'The lobbies (and the newspapers) which are being harried by Senator Black are those which are opposed to the New Deal. Lobbies and newspapers in favour of the New Deal have escaped. Newspaper publisher therefore, consider that the Senator' offers amount to an indirect form of censorship. He announces in effect "Ie you dare to criticize this adminlstration, T shall assume that you are venal and your motives are sordid. T shall summon you to appear before committee where you will be questioned about anything I can think of which Is ikely to place you ina discreditable light, You will be allowed to make no statement in your own defence, nor have a legal Fepresentative cross-examine you, And i€ you object or protest you will elted for contempt Another threat to the freedom of the press is felt by newspaper pliblishers to come from the President himself. Many publishers who have visited the president have found him particularly bitter against the column Isis, Tu the past few years columnists have been. springing up more rapidly than trees on a reforestation They do not report news but write a dally column of comment ari in They purport to give stut" the "news behind ay cles out the country.
Columnists have as many' per clients. Their work Is speelly popular with readers In. the ler and. more distant towns be= cause they convey the Impression that the lid is being titted from gov~ ernment affairs so that they can see the wheels yo round, that they are being Ted close to some departmental Reyhole to peop at what would other= wise have been Kept secret, Politleat Columnist Disiikes The President objected to the political columnist and felt that such a Style of writing should be reserved for theatrical and social gossip. Newspapers. he maintained, should only carry straight news The Kind of thing to which the President objected could best illustrated by taking an English ample. In mid-April the newspapers vied articles describing a British aval gun which could pierce throu, T2inch armour. plating. The pons. were cabled to America by American correspondents in London and appeared as straight news, 'A. week tater the Committee of the House of Representatives which was studying the question of naval of propriations told the press it wished fo question naval officers about the matter to find out if such a develop ment had changed their views of the Importance of battleships. When the matter was another week old a col-urnnist Interpreted the news for his Fenders, as follows, "Navy tops are Tooking' suspiciously at the British Embassy concerning an adroit plant of propaganda against, construction of two new. battleships. Private.
Britain <loesn't want to see the hips built, She can't say so openly but its no' secret to insiders. Very mysteriously a startling tip was fed to members of the House Appropria~ tons Committe The columnist oes on to {alle a trusting but there were too many Ineldenees in the plant to ignore, The perfect timing. The careful objective, The fact that Britain doesn't want the American ships built"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.