author in the House of Lords, digested and compiled from contemporary writers. London, Privately printed [by J. C. Hotten], 1871. 263p. W263
When the king's ministers were unable to convict Wilkes of seditious libel for his publication, North Briton, because of his Parliamentary immunity, they accused him before the House of Commons of publishing an obscene libel. Wilkes had printed on his private press a few copies of Essay on Woman, a risqué parody on Pope's Essay on Man, intended for his friends. By bribing the printer, a government agent secured a proof copy of the poem as evidence. This contributed to Wilkes's expulsion from Parliament. In addition to reprinting the famous Essay on Woman, together with the author's original introduction (advertisement), the volume includes the affidavits and statements of Michael Curry and Thomas Farmer, printers, an account of the proceedings against Wilkes for publication of the essay, comments on the case by Lord Macaulay and Horace Walpole, the narrative of the Rev. Mr. Kidgell and details of his part in the affair, and other related documents.
[-------]. "A Letter on the Public Conduct of Mr. Wilkes." In A Collection of Scarce and Interesting Tracts, vol. 3, pp. 76 ff., and in The Correspondence of the Late John Wilkes, vol. 1, pp. 244-71. W264
Wilkes's own account of his various prosecutions for libel and a justification for his conduct at the trials. The account, told in the third person, was written by Wilkes from prison and first published anonymously in the Political Register, November 1768.
[-------]. A Letter to William Lord Mansfield . . . Upon some late Star Chamber Proceedings in the Court of King's Bench. Against the Publishers of the Extraordinary North Briton, No. IV. By the Author of those Papers. London, 1768. W265
Upon his return to England from a four-year exile in Paris, Wilkes was determined to test his outlawry and arranged to have himself arrested on the four-year-old charge of seditious and obscene libel (Wilkes had criticised the king's ministers in his North Briton). There was high feeling among friends of Wilkes and a bloody clash between Wilkesites and troops delayed the trial before Lord Mansfield until June 1768, when he was found guilty. For publication of the Essay on Woman he was fined £500 and sentenced to a year in prison; for no. 45, North Briton he was fined £500 and sentenced to 10 months in prison. He was incarcerated for a total of 22 months. This open letter to the judge who sentenced him was written from prison and relates to the conduct of the trial.
[-------]. A Narrative of the Proceedings against John Wilkes, Esq. from his Commitment in April 1763, to his Outlawry. With a full View of the Arguments used in Parliament and out of Doors, in canvassing the various important Questions that arose from his Case. London, Printed for Richardson & Urquhart, 1768. (Also in Howell, State Trials, vol. 19, pp. 981 ff) W266 §
Wilkes, along with more than 40 of his associates, was arrested in the spring of 1763 on a "general warrant" for publication of seditious libels in issue no. 45 of North Briton. He was confined to prison for 6 days, then released on the basis of his Parliamentary immunity. All who had been arrested ultimately sued and recovered damages for illegal arrest. Wilkes was later found guilty of seditious libel by the House of Commons and expelled. When he failed to attend his trial (he was in Paris recovering from a duel wound) the court declared him an outlaw. Popular opinion favored Wilkes and, overnight, he became a champion of the freedom to criticize an unpopular government.
[-------]. Observations upon the Authority, Manner and Circumstances of the Apprehension and Confinement of Mr. Wilkes Addressed to Free-Born Englishmen. London, J. Williams, 1763. 36p. W267
Wilkinson, Clennell. "The Cinema and the Puritan." Outlook (London), 51:13, 6 January 1923. W268
"Penny dreadfuls" used to be blamed for juvenile delinquency; now it is the films that are responsible. Why prohibit showing sex films to those under 16--they would only go to sleep; it is those just over 16 for whom the film will "put ideas into their heads." The notion that the movies are "any more capable than the penny dreadful and the melodrama of making saints or sinners is a theory that still remains to be proved." The modern puritan treats adults and children as having the same kind of mind.
