Tonight, the DuPont Company brings you Mother of Freedom, starring Ann Harding on The Cavalcade of America. When men fight for the principle they believe in, they are often fighting too for the women they love. Tonight's Cavalcade story is about a woman named Anna Zenger who gave up the wealthy, acceptable men of her world to marry an unschooled printer. Living in a colony where the only newspaper was subservient to the wishes of the governor, Anna and John Zenger raised a voice of protest against the injustices of their day. In so doing, they risked their lives and their happiness. Before bringing you tonight's Cavalcade story of Anna and John Zenger, here is Game Whitman. In these days of higher prices for so many essential items in the household budget, we're glad to announce that DuPont has not increased its prices for Xerox and Xerox antifreeze solutions. We believe that it is good news that despite the higher cost of producing these famous brands of antifreeze, the DuPont Company's price to your dealer is not a single penny higher today than before the war or under OPA. DuPont Xerox and Xerox are two of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. Tonight we present Anne Harding as Anna Zenger in Mother of Freedom on the DuPont Cavalcade of America. Anna Zenger, Anna Zenger. Who calls? Who calls, honey? Are you Anna Zenger? And who are you to call Anna Zenger from the long dead past? I'm a writer. Are you Anna Zenger? Yes, I am she. But why do you call? Look, this room is filled with books and documents with hundreds of references to John Peter Zenger, each claiming him as one of the men most responsible for freedom of the press in these United States. But I think your husband was a fraud. Why do you say that? Because I don't believe he wrote those things for which he was imprisoned. Those things against corruption? Against the governor? Against the tyranny we suffered then? What is the truth, Anna Zenger? Why did you marry John Zenger? Surely you must have had a better chance than he offered you. Yes, there were others. There was one above all, Francis Harrison. Harrison? Francis Harrison? You know him? Yes. But about him, Anna Zenger? Tell me about him first. I knew him better than anyone in New York. He began by pretending to call on my father. Then he no longer cared to offer pretense. He called often when my father was away. Will you have some more tea, Mr. Harrison? Mr. Harrison. My name is Francis, my dear Anna. Yes, I know. Well, then won't you call me Francis? If you wish. Anna, I'm glad we are alone. Really? You flatter me, Francis. Oh no, I can flatter a woman. But with you, I shall be honest. Oh, that really is flattery. Please, my dear, I didn't come here to trade words and phrases with you. Leave those things to the stupid and silly women of the governor's palace. Yes, leave them. What do you want to say, Francis? That's better, Anna. You're a lovely woman, my dear, and charming. Oh no, no, no, that's not flattery. I've been watching you for weeks now. And? You know my position in this colony. Oh, yes, very well. You know the governor is, shall we say, dependent upon me for decisions. Decisions, my dear Anna, which affect almost everyone. Such a frank confession, sir, cannot be made for idle chatter. What are you trying to say? I propose we join forces, Anna. You and I, intelligence with beauty and power, an unbeatable combination. What do you say? Are you asking me to be your wife, Francis? Wife? What makes you think that? Perhaps I'm stupid enough to assume it. Oh, come Anna, you're too clever for that. I'm sorry, Francis, I don't understand. Well, if you choose to pretend, I shall be in line with you. It's hardly that, sir. I merely want an explanation. Surely you must see that were I to be married, my influence upon the wives of the merchants would be ruined. Oh, they prefer Francis Harrison the gay de Bonheur Cavalier to Francis Harrison, the staid husband. Mr. Harrison, it was charming of you to call upon me. Are you dismissing me? I am. You mean you're refusing my offer? I am refusing the degradation of it. I have made you a very generous offer, one which half the ladies in New York would accept. Then I suggest you approach them. Good day, Mr. Harrison. Very well, my dear Anna. I shall wait for you to come to me. John Venger, don't try to find the words. What do you want to tell me? Anna, look at me. What am I? A man, John. I mean, what else, Anna? What else could you be? Everything. Look at my hands, rough, calloused, stained with printer's ink. Listen to me when I speak, Anna. I cannot even make the words come right. I think, yes, but that is all. The best printer in New York. And you made me that. It was you who gave me hope. You taught me. But then why aren't you happy? But I am, Anna. I am, and that is my trouble. I like this happiness. It is something I want more and more of, but it is not honest that I should take and not repay. What can I give for what I take? You can take no more than I have to give, John. I have no culture. Now look at me, John. The things you call culture come from without. Those are things that are put on a man like a coat, and they can become threadbare and useless. John, the things you have to give are deep inside you. I want them, John. I want them. You love me, Anna? Yes. And you would marry me? I will marry you, John, because I love you. There, John, the children are asleep. Now, tell me what's happened today. Are you tired? Everyone is tired, Anna. Men without hope walk in asleep. Then why don't they wake up? If the new