The freedom of newspapers in the matter of legitimate comment
is so gravely restricted by the fear of libel proceedings—almost always expensive even if unsuc- Cessful—that it is satisfactory to note two cases which have been decided in the High Court this week. In one case the author of a play produced in a provincial town sued the local paper for publishing a letter in which the play was described as " a full-dress, puerile and most blasphemous debate." In the other the subject of the pro- ceedings was a report of a speech made at a meeting of the local Constitutional Club ; the action was brought against the paper, not the speaker. Verdicts for the defendant were given in both cases. It is right that newspapers should have to weigh their words carefully; i it would . be a disaster if they were intimidated into a safe silence on matters that demand public, and sometimes pungent, comment. * * *
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