PRESS ANONYMITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 282, 27 November 1937, Page 8

PRESS ANONYMITY.

Shortly, then, subject matter of a political significance submitted to the Press with a view to publication must in the near future l>ear the name of the writer, so consequently the use of a nom de plume will be automatically illegal by Act of Parliament. Bear in mind there are two sides to every question, and one's social and economic environment determines one's line of thought. As an illustration, my views upon organised authority differ from opinions expressed from time to time by magistrates, lawyers and police officials, hence conflicts and antagonisms upon the intellectual plane, traceable directly to difference of environment. So the point I wish to stress is this: What really counts is the principle involved and not the individual, so the suppression of noms de plume reflects further aggression, coercion and restraint of the rights and liberties of the people by the soulless State machine. The fact that so many writers are "forced" to -use a nom de plume is traceable directly to economic insecurity and the fear of intimidation and victimisation on the part of external authority, which is fast developing into organised terror, coercion and aggression as reflected by Socialist Governments. HARRY WOODRUFFE.