“The press shall be free,” says the Constitution of Italy (Article 28).  “No previous authorization shall be required in order that one may publish his thoughts or opinions through the press, except that every person shall be responsible according to law.”—­Cons. of The Netherlands (Art. 7).  “There shall be liberty of the press.”—­Cons. of Norway (Art. 100).  “Every third year the Riksdag (Parliament) ... shall ... appoint six persons of known intelligence and knowledge, who with the solicitor general as president shall watch over the liberty of the press ...  If they decide that the [any] manuscript may be printed, both author and publisher shall be free from all responsibility, but the commissioners shall be responsible.”—­Cons. of Sweden (Art. 108).  “The freedom of the press is guaranteed.  Nevertheless, the cantons, by law, may enact measures necessary for the suppression of abuses....  The Confederation may also enact penalties for the suppression of press offenses as directed against it or its authorities.”—­Cons. of Switzerland (Art. 55).  “The press is free; no censorship shall ever be established; no security shall be exacted of writers, publishers or printers.  In case the writer is known and is a resident of Belgium, the publisher, printer, or distributor shall not be prosecuted.”—­Cons. of Belgium (Art. 18).  But this same Constitution later on says quite pointedly (Art. 96, clause 2) when prescribing the administration of justice,—­“In case of political offenses and offenses of the press closed doors shall be enforced only by a unanimous vote of the court.”  Also (in Art. 98) “The right of trial by jury shall be established in all criminal cases and for all political offenses of the press.”  A further reading of the provisions of these constitutions will show that the whole intention of the documents is to grant various rights and privileges to the people.

In contrast with these establishments of the freedom of the press by the constitutions and governments of the various European countries, the Constitution of the United States merely says in the First Amendment—­“Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”  Stating this in other words, our Constitution merely protects an already existing, inalienable right.  Its guarantee is in an entirely different sense from that of one of the above named European constitutions.

In case of riot or disorder, the divinely constituted government of a country of Continental Europe need merely “suspend the constitution,” usually by the method of executive decree, and it suspends the freedom of the press and all constitutional guarantees with it, as was done in Hamburg, Germany, recently.  In the United States this would be impossible.  Even though Germany or some other nation should invade this country and destroy the governments at Washington and Albany, let us say for extreme illustration, yet if any person were unjustly thrown into prison in