Austrian Imperial Censorship and the Bohemian Periodical Press, 1848–71 by Jeffrey T. Leigh

Author:Jeffrey T. Leigh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

The Licensing of Periodicals : Suspicion Tempered by Legality

During the remainder of the 1850s, although the perception of the threat declined, the conduct of press policy reflected the same general principles present during the first years of Neoabsolutism. In the prescriptive and proscriptive measures of issuing press licenses and punishing transgressions of the press law, adherence to the rule of law remained an overriding priority, even to the detriment of expediency where public order and security were considered to be threatened. In this measure, Neoabsolutism was substantially different from the Vormärz .

Although, according to Roubík, the issuance and withdrawal of a press license was subject to the arbitrary will of the government, 67 the police and the governor’s communiqués illustrate a process that was handled strictly in accordance with the commercial law (Gewerbegesetz) and the relevant press regulations defining who could be approved to produce and distribute publications. 68 Similarly, current law restricted the authority to permanently close a periodical or rescind an individual’s press license to the person of the oberste polizei behörde. 69 This was, of course, a movement away from a liberal definition of the rule of law founded upon popular sovereignty, but it does not mean that policy was conducted without regard to written regulation. The conduct of press policy was not “democratic,” but neither was it arbitrary.

To publish a periodical, it was first necessary to secure a special concession from the existing political authorities responsible for the maintenance of public order and security in the area in which the periodical was to appear. In the case of Bohemia , this was the provincial governor. Requests for a publishing license had to include proof that the publisher met the conditions established in the commercial law. 70 The licensing of publishers was rarely a matter of concern, however, since applicants were always established printers and publishers. Far more significant was the matter of choosing an editor. According to the press law, in addition to possessing Austrian citizenship, having reached twenty-four years of age, and being domiciled in the area of the periodical’s appearance, editors had to be “free of complaint in questions of morality and have an education sufficient to meet the demands of their intended employment. Persons under investigation or imprisoned were prohibited from publishing or editing periodicals.” 71 Appeals against a negative decision were to be referred to the oberste polizei behörde. 72

In general, the application of the law was neither arbitrary nor vindictive. Throughout the period, the officials responsible for public order and security remained convinced that the opposition of 1848 was merely biding its time, waiting for another opportunity to strike, but the conduct of their offices reflects a competing imperative to follow the letter of the law. It was not lawful to refuse a press license on the basis of past bad behavior alone. Officials were required to review the candidate’s current and most recent works to judge his suitability.

In the cases where a prospective editor had a negative political background, the

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