IMMORAL LITERATURE.

Press, Volume V, Issue 13598, 6 December 1909, Page 6

IMMORAL LITERATURE.

"No words are strong enough," remarked an English Bishop recently,." to " scarify, as they deserve to be _cari- *' fied, the writers of many of the " modern novels." Unfortunately verbal scarification hurts no one, and least of all those who desire notoriety

no matteT how it is gained. The most stinging denunciation of the novels to which the Bishop referred would merely serve the purpose of advertising their indecency, and thereby of increasing their sale. Now and again the publisher or retailer of some unusually pernicious book is proceeded against at law but even where a conviction haß been secured, it is more than doubtful whether the evil arising from the publicity <nven to the book has not in the end been greater than any public benefit resulting from punishing those responsible for its sale. The gravity of the danger is beyond all question. No inconsiderable portion of modern fiction, particularly as regards books written by women, is poisonous to young minds, and yet in nothing is it more difficult to do good without at the same time doing sreater harm. It has been urced that the best euro for "the evil is the dissemination of good literature at a price that everyone can afford. But there never was a time when the best and noblest of the world's literature was so easily available to those who want it as it is now. Libraries of "the classics" and of good wholesome fiction abound; for a sovereign a man can buy more real literature than ho can read in three months, and a tenpound note olaces on his bookshelf tho wisdom of the a_e_. As an antidote to the poison of the sex-problem novel, the cheap abundance of books that aro worth reading should be most effective— actually it is quite ineffective, mainly because readers who are attracted by prurient filth do not read the better books. "Where then to apply tne remedy?" asks the Bishop. The books, as he says, are not legally obscene, or they might be dealt with, a fact whioh suggests that the legal interpretation of obscenity in literature needs widening. He can only rely on wise guidance of young people in their reading, and the creation by that means of the healthy state of mind that will reject indecency, no matter how it is gilded, or what plausible claims in the name of art are made on its behalf. A wise policy, undoubtedly, but more immediate effects may be looked for from the action of the English Circulating Libraries Association, to which reference was made in our cable messages on Saturday. Moved by the protests of their customers, the libraries in the Association have determined not to circulate "scandalous, libellous, and im- " moral books, or those likely to prove " offensive to any considerable section "of subscribers." Deprived of the support of the libraries, the authors aiiu publishers of these books will find the profits of their occupation greatly reduced. Smith's and Mudie's, especially, buy copies of new books by hundreds, and their purchases must, in many cases, provide a considerable proportion of the profits derived from publica-" tions. This action will, therefore, check the flood at its source, and if the London buyers for colonial booksellers will refrain from sending out here any books that are barred by the libraries, they will do a good work, and may save their principals some annoying experiences.