Judgment Reserved In “The Decameron” Appeal

Northern Advocate, 22 April 1939, Page 6

Judgment Reserved In “The Decameron” Appeal

[Special to “Northern Advocate ”l AUCKLAND, This Day.

An appeal against the decision of Mr F. H. Levien, S.M., that “The Decameron,” by Boccaccio, was an indecent book, was made in the Supreme Court yesterday by Howard K. Sumpter.

Sumpter was fined £5 1/- on March 14 on a charge of having in his possession for hire an indecent book, “The Decameron.”

Mr L. Mupro, who appeared for Sumpter, said the first question was whether the book was an indecent book. He invited Mr Justice Blair to consider the book as a whole, and asked if the present-day view of morality was such that this book should be regarded as indecent under the Indecent Publications Act.”

Protection of Public,

Mr V. R. Meredith, who opposed the appeal, said the Indecent Publications Act was enacted for the protection of the public of New Zealand at the present time. They were not concerned with the morality of Italy in the 14th century. He agreed that a book, particularly a classic, should not be banned because of an isolated passage, but said the indecencies in “The Decameron” were there page after page, and story after story. What had happened since the prosecution. added Mr Meredith, showed how mischievous the tendency of the book would be when its nature was known. Mr Munro said the mere fact that there were obscene passages in the book did not mean that the book as a whole was obscene. The book was written in the 14th century, when the morals of the church were at a low ebb, and Boccaccio had some of the notions of a moral reformer.

The impression given by reading extracts would be altered by reading the book as a whole. It seemed to him that this case involved judgment on English literature of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Professor W. A. Sewell, Professor of English at Auckland University College, said that Boccaccio gave the most perfect picture they had of Renaissance humanism, and he exercised a profound influence on European literature. He was the father of the novel, and had been a source book for many great English writers, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Keats and Tennysos.

His Honour reserved his decision,

jpOLLOWING the appointment of the

Hon. H. T. Armstrong as Minister of Housing. Mr J. A. Lee, who has been acting as Under-Secretary in Charge of Housing since the inception of the State housing scheme, will become attached to Mr Armstrong, instead of to the Hon. W. Nash, Minister of Finance and former holder of the housing portfolio. Mr Savage said yesterday that Mr Armstrong and Mr Lee would carry on the work with whatever staff was necessary. There was much more to bo done in housing than over before.