Gerald L. K. Smith Asks Correction on Story

The following correspondence took place in reference to a story appearing earlier this fall. November 30, 1951

Editors of the CRIMSON

Gentlemen:

In your anxiety for a story you have over-reached yourselves. You have libeled me and seriously. On Page 1, column 5, of your issue of October 11, appear the following words:

"Carrington said last night that he planned no legal action against the man who at one time during World War II was on trial for sedition."

This is completely false. I have never been indicted by the Federal Government for any cause. I have never even been called before a Grand Jury in relationship to any Federal accusation. Somebody on your staff must be smoking the wrong stuff. Quite a feat, I should say, to be able to pick up such an indiotment out of the sky, especially when it never existed in any form whatsoever.

This letter is my method of calling upon you for a complete retraction in the same location and with a generous exercise of words that radiate enthusiasm. I expect you to exercise your originality in such a manner as to make the correction fully as readable as the libelous statement referred to above...   Gerald L. K. Smith.   December 5, 1951

Dear Mr. Smith:

This is in answer to your letter of November 30, asking us to print a correction on our story about you in the CRIMSON of October 11.

As a matter of fact, we corrected that error in the very next issue of the paper (October 12 was a holiday). I enclose two copies of that edition with the correction marked. It is a policy of this paper to correct errors like this in exactly the same spot where they were made, but as a college paper we felt forced to run our football story in Column 5--our main spot--and run the erratum in Column 4.

We sincerely regret the error. We trust that the speed of our correction proves our good faith.   /s/ William M. Simmons.   December 10, 1951

Dear Mr. Simmons:

Yours of December 5 has ben received, together with a copy of your paper for October 13.

I have consulted with my attorney and he says your page one correction is not satisfactory, but if you will run in your paper an exact copy of your letter of December 5, he will advise me to consider the matter closed.

Naturally, page one would be the most satisfactory for the letter, but it might not be practical from your viewpoint. Therefore we will accept a reproduction of the letter on any page of an early issue....   Gerald L. K. Smith.