Wilkinson, Donald M., Jr. "Constitutional Law--Censorship of Obscene Literature." Michigan Law Review, 52:575-82, February 1954. W269
Prior restraint may be constitutional, "but it would seem that before the court would sanction prior censorship of obscene literature, it would demand extremely definite standards for determining what would constitute obscenity--a requirement which appears quite difficult to meet."
Wilkinson, Louis U. Blasphemy and Religion; a Dialogue about John Cowper Powys' "Wood and Stone," and Theodore Powys' "The Soliloquy of a Hermit" . . . New York, G. A. Shaw, [1916]. 12p. W270
Will, Hubert L. "Free Press vs. Fair Trial." Nieman Reports, 17(3):16-21, September 1963. (Reprinted from De Paul Law Review, Spring-Summer 1963) W271
A U.S. District Court judge demonstrates that "existing remedies are less than adequate to cope with the growing problem of prejudicial publicity" and recommends that unless voluntary means of restraint are put into effect, "the constitutional right to a fair trial will have to be secured by means which the press may find repugnant but which will have been brought on by its own disregard of this fundamental right."
"Will the Catholic Church Screen TV/Radio Programming? Pope [Pius XII] Calls for Setting up of National Offices to Evaluate Broadcast Entertainment." Sponsor, 11:38-41, 26 October 1957. W272
Willert, Sir Arthur. "British News Controls." Foreign Affairs, 17:712-22, July 1939. W273
The author reviews the "heavy handed" treatment of the British press under the Chamberlain government. There has been no deliberate design to throttle the press, just the reaction of a weak government under stress of criticism.
Williams, Arnold. "Areopagitica Revisited." University of Toronto Quarterly, 14:67-74, October 1944. W274
A consideration of the importance of Milton's classic defense of freedom of the press on the tercentenary of its first publication.
[Williams, Benjamin W., et al]. Trial of B. W. Williams and Others, Editor and Printers of the Dew Drop, a Temperance Paper Published at Taunton, Mass., for an Alleged Libel upon William Wilbar, a Rumseller of Taunton, before the Supreme Judicial Court at New Bedford . . . ., 1845. . . . Taunton, Mass., Hack & King, 1846. 60p. W275
The offending article, for which Wilbar sued for $3,00 damages, was entitled A Dream and is reprinted here as court evidence. Williams calls Wilbar's tavern a "house of human slaughter" in the January 1845 issue of his temperance paper. The judge posed these questions for the jury: (1) Is it a libel? (2) Was it published concerning the plaintiff? (3) Was it published by the defendant? (4) Is it true? Williams was found not guilty.
Williams, Bernard. "Censorship and Reading." In Proceedings, Papers and Summaries of Discussions at the Hastings Conference, The Library Association. London, The Association, 1961, pp. 64-74. W276
"A first class discussion, in depth, of censorship of various types--moral, political, etc. The meaning of censorship, going beyond the philosophical into the present state of English law on the question of obscenity, is dissected and examined with thoroughness. . . . Mr. Williams believes that, in the esthetic sense, no really great work of art can be obscene. The law, of course, considers obscenity in a social, psychological concept." From a review in ALA Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, April 1962.
Williams, C. Dickerman. "What's Wrong in Libel." National Review, 10:185-86, 25 March 1961. W277
The plaintiff in a libel trial is relieved of the burden of proof as to its falsity; the defendant must justify his defamatory assertions. The publisher as defendant has many possible defenses--truth, privilege of reporting on official proceedings, fair comment on facts, good faith, credibility, and reputation of the plaintiff. Newspapers, the author charges, rarely report libel cases against their own or other papers, thus avoiding the suggestion of evil.
Williams, Chester S. Liberty of the Press. Evanston, Ill., Row, Peterson, 1940. 72p. (Our Freedoms Series) W278
Popular dramatization of episodes in the struggle for a free press including the Junius letters, the histories of William Prynne, Thomas Cooper, Elijah P. Lovejoy, and espionage cases in World War I. Written for use in schools.
