LAW, LIBERTY AND JUSTICE 259

Corpus; but such Acts have, like the Army Act, required annual
renewal, and there have been none in recent years.

The liberties essential to democracy—freedom of speech and
writing, of public meeting and association—exist in virtue of the
general principle that a man may do whatever has not been
forbidden by law. The scope of these rights in practice can
therefore be discovered by an examination of the laws concerning
slander, libel, blasphemy, indecency, sedition and breaches of
the peace, in particular some recent Acts such as the Public Order
Act, 1936.

Freedom of association. Britain contains a vast number of
voluntary associations, for political, religious, industrial, and
many other purposes. The restrictions on the right to associate
are few. Associations formed to plan a crime are illegal; and
the Public Order Act, modifying earlier laws, bans organisations
which are trained and equipped so as to rival the forces of the
Crown, or further their political beliefs by a show of force. The
Registrar of Friendly Societies exercises control over Trade
Unions, Benefit Clubs and the like, to see that members are not
defrauded, or their money used for purposes outside the associa-
tion's province. By the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Act,
1927, strikes and lock-outs which might be considered as seeking
to bring pressure on the Government are forbidden, and servants
of the Crown are prevented from joining organisations which
cater also for the employees of private persons' The wisdom of
this Act is in dispute between political parties. Its supporters
hold that it is necessary for the preservation of order and essential
public services; its opponents, that it works to the disadvantage
of wage earners, and unduly weakens the bargaining power of
Civil Servants.

Freedom of speech and publication. It may be slanderous to say
that a man has committed a crime, or to make any other
defamatory statement, which causes him to suffer material loss;
libel is the publication of defamatory matter in writing or some
other permanent form, even if no material loss has been inflicted.