governor makes life such a burden, why don't they rebel? Well, they can't be sure. I heard today a shameful story of the governor trying to steal an election in Westchester and almost defeated one of the few honest men left who dared to oppose him. Yet the only newspaper we have will not say anything about it. Well, yet you say that Bradford, who owns the paper, is not dishonest himself. Oh, he is old. Besides, when he had a paper in Philadelphia, he printed the truth once and they arrested him for libel. So now all he prints is what the governor approves. How does the governor find time to write as much as that? And that's something else the people don't know. It isn't the governor. It's Frances Harrison who writes those things. Frances Harrison? Why, does that surprise you? If you had ever met Harrison, you would suspect it as much as I do. John, the colony will never know the truth until we have another newspaper. Anna, I know what you're going to say. You've said it a thousand times. I ask you to stop. I cannot run a newspaper. I agree it would be a wonderful thing, but I am only a printer. I could not write well enough, you know that. Well, you could find others. Well, how could I pay them? Oh, give men an opportunity to write the truth. They'll consider it a responsibility. Why do it gladly for nothing? Anna, you are not a man. Women don't fight with print. A lady doesn't fight at all. But you're my lady. Oh, John, no one would know. It would be in your name. Anna, I'm too tired to talk about it. Oh, John, please listen to me. For the sake of these people, for the sake of the truth. I would fight for the truth, but I am no writer. I'll help you. The colony needs it. John, we must do it. Good morning, your excellency. May I break into our most worthy governor's thoughts of state? Oh, Harrison, Harrison. Yes, please come in. Thank you. Lovely morning, isn't it, your excellency? Yes. And you're looking well, Francis, after the party last night. Thank you, your excellency. Oh, what a man you are, Harrison. The ladies were swooning, as usual. Oh, the governor is kind to me. So were the ladies. Oh, by the by, I've brought something for you. Yeah? What? This. The journal. That thing again. Even more impudent than the last edition, governor. Read it. I will not, like all the rest of those articles, eh? Exactly, your excellency. Confound it, Harrison. I wanted to stop it when it began. Why did you persuade me not to? Oh, that's your excellency. One cannot choke off a voice so abruptly without arising suspicion. Had we forced the journal to stop immediately, the people would have believed what it printed. That's nonsense. They read it anyway. And every time this filthy thing comes out, it's worse. Have you read the articles carefully? Why do you ask that? Oh, nothing, nothing. We've got to do something. Get me a warrant. We'll have this John Zenger in a cell before the day is over. Oh, no, no, no, your excellency. What's the matter with you? Have you lost your senses? No, not at all, your excellency. But arresting John Zenger now would never do. It would cause more discussion. Then what? Well, he is married. What's that got to do with it? Your excellency, we persuaded wives before to, shall we say, persuade their husbands. You're a fox, Harrison. Thank you. And they tell me John Zenger's wife is very lovely. Then the task should not be too odious for your taste, eh, Harrison? Not at all, your excellency. Not at all. May I ask, Mr. Harrison, why you've come to my house when my husband is not here? So, you are the beautiful Anna I used to know. I've often wondered what became of you. I think it was quite uncalled for to sneak in here in disguise. My dear Anna, or Mrs. Zenger, if you prefer, what would the people in this neighborhood say if Francis Harrison were recognized making a call? You see how discreet I am? I wouldn't have your neighbors make gossip. Oh, I think the most they would say is that you may have come from the governor's palace to try to persuade my husband to change his newspaper. Ah, there is only one error in that, Anna. I am going to try to persuade you to change it. And how will you do that? The governor's very upset, Anna. He really is quite disturbed. Why, there's even talk of warrants, arrests, and jail. Possibly even worse. Oh, yes, there actually is. Then I know you have suggested these things to the governor. It would seem a shame to have a good husband put away in a jail. Oh, not that I should object. Perhaps then we could have a cup of tea as we used to. Please go. If my husband knew of this... How much does your husband know, Anna? What do you mean? Does he know that you and I used to be very friendly? Could you really say that? The question in your mind right now is how many people would believe it. And you know quite a number would. I have that kind of reputation. If you don't leave this... Oh, I shall go. I'm not suggesting that you necessarily tell your husband to change the paper, because Anna, I have a very good suspicion that John Zenger doesn't write those things that annoy the governor the most. No, I think it must be someone else. Yes, now that I see your expression, I know I am right. So whoever that man is, Anna, he is the man for you to warn. And if I don't warn him? Then it will be jail for your husband. Good day, Mrs. Zenger. You are listening to Anne Harding as Anna Zenger in Mother of Freedom on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. As the second part of our story opens, Francis Harrison has carried out his threat to imprison John Zenger