The Right To Read

Edward Weeks' 1930 article confronts censorship in America:

...censorship wherever it exists is as much a problem for the police as for the critics. And, like the poor, it is always with us. In times of stress such as the late war it is practised with a rigorous hand and accepted with little complaint. In times of peace, policing is relaxed, and then, as in the present day, we have pause in which to revive our confidence in free speech. Despite the exigencies of war, however, it is our duty as citizens to see that our laws relating to obscene and other literature are as just and discriminating as wisdom can provide.