PRESS, FREEDOM OF THE, the expression used to denote the absence of any authorized official restraint on publication. The press is an instrument well adapted for disturbing the functions of government, and committing injuries against reputation; and when its power as a political engine was first discovered, the European governments took it into their own hands, no one being allowed to print any work till it had obtained the sanction of the proper authorities. The clergy also, on behalf of the papal hierarchy, claimed a share in the censorship, where questions of religion were concerned. In England, at the reformation, the control of the press came to be more completely centered in the crown than elsewhere, the ecclesiastical in addition to the secular department being vested in Henry VIII. as temporal head of the church. The company of stationers, who came to have the sole right to print, were servants of the government, subject to the control of the star-chamber. The censorship of the press was enforced by the long parliament, and was re-established more rigorously at the restoration. It was continued at the revolution, and the statute regulating it was renewed from time to time till 1693, when the commons, by a special vote, struck it out of the list of temporary acts to be con tinued. Since that time, the censorship of the press has ceased to exist in Britain. But though there are no official restrictions on what shall and what shall not be published. the authors and publishers of criminal or injurious matter are amenable to the law of libel ; and there are certain statutory requirements in force to enable them to be traced. The existing statutes which apply to all printed publications are 39 Geo. III. c. 79. amended by 51 Geo. III. c. 65, 2 and 3 Vict. c. 12, and 32 and 33 Viet. c. 24. person who prints anything for hire or reward must, under a penalty of £20, keep one copy at least of the matter printed, and write on it the name and place of abode of the person who employed him to print it. By statute 2 and 3 Vict. c. 12, every person who shall print any paper meant to be published, must print, on the first or last leaf, his name and usual place of business; and on failure to do so, he forfeits the sum of £5, and so does any person publishing the same. There are a few printed papers exempted from
conforming to the above requirement—as for instance papers printed by parliament or in government offices, engravings, auction lists, bank notes, bills of lading, receipts for money, and a few other similar matters. In the case of a libel, legal publication is constituted by tke sending of a copy printed or in manuscript to a man, and the sale of a newspaper or other publication in a shop, or its delivery to an officer at the stamp-office, is also considered an act of publication. The truth of the statements published may be urged as a plea of defense in an action for libel, but only on the ground of its publication being calculated to promote the public interest. See LIBEL. The existing statutes newspapers are 2 Geo. IV. and 1 Will. IV. c. 73, 6 and 7 Will. IV. C. 76, and 32 and 33 Vict. c. 24. If a bill shall be filed in any court for the discovery of the name of the printer, publisher, or proprietor of a newspaper or other publication, with the view of rendering him liable in damages for slanderous matter, the defendant is bound to make the discovery required, which, however, cannot be made use of against him in any other proceeding than that for which it has been made. The penalties against newspapers can only be sued for in the name of the attorney-general or solicitor-general, or lord advocate. Certain regulations also exist regarding the exhibition of plays, for which see Laws as Subject to these restrictions, the freedom of the press has subsisted in Britain since 1693.
A more or Icss rigorous censorship of the press exists in most European states. There is often no direct supervision previous to publication, but the official censor has it in his power to stop any publication which he deems objectionable, to confiscate the edition, and to prosecute the author and editor. Newspapers and pamphlets are generally subjected to a stricter censorship than larger works.