for articles exposing the corrupt government in the province of New York. What he does not know is that Anna Zenger is the real author. Now she visits her husband in prison. Come right along, Mrs. Zenger. We have a surprise for you. We've moved your husband to a nice new cell. It's not quite so big, but it will hold him. There we are. Anna. John, John, what happened to you? He tried to break out of our jail, and we have been just as nice to him as... Will you please leave and let me talk to my husband? Yes, I'll go, but don't you worry, Mrs. Zenger. Your husband won't run away. John, what happened? Anna, five months in this stinking jail, I can't stand it. I know, John, but we'll get help somehow. The people are getting more and more angry. I don't believe it. You say the person won't even let you teach Sunday school anymore. They think a man who wants freedom to write and talk is a criminal. Oh, it's all my fault. Let me tell them what they want to know. Let me tell them I wrote those articles. I will never do that, I've told you. Do you think it would make me happier to have you here in my place? What can we do? We can't fight them, Anna. If we could, I would fight to my last breath. They've taught me. I can't fight in jail. You'll have to help, Anna. What can I do? Tell me. If I made a promise to take you and the children and leave this colony forever, Anna, they might let me go. But John, that's what they want. They'd win. They have won. There's nothing I can do. Oh, not yet. Maybe the lawyers would find a way to help us. The lawyers can do nothing. The governor will take care of any lawyer who goes against him. He's fixed it that way before. Anna, I've asked you to talk to them. Promise me you will. I can't stay here. I'm dying. All right, John. All right. I'll try to see the governor. Oh, he won't do anything unless Francis Harrison tells him to. I want you to see Harrison. Harrison? Yes, Anna. Oh, no, John, no. Anna, you promise. John, I'd do anything for you, but don't make me ask Harrison. Can you think of any other way? No. No, I can't. I will see Francis Harrison. Will you have some wine, Anna? Mr. Harrison, please let me finish what I came here to tell you. My dear Mrs. Zenger, some months ago I came to you as a friend and warned you that your stubborn husband could go to jail. You repulsed my friendship. Now you've come to ask a favor. Have you decided what I am to receive in return? Is it true that you cannot do a kindness without payment? Not when I have to beg a woman's favors. I'm not accustomed to that. And I have nothing to give you. Then you have nothing to receive. Your husband will stay where he is. I asked for your help and you refused. When I came here, I had hoped that you would help. Now I'm glad you haven't. What? Yes, I'm glad. If you had, my husband and I would have left the colony. We would have lost the fight we started and things would be as they were before. Oh yes, Mr. Harrison, I'm glad you refused because now we will go on fighting you and your corruption. Well, Mrs. Zenger, back again. This ain't such a bad jail when you get used to it now, is it? Please open the door and let me speak to my husband. Anna, I've been waiting. Have you seen him? What did he say? Well, let me speak to you alone. All right. Samson Duff, get out of here and leave us alone. I've been meaning to ask you. Why don't Mrs. Zenger move into the jail here with you? It's going to be your home a long time to come. Anna, why do you look so sad? Did Harrison refuse? Yes, John, he refused. Oh, I should have known better than to ask his mercy. But listen, John, perhaps there's another way. A lawyer. There is no lawyer who will defend me. It's too hopeless. Oh, wait, John, I've thought of something. Now, once I heard my father tell how years ago he heard a lawyer argue a case like yours, John, libel. It was in Philadelphia. But what help is that now? Well, listen, my father said it was brilliant. No one had ever heard such an argument before. But if you could prove what a man said was true, it couldn't be called libel. And did he win the case, Anna? No, but... Then what use is it to us? Oh, John, don't you see? That was years ago. Now, perhaps today people can be made to think as he did then. His name, what was it? Andrew Hamilton. The most famous lawyer in the colonies. He would never come here. He's an old, old man. He wouldn't come to New York for me, a poor printer. I'll write to him, John. I'll write to him in your name and pray. My dear Mr. Hamilton, you have not heard of me. I am a poor printer who published the New York Weekly Journal until five months ago when I was put in jail, charged with false malicious... My dear Mr. Zenger, I am complimented that you invite me to defend you against the charges with which I am more or less familiar, and I shall gladly undertake to represent you in court. You have no concern about my feelings. But what will he say, Anna? What can he say? What he says to the jury, John, will decide the freedom of this land. Mr. Hamilton, are you prepared to make your address to the jury? I am, sir. Then you may proceed. I thank you, sir. Question of the jury. There is a duty before you today, and that is to put a stop to this persecution of those who would speak the truth by those who would conceal it. We must all do our duty, and like wise men who value our freedom, use our utmost care to support liberty of expression in the printed word. By an impartial and incorrupt verdict, you will lay a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors, that to which