ABSTRACT
Following the end of previous restraints on publication, with the expiration of the Regulation of Printing Act in 1694, new methods of controlling publications were sought. A special effort was made to reduce the circulation of newspapers by forcing them to increase the sales price. Before the adoption of the Constitution, Massachusetts in 1785 and 1786 ventured to impose taxes on newspapers, magazines, and advertisements; but the opposition was so violent that the tax on newspapers and magazines had to be repealed in 1786 and on advertisements two years later. The Court held that the Louisiana tax was an abridgment of freedom of the press. Significantly, the Court spoke of "the natural right of the members of an organized society, united for their common good, to impart and acquire information about their common interests". The First Amendment is not confined to safeguarding freedom of speech and freedom of religion against discriminatory attempts to wipe them out.
