Visions of America: Public Representations of the United States Circulating in India from 1870-1900

Censorship and Free Speech: Britain, America, and India

The proud privilege of the British subject is that he has absolute freedom of speech. The Government, by this wide measure, has put a stop to the proceedings of those who deal in assassinations, plots and other bloody methods. The Socialists, in meeting assembled to do honour to Mr. Hyndman, freely admitted that in England there was no need of resorting to violent methods for the purpose of "capturing emancipation." In America, they have gone a little further than even England. There freedom of speech is not bounded by any consideration whatever. Thus the Americans wanted war, but the President, Mr. McKinley, was averse to adopt the energetic policy. His people began to abuse him; but he remained unmoved. To a friend he said, that having witnessed a war he did not wish to see another. But the Americans would yet goad him to war: they called him a coward, a poltroon, one who had sold himself to Spain and speculators, and so forth. Here is a specimen of the abuse to which he was subjected: --

McKinley deceives again, refusing to send in a message in behalf of Cuba.

Never had, has not now, any intention of freeing Cuba or avenging the massacre of the American sailors on the Maine.

Washington ringing with stories of National scandal and the control of the White House by Wall Street speculators.

It is the sad duty of the journal to announce to the people of the United States that their President, William McKinley, has deliberately tricked Congress and the country. 

Last week under strong pressure from Congress, he promised to announce his policy in regard to Spain and Cuba by Monday, or else leave Congress to deal with the situation. When Monday came, he asked a delay till Wednesday. On Tuesday night he promised that his message would be sent in Wednesday.

Yesterday, Wednesday, he did not send the message, but said he would hold it until next Monday, giving as a reason that the message was warlike, and that, if promulgated, the news would cause a massacre of Americans in Havana.

At the same time, agents of the Administration spread reports in Washington that riots had broken out in Havana.

These reports are absolutely false.

In India, however, a change has come over the feeling of the rulers of the land. They have come to hunt out sedition with a microscope in hand. The secret of the press censorship in Bombay seems to be this. Of course, there is no law to compel and editor to submit his writing to a censor appointed by the Government. Nor has the censor any right to dictate to a newspaper Editor what he should write or what he should not. But yet. practically a strict censorship can be imposed without in any way breaking any terms of law. What the Government has to do, is to entrust an official with the duties of examining the contents of newspapers. He is given assistants to help him. The censor subscribes to the papers, and he, with his assistants, then sits down to ferret out the objectionable sentences. Luckily for themselves, if they detect a sentence which smells of sedition they send it up to Government for further examination. The Government sends it to its lawyer for opinion. If the lawyer finds the sentence suspicious, he asked for further information. And this is the sort of censorship, we are told, that has been imposed in the Presidency of Bombay. The position of the native paper can be likened to that of a wife, with a jealous husband watching and following her movements day and night with a rod in hand. 

From Amrita Bazar Patrika. June 30. 1898. Page 3.

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