Williams, Edward B. One Man's Freedom. New York, Atheneum, 1962. 344p. Introduction by Eugene V. Rostow. W279
Chapter 16, Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat . . ., deals with postal censorship; chapter 17, The Well-Meaning Man of Zeal, deals largely with the work of NODL. The author's point of view is that the organization has a right to object to publications but not to take action that would limit the right of others to have access to the publications.
[Williams, Elisha]. A seasonable Plea for the Liberty of Conscience, and The Right of Private Judgment, in Matters of Religion, without any Controul from human authority. Being a Letter, From a Gentleman in the Massachusetts-Bay to his Friend in Connecticut . . . By a Lover of Truth and Liberty . . . Boston, S. Kneeland and T. Green, 1744. 66p. (Signed "Philalethes") W280
A judge and former president of Yale argues for "the Right that every one has to speak his Sentiments openly concerning such Matters as Affect the good of the whole." He would exclude "Papists." He defends the right of each individual to read and make his own interpretation of the Scriptures, without interference from civil or religious authorities.
Williams, Francis. "Curbing Press Freedom." New Statesman, 65:366, 68,15 March 1963. W281
The author (Baron Francis Williams) discusses a case in which the Tribunals of Inquiry Act was invoked by the government against journalists who refused to disclose the source of their information.
-------. "Danger from Within." Nieman Reports, 17?(1):22-25, March 1963. W282 §
Excerpts from a paper on Responsibilities of the Mass Media presented at the tenth-anniversary convocation of the Fund for the Republic. The author, historian and critic of the British press, believes that the greatest threat to confine or diminish the independence of the press in democratic countries now comes from the inside and such threats are more difficult to repel.
-------. Dangerous Estate; The Anatomy of Newspapers. New York, Macmillan, 1958. 304p. W283
The author traces British newspaper history "from the days of the illegal Press, and the battles with Church, Crown and Parliament, to the extraordinary influence on the social life exerted by Steele and Addison in the early eighteenth century; through the bribery and corruption of the rest of the century to the position of respectability and political power which leading newspapers had achieved by the end of the nineteenth century; then into the twentieth century with the rapid development of commercialization and advertising, culminating in the fantastic mass-circulation battles of the twenties and thirties."
-------. Press, Parliament and People. London, Heinemann, 1946. 254p. W284
The controller of news and censorship in England during World War II examines the relationship of the government and the press in providing freedom of information. He considers the government's role in the release of public information, and the role of the commercial press, influenced by its owners, its advertisers, and its sensitivity to public appeal. The high standards and code of the professional journalist provides the main safeguard against pressures from both government and the newspaper industry.
-------. "The Right to Know." Twentieth Century, 170:6-17, Spring 1962. W285
"Is intrusion by the press 'an intolerable invasion of private rights' or is it a necessary part of the newspaper's job in holding up a mirror to society, irrespective of private feelings?" These complicated and controversial ethics are discussed by a leading historian and commentator on the British press.
Williams, G. "Censorship and Sex." Sexology, 9:631-35, March 1942; 684-87, April 1942. W286
Williams, George G. "The Future, Censorship and Librarians." Texas Library Journal, 31:10-14, 50, March 1955. W287
Discussion of the liberal and conservative methods of bringing about changes in society, changes which the author says are inevitable. He notes the liberal attitude in writing on sex matters which has not yet extended to matters of social and economic ideas.
Willimas, Harold, Jr. "Case for the Boston Booksellers." Publishers' Weekly, 113:444-47, 4 February 1928. W288
The attorney for the Boston booksellers praises the new obscenity bill that would give "liberty of access to all that is legal, and the fullest protection against all that is illegal." The bill, sponsored by the Boston booksellers, would relieve the bookseller who has been prosecuted under the criminal laws for crimes of which he was not guilty. It would place responsibility where it belongs, with the authors and publishers. The booksellers' bill and a more liberal one sponsored by Ellery Sedgwick of the Atlantic Monthly both failed of passage.
