ChapterXI:LibertyOfThePressInTheUnitedStatesChapterSummaryDifficultyofrestrainingthelibertyofthepress—Particularreasonswhichsomenationshavetocherishthisliberty—ThelibertyofthepressanecessaryconsequenceofthesovereigntyofthepeopleasitisunderstoodinAmerica—ViolentlanguageoftheperiodicalpressintheUnitedStates—Propensitiesoftheperiodicalpress—IllustratedbytheUnitedStates—OpinionoftheAmericansupontherepressionoftheabuseofthelibertyofthepressbyjudicialprosecutions—ReasonsforwhichthepressislesspowerfulinAmericathaninFrance。
LibertyOfThePressInTheUnitedStatesTheinfluenceofthelibertyofthepressdoesnotaffectpoliticalopinionsalone，butitextendstoalltheopinionsofmen，anditmodifiescustomsaswellaslaws。InanotherpartofthisworkIshallattempttodeterminatethedegreeofinfluencewhichthelibertyofthepresshasexerciseduponcivilsocietyintheUnitedStates，andtopointoutthedirectionwhichithasgiventotheideas，aswellasthetonewhichithasimpartedtothecharacterandthefeelings，oftheAnglo—Americans，butatpresentIpurposesimplytoexaminetheeffectsproducedbythelibertyofthepressinthepoliticalworld。
IconfessthatIdonotentertainthatfirmandcompleteattachmenttothelibertyofthepresswhichthingsthataresupremelygoodintheirverynaturearewonttoexciteinthemind;andIapproveofitmorefromarecollectionoftheevilsitpreventsthanfromaconsiderationoftheadvantagesitensures。
Ifanyonecouldpointoutanintermediateandyetatenablepositionbetweenthecompleteindependenceandtheentiresubjectionofthepublicexpressionofopinion，Ishouldperhapsbeinclinedtoadoptit;butthedifficultyistodiscoverthisposition。Ifitisyourintentiontocorrecttheabusesofunlicensedprintingandtorestoretheuseoforderlylanguage，youmayinthefirstinstancetrytheoffenderbyajury;butifthejuryacquitshim，theopinionwhichwasthatofasingleindividualbecomestheopinionofthecountryatlarge。Toomuchandtoolittlehasthereforehithertobeendone。Ifyouproceed，youmustbringthedelinquentbeforeacourtofpermanentjudges。
Butevenherethecausemustbeheardbeforeitcanbedecided;
andtheveryprincipleswhichnobookwouldhaveventuredtoavowareblazonedforthinthepleadings，andwhatwasobscurelyhintedatinasinglecompositionisthenrepeatedinamultitudeofotherpublications。Thelanguageinwhichathoughtisembodiedisthemerecarcassofthethought，andnottheideaitself;tribunalsmaycondemntheform，butthesenseandspiritoftheworkistoosubtlefortheirauthority。Toomuchhasstillbeendonetorecede，toolittletoattainyourend;youmustthereforeproceed。Ifyouestablishacensorshipofthepress，thetongueofthepublicspeakerwillstillmakeitselfheard，andyouhaveonlyincreasedthemischief。Thepowersofthoughtdonotrely，likethepowersofphysicalstrength，uponthenumberoftheirmechanicalagents，norcanahostofauthorsbereckonedlikethetroopswhichcomposeanarmy;onthecontrary，theauthorityofaprincipleisoftenincreasedbythesmallnessofthenumberofmenbywhomitisexpressed。Thewordsofastrong—mindedman，whichpenetrateamidstthepassionsofalisteningassembly，havemorepowerthanthevociferationsofathousandorators;andifitbeallowedtospeakfreelyinanypublicplace，theconsequenceisthesameasiffreespeakingwasallowedineveryvillage。Thelibertyofdiscoursemustthereforebedestroyedaswellasthelibertyofthepress;thisisthenecessarytermofyourefforts;butifyourobjectwastorepresstheabusesofliberty，theyhavebroughtyoutothefeetofadespot。Youhavebeenledfromtheextremeofindependencetotheextremeofsubjectionwithoutmeetingwithasingletenablepositionforshelterorrepose。
