IMMORAL INFLUENCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16007, 27 August 1915, Page 9

IMMORAL INFLUENCES.

PICTURES AND BOOKS. LEGISLATIVE INTERFERENCE SOUGHT. [Hi ITLJIiHAri!.— l-KESS .'SSOCIATIOX.] Wku.ixotov. Thursday. A sTPuN,, piot<\-t against the bad influence of some of the films being shown at the moving-picture palaces and the immoral nature of .ert.in books sold in the bookshops. V. i; > made by » deputation from the Catholic Federation of New Zealand, v.l,i,h waited on the Hon. G. W. Russell. Minister for Internal Affairs, this afternoon, and which i .-presented all the four dioceses in New Zealand.

I The first speaker was Mr. ,1. R. Hayi "aid (Ohristclunchi, vice-president of j the federation, who. after congratulating j the .Minister on his appointment, said that the deputation objected to the exhibition of films width were held not to be proper. In many theatres pictures were being screened which were considered to be extremely vulgar and often immoral. One point which picturetheatre managers seemed to want to emphasise and put before the world was conjugal infidelity, which struck at the very core of social life.

The \ cry l;,v. Father Coffev (Dunedm) advocated the censorship of' pictures of infidelity and drunkenness. These pictures were put before little children, whose mothers took them to the theatres, lhey became filled with all sorts of idea* which certainly did not help to build up the best manhood and womanhood of the country. A censor should be appointed to deal with the pictures before they passed the Customs.

The Minister, replying said he had learned a great deal from the remarks of th* speakers. He had seen, now and again, these pictures in various places in New Zealand, and lie must sav that to a large extent his own experience was that of .Mr. Hay ward and Father C'offev. There seemed to be a disappearance of the educational films, and the picture proprietors seemed to be catering for the depraved element in human nature. His own opinion was that the censorship was a matter f. r the municipal authorities in the various centres, as Government censorship would mean an armv of inspectors. If the municipal authorities did not take up the matter, then he as Minister for Internal Affairs, might bring in legislation providing that each centre pay the expenses of an inspector. Ho would discuss the matter with his colleagues, and see if tliev could agree n n some method of handling the two one* tions in a manni'i which would be in the interests of the countrv.