# United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 2 sources.

Status: historical, as of 2026-09-22.

Postmaster General Albert Burleson used the wartime Espionage Act to strip the Milwaukee Leader, a socialist daily, of its low-cost second-class mailing rate, cutting off its main channel to readers. The Supreme Court upheld the revocation in 1921, over two dissents warning it amounted to press controls.[1][2][3]

- Country: [United States](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us) (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)
- Where: United States
- Level of government: National
- Tactics: Shutdowns and blocking, Secrets and espionage laws
- Stage: Silence (ladder: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/shutdowns_and_blocking#stage-silence)
- Head of government at the time: [Woodrow Wilson](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/woodrow-wilson)
- Issue of the day: The Leader had published articles criticizing United States participation in the First World War and the draft, which the Post Office treated as violations of the Espionage Act's ban on obstructing military recruitment.
- Outcome: Upheld by a court, March 7, 1921. The Supreme Court upheld the revocation of the Leader's mailing rate 7 to 2 in United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson.
- Era: The 1910s

## What happened

During the First World War, Postmaster General Albert Burleson's Post Office found the Milwaukee Leader, a socialist daily edited under publisher Victor Berger's direction, in violation of the Espionage Act for articles opposing the war, and revoked its second-class mailing permit, the low postal rate newspapers depended on to reach subscribers nationwide. The paper's publishing company asked the Supreme Court of the United States, the country's highest court, to order the Post Office to restore the rate, arguing the denial violated the Constitution's protections for speech and due process. In United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson, decided March 7, 1921, the Court upheld Burleson's action by a 7 to 2 vote. Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis dissented, warning that letting a postmaster judge a paper's loyalty amounted to a form of press controls over the mail.[1][2][3]

## What reason was given

The Post Office found the Leader's wartime articles violated the Espionage Act, and the majority opinion held that the Constitution was not a shield for those who used its privileges to work against the government.[1]

## What changed for reporting

The Leader lost the inexpensive second-class postal rate other newspapers used to reach subscribers across the country, forcing it onto costlier first-class postage and cutting its circulation.[2]

## Timeline

- 1917: United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate

## Who acted

| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Albert S. Burleson](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/albert-burleson) | enforced | United States Postmaster General |
| [Woodrow Wilson](https://thewaronnews.com/actors/woodrow-wilson) | other | President of the United States |

## Outlets and journalists

| Name | Kind | Relation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [The Milwaukee Leader](https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/milwaukee-leader) | outlet | affected |

## Sources

1. United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/united-states-ex-rel-milwaukee-social-democratic-publishing-co-v-burleson/ (The First Amendment Encyclopedia, Middle Tennessee State University).
2. Espionage Act of 1917. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/espionage-act-of-1917/ (The First Amendment Encyclopedia, Middle Tennessee State University).

## Claims cited

[1] The Supreme Court's majority held that the Constitution was adopted to preserve the government, not to protect those who used its privileges to try to destroy it, in upholding Burleson's revocation of the paper's mailing rate. Quote: "The Constitution was adopted to preserve our Government, not to serve as a protecting screen for those who while claiming its privileges seek to destroy it." Source: The First Amendment Encyclopedia, Middle Tennessee State University. United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/united-states-ex-rel-milwaukee-social-democratic-publishing-co-v-burleson/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/117, checked 2026-09-22.

[2] Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented, warning the ruling treated access to the mail, nearly as essential to free speech as the ability to speak, as something a postmaster could take away. Quote: "The use of the mails is almost as much a part of free speech as the right to use our tongues." Source: The First Amendment Encyclopedia, Middle Tennessee State University. United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/united-states-ex-rel-milwaukee-social-democratic-publishing-co-v-burleson/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/118, checked 2026-09-22.

[3] Justice Louis Brandeis dissented that the majority's approach would let the Post Office run what amounted to a system of censorship. Quote: "effective censorship" Source: The First Amendment Encyclopedia, Middle Tennessee State University. United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/united-states-ex-rel-milwaukee-social-democratic-publishing-co-v-burleson/ Claim: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/119, checked 2026-09-22.

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-burleson-mail-ban-milwaukee-leader. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.