評(píng)論
打印
When we reach the newspaper press, the opportunity for debate is so considerable that discontent cannot grow to the point where under normal conditions there is any disposition to regulate the press. But when newspapers abuse their power by injuring people who have no means of replying, a disposition to regulate the press appears. When we arrive at Congress we find that, because the membership of the House is so large, full debate is impracticable. So there are restrictive rules. On the other hand, in the Senate, where the conditions of full debate exist, there is almost absolute freedom of speech.
談到報(bào)界，辯論的機(jī)會(huì)很多，所以不滿情緒不可能發(fā)展到正常情況下報(bào)刊也要接受管制的地步。但是當(dāng)報(bào)紙濫用權(quán)力，傷害沒(méi)有回答手段的人時(shí)，制約報(bào)界的想法就出現(xiàn)了。來(lái)到國(guó)會(huì)，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)眾議院議員眾多，充分辯論行不通。于是便有一些限制規(guī)定。然而，在參議院，有條件充分辯論，所以言論幾乎絕對(duì)自由。
This shows us that the preservation and development of freedom of opinion are not only a matter of adhering to abstract legal rights, but also, and very urgently, a matter of organizing and arranging sufficient debate. Once we have a firm hold on the central principle, there are many practical conclusions to be drawn. We then realize that the defense of freedom of opinion consists primarily in perfecting the opportunity for an adequate give-and-take of opinion; it consists also in regulating the freedom of those revolutionists who cannot or will not permit or maintain debate when it does not suit their purposes.
這就向我們表明，維護(hù)和發(fā)展輿論自由不僅僅是堅(jiān)持抽象的法定權(quán)利的問(wèn)題，而且還是一個(gè)組織安排充分的辯論的緊要問(wèn)題。一旦我們緊緊抓住了中心原則，便可得出許多實(shí)用的結(jié)論。然后我們會(huì)意識(shí)到，捍衛(wèi)輿論自由主要在于為不同觀點(diǎn)的充分交流提供良好的機(jī)會(huì)，其次也在于對(duì)那些革命者的自由加以制約，因?yàn)樵谵q論不適合其目的時(shí)，他們不會(huì)，也不愿允許或者維持辯論。
We must insist that free oratory is only the beginning of free speech; it is not the end, but a means to an end. The end is to find the truth. The practical justification of civil liberty is not that self-expression is one of the rights of man. It is that the examination of opinion is one of the necessities of man. For experience tells us that it is only when freedom of opinion becomes the compulsion to debate that the seed which our fathers planted has produced its fruit. When that is understood, freedom will be cherished not because it is a vent for our opinions but because it is the surest method of correcting them.
我們必須堅(jiān)持，自由演講僅僅是實(shí)行言論自由的開(kāi)始；它不是目的，而是達(dá)到目的的手段。其目的是找到真理。公民自由最好的理由不在于表達(dá)自己乃是每個(gè)人的一個(gè)權(quán)利，而在于對(duì)每個(gè)意見(jiàn)的檢驗(yàn)?zāi)耸敲總€(gè)人的需要。因?yàn)榻?jīng)驗(yàn)告訴我們，只有當(dāng)言論自由能迫使我們進(jìn)行辯論的時(shí)候，我們的開(kāi)國(guó)元?jiǎng)讉儾ハ碌姆N子才算結(jié)出果實(shí)。當(dāng)人們明白了這個(gè)道理時(shí)，他們珍惜自由才不會(huì)僅僅是因?yàn)樗鼮槲覀兊囊庖?jiàn)提供了一個(gè)自由表達(dá)的窗口，而是因?yàn)樗羌m正錯(cuò)誤意見(jiàn)的最為可靠的方法。
