The New Freedom

Czechoslovakia last week had lost one of the democratic features of which it has always been most proud--its free press. By Government order, newspapers, instead of being privately owned, must henceforth represent political parties, trade unions, youth movements and other organized groups. They retain the right to criticize the Government and individuals so long as they do not impair the safety of the nation.

The job of providing a legal basis for this politicalization of the press fell to Minister of Justice Dr. Jaroslav Stransky, 61, longtime associate of President Eduard Benes in Czechoslovakia's pre-Hitler government. One of the papers whose seizure he must legally justify was his own Svobodne Noviny,--Free News.

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