PRESS. 371 PRESS ASSOCIATIONS, which the Church had jurisdiction without the written sanction of the Bishop or of the Inquisitor of the diocese. The institution of the censorship gradually became a feature of the policy of the civil authorities in the various States of Conti- nental Europe, from some of which it has not yet disappeared. At present no censorship exists in France, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany, but the press laws are very rigid in some of these, such as Spain. France, and Germany, and their governments claim and exercise the right to sup- press in a summary manner journals deemed obnoxious to the public peace and security. The Constitution of France contains no guarantee in behalf of freedom of the press. That of Switzer- land does, but authorizes the Cantonal govern- ments to enact laws to prevent the abuse of the same and empowers the Federal Government to punish similar abuses when directed against its authority or that of its officers. The Constitution of Prussia secures to every person the right to express his opinion freely by word, writing, print, or pictorial representation, and prohibits the es- tablishment of a censorship, but in the same article empowers the Legislature to place restric- tions upon the press and to enact laws for the punishment of abuses of the liberty of printing. The laws enacted in pursuance of this provision are very severe and place substantial limitations upon the freedom of the press. In Russia the censorship in an arbitrary form still exists. There newspaper publishers are required to obtain per- mission to print and then lodge with the Govern- ment a considerable sum as caution money. Those who are unable to comply with the latter re- quirement are required to send their articles to a censor three days previous to publication. In England, after a long struggle, almost com- plete liberty of press now prevails. From the time of the Reformation vmtil the Commonwealth the English press was subject to a censorship un- der the direction of the Crown. During the period of the Civil War and the Commonwealth it was practically free from molestation, but upon the restoration of the Stuarts the old restrictions were revived. In 1G94 the censorship of the press was discontinued. During the reign of Anne severe acts were passed against printers and some of the most distinguished men of letters of England, including Steele and De Foe, were punished for violating these laws. At the same time numerous tracts, books, and newspapers were burned by the common hangman. The censorship, however, was not revived. With a view to the repression of the obnoxious Whig press, the Tory Government imposed on printers a stamp duty which in the reign of George III. was increa.sed to fourpence on every papeif Likewise taxes on advertise- ments were imposed. But these measures proved ineffective, and were finally repealed toward the middle of the nineteenth century. One of the most prolonged struggles in behalf of thc> freedom of the press in England was in relation to the publication of Parliamentary debates. Until 1729 newspaper reports of Parliamentary pro- ceedings were unknown. About that time frag- mentarj' reports began to appear in the news- papers, whereupon the Commons resolved that it I was a breach of privilege, as it tended to make members answerable to their constituencies, and this is the theory to-day. For breach of this privilege many printers were prosecuted and fined, in the .vear 17G4 no less than 200 informa- tions being filed in behalf of the Crown. (See Wilkes, John.) The real liberty of the English press dates from the passage of the Fox Libel Act of 1792, which enacted that the decision in libel suits belonged to the jury and not to the judge. This reversed the view which the courts had acted on for many years. At present the only restriction upon the press, except in case of libelous matter, is the common-law rule that the publication of anything against the Constitution of the country or the established sj'stem of gov- ernment is an indictable offense. In the American colonies the attempt was made to introduce the British system of a rigid censor- ship, and among the instructions to the colonial Governors was that they were to provide by all necessary orders that no person keep any press for printing, and that no book, pamphlet, or other matter be printed without their special leave and license first obtained. There were numerous in- stances of the public burning of books and the punishment of printers. (See Bradford, Wil- liam; Zengeb, Peter.) After the overthrow of British authority in the colonies the principle of the freedom of the press was incorporated in the first State Constitutions, and has been continued in all succeeding ones and without exception. The following is a common provision of the State Con- stitutions on the .subject: "The printing press shall be free to every one who undertakes to ex- amine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of the Government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the inviolable rights of man, and every citizen may freely write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty." It is usually further provided that in prosecutions for libel the truth may be given in evidence, that the motive shall be taken into consideration, and that the jury shall determine both the law and the facts. The great freedom with which the newspapers criticise and often ridicule public officials, especially by means of cartoons and pic- tures, has sometimes led to something of a reac- tion in favor of more stringent libel laws. As an example of this may be mentioned the strin- gent law passed in Pennsylvania in 190.3. The Constitution of the LInited States prohibits Con- gress from passing any law abridging the free- dom of the press. Notwithstanding this pro- vision. Congress in 1798 passed an act for the punishment of persons convicted of printing mat- ter calculated to bring the Government into dis- repute. It was in force two years and there were a number of notable prosecutions under the law. See Alien and Sedition Laws. PRESS ASSOCIATIONS. Associations of ne*papers or news agencies for the gathering and dissemination of news were unknown prior to 1849. Hitherto it had been entirely a matter of individual enterprise, but in that year, as a direct result of the rapid development of the tele- graph, and steam transportation both on sea and on land, almost simultaneously the business of newsgathering through associated effort or special news agencies was begun both in Europe and the Ignited States. In Europe the initia- tion of the service was due to Baron .Tulius Renter, a Prussian, who during 1848 had been ex- perimenting with schemes for facilitating the