nature and the laws of our country have given us a right. The liberty, both of exposing and opposing arbitrary power in these parts of the world, through our right to speak and write the truth. Oh, come in, Mr. Hamilton. I've told my husband you're here, and he's very excited. Oh, Mr. Hamilton, God bless you for calling. How are you, Mr. Zinger? The doctor says he will soon be out of bed. I read again each day your address to the jury, Mr. Hamilton. It gives me strength to think about it and to know that our fight has been won. And I receive strength when I read what you so kindly sent to me. Well, what was that? Your letter, Mrs. Zinger. My letter? Not the one you wrote for me to send to Mr. Hamilton, Anna, but a letter you wrote to me in prison. Some words that kept me alive. I made a scroll of that letter, three copies. Here is one I've been waiting to give to you. Oh, John, how beautiful. And you gave one to Mr. Hamilton? Yes. The third was for a friend of mine, a gentleman who used to be a printer, like your husband. You told me about him. What was his name? Franklin, Benjamin Franklin. And did you give him the letter? I did. And when I told him your story, sir, and when I told him your secret of how Mrs. Zinger had written the articles in your newspaper which brought about this trial, Mr. Franklin said that posterity should bestow upon Anna Zinger a title of three words, Mother of Freedom. Oh, thank you. I am a happy woman. Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored tonight to have with us the executive director and general manager of the Associated Press. He is also the author of the novelized biography Anna Zinger, which was the basis for tonight's cavalcade play. Mr. Kent Cooper. I am very grateful as a newspaper man to appear on cavalcade tonight in connection with the radio play based on my book Anna Zinger. I wanted to write this book about Anna Zinger in tribute to my profession and the men and women who work day and night to report the big and little news that makes the American press powerful because it's free. At the same time, I thought it would be appropriate to salute the courage and vision of Anna Zinger and her faith in her husband's ideals. As we glance over our newspapers, let us remember that it was a woman's devotion that played an outstanding part in establishing the freedom of the press we Americans enjoy today. Thank you. Now here is Gain Whitman speaking for DuPont. Gone is the day when we must send caravans to India or the Far Cafe of the poets for brilliant jewels. As you walk down the aisle of a store, Christmas shopping, jewels in plenty glint and sparkle at you. Jewels worthy of anybody's ladyfare. It doesn't call for a romantic impractical leathern sack of gold pieces to pay for them either. They are jewels created by chemistry for a modern world. Combs and brushes of DuPont lucite, acrylic resin, make beautiful gifts because they are beautiful in themselves. The colorless plastic is clear as the finest crystal. Tinted, it glows radiantly as amethyst, as turquoise, as rose quartz. The old alchemists dreamt of making gold, but never did they dream that chemistry would bring beauty like that of precious stones within reach of every little boy looking for a present beautiful enough for his mother, every husband searching for a gift lovely enough for his wife. During the war, these toilet articles of lucite were difficult, even impossible to find. Now most stores have a wide choice of combs and brushes of clear and colored lucite. When you pick them up, you'll be surprised by their lightness. You'll notice something else. The smooth, lustrous plastic feels warm and pleasant to the touch. Lucite brushes are bristled with another product of modern chemical science, firm nylon bristles that are easily kept clean that outwear animal bristles many times. Lucite retains its flashy beauty through years of service. For men, there is a wide choice of nylon bristled hair brushes and lucite combs. And in time for Christmas in many stores, new shaving brushes of nylon bristles in lucite. At Christmas time especially, it's worth remembering that the best brushes have nylon bristles. Nylon and lucite are two of the DuPont Company's better things for better living through chemistry. Christmas seals of the National Tuberculosis Association are now on sale. When you buy Christmas seals for your gift packages and holiday letters, you are helping to support tuberculosis control on a nationwide basis. Buy all the Christmas seals you need and then buy a few more. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade will present a thrilling drama starring the talented young motion picture star John Hodiac in Wings to Glory. It's the story of John Montgomery, the first American ever to fly. Be sure to listen next Monday at this same time when John Hodiac stars in Wings to Glory on the Cavalcade of America sponsored by the DuPont Company. Anne Harding will soon be seen in It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a Roy DelRuth production. The music for tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Our cavalcade play was written by Philip Lewis. Featured in the cast with Anne Harding tonight were Bill Conrad as Zenger, Joseph Kearns as Harrison, Stanley Waxman as Hamilton, and Francis X. Bushman as the Governor. This is John Easton inviting you to listen next week to Wings to Glory on the Cavalcade of America brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. The Cavalcade of America came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.