Therearecertainnationswhichhavepeculiarreasonsforcherishingthelibertyofthepress，independentlyofthegeneralmotiveswhichIhavejustpointedout。ForincertaincountrieswhichprofesstoenjoytheprivilegesoffreedomeveryindividualagentoftheGovernmentmayviolatethelawswithimpunity，sincethosewhomheoppressescannotprosecutehimbeforethecourtsofjustice。Inthiscasethelibertyofthepressisnotmerelyaguarantee，butitistheonlyguarantee，oftheirlibertyandtheirsecuritywhichthecitizenspossess。Iftherulersofthesenationsproposetoabolishtheindependenceofthepress，thepeoplewouldbejustifiedinsaying:Giveustherightofprosecutingyouroffencesbeforetheordinarytribunals，andperhapswemaythenwaiveourrightofappealtothetribunalofpublicopinion。
Butinthecountriesinwhichthedoctrineofthesovereigntyofthepeopleostensiblyprevails，thecensorshipofthepressisnotonlydangerous，butitisabsurd。Whentherightofeverycitizentoco—operateinthegovernmentofsocietyisacknowledged，everycitizenmustbepresumedtopossessthepowerofdiscriminatingbetweenthedifferentopinionsofhiscontemporaries，andofappreciatingthedifferentfactsfromwhichinferencesmaybedrawn。Thesovereigntyofthepeopleandthelibertyofthepressmaythereforebelookeduponascorrelativeinstitutions;justasthecensorshipofthepressanduniversalsuffragearetwothingswhichareirreconcilablyopposed，andwhichcannotlongberetainedamongtheinstitutionsofthesamepeople。NotasingleindividualofthetwelvemillionswhoinhabittheterritoryoftheUnitedStateshasasyetdaredtoproposeanyrestrictionstothelibertyofthepress。ThefirstnewspaperoverwhichIcastmyeyes，uponmyarrivalinAmerica，containedthefollowingarticle:
InallthisaffairthelanguageofJacksonhasbeenthatofaheartlessdespot，solelyoccupiedwiththepreservationofhisownauthority。Ambitionishiscrime，anditwillbehispunishmenttoo:intrigueishisnativeelement，andintriguewillconfoundhistricks，andwilldeprivehimofhispower:
hegovernsbymeansofcorruption，andhisimmoralpracticeswillredoundtohisshameandconfusion。Hisconductinthepoliticalarenahasbeenthatofashamelessandlawlessgamester。Hesucceededatthetime，butthehourofretributionapproaches，andhewillbeobligedtodisgorgehiswinnings，tothrowasidehisfalsedice，andtoendhisdaysinsomeretirement，wherehemaycursehismadnessathisleisure;forrepentanceisavirtuewithwhichhisheartislikelytoremainforeverunacquainted。
ItisnotuncommonlyimaginedinFrancethatthevirulenceofthepressoriginatesintheuncertainsocialcondition，inthepoliticalexcitement，andthegeneralsenseofconsequentevilwhichprevailinthatcountry;anditisthereforesupposedthatassoonassocietyhasresumedacertaindegreeofcomposurethepresswillabandonitspresentvehemence。Iaminclinedtothinkthattheabovecausesexplainthereasonoftheextraordinaryascendencyithasacquiredoverthenation，butthattheydonotexercisemuchinfluenceuponthetoneofitslanguage。Theperiodicalpressappearstometobeactuatedbypassionsandpropensitiesindependentofthecircumstancesinwhichitisplaced，andthepresentpositionofAmericacorroboratesthisopinion。