-------. "The Decision in the Strange Fruit Case." Publishers' Weekly, 148:1831-32, 20 October 1945. W289
Comments on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision against Strange Fruit, by the attorney for the Old Corner Book Store of Boston.
Williams, J. E. Hall. "The Obscene Publications Act, 1959." Modern Law Review, 23:285-90, May 1960. W290
An analysis of the law which superseded the Lord Campbell Act of 1857--"a compromise measure, the result of a long struggle between the Home Office and the would-be reformers." It was intended "to provide for the protection of literature; and to strengthen the law concerning pornography."
-------. "Obscenity in Modern English Law." Law and Contemporary Problems, 20:630-47, Autumn 1955. W291 §
The author, an English barrister and lecturer in law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, discusses the history of the English law relating to obscene publications, including the famous Hicklin case, the procedure under the Obscene Publications Act of 1857, and finally, the recent developments, including proposals for reform culminating in the Obscene Publications Bill of 15 March 1955.
[Willams, James]. "Law Relating to Theatres." In Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th ed., 1911. vol. 26, pp. 736-39. W292
Williams, Jerre S. "Parliamentary Privilege Limitation on Freedom to Criticize the British House of Commons." Texas Law Review, 42:1-38, November 1963. W293
"The newspaper and periodical publisher in Great Britain is subject to a restriction upon his comments concerning the actions of Parliament which constitutes a significant limitation upon his freedom of speech. A comparable restriction is unknown in this country. While the precise lines of the British restriction are not ascertainable, the over-all effect is to keep the British press in a state of frequent concern lest the proper bounds of comment on Parliamentary activity be transgressed." The author, studying the problem in England under a Ford Foundation grant, describes the current state of restrictions on reporting of Parliamentary activities and some of the cases that have arisen. While criticizing some of the judgments that he considers too stringent, the author concludes that, while the system "would clearly be unacceptable under the American constitutional system," there is "no insistance, that the principle itself is faulty for Britain," where "the tradition of liberty is in the hands of the people and is protected by the people's representatives in the House of Commons."
Williams, Jesse L. "If Censorship Comes." Authors' League Bulletin, 15(1):6-8, April 1927. W294
The author urges that plays be appraised by their social effect--the object rather than the subject of the play, and in light of the changing times.
Williams, John. "Films and the Blue Pencil." World Review (London), 1948:48-51, September 1948. W295
No Orchids for Miss Blandish was "passed by the Board of film Censors, cut by the L.C.C. and banned altogether by at least one local authority. No Orchids caused questions in Parliament and--inevitably--drew packed houses. It was an interesting example of the untidy working of our censorship." If censorship must be used it should be "used promptly, consistently and sparingly."
[Williams, John A.]. Letter to Henry Brougham upon his Durham Speech [in the trial of J. A. Williams for a Libel on the Durham Clergy] and the Three Articles in the Last Edinburgh Review upon the Subject of the Clergy. London, 1823. 28p. W296
[-------]. Trial of John Ambrose Williams, for a Libel on the Clergy, contained in the Durham Chronicle of August 18, 1821. Tried at the Summer Assizes, at Durham, on Tuesday, August 6th, 1822, before Mr. Baron Wood and a Special Jury. Including a Report of the Preliminary and Subsequent Proceedings in the Court of King's Bench, London. 2d ed. Durham, Eng., Printed by J. A. Williams and published by Ridgway, 1823. 63p. (Appeared in various separate editions and in Macdonell, Report of State Trials, vol. 1, pp. 1294-1338. Lord Brougham's speech is reprinted in Veeder, Legal Masterpieces. St. Paul, Keefe-Davidson, 1903) W297
Williams, publisher of the Durham Chronicle, was charged with attempting to bring the Church of England into contempt and vilifying its clergy. Lord Brougham, in his defense of Williams, argued that the clergy and the church were no more freed from criticism than any other public functionary or institution. Furthermore, the Protestant religion itself was the product of free discussion. The judge urged conviction, stating that freedom of the press, if carried to the extreme, endangered the establishments of the nation. The jury found no cause for criminal libel, only "defamatory libel," and no sentence was passed.
