AMERICAN MAGAZINES

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1936, Page 14

AMERICAN MAGAZINES

BOOKSELLER PROSECUTED

[per press association.]

AUCKLAND, June 12. A plea that public opinion had changed considerably since the MuiVictorian era, was made by Mr. Finlay, when appearing on behalt ot a city bookseller, IV. P. G, Ladd, who was charged in the Magistrate s Coin with selling indecent documents. The charges referred to covers of two American magazines which had been sold to a detective. , . Mr. Finlay said that the sales of magazines of the type referred to totalled £l5OO a week. Pages containing certain types of advertisements were removed by Customs Department, yiud the fact that the magazines received some sort of censorship misled wholesalers and retailers. That, however, was no excuse, if the publication weie held to be indecent. He quoted the case in 1917, in which Mr. Justice Cooper held that the well-known picture “The Sleeping Beauty,” exhibited in -a shop window was indecent His Honor had held that .anything which tended to deprave or corrupt was indecent. That was the only authoritative case in the Dominion. .However, the standard of public opinion, public enlightenment and public morals. had greatly changed, since what was regarded with horror by mid-Vic-torians was not so regarded to-day. There was nothing salacious in the magazines, submitted counsel, and from the commonsense view, they were not indecent within the meaning of tlie -A. c t The Magistrate, Mr. McKean, reserved his decision.