Americaisperhaps，atthismoment，thecountryofthewholeworldwhichcontainsthefewestgermsofrevolution;butthepressisnotlessdestructiveinitsprinciplesthaninFrance，anditdisplaysthesameviolencewithoutthesamereasonsforindignation。InAmerica，asinFrance，itconstitutesasingularpower，sostrangelycomposedofmingledgoodandevilthatitisatthesametimeindispensabletotheexistenceoffreedom，andnearlyincompatiblewiththemaintenanceofpublicorder。ItspoweriscertainlymuchgreaterinFrancethanintheUnitedStates;thoughnothingismorerareinthelattercountrythantohearofaprosecutionhavingbeeninstitutedagainstit。Thereasonofthisisperfectlysimple:theAmericans，havingonceadmittedthedoctrineofthesovereigntyofthepeople，applyitwithperfectconsistency。Itwasnevertheirintentiontofoundapermanentstateofthingswithelementswhichundergodailymodifications;andthereisconsequentlynothingcriminalinanattackupontheexistinglaws，provideditbenotattendedwithaviolentinfractionofthem。Theyaremoreoverofopinionthatcourtsofjusticeareunabletochecktheabusesofthepress;
andthatasthesubtiltyofhumanlanguageperpetuallyeludestheseverityofjudicialanalysis，offencesofthisnatureareapttoescapethehandwhichattemptstoapprehendthem。Theyholdthattoactwithefficacyuponthepressitwouldbenecessarytofindatribunal，notonlydevotedtotheexistingorderofthings，butcapableofsurmountingtheinfluenceofpublicopinion;atribunalwhichshouldconductitsproceedingswithoutpublicity，whichshouldpronounceitsdecreeswithoutassigningitsmotives，andpunishtheintentionsevenmorethanthelanguageofanauthor。Whosoevershouldhavethepowerofcreatingandmaintainingatribunalofthiskindwouldwastehistimeinprosecutingthelibertyofthepress;forhewouldbethesuprememasterofthewholecommunity，andhewouldbeasfreetoridhimselfoftheauthorsasoftheirwritings。Inthisquestion，therefore，thereisnomediumbetweenservitudeandextremelicense;inordertoenjoytheinestimablebenefitswhichthelibertyofthepressensures，itisnecessarytosubmittotheinevitableevilswhichitengenders。Toexpecttoacquiretheformerandtoescapethelatteristocherishoneofthoseillusionswhichcommonlymisleadnationsintheirtimesofsickness，when，tiredwithfactionandexhaustedbyeffort，theyattempttocombinehostileopinionsandcontraryprinciplesuponthesamesoil。
ThesmallinfluenceoftheAmericanjournalsisattributabletoseveralreasons，amongstwhicharethefollowing:
Thelibertyofwriting，likeallotherliberty，ismostformidablewhenitisanovelty;forapeoplewhichhasneverbeenaccustomedtoco—operateintheconductofStateaffairsplacesimplicitconfidenceinthefirsttribunewhoarousesitsattention。TheAnglo—Americanshaveenjoyedthislibertyeversincethefoundationofthesettlements;moreover，thepresscannotcreatehumanpassionsbyitsownpower，howeverskillfullyitmaykindlethemwheretheyexist。InAmericapoliticsarediscussedwithanimationandavariedactivity，buttheyrarelytouchthosedeeppassionswhichareexcitedwheneverthepositiveinterestofapartofthecommunityisimpaired:butintheUnitedStatestheinterestsofthecommunityareinamostprosperouscondition。AsingleglanceuponaFrenchandanAmericannewspaperissufficienttoshowthedifferencewhichexistsbetweenthetwonationsonthishead。InFrancethespaceallottedtocommercialadvertisementsisverylimited，andtheintelligenceisnotconsiderable，butthemostessentialpartofthejournalisthatwhichcontainsthediscussionofthepoliticsoftheday。InAmericathree—quartersoftheenormoussheetwhichissetbeforethereaderarefilledwithadvertisements，andtheremainderisfrequentlyoccupiedbypoliticalintelligenceortrivialanecdotes:itisonlyfromtimetotimethatonefindsacornerdevotedtopassionatediscussionslikethosewithwhichthejournalistsofFrancearewonttoindulgetheirreaders。
Ithasbeendemonstratedbyobservation，anddiscoveredbytheinnatesagacityofthepettiestasw...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：
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