ENGLISH MAGAZINES DISPLACED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 278, 20 August 1938, Page 12

ENGLISH MAGAZINES DISPLACED

Competition By Cheap

Importations

READING TASTE OF YOUTHS & GIRLS

“Everv legitimate bookseller in the country - w uld be pleased to see the so-called pulp magazines, back-dated issues ""d similar cheap periodicals disappear from the market,” said Mr. C C Aitken, a Wellington bookseller, yesterday, when expressing bis disagreement with the view of a Wellington importer Gun excessive restrictions on the sale of reading matter of this nature would injure a valuable section of the book trade. Mr. Aitken sitid that, because of their cheapness, puip magazines bad seriously reduced the sale of new English, local, and other* better-class periodicals and at the same time bad created a taste for that tvpe < f literature which could only be described as "muck. The public would not buy "muck at a ice on a level with that of betterclass magazines, but they would buy it. at "muck prices.” These cheap magazines. .Mr. Aitken said were being sold in New Zealand at a third of their retail price when new in the country from which they originated, an ' the quantity of reading matter offered for Gd.. the usual price for these lagazines. was often pointed out. by purchasers as the reason for their choice. ■ On th? basis of quantity only, a pulp magazine was usually a third or a quarter of the cost of a new issue of the average better - class publication of similar size. A bookseller had to make three or four sales of a cheap magazine before he had taken smi ’ money as he would receive for one sale of better-class publication. Purchases By. Youths and Girls. Mr Aitko". said that his experience was that a considerable number of the cheap magazines on Hie market were bought by secondary school pupils and other young people in their ’teens. In (he first instance these youths and girls had undoubtedly been induced to buy cheap magazines because, of the low price, but it wa.s only too evident now that a tarte for trashy reading of this type was growing up among a section of the young people. As far back as February of .last year, Mr. Aitken said, he bad expressed his view of the position in the following letter which appeared then in the correspondence columns of "The Dominion”: ”1 think it: is regrettable that the sales of English magazines and cheap reprint. novels have dropped considerably since back-dated magazines have been dumped lu New Zealand, and I have no. hesitation in stating that English magazines will not. return to favour here until the dumping of backdate American publications is prevented. 'When the purchaser has to pay current prides for American magazines no doubt he will prefer to buy English, thereby increasing the sale of same by many thousands.” That tobacconists, dairies, and other retail shops with extended hours are permitted to sell periodicals, including L..ck-dated magazines, at hours when the legitimate bookseller is forced by the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act to close was described by Mr. Aitken as a very unfair type of competition. He said he had complained to one of the inspectors of the Labour Department, but had been told that the magazines referred to were treated as newspapers and that aS far as the department was concerned they could be sold at any hour of the day and night or even on Sundays.

Departmental At ti hi de.

An inspector was asked by Mr. Aitken to obtain a written opinion from the department on the matter, and Mr. Aitken eventually received the following letter from Mr. P. IT. Kinsman, district officer in charge:—

With reference to your question as to whether back-dated magazines may be sold at any time of the day, I have to advise that the department has considered the matter and is of opinion that there is no reason why such periodicals should not bo treated as newspapers. As mentioned to you, the Shops and Offices Act regards periodicals published at regular intervals not exceeding one month as newspapers, aud it is not possible to read into that definition that a paper must have been published within the current mouth.

Mr. Aitken said that this'meant that pulp magazines were treated exactly the same as newspapers.

Objectionable Material,

Discussing the morality of some of the material contained in imported cheap magazines, Mr. Aitken said he knew that some of the publications in that class could be objected to on those grounds. In fact he bad in some instances withdrawn a particular magazine from sale in his own shop because lie considered it objectionable. The difficulty was, however, that the retailer might easily bring himself within the scope of the law through innocently exposing for sale a magazine containing material of which he was not aware. These magazines were bought in quantity, and it was not possible for a busy bookseller to make himself acquainted with the whole of its contents.

There were, too, other doubtful cases and because of the absence of any responsible censorship or other authority in New Zealand the retailer was forced to become censor for his own protection. The appointment of a censor or board of censors to take the responsibility of deciding whether particular periodicals should be permitted was in Mr. Aitken's opinion the only satisfactory solution to the difficulty. Mr. Aitken said that to meet the general demand he was forced to stock pulp magazines but, along with other booksellers, lie would like to see Pein vanish from the market. “It is a pity.” said Mr. Aitken, "that the representatives of English publishing iUins did not approach the Minister of Customs some time ago on this question. The difficulty would be solved if the Minister told American publishers that there was no objection to their periodicals coming to New Zealand, but that back date numbers would not be admitted.”

Miss Christina Young, the Wellington contralto singer who went to EngJand under the recommendation of Dr Malcolm Sargent to further her studies, has been making excellent progress and has received quite a number of engagements. Her New Zealand friends will be interested to know that Miss Young is to broadcast through Da ventry on transmission 6 this afternoon from 1.50 to 2.20 p.m. (New Zealand time).