A QUESTION OF MORALS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 693, 18 December 1909, Page 7

A QUESTION OF MORALS.

BOOKS AND PICTURES. ' , , AN IMPOMANT JUDGMENT. Ills Ti;lesrapt\.--.Ss>ci'la] Currcabuiidont.i Auckland, December 17. This morning Mr. Cutten, S.H., delivered judgment, in tho case . against Joshua. Martin Connolly, bookseller. There, wero six informations -.against' the defendant. . : "I havo looked-'through the books," said.Mr. Cutteu, "and 1 have, iornied an opinion. It was suggested by the prosecution, that merely because ■.these works contained references, to certain diseases' they were to bo considered indecent. Under Section J3, Sub-section 2, of the Justices of the I'enco Act, I don't, think that that is so. I think thnt before one caa assume them to ha. indecent on tho ground that they make referonco to those niatters, tliero must bo advertisement or somo publication in the haturo of an advertisement. I havo gone through tho various books referred to me. There is one book called 'The Book of Mature. It purports to be a medic&l treatise, , and it deals with the complaints referred to in Sub-section 2 of Section 43 of tho Act, but I don't think that in: itself it is a reason for considering it an indecent book. 'It contains mutter that makes it unfit to be read by young peoplej but I-can discover no grounds tor convicting defendant for- the sale of the book, or for '■ .orde'rinij its. destruction. Another book cnlled:"The -Wife's Handbook' does not purport to be a medical work. It purports .to be a work to go into the hands of anybody, and gives information that, in my opinion, constitutes it an immoral book. It advises people ' on '. matters' on which , they ■shonld be advised-only by their : medical man, under certain circumstances, and gives information that should not be in tho hands Of everybody. For- that reason, I say that tho book is. an indecent publication, and on the information relating to it the defendant will be convictod, and the work will be ordered to be destroyed. There is'another book in. respect of which an information is laid called :'The Silent l . Friend.'... This hook purports Ma be. d'< medical treatise, and -although it niakes reference to many matters, and describes' things which, make-U .V'work that should not bo in the hands of the . young people, still-I , see , no reason for cqricluding that the book should not be isold to'suitable persons, and ;the,information with regard to it ; V:»I'M dismissed. With regard to the work called,,'l ruits of -Philosophy/ I think that is in the samo position as 'The Wife's Handbook. .It. is not a medical treatise. . It is a book to j;o into tht hands of everybody, and gives information whioh, in my ooinion, is immoral. Defendant will.be convicted on the information of tho sale of this ; book, and I order that the book be destroyed.- There is n second class, of books upon which inforniations have been laid—books read for enter.fainment.'merely. The first of these'is 'Moll Finndors,' Ijy Detpe;. I am asked to convict uelendant for, seflin; ■it as being indecent, and. to'order that if.be destroyed. The work was 11-ritten by Defoe • and■. at a time- when things fl-ero' saidi in a 'way not quite the! saino as thttt;or nowadays,' , and lam not going to, t.ike the rosnonsibility'of-expressing tin opinion nbout.it. Certainly, it is a work one would not like to place in tho hands of young people, .there is another ifork, called 'Confessions of '»> V Barmaid,' which is an account of a series- of indecent. incidents strung together into the, thinnest possiblsv story, a. have no ■doubt that it is an indecent work. Defendant will •' be convicted on that information, < and tho.book will bo,destroyed. On three infornia- ■ turns then'.tho defendant will be convicted and fined £1, costs 75.,0h each summons, nnd tlie other three- informations will bd dis.iiussed."- ■■•■■■ •;■.■■■ i. ■ ■ .;.;:'■ ■':>;■ ■ In .the case neainst Archibald .?'Dennesi keeper ;of the Piko (where penny-in-the-slot stereoscopio pictures were shpwn), iMr. Cutten caul:; "It.was suggested ffar tho defence that tho pictures, were not any worse than ebrnii -mciures. which appear iu advertisements of ladies : clothing, and that .'■they were no "worse than certain works of art. It was also enn--Ecstcd.thnt some of.them might bo humorous. iNoiic of the pictures put before me-can by any possible stretch,be suggested to be works of art, sol have not. had to decide upon that aspect;of-tho question.;"-There are one or two of them to which no great objection "can be tmren. bpmo.have a tinge of humour about them, and'if; they arts indecent, the indecency is not .obtrusive;;but with regard to at least [£" ,°fj h e\ pictures that I; have examined, I think there is nothing: to relievo the indecency .-in them. arc not. ndvertiEements: they are not works of art,'and therei is nothing humo.rqns about : theni.' They seem to. me to bo indecent, .bo intended' to bo , indecent and. lmhioral. ■ ■ :' r ; : ' ' '"■■ ■■ . ;.:Defcn'dant' was convicted, and-fined ,f5 is' with, costs 7s;, "and the Magistrate ordered-that tho ten, pictures bo destroyed. ; . -■..