Williams, Joseph C., and Arthur Brown. "Is Censorship Justifiable in a Democracy?" Forum, 110:228-34, October 1948. W298
Williams supports the affirmative: "Freedom of expression is the right of every citizen; it is a right because such expression is of benefit to the community. Obviously, then, the community through the government, may at any time limit this right for its own protection. This protection is called censorship and such censorship is vital to democracy." Brown supports the negative: "The democratic philosophy is based on man's ability to reason, to decide for himself his own best interest, on man's educability, and his conscience. Censorship denies all these premises. . . . Regardless of the issues of truth and falsehood, danger or obscenity, free expression is invaluable for progress. Censorship cannot be justified in a democracy."
Williams, Michael. "Views and Reviews: Alfred Noyes." Commonweal, 28:555-56, 23 September 1938. W299
Editor Williams criticizes Alfred Noyes's refusal to submit to the rulings of the Holy Office with respect to his study of Voltaire. "Everything written by any Catholic should be at least implicitly subjected to the ruling authority of the Church; and if that authority should be exercised in a way that seems harsh, or even mistaken, nevertheless the writer should submit, with complete good will."
-------. "Views and Reviews: [Irish Censorship]." Commonweal, 34:423-24, 22 August 1941; 34:565, 3 October 1941. W300
"Under the Irish censorship, it is abundantly clear that what the Irish people are permitted to know about the great issues at stake in the world conflict is heavily weighted in favor of Hitlerism." A Dublin government spokesman replies in the 3 October issue that "no sort of propaganda for or against either belligerent is permitted in Ireland."
Williams, Pat. "Enemies of the Imagination." Twentieth Century, 171:79-88, Spring 1963. W301
"Are censors really necessary? Pat Williams, a South African journalist who is radio critic of the Sunday Telegraph, describes some aspects of British Censorship and makes a plea for more freedom to play 'imagination games.'" Censors "are highly sensitive regulators of the rate of change. And in the case of official censors, they are part of a social feedback system prohibiting more emotion, and consequently more change, than the social machine can manage without breaking down. Censors are the enemies of unlicensed imagination . . . unlicensed, that is, by society." The author describes present aspects of British censorship and concludes that so many things are censored unconsciously, such as facts of birth, death, old age, etc., that it is difficult to be sure what they are. We should have more "imagination games" to uncover "hidden areas of ugliness and pain" which writers can help us explore.
[Williams, Paul]. "Danger in a 'Constitutional Gap.'" Bar Bulletin, New York County Lawyers' Association, 13:196, 200-201, March 1956. W302
A U.S. attorney opposes efforts to amend Canon 20 of the American Bar Association because it would extend the "constitutional gap"--the area between the ethical limits placed on lawyers' statements by their own professional canons and the constitutional limits which the government can impose on newspaper coverage of trials.
Williams, Roger. The Bloudy Tenent, of Persecution, for cause of Conscience, discussed, in a Conference betweene Truth and Peace . . . [London?]. 1644. 247p. (An edition, with introduction by Edward B. Underhill, was published by the Hansard Knollys Society, London, 1848 [439p.]; it is also reprinted in Joseph L. Blau, Cornerstones of Religious Freedom in America. Boston, Beacon, 1949, pp. 36-51) W303
The Bloudy Tenent, while not strictly directed to freedom of the press, was a strong statement of the theory of the natural rights of man and the principle of religious toleration. It marks the beginning of religious freedom in America. Williams wrote the work when his controversy with John Cotton and the Massachusetts clergy forced him to flee to Rhode Island. He shocked the orthodox churchmen in England and America by extending tolerance even to Jews, pagans, and Turks. Cotton responded to Williams' work in The Bloudy Tenent washed and made white in the bloude of the Lambe (1647) and Williams followed with The Bloudy Tenent yet More Bloudy (1652). In England The Bloudy Tenent was ordered by the House of Commons to be publicly burned by the hangman.
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