publish only trustworthy information , but that even the most
sensationalmember of it hesitates to incur the notoriety and the expense involved in becoming the defendant in a suit for libel, yet these laws are necessary to afford an effective guarantee that all possible care has been taken not to make statements that are wilfully untrue. Libel laws, however, carry with them no guaran tee of the wisdom of printing articles that may be true in them selves, but nevertheless may convey a wrong impression .
The
historian may be reasonably sure of the truth of what he reads but he has no assurance that he has read the whole truth , or that
the truth printed is in fair proportion to the truth not printed . Laws concerning freedom of the press and libel laws are of
necessity very general in character and they form only the first, outer breastworks that protect the historian from the conceal ment of truth on the one hand and from deliberate falsehood on
the other hand .
The federal government furnishes stillmore specific guarantees
by which the historian profits. The federal law that went into effect October 1, 1912, provides that all periodicals that pass
through the federalmails shall file with the postmaster-general a sworn statement of their circulation , the names and post office addresses of their editors, business managers, owners, and stock holders. The historian thus shares with the general public the
knowledge of the ownership of allnewspapers and of the influences that may exert a control over editors and journalists . This federal legislation had been anticipated by state laws that now in nearly every state of the union secure the publication by
every paper in the state of the name and address of editor and business manager. This legislation is not as a rule so detailed as
is the federal law , but it serves to determine the responsibility for the general conduct of a paper and thus it provides a guarantee
that the newspaper on its business side may by law be held accountable for its contents . 1A newspaper itself sometimes gives this supplementary guarantee. The Brooklyn , N . Y ., Daily Times prints this “ Notice to the Public " at the head of its editorial columns: “ Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing or reputation of any person , firm , or corporation which may appear in the columns of The Brooklyn Daily Times will be gladly corrected
upon request at themain office , 24 and 26 Broadway, Brooklyn.” It must be noted that no evidence is demanded that the reflection was erroneo
