“ Comics ”

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27367, 4 June 1954, Page 10

“ Comics ”

The discussion about so-called comics by the Canterbury Housewives’ Union on Tuesday and the decision of the union to make representations to the Prime Minister should move the Government to explain why the interest it showed in this question 18 months ago has apparently died down. In November, 1952, it was reported from Wellington that legislation to control the import and sale of comics in New Zealand “ was likely to be brought before “Parliament next session”. The main aim of the legislation, it was reported, would be the banning of the “ sex and blood ” type of comic. This expression of Government interest followed a public meeting in Wellington, convened by the Education Department, at which the whole question of the control and registration of comics was discussed by representatives of parents’, church, women’s, business, teachers’, and youth organisations. This meeting received proposals from an interdepartmental committee that had done some work on the question. Neither the inter-departmental committee nor the conference favoured a heavy censorship; but the opinion was expressed that all comics should be registered with the Education Department before they could be sold, and that the Director of Education should have power to cancel or refuse registration of the worst types. If the matter is no further advanced than it was 18 months ago, the explanation may be that, when it came to drafting legislation, the Government ran into difficulties, not least of which would be the problem of deciding where to draw the line between what should be allowed and what should be prohibited. This problem is made the more difficult because readers of comics are not by any means all children of tender years. ’ What would be a tolerable form of censorship to protect young children might be an intolerable infringement of liberties for adults. It is doubtful, in any case, whether the problem of comics is soluble by government edict. The best answer to any menace that the comics may carry is in cultivating the taste for better kinds of reading/ This responsibility should fall first upon parents; but in practice it must be shared by schools, churches, and social organisations. Suppression may be appropriate in extreme cases. The Government seemed to think so 18 months ago; it will be interesting to learn what it thinks today.