"THE MENACE"

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 52, 30 August 1917, Page 8

"THE MENACE"

TO S HI BDITOfi.

Sir, —A very extraordinary statement appears in a report of the annual meeting of the Dominion Council of the New Zealand Roman Catholic Federation, published in your columns of the 22nd inst. It is that " the executive states that constant enquiry has been made as to the source of dissemination of the postally-prohibited publication entitled the Menace. It is known to come ashore in an illicit manner, but so far the Customs and the police auhorities have been unable to secure sufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution." The Menace is not "postally prohibited," although the Roman Catholic Federation did succeed once in obtaining a prohibition upon it, but this was removed instanter upon representations Being made. This, with all the attendant circumstances, was fully brought out in evidence in the Post Office Enquiry in Auckland, in which several remarkable disclosures were made. The Menace has been arriving in thousands by every American mail; a thousand came to Auckland this week, and if the Customs officials or the police are really anxious to discover anything about the way in which the Menace is distributed in New Zealand, I shall be pleased to give them full details. I have, however, to thank the Dominion Executive of .the Roman Catholic Federation for the information furnished in this amazing report, and it will probably' enable us to get at the inside of certain matters upon which the light of publicity will have to be thrown. For the present, however, I am glad ta proffer full information to the authorities concerning the so-called " illicit dissemination " of the Menace, and to draw the attention of your readers to these statements.—l am, etc., HOWARD ELLIOTT. Protestant Political Association